The Way I Used to Be - Amber Smith

Happy Monday readers, a new week ahead and hope your weekend was awesome. Today I have a review based on a audiobook I listen to at the beginning of May.


Synopsis

In the tradition of Speak, this extraordinary debut novel shares the unforgettable story of a young woman as she struggles to find strength in the aftermath of an assault.

Eden was always good at being good. Starting high school didn’t change who she was. But the night her brother’s best friend rapes her, Eden’s world capsizes.

What was once simple, is now complex. What Eden once loved—who she once loved—she now hates. What she thought she knew to be true, is now lies. Nothing makes sense anymore, and she knows she’s supposed to tell someone what happened but she can’t. So she buries it instead. And she buries the way she used to be.

Told in four parts—freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior year—this provocative debut reveals the deep cuts of trauma. But it also demonstrates one young woman’s strength as she navigates the disappointment and unbearable pains of adolescence, of first love and first heartbreak, of friendships broken and rebuilt, and while learning to embrace a power of survival she never knew she had hidden within her heart.'

My Thoughts

It started very good and sad for that matters and in the beginning, it felt like a book that I will enjoy listen to. Sadly, after a while I really didn't enjoy it at all cause over and over I had to remind myself that the main character is only a teenager. I started to feel very sad for Eden and as a mother to a 15-year-old son, it was difficult as a mother and I felt very sad for her.

As the book and story went ahead it was like everything went downhill, I was missing something. I mean, where were her parents in all this. It was only about her, her brother, her friends, that boy who raped her. As long as I was listening to the book, the parents weren't included at all. 

I got the feeling and how she acted, it was like Eden was older so that's why I forgot all the time that she is that young :) 

It has great reviews on Goodreads and I can see why younger people like it, it's a YA book and it has a deep topic which I know many can relate to, unfortunately. I couldn't listen to the whole book but the most part and as I can't relate to the character it wasn't a book that stuck with me. 

I give The Way I Used to Be 2 stars of 5.

4 comments

  1. Thank you for reviewing this ..i too have a teenager and nice to see a perspective that may be missing in this book. Great synopsis.

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  2. This sounds like a very sad but maybe empowering book for those that can relate!

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  3. I don't like reading books. I have read like 5 books in my life. Thanks for reviewing it. I hope to see mini reviews like this in the future. I am hoping to read more books in the future. your reviews sure help.

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  4. Nice synopsis.. one of my friends had also suggested that this one is a pretty sad book.

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