Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gordall

Under Rose-Tainted Skies

Author: Louise Gordall

Publisher: Clarion Books

Norah has agoraphobia and OCD. When groceries are left on the porch, she can’t step out to get them. Struggling to snag the bags with a stick, she meets Luke. He’s sweet and funny, and he just caught her fishing for groceries. Because of course he did.

Norah can’t leave the house, but can she let someone in? As their friendship grows deeper, Norah realizes Luke deserves a normal girl. One who can lie on the front lawn and look up at the stars. One who isn’t so screwed up. ~Goodreads

Okay. That tagline alone completely hooked me with this book. Like how freaking amazing does that sound? And then the synopsis? Like YES. PLEASE. This sounds SUPER freaking good.

I really enjoyed reading from Norah’s point of view. Not only is she quirky and sweet, she is honest and real about the everyday struggles that she faces. The way Louise touched on what it’s like to live with anxiety, OCD, and agoraphobia was spot on; I felt frustrated, confused, and anxious—right alongside Nora.

Nora’s mom was also just a doll. I’d totally read an adult spin-off about her! She's supportive and understanding and funny. I like when YA features good parents. A++ job!

As for Luke, I wanted to love him. I really did. If you know me, you know, I’m a fictional boy whore and I’ll jump on almost any fictional boy train and I will ride basically any YA ship into any YA shit storm or YA sunset. But for some reason, Luke was just different to me. I liked him, he was interesting….he was, there….but I feel like I never truly connected with him.

Overall, the plot was unique and fairly strong, lots of adorable and important moments sprinkled throughout! I do have to say that about ¾ of the way through the story started to drag a bit for me. I felt as though there was a lot of repetition and no more story line enhancements.

With all of that being said, I think that Under Rose-Tainted Skies was a cute little debut and I definitely look forward to reading more from Louise in the future!