REVIEW – UNDER ROSE TAINTED SKIES by Louise Gornall

Posted July 14, 2016 by Emma in Blog / 6 Comments

Under Rose Tainted Skies 
by Louise Gornall
Release Date – July 7th 2016
Publisher – Chicken House Books
Buy – Amazon | Book Depository

Agoraphobia confines Norah to the house she shares with her mother.

For her, the outside is sky glimpsed through glass, or a gauntlet to run between home and car. But a chance encounter on the doorstep changes everything: Luke, her new neighbour. Norah is determined to be the girl she thinks Luke deserves: a ‘normal’ girl, her skies unfiltered by the lens of mental illness. Instead, her love and bravery opens a window to unexpected truths …
An important and uplifting debut from a British author, which tackles mental health issues such as agoraphobia and OCD.

My Review
Under the Rose Tainted Skies is just another novel that I absolutely adored. Lately these are all the books that I want to read that I need to read. It’s just their originality, Louise heartfelt and passionate storytelling that makes you want to cuddle this book all the time. When I first saw this book even in it’s proof copy form (Thank you Nina), it was Holly Bourne’s quote on the book that can make you tell just how great this book will be and their really was no disappointment at all. 
Norah is the heart in the birdcage, all she wants to do is fly free, fly from the nest. But she can’t, it’s not that she doesn’t want to but her body just shuts her down at the fear and the thought of stepping outside of the door. Especially when next door neighbour Luke, encounters on the step stirring a whole new complicated situation for her. That and her mum away for a week, this really isn’t the best time to get to know a boy when Norah is in a new level of awkwardness and uncomfortableness.  
I loved Norah, she inspiring to say the least. If I’m honest when I’ve been ill for a week or injured being in the house for that long is suffocating so I can’t imagine that having a fear and panic of going outside can just lock your body and rule your life. It’s that fear that just makes the Norah so brave that it’s hard to justify just really what it’s like.

Being herself, being Norah is what she wants desperately to be but with Luke she feels at her most uncomfortable because she doesn’t want to be judged. But Luke didn’t judge her, he was understanding to say the least and at times it was sometimes awkward situation for them both because they didn’t know how to be around each other without weirding themselves out. At times it was quite funny especially when Norah was searching the wrong things about kissing. Haha. (In the nicest possible way of course) Luke didn’t want her to go through this alone, but the relationship aspect of it was beautiful and special in a way. Luke saw her as her, Norah was trying to be acceptable of that which is a HUGE step for her.

Under Rose Tainted Skies is a raw and emotional depiction of mental health. Lousie Gornall is a wonderful an poetic writer that really highlights today’s society and reality that people are not the same and shouldn’t be treated the same either. Louise is such a bright and fiery personality which you can really see in her writing. Believe me it isn’t just the bright hair – which I love. 

Rating – 5

Don’t forget – next Tuesday is my guest post from the lovely Lousie Gornall herself so don’t forget to stop by for that!
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6 responses to “REVIEW – UNDER ROSE TAINTED SKIES by Louise Gornall”

  1. Keertana

    I'm really loving this new trend of exploring mental illness in YA–it's so important and I'm glad this is yet another example of it being done well. Wonderful review, Emma!!

  2. Joyous Reads

    People suffering from agoraphobia is very interesting to me, so I'm curious to see how realistically the author portrays a character suffering from it.

  3. Renu

    Firstly, I love the cover for this book! Don't think I own a pink book, haha. xD Secondly, like Keertana said I like that mental health issues are being more explored in YA. If I'm being honest I don't know too much about agoraphobia, but I am keen to learn more. Adding it to my tbf for sure, great review!

  4. Kindlemom

    I love that we are getting more of these type of stories, I really think we need them to help understand if nothing else. Wonderful review for this!

  6. Ramona

    A 5-star review and a mental health story? Now this is what I call intriguing, Emma 🙂 Fabulous review, and thank you for introducing me to the title.