I don't have access to the book anymore. I have been using a new email for kindle for the last year. I will focus on new books instead of digging for the old files. I apologize for the inconvenience. It's not my intention to not review like this.

This book was beautifully written and it really touched upon the issues of agoraphobia, anxiety and self-harm. I loved all the characters in the story and I highly recommend it.

This was a beautifully written and did a great job of describing mental health issues of agoraphobia, anxiety and self-harm. Norah, is the teenager protagonist who has been home found for years due to the aforementioned. Luke is the new kid on the block who meets a young girl who intrigues him. The author did a fabulous job of expressing some on the mental health issues she has dealt with in her own life time. I loved the probabilities that are offered at the end of the book for ways of dealing with her disabilities.

---Warning. Self harm practiced in book.---

>>>Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a free copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.>>>

I absolutely love the water color look of the cover, it caught my eye right away. It's a great YA book about fears, self-harm, and metal health.

RECEIVED AN ARC FROM NETGALLEY (FYI I’m waaay late in reading and reviewing)

I found this book really hard to read because I suffer from anxiety/panic attacks and since the author suffers from mental illness she knows EXACTLY what she’s writing about and it is so realistic it can be triggering. More than once I had to put the book down when I noticed my heart rate speeding up and my breathing getting shallow. Honestly though, watching her go through all that was just exhausting. The never ending fight with yourself, and knowing day after day that that fight will continue. I’m not sure I buy into the romance part of the story ...because a high school boy willing to give up everything...uhhh...one in a million maybe. But I think this would be helpful to give hope to teenagers also struggling with severe mental illness. Even in fiction the boy is no magical cure, although he is a catalyst for medication...but fiction.

Norah has such severe anxiety, she has difficulty even leaving her house. When a new (cute!) boy moves in next door and shows an interest, she's faced with pushing him away or facing her issues.

This is a sensitive look at teen mental illness -- OCD, anxiety, agoraphobia, self-harm. There are no easy answers here, no magical cure (thank goodness!) so the storyline feels authentic. The "romance' is sweet, gentle, and (again) realistic. Norah really wants to have a relationship with Luke, but her illness gets in the way. The author's descriptions of Norah's episodes and reactions are gut-wrenching and heartbreaking.

I loved this book! I hope it finds its way to every library's 'YA section and into the hands of lots & lots of teen readers. It might be classified as a romance, but this is not "chick lit". I think it will appeal to teens of all genders.

Norah is a such a thorny but beautiful rose, while Luke is probably the nicest guy in the fictional world. And I must say, the book's thriller of an ending is nothing short of perfection. This #OwnVoices novel really deepened my understanding of the complexities of mental illness, so I would be more than happy to reread it someday.

I am sorry to say that I didn't get a chance to read this title before it expired from my e-reader. :(

Great story! I enjoyed the first person storytelling of this interesting read about a young woman who never leaves her home. I found the book to be intense and the characters to be very likeable. Would reccomend.

This book was just way too much for me. The main character didn't garner any sympathy for her mental illness, rather I just found myself pushing her away in book-form. She suffers from extreme OCD and agoraphobia and cannot leave her house or conduct basic daily activities on her own. Even yet, her mother leaves her alone for most of the book to go on a business trip. If your kid can't survive on their own, why would you leave them? This book reminded me a lot of EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING as there is a new boy who moves in next door and the main character can't leave her house but wants to fall in love with him. I didn't find the mental health rep to be positive. I thought it was hurtful if anything.

I really loved this book. I fell for Norah right away and rooted for her the entire time. The author did such a good job with showing us the setting from Norah's POV, and showing Norah's bravery, her inner struggles, her angst, and her strength. And the next door neighbor--Luke--was such a great guy.

I think my favorite part was watching Norah grow and cheering for her. A beautiful book. I'd recommend this to anyone.

This was an unexpected surprise. I felt that Norah was super relatable, and the her voice was just so genuine. Overall, I really enjoyed all the characters. My only issue is I felt the ending was a bit abrupt, but it worked well for the story, and didn't affect how I felt about the novel in general.

Though I was declined for an ARC, I wanted to review this once I got my hands on a copy.
An intriguing and heartfelt read. Norah's conditions impact hugely on her life, and she was portrayed as such a courageous character.

This is my first book reading about mental health in YA and it left a lasting impression. It has made me want to venture more with novels about mental health and characters dealing with mental health.

I really enjoyed seeing Norah's perspective and the way that she dealt with her mental health. I'm not completely own voices, I did relate to some of what Norah was dealing with. I appreciated and felt that the author delivered in a way that was realistic. There's was also a very heartfelt element to the story that just made me care so much about Norah and even Luke.

The story between Norah and Luke was sweet. It was refreshing to see a more realistic perspective in the way that Norah didn't lose any part of herself in Luke. It was realistic to see Norah deal with both her mental health and developing a relationship with Luke and seeing where those two parts of herself could or could not fit together.

I really loved Louise Gornall's writing. Norah was snarky and multi-dimensional. All that characters were written so well. I loved the general flow and pacing of the story. I completely devoured every word and loved every minute of it. I wanted to take the story slow and enjoy every minute, yet I also wanted to find out what happens.

Overall, I really loved this story and writing. I feel so lucky to have gotten to read from Norah's story and so thankful to Louise Gornall for writing a character that I related to when it felt like no one could understand what goes on in my head.

An amazing, heartfelt fictional account of a teenage girl suffering from OCD. This portrayal felt so real and raw. I loved it and was broken by it. I could feel Nora's anxiety and sympathized with her especially as she wished she could change or get better.

Nora's mom was perfect in this story as well. She is a strong presence in Nora's life, getting Nora the help she needs but also being there for Nora as a parent and a confidant. And Luke. At first I was a little afraid this would be girl meets boy, boy miraculously fixes girl. But it wasn't. Instead, while Luke may serve as the catalyst for some things (good and bad), his role showed more the acceptance of those with mental illness. He didn't judge Nora and was there for her in whatever way she allowed him to be while still seeing her as a person and not a stigma.

Overall, wonderfully written and highly recommend.

I read this as soon as I was approved on Netgalley months ago, fell in love, squealed over it, and got buried in other stuffs. *sigh* The lack of spoons is killin’ me.

I first heard about this book through Twitter. I quickly followed the [author] and love how she brightens up my TL. If you can’t read this book, for whatever reason, following her is still a great idea, IMHO.

Trigger Warning: Self-harm, Panic Attacks, Violence,

I don't have agoraphobia, just an aversion to people as an introvert and a lack of ability to go out due to depression that up until a year ago was untreated. My lowest point was a stretch of 4 years where I could hardly get out of bed, let alone work and function.

This however is nothing like what Nora is going through. Equating experiences

Agoraphobia is wildly different and is vividly described. The abundance of metaphors and detailed style might be a turnoff for some.


The Mental Health Rep: Brilliant. Accurate.

As a former cutter, those scenes were on point and shows a side not many see or show. Love the positive therapy portrayal and the therapist being so understanding, helpful, and accommodating, It’s an ongoing process. No miracle or savior. Just her working her ass off, taking care of herself, and slowly progressing.

Love how the internet and social media were incorporated.


The Romance:

She isn't saved by a guy or "fixed". She makes strides and progress on her own. She has a supportive mother and a therapist. She is medication resistant for common, understandable reasons.

To be honest, the romance could be removed and she'd still improve. The ending would be the same. It wouldn't be as sweet and swoony and adorable, but including that doesn't lessen her accomplishments. It doesn't make her less impressive for having a support system. It'd horrendous having to do it on your own and the odds of success drastically reduced.

I am glad it was included because it shows how important talking, and consent is. It shows how it should be done: depending on someone’s boundaries. Nora is touch averse, but a romantic and has dreams. However, if you’re looking for touch-averse representation beware because Norah constantly puts herself down as a “freak” and wanting to be “normal”.

It took little time for me to take this book and start reading it the moment it arrived in my mailbox, and from there on, I was instantly hooked.

Louise Gornall's writes from the heart and from experience, while also creating this fantastic and relatable character you will feel and care deeply about. Norah has Agoraphobia and OCD, two mental illnesses that have kept her inside her own house for years, and might keep her there forever. Then she meets her new neighbor, Luke, who sees beyond her mental health, tries to understand her for who she is while also seeing Norah in a new way she hadn't considered before.

The thing that resonated with me the most about Norah were her thoughts. As I read, I would honestly question myself because of how I saw myself reflected in her throughout most of the book. Though I understood that, as humans, we can get obsessive about things. But there are also people that, for medical reasons, go beyond that and need professional help to manage it, which would be OCD. This book is not a manual for that, but it does let the reader know about how this is like other sicknesses, the differences in cases, and to always seek help if you think you might need it, be it from a family member, a friend, and/or professionals.

Through the book we're able to see how these affect Norah to a deeper and broader level in all aspects of her life, and how she manages it or tries to. She's sassy, incredibly smart, caring for her mom, a fighter in her own way, and a dreamer, despite the limitations her mental illnesses may present her daily. She was a fully flesh-and-bones character that I wanted to protect from the world.

What also made this book an incredibly enjoyable read was the author creative use of language. Writing advice usually tells you to avoid using clichés in your writing, and Louise Gornall's book is the best example for this. She describes the most simple of things in poetic and imaginative ways that can have you laughing, crying, cringing, horrified, amazed, or all, with vivid imagery that will jump from the page.

I only have one minor concern towards the ending of the book that might be a spoiler, though I will refrain from giving any specific details. There is a common unhealthy misconception that some mental illnesses and traumas can be cured by "smiling more", "give it time as this is just phase", or, how it's seen in the book, putting the character in a life-or-death situation to have her overcome her OCD and Agoraphobia. I understand this was probably not the purpose of the author, as (view spoiler) Norah doesn't get magically cured, but it is somehow implied that she needed that particular push for her to finally take the final decision to treat her illnesses with pills and therapy. She was already attending therapy and was somehow getting to an end to treat certain things, but the main cataclysm didn't bode well with me as it's part of the stigma that surrounds mental illnesses, and thus keep promoting them somehow.

Again, I understand this was probably not the author's intention, and I also understand that it is a possible scenario in real life, plus it is somehow mended in the epilogue with the character's overall engagement and final resolution (which I love GREATLY <3). Personally, I suspected it would happen, even if it didn't seem to fit with the overall dynamic of the book when you throw some action into a mostly emotional/romantic book. I didn't mind it much, though I kept thinking "This is probably not real, this is made up. Oh holy shit, Norah has lost her mind no no no," which left me with something like whiplash when this life-or-death situation turns out to be true. I guess it had to do because it didn't quite fit with the rest, and again, what I mentioned above.

However, with that tiny glib out of the way, the rest of this book was amazing and loved to bits. I had been looking forward to reading it since last year and I'm glad I finally did. This is an #ownvoices book for mental illness representation, which I thought was incredibly great as it made Norah's voice and experience come out from the page even stronger, which I'm sure many will be able to identify with <3

Overall, this has been one of my favorite Romance Contemporary reads this year. With great family relationships (go great moms!), cute romantic moments, fighting fights, positive mental illness rep... Definitely, the kind of book to read on your commute or as you wait for class to start (guilty of this).

Rating: 4 stars

Here is my review: http://papertraildiary.com/book-review-rose-tainted-skies-louise-gornall/

I'm sorry. I wasn't able to read this book before it was archived, so I won't be able to review it.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Seventeen-year-old Norah suffers from anxiety, OCD, and agoraphobia. As a result, she has been home-schooled for the past four years and only leaves her house for her therapy appointments – even that is traumatic for her. Her only social interactions for the past 4 years have been only her mother, the company that brings food to the house, and following her old classmates’ lives on social media. However, when Luke moves in next door, that changes. Luke sees Norah for who she is beyond her mental health problems. As Luke and Norah grow closer, Norah struggles between being glad he’s in her life because she really likes him and feeling he deserves better than the relationship she can offer him.

Since the author deals with the same problems as her main character, this is a very real look into the life of someone dealing with agoraphobia and OCD. This was a very engaging read, and I found Norah to be a highly relatable character, even to someone who doesn’t have the same challenges she does. (However, the odd number of steps thing hit close to home; I am pretty sure staircases with an odd number of steps were created only to make our lives worse.) I loved how Luke was willing to meet Norah where she was and work to understand where she was coming from. The ending felt like a new beginning; I would love to know what happens to Norah over the next year or few years of her life.