This book was a miraculous roller coaster. The Way I Used to Be is a young adult fiction novel by Amber Smith that explores mature themes of sexual violence in an incredibly personal and intimate way. The novel follows Eden, a young girl in high school, and the adversities she faces when trying to speak up about being a victim of assault. Normally, I'm not the type of person that gets emotional about books, but the way Amber Smith approaches serious themes is truly inspiring. Some moments forced me to laugh, and many more moments to cry. I absolutely adore this book and the way that it is written; Smith does a great job in her writing and brings out another level of sadness with her words. Not only is this book incredibly well written, but it is emotionally heavy and incredibly difficult to put down once you’ve picked it up. Smith uses raw emotions to connect the reader and fully immerse the reader into the plot of the novel. I implore everyone to pick up this book because it allows the reader to experience the sense of fear that victims of sexual assault feel every day and it provides a new perspective on what it means to be a victim.