Under Rose-Tainted Skies By Louise Gornall

Posted on by Casey smurph

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Norah has agoraphobia and OCD. When groceries are left on the porch, she can’t step out to get them. Struggling to snag the bags with a stick, she meets Luke. He’s sweet and funny, and he just caught her fishing for groceries. Because of course he did.

Norah can’t leave the house, but can she let someone in? As their friendship grows deeper, Norah realizes Luke deserves a normal girl. One who can lie on the front lawn and look up at the stars. One who isn’t so screwed up.

 

 

If you guys missed this in my last review bunch of AMAZING bloggers have created a new hashtag #DisabilityDiaries2017 this hash tag is being used to talk about disabilities in Young adult books and promote diverse reads. From Mental illness to Autism there will be heaps of posts with reviews, discussions, and recommendations. If you’re looking for new books to read or want contribute please check out the original post Welcome to disability diaries where you can find all the creators, or search up the hashtag on twitter to find new posts. Now onto my review:

Norah has Agoraphobia and OCD. Only leaving her house to go to therapist appointments and not being able to leave a book crooked in fear that if she does something horrible will happen.

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When her mum goes out of town and the new boy next door sees her trying to drag the groceries in from the porch with a broom (and failing) he passes them to her and they meet. Norah and Luke’s friendship is awkward and weird, its strange and stunted, it’s perfectly them. Not all books need a completely swoon worthy and charming guy to save the day, guys can be just as awkward and strange as girls. This story isn’t about some whirlwind of love and fun that ends with Norah being able to go to the prom and just “face her fears” *eye roll* and in all honesty I would have thrown the book (although not really because I had an ebook and I’m not throwing my ipad) if this had been the case.

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Norah’s journey feels real and the ending stayed true and did Norah and others like her justice. So many books romanticise mental illness in YA with the protagonist either being overly quirky and cool or being magically cured by getting a boyfriend *cough* finding Audrey *cough* and some “confidence” not Rose-Tainted Skies. Norah is uniquely herself, her struggles, her wants, her actions they all felt so real there is no way I wasn’t able to instantly connect with her.

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About the content and trigger warnings. If you’d like to go in without warnings go ahead and skip this last bit, I went in without reading any of the triggers but sometimes it’s nice to know what content the book will contain and deal with.

There may be small plot details but nothing that is a big spoiler

This story features Agoraphobia, OCD, Anxiety, Self Harm, and Depression.

Agoraphobia: Norah’s agoraphobia started when she was 14 and she is now 17 it causes her to think dangerous things will happen and that she is only really safe in the house.

OCD: Norah has OCD and likes even numbers, clean and organised spaces, and dislikes being touched or making any physical contact with people she didn’t see wash their hands and isn’t comfortable with. She also has tics when she’s trying to control herself and not fix something.

Selfharm: Norah self harms to get in control of herself during anxiety/panic attacks. Norah doesn’t try to kill herself but she does pick at her fingers until they bleed, scratch her skin in small places until they bleed and scab, and also during one of her bad days cuts her thigh with nail scissors in 4 small cuts.

Depression: Depression is in our MC Norah, she can go for days just laying in bed and forgetting to eat when things get bad. There is also Depression shown in Luke’s dad. Luke talks about his dads extreme lows when he has to be in a routine and isn’t traveling. I picked up on some hints that he may have bi polar disorder but this was never explored well enough to make any real conclusions.

Have you read Under Rose-Tainted Skies? What are your thoughts? Are you planning on picking it up? 

Also how could you look at this cover and not fall in love, I can’t wait to buy the Hardcover so I can stare at it all day long.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for allowing me to read a free ebook in exchange for an honest review. 

23 thoughts on “Under Rose-Tainted Skies By Louise Gornall”

  1. I definitely want to read this one. And thank you for the trigger warnings! I usually do fine with things like that, but not everybody adds warnings in their suggestions & I know it’s gotta be appreciated when someone does. Wonderful review!

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    1. I hope you love it Kai! This book was just so well done in my eyes, of course its mainly character driven but thats what I was expecting so I really enjoyed it 🙂
      I figured since I had an ARC (even though I posted my review late xD) I’d include some trigger warnings I’m okay with heavy subjects so going in blind is fine for my but why not warn people who may not be? It does more good then harm in the end 😀

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  2. Aaahh, your review reminded me how badly I need to read this!! (Especially since I was kinda disappointed with how Everything, Everything turned out) Although I had no idea there was going to be self-harm; that always jars me when I don’t know it’s coming. Thanks for the warning!

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    1. I haven’t read Everything Everything but I’ve heard some talk that the allergies weren’t represented accurately 😦 I think I’m going to read The Sun is also a Star first.
      I think all the heavy subjects are done quite well but they can be jarring plus warnings like this I don’t really count as a spoiler I mean if your twist is self harm there’s something horribly wrong with your book!
      I hope you really love this book 🙂

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    1. Thank you! Personally it wasn’t too graphic for me but I read a fair bit of heavy stuff so I’m a bit desensitized and could be pretty graphic to other readers, plus there’s no harm in a warning especially if it helps people.

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  5. I’ve heard a lot about this book and it makes me want to read it, but I don’t know about the trigger warnings you gave. THANK YOU for them by the way, it drives me nuts when there aren’t any trigger warnings. It sounds like a beautiful book, but I’m wary when it comes to reading a book that includes certain things. Great review!

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    1. Thank you! Books on these subjects aren’t for everyone especially when your effected by the subject matter but I’m glad I picked it up, in saying that none of these are triggers for me personally so I felt pretty safe jumping into it blind.

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  7. This is a great review. I completely agree that sometimes we need books which explore more realistic aspects of life. There’s nothing wrong wi he occasional story where our protagonist conquers their fears and everything comes up roses, but that just isn’t life. I am looking forward to reading this soon!

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