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The Way I Used to Be
Series · 4 books · 2016-2024

Books in series

The Way I Used to Be book cover
#1

The Way I Used to Be

2016

All Eden wants is to rewind the clock. To live that day again. She would do everything differently. Not laugh at his jokes or ignore the way he was looking at her that night. And she would definitely lock her bedroom door. But Eden can’t turn back time. So she buries the truth, along with the girl she used to be. She pretends she doesn’t need friends, doesn’t need love, doesn’t need justice. But as her world unravels, one thing becomes clear: the only person who can save Eden … is Eden.
The Way I Am Now book cover
#2

The Way I Am Now

2023

Eden and Josh decide to give their relationship another chance in this much anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestseller The Way I Used to Be that explores how to move forward after trauma—in life and in love. Eden and Josh never had a fair shot at a healthy relationship. When they dated in high school, they each had their own problems getting in the way of the deep connection they felt toward one another. Unbeknownst to Josh, Eden was carrying the burden of a devastating sexual assault, while Josh was dealing with his own private struggle of having an alcoholic father. Months after Eden and two other girls publicly accuse their rapist, Eden is starting college while her case goes to trial. Now when she and Josh reconnect, it seems like it might finally be in the right place at the right time for them to make it work. But is their love strong enough to withstand the challenges and chaos of college and the crushing realities of a trial that will determine whether Eden gets the justice she deserves?
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#2.5

The Way We Met

2024

Eden and Josh are in a good place – finally. But now Eden is facing down a new major milestone: spending the weekend with Josh’s parents. The last time she met them, it didn’t exactly go so well. She needs it to be perfect, for them to like her, and like her with Josh. As the weekend unfolds and she gets to know Josh’s family, the return home also brings back memories of the first time Eden met Josh. The real story, the one Josh doesn’t even know…
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#1-2

The Way I Used to Be Collection (Boxed Set)

The Way I Used to Be; The Way I Am Now

2023

A young woman struggles to find strength in the aftermath of an assault in the New York Times bestselling The Way I Used to Be and tries to move forward in its much anticipated sequel, The Way I Am Now—now available together in a hardcover boxed set. 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. Following Eden through all four years of high school and beyond as she starts college, this deeply moving duology reveals the deep cuts of trauma. But it also demonstrates one young woman’s strength as she navigates the disappointment of adolescence, first love and first heartbreak, and friendships broken and rebuilt, all while learning to embrace a power of survival she never knew she had hidden within her heart. This hardcover boxed set The Way I Used to Be The Way I Am Now

Author

Amber Smith
Amber Smith
Author · 8 books
Amber Smith is the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of the young adult novels The Way I Used to Be, The Last to Let Go, Something Like Gravity, and The Way I Am Now. Along with her middle grade debut, Code Name: Serendipity, she has also contributed to the award-winning YA anthology, Our Stories, Our Voices. An advocate for mental health, gendered violence, and LGBTQ+ equality, Amber writes in the hope that her books can help to foster change and spark dialogue. She grew up in Buffalo, New York, and now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her wife and their ever-growing family of rescued dogs and cats. You can find her online at AmberSmithAuthor.com.
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