Under Rose-Tainted Skies, by Louise Gornall

I never came across the word, agoraphobia until I read Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall. I ended up googling the word agoraphobia and it basically means fear of places and situations that might cause panic, helplessness, or embarrassment. It's an anxiety disorder where you think the places you go to are unsafe and unable to get away and most people experience panic attack.

I can imagine that someone with agoraphobia doesn't have lots of friends. Maybe online, they may have friends. Social media, for example, might connect them to the outside world, because it's pretty much impossible for them to meet up with friends or invite them over.

In this story, it revolves around Norah's struggles to live her life with agoraphobia, anxiety, and OCD. I thought these mental health issues were all portrayed really well and weren't simply "cured" overnight because she met a cute guy. The guy is more of what leads her to work on everything more instead of what makes it all magically go away. Nothing felt too cheap and unrealistic in this story.

There were a few relationships Norah had, were done really nicely. I loved that moment when Norah realized that she'd become best friends with her mother, which is something that definitely sounds familiar. Her friendship with her neighbor, Luke also develops naturally.

My favorite part was that, even though there was a love interest and a romantic plot, love did not cure all. Luke is an incredible love interest and is so supportive but he doesn't attempt to cure her. I can't even tell you how much I dislike books that deal with mental health being easily solved by love. Love does not cure mental illnesses. Sure, they can definitely help but they do not cure it. *JK*