This post may contain affiliate links for products and services I recommend. This means that I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links. At no additional cost to you, of course!
Looking for a book to read for mental health awareness month? Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall might be worth checking out. Scroll through an honest review! 🙂
Title: Under Rose-Tainted Skies
Author: Louise Gornall
Pages: 271 (paperback)
Narration: 1st person (Norah)
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary
Installment: stand alone
Tropes: the boy next door
Norah hasn’t left her house in the last couple of years. Seeing her therapist is the only time she forces herself through the tedious process of going outside. Her OCD and agoraphobia usually keep her inside her four walls of safety, her mom her only company. But something changes when handsome Luke moves in next door. Suddenly, staying safe isn’t enough.
Realistically Portrayed
I bought this book in 2017 and just now got around to reading it in 2021. When I researched the author, I discovered that Louise Gornall died last year from cancer. I’m sad for obvious reasons, but more than that I’m sad, because as far as I could deduce from the Acknowledgements in Under Rose-Tainted Skies part of Norah’s story was part of her own story.
This explains why this young adult novel is written so realistically. There’s no romanticizing of mental illness or unrealistic depiction of it. Even when it comes to Luke and Norah’s relationship nothing is overlooked or rearranged for ‘the sake of love’. It shows both what it’s like for a mentally ill person to date somebody and what it’s like to date a mentally ill person.
I know that you can’t live your life waiting for disaster to strike. I know this. Hell, if we all lived like that, we’d stay stock-still our entire lives or be forced to roll around the streets in those giant plastic bubbles. But it’s like my mind and my brain are two seperate things, working against each other. I can’t get them to cooperate.
Very Relatable
However, romance isn’t the focus in this novel, it’s Norah’s mental health. I would have wished Gornall to dive a little deeper into the discussion of how school is linked to mental health, but other than that, she covered a lot of bases thoroughly. People with all kinds of anxiety disorders will be able to find most of Under Rose-Tainted Skies very relatable. I recommend a trigger warning!
Funny, Sarcastic & On Point
Gornall’s writing is *chef’s kiss*. The metaphors are the best thing ever to make not anxious people better understand the illness. Not to mention that they are funny, sarcastic, and on point! I love the characters, the portrayal of Norah, Luke’s understanding, and especially Norah’s mom. They simply felt real.
The ending was something I never expected. Even though it was shorter than I would have liked, it was a perfect fit for the story. All in all, this novel is a wonderful and realistic portrayal of mental illnesses such as agoraphobia and OCD. People who want a better understanding of the mentioned afflictions should definitely read this gem of a book.
Did I succeed in making you want to read Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall? If so, you can buy a copy here: Thalia | Amazon USA
