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marianneereads 's review for:
Under Rose-Tainted Skies
by Louise Gornall
Boricuan Bookworms- Book Reviews
Under Rose-Tainted Skies is an #ownvoices narrative about a girl with OCD and agoraphobia falling in love with the boy next door. However, what makes this book different is that it doesn’t use love as a cure and it provides and honest look into mental illness.
What I liked:
- Norah is our protagonist and her narrative voice is really fresh and compelling. She’s humorous and sarcastic, but also very vulnerable and relatable. While I don’t have Norah’s illnesses, I could easily understand her fears and insecurities. It was interesting seeing things from her perspective, because while her thoughts were obsessive or compulsive, it was easy to put yourself in her shoes. I know the media has these misconceptions about what it’s like to have OCD or agoraphobia, but Norah’s thoughts could have easily been my own. This book does what popular media fails to do, and it’s that it normalizes mental illness. Yes, Norah has these invisible disabilities, but she’s not defined by them. She has compulsions and obsessions, but she also loves movies and books and lives a “normal” life (whatever that means), like we all do.
- The romance between Luke and Norah is great. Like I said at the beginning, this isn’t a “love cures all” type of romance. We see Luke and Norah be friends, and we see their friendship develop over time. I really enjoyed their friendship together because Luke was always very considerate of Norah and he never tried to push her boundaries. He tried his best to understand her, and when he couldn’t, he was open to listening. The romance between them is sweet and innocent, and it’s exactly the kind of romance that I love reading about.
-Norah has a great relationship with her mother. Her mom is so understanding and comprehensive. She always supported Norah and understood her better than anyone else. They had great communication and it was great to see such a strong bond between them. Norah had such a great support system at hand.
- Speaking of support, Norah sees a therapist. This book is very therapy-positive, which is always great when dealing with books about mental illness. Norah’s therapist is sweet and perfectly knows how to talk with her, in a way that never makes her feel bad or uncomfortable. This book made it clear that while therapy isn’t a cure-all, it does indeed help, and that it was absolutely necessary.
- I listened to the audio of this book, and I really loved the narrator’s voice. She put on a great performance, and really captured my attention.
What I did not like:
Honestly, the only thing I didn’t really like was the ending. I don’t want to get into many details, but basically, the book had mostly a funny romantic contemporary vibe, but the ending felt sudden. Out of nowhere, the tone shifts into almost a criminal thriller. This whole thing ends in However, the book corrects it a bit later on by making it clear that Norah isn’t magically cured, which I really appreciated.
However, the rest of the book is completely amazing. The way it talks about mental illness and makes it clear that therapy and support is needed is really great. There’s a sweet romance, and a great support system for the MC. I recommend this book, but I highly suggest you read through the content/trigger warnings before you do.
Content Warnings: Self-Harm, Panic/Anxiety Attacks, Depression
My Amazon Review.
Under Rose-Tainted Skies is an #ownvoices narrative about a girl with OCD and agoraphobia falling in love with the boy next door. However, what makes this book different is that it doesn’t use love as a cure and it provides and honest look into mental illness.
What I liked:
- Norah is our protagonist and her narrative voice is really fresh and compelling. She’s humorous and sarcastic, but also very vulnerable and relatable. While I don’t have Norah’s illnesses, I could easily understand her fears and insecurities. It was interesting seeing things from her perspective, because while her thoughts were obsessive or compulsive, it was easy to put yourself in her shoes. I know the media has these misconceptions about what it’s like to have OCD or agoraphobia, but Norah’s thoughts could have easily been my own. This book does what popular media fails to do, and it’s that it normalizes mental illness. Yes, Norah has these invisible disabilities, but she’s not defined by them. She has compulsions and obsessions, but she also loves movies and books and lives a “normal” life (whatever that means), like we all do.
- The romance between Luke and Norah is great. Like I said at the beginning, this isn’t a “love cures all” type of romance. We see Luke and Norah be friends, and we see their friendship develop over time. I really enjoyed their friendship together because Luke was always very considerate of Norah and he never tried to push her boundaries. He tried his best to understand her, and when he couldn’t, he was open to listening. The romance between them is sweet and innocent, and it’s exactly the kind of romance that I love reading about.
-Norah has a great relationship with her mother. Her mom is so understanding and comprehensive. She always supported Norah and understood her better than anyone else. They had great communication and it was great to see such a strong bond between them. Norah had such a great support system at hand.
- Speaking of support, Norah sees a therapist. This book is very therapy-positive, which is always great when dealing with books about mental illness. Norah’s therapist is sweet and perfectly knows how to talk with her, in a way that never makes her feel bad or uncomfortable. This book made it clear that while therapy isn’t a cure-all, it does indeed help, and that it was absolutely necessary.
- I listened to the audio of this book, and I really loved the narrator’s voice. She put on a great performance, and really captured my attention.
What I did not like:
Honestly, the only thing I didn’t really like was the ending. I don’t want to get into many details, but basically, the book had mostly a funny romantic contemporary vibe, but the ending felt sudden. Out of nowhere, the tone shifts into almost a criminal thriller. This whole thing ends in
Spoiler
Norah leaving her house in panic because someone broke in, and it didn’t sit right with me because it was almost as if it was saying “to get over your agoraphobia all you have to do is wait for someone to break into your house so you can leave in a panicked frenzy”. I’m not trying to discredit the author or their experiences, but I didn’t like the idea of a traumatic moment being the catalyst for Norah leaving her house.However, the rest of the book is completely amazing. The way it talks about mental illness and makes it clear that therapy and support is needed is really great. There’s a sweet romance, and a great support system for the MC. I recommend this book, but I highly suggest you read through the content/trigger warnings before you do.
Content Warnings: Self-Harm, Panic/Anxiety Attacks, Depression
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My Amazon Review.