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 highly anticipated sequel, The Way I Am Now—now available together in a paperback 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 paperback boxed set includes:
The Way I Used to Be
The Way I Am Now

Amber Smith is the 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. An advocate for increased awareness of gendered violence, as well as LGBTQ equality, she writes in the hope that her books can help to foster change and spark dialogue surrounding these issues. 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.