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The Way I Used to Be is a novel written by Amber Smith. It’s about Eden McCrorey, who was raped by her brother’s best friend when she was 14 years old. The book is divided into four parts: freshman year, sophomore year, junior year and senior year. Each part corresponds to that school year after she was assaulted. Over the period of those four years, we see how Eden changes as a result of being abused—she becomes increasingly isolated from other people but also more confident in herself and her own abilities.

The first part of the book deals with Eden’s sexual assault, and her reaction to it. She is mocked by her peers because she was a band geek, so she forms a book club with three friends during lunch period. At the end of Part 1, Edy’s personality begins to change: she stops being “good girl” that everyone knows. She smokes cigarettes and quits band; then starts arguing with parents about everything. Eden vows not to let anyone take advantage of her like Kevin did in the past year.

In the second part of the novel, Eden has a relationship with Josh. She does not want to be his girlfriend because she is afraid that her past will come back and hurt them both. However, they are spending every night together and deepening their relationship. Meanwhile, Kevin’s little sister starts rumors about Eden being promiscuous at school which causes everyone to talk about how much of a slut she is. The entire school thinks that Eden was lying about her age when she had sex with Josh even though he knew it all along due to his connections in law enforcement. When Caelin finds out what happened between Eden and Josh he beats him up for statutory rape at New Year’s Eve party despite knowing what happened between them because he still loves his sister very much even if she doesn’t feel the same way towards him anymore after what happened with Kevin years ago when they were children but he can’t help feeling protective over her anyway so instead of letting someone else beat him up for something that wasn’t entirely his fault, like most people would do in this situation, Caelin decides to take matters into his own hands by beating up Josh himself which only further distances himself from Eden who hates him now more than ever before as well as causing tension within their family relations since now no one trusts either one of them around each other anymore especially since Caelin isn’t supposed to know anything about what really happened between Eden and Kevin or why they don’t live together anymore after having moved out on her own without anyone’s permission including Mara’s who wanted nothing more than for all three siblings to stay close together under one roof like a real family should be doing but unfortunately things didn’t work out exactly how Mara planned it so instead of talking things through calmly like adults usually do when there are problems within families sometimes you just have no choice but try your hardest not let any bad blood develop between you otherwise you might lose everything important that means anything at all too you forever if you’re lucky enough maybe someday soon everything will go back to normal again someday until then I guess we’ll just have wait patiently until God knows whenever He feels ready enough finally decide it’s time once again give us another chance make our lives whole again heal our broken hearts mend our damaged souls bring peace back home once again where we belong

Eden’s reputation as a “bad girl” and her sexual promiscuity is highlighted in the third part of the book. Eden experiments with drugs and alcohol, and she goes to parties with Mara where they drink beer illegally at night. They meet two guys named Troy and Alex, who introduce them to an exciting new social scene. Eden also discovers that sex can temporarily make her forget about her problems; she has sex with Troy’s older brother despite knowing that he likes her. Her relationship with both her parents continues to deteriorate; they fight every day now.