The Way I Used to Be
Margaret K. McElderry Books · Paperback · March 7, 2017
New York Times bestseller!
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- Who it’s for
- A painful, ultimately hopeful coming-of-age story follows one young woman through trauma and its aftermath.
- Themes
- trauma recovery, adolescence, survival
- Pacing
- Reflective
Nearest books
Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved. Most of these share its genres: Contemporary YA Romance and Mental Illness for Teens.
The Way I Am NowAmber Smith71% matchAlso shares Surviving Sexual Abuse
Every Last WordTamara Ireland Stone60% match
The Last to Let GoAmber Smith69% match
Emmy & OliverRobin Benway62% match
More Than We Can TellBrigid Kemmerer63% match
All the Bright PlacesJennifer Niven61% match
Holding Up the UniverseJennifer Niven62% match
For younger readers: Fighting Words, Caprice
For older readers: Any Man
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Start with this bookAbout this book
New York Times bestseller! In the tradition of Speak, Amber Smith's extraordinary debut novel “is a heart-twisting, but ultimately hopeful, exploration of how pain can lead to strength” (The Boston Globe). 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.
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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, all while learning to embrace the power of survival she never knew she had hidden within her heart.
Pain and Becoming
A painful, ultimately hopeful coming-of-age story follows one young woman through trauma and its aftermath.
Come here for
- A close, unsparing look at trauma’s effects across four years of high school
- First love, fractured friendships, and the hard work of survival
Expect
- An intimate account of pain, change, and resilience
- A serious emotional journey, told across freshman through senior year
Where it sits
| Surviving Sexual Abuse | 96% |
|---|---|
| Mental Illness for Teens | 42% |
| Contemporary YA Romance | 32% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- YA Stories About Girls & Women
- Emotions & Feelings for Teens
- Surviving Sexual Abuse
- Authors
- Amber Smith
- Publisher
- Margaret K. McElderry Books
- Published
- March 7, 2017
- Format
- Paperback
- Theme
- trauma recovery · adolescence · survival
- Reading lane
- YA Stories About Girls & Women