Review: Under rose-tainted skies by Louise Gornall

Goodreads rating: 4.03/5

My rating: 4.2/5

'Under rose-tainted skies' is about Norah, a seventeen year old girl who suffers with agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety. For those unfamiliar with agoraphobia, it is defined as an abnormal fear of being in open, public or crowded places, of leaving one's own home or safe space and/or of being in places that is difficult to escape from.

Since Louise Gornall suffers from the same mental disorders, it's no surprise that she's able to depict the difficulties that come with living with them in vivid detail. She chose to write the story in only Norah's perspective which gives the reader the opportunity to delve into Norah's mind and see what it is to think like, feel like, and be her. Yes, the story is pure fiction but the thought processes and reactions of Norah to situations is as real as can be. I've been reading books since I could read and I'm a Psychology graduate but I've never read a book about a character with a mental disorder, I'm not so sure why. After this one though, I'll be picking up more similar books simply because it's different learning about mental disorders in theory and just knowing about them from actually understanding what goes on in the minds of such people. We can never truly understand what it's like to be these people but books like these is as close as we can get. Also, wouldn't it be great to just be aware?

I obviously don't know the author but if she's anything like Norah, she's witty and funny because that's the manner in which the story was narrated. Norah fights with her mind and against depression every day and yet this book was not depressing at all. It was quite the opposite, it tickled my brain and made me smile. Below are a few excerpts to serve as example of how Louise coated Norah's musings with humour so effortlessly.

Ah yes, "this guy". Like most books that are about seventeen year old girls, there is a romance aspect. However, it isn't about how boy meets sick girl and magically cures her. No, I half expected it to turn out that way and I'm so glad it didn't - it's realistic, phew! Luke is the cute guy that moves in next door that you'd expect to be an ass but turns out to be a sweetheart. His curiousity about why Norah hardly ever leaves her house makes him want to get to know her and alas, a romance blossoms. The nice thing about seeing Norah in a relationship is that she does not turn out to be the needy sick girl, she tries to balance out the relationship by making sure she does not hold him back from living a normal life. No relationship is perfect though and despite Luke's efforts to prove his genuine care for Norah, she has insecurities. Norah's irrational fears and over-calculating causes her to self sabotage and makes it difficult for her to fully trust Luke and his intentions.

The book is 271 pages long and 200 pages in, I was beginning to wonder where the plot twist was. There are precisely 2 plot twists in this story close to the end, and as you've probably already guessed it, one of them involves Luke. I'm trying my best not to spoil anything for ya'll though so I'm going to leave it at that.

Fair warning, this book could be a trigger for those that self-harm. There isn't too much about it but there was enough to give me flash backs and remind me of what it used to feel like. Not-so-fun-fact about me: I used to self-harm in high-school. Don't worry, I don't see myself ever doing that again, I know better now.

The only criticism I have for this book is that I feel like it was cut short. I would have loved to read about Norah's progress and whether or not she got to visit other places or tried the things she wanted to. Also, why are there no fathers in this book? Norah's father is not present and Luke has a dad that "suffers" with wanderlust and is rarely around. Why? :s

Over all, this book was refreshing. It was a light read despite the weight of the issue and Gornall made it easy for anyone to relate to. I'd recommend it to anyone, I'm not sure a guy would read this considering how everything is written from the perspective of a girl but I'd still recommend it. One, because like I mentioned above, it would be great to be aware. We don't know what the person sitting next to us on the bus is going through, what more would we know about someone with a mental disorder if we didn't try to understand? Books like this give us the opportunity to learn about what it's like and how to treat people with mental disorders better. At least authors like Louise Gornall make it interesting to read about. One other thing I loved about Norah's story is the amount of love and care she received from the people around her. Another not-so-fun-fact about me: I have bipolar disorder. When I was first diagnosed, it was not easy coping. My family tried their best to be there for me but they didn't fully understand it. I remember being forced to take medicine that I knew was not helping and every now and then, my mom would freak out whenever I'd get just a little angry and would ask, "Are you sure you're not going crazy again?". Calling someone with a mental disorder, "crazy", is the last thing anyone should do. In my mind, I'd always think, "You want crazy? Ill show you crazy". I never said it out loud though, of course. Teehee. Then there were friends or people who weren't present and later on explained that they didn't know how to help and were afraid of doing the wrong thing. It obviously hurt in the beginning but later on, I understood why people didn't know what to do or say. My parents' generation didn't really believe in mental disorder so whatever mistakes they made was forgivable; they weren't ignorant, they just did not know. Even with all that I know right now, throw me in a psychiatric ward, do you think I'd know how to deal with every patient in there? No. Every case is different, we just need to make an effort to be informed. Read books like this one. :)

On a side note, have ya'll watched Shameless? Gornall's experience reminds me of the character Sheila Jackson who if I remember right, also suffered from agoraphobia. I watched it back in 2015 and I thought the depiction of her dealing with the disorder was exaggerated but it makes more sense now.

Would you read this book? Have you read other books with main characters with mental disorders? If you have, let me know in the comments here or on Instagram about which books they were and if you'd recommend I read them!