Hopkins is a much-loved author, but after liking one of her books, I soon started seeing them as torture porn. Rose wrote a great positive review for this book and I just wanted to borrow her comparison to Ellen Hopkins. Though it promises a look at a rape survivor over time, it instead skips important plot points that shows the gradual downslide (like when Eden started calling her parents by their names and not "Mom" and "Dad"), preferring to skip to the angst. and yet this opportunity is wasted on a story lacking any real depth. The novel's major selling point is that it looks at the aftereffects of rape over four years - freshman year, sophomore year, etc. It's about another white girl living in a white world, who is raped and proceeds on a downward spiral towards sex, drugs and self-hatred. The Way I Used to Be, however, adds nothing but more paper to the pile. These books are incredibly important for fostering discussion about rape, its aftermath, and the way we treat rape victims. I've read many books about teenage girls who were raped, from the classic Speak, to last year's harrowing tale of how a girl is let down by everyone around her - All the Rage, to the recent book about a girl with a strong support network - Exit, Pursued by a Bear. Fiction, though, is a little bit different. Every survivor has their own story to tell, each equally valid, and they don't owe anyone an interesting, convincing account of it. If this were a real life account of a rape survivor, then things would be different.
#THE WAY I USED TO BE HOW TO#
There are many thoughts running around in my head about this book and it's hard to decide how to write a review without sounding completely insensitive. I've read many books about teenage girls who w I seem to be in the minority on this one. I seem to be in the minority on this one.
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, and while learning to embrace a power of survival she never knew she had hidden within her heart.more Told in four parts-freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior year-this provocative debut reveals the deep cuts of trauma. Nothing makes sense anymore, and she knows she’s supposed to tell someone what happened but she can’t. What she thought she knew to be true, is now lies. What Eden once loved-who she once loved-she now hates. But the night her brother’s best friend rapes her, Eden’s world capsizes. Starting high school didn’t change who she was. What Eden In the tradition of Speak, this extraordinary debut novel shares the unforgettable story of a young woman as she struggles to find strength in the aftermath of an assault.Įden was always good at being good. In the tradition of Speak, this extraordinary debut novel shares the unforgettable story of a young woman as she struggles to find strength in the aftermath of an assault.
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