Book Review: The Way We Become by Amber Smith
Following the events of The Way I Used to Be and The Way I Am Now, The Way We Become follows all of the survivors: Eden, Amanda, and Gennifer. Check out my full review of The Way We Become below!
Book Information
Eden, Amanda, and Gennifer are awaiting the trial results against Kevin. When his verdict is read, the unthinkable happens. These three girls have to grapple with the fact that they may not get the justice they thought they would, and they all have to pick up the pieces that Kevin left behind after he tried to break them. But they aren’t broken. They just have to find a way to become new, stronger versions of themselves.
Review | Heidi Dischler
I honestly was not sure how this book would go seeing that we’ve already seen Eden’s side of the story with the previous two books. I will say, though, that I LOVED seeing this healing journey for all three girls. This story was poignant, infuriating (due to the “justice” system), and also… cathartic in a way.
So, basically, we follow Eden, Amanda, and Gen as they try to understand how the justice system could have let them down so badly. This isn’t really a spoiler because it happens within the first four chapters, but Kevin only gets 180 days in jail. That’s it. Not even a full year for what he did to all three girls. WHICH IS CRAZY. The craziest part? This happens all the time, which is why so many women choose not to come forward. But after that verdict, you basically get alternating chapters between Eden, Amanda, and Gen as they try to heal and deal with the fact that Kevin will be back out in the world before they know it. You can basically feel how broken they feel with the verdict and it really tore me up the whole time I was reading.
With Eden’s chapters, you get A LOT of her relationship with Josh (which I love love love by the way). We finally get to see their romance blossom and become what everyone ALWAYS wanted it to become. It’s so beautiful watching them grow and learn together (you get even more than we did in The Way I Am Now).
For Gen, you’re seeing a lot of how she is trying to feel safe again. Her chapters aren’t so much doom and gloom as they are really just trying to come to terms with everything that has happened. You get to see a ton of growth with her character as well (her last chapter was definitely my fav).
Amanda, poor poor Amanda, literally has to deal with the worst home life as she’s getting ready to graduate high school. Her chapters are definitely the darkest and explore a lot of her childhood memories with Kevin. Her ending was amazing as well. She definitely had the darkest story arc, though, so just a trigger warning for basically everything that was a trigger warning in the first book plus mentions of suicide.
Overall, I really enjoyed this final book in the series, and I think it offered that last bit of closure that we all really needed. There was so much character growth and I absolutely loved it. It is a character-driven story, though, so most of the plot is just these characters healing and overcoming their trauma. An easy 4.5/5 rounded up to 5/5 for social platforms.
Source: Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley and Simon and Schuster
(P.S. You can read this book for free by signing up for a free trial of Audible, which gives you two free audiobooks of your choice!)
