To Be Published Jan. 3rd, 2017
320 Pages
Norah has agoraphobia and OCD. She can’t leave the house and her weekly visits to the doctor causing mental and physical exhaustion, that leaves her like a puddle. One day while she is trying to get the groceries from the front porch using a stick, her new neighbor, Luke spots her and a friendship begins to build.
Unaccustomed to these new emotions, Norah wonders if she can let Luke in or if he deserves a normal girl, unlike her.
I’ve been itching for this book for a while and was too happy when I was approved for it via Netgalley. This book was everything I had hoped for in other books detailing mental health with young adults.
Firstly, in the beginning of this book, it did remind me of Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon (my favorite!) but it quickly developed into something different, something on its own. The summary makes it seem like this entire book is about a romance but it isn’t. I mean its there but it isn’t the only thing that should be paid attention to.
It was realistic; obviously this is a contemporary book. But what I mean is that it was believable. The author did not shy away from being detailed and did not shy away from the agony of emotion that Norah felt. Not only did I feel for her, I felt with her. The author was able to grasp “dating” from someone who only lets her mother touch her in such a cute and frustrating way. While reading this, I didn’t feel that there needed to be more details, the pace was perfect and Luke was too good to be true.
I liked Norah. She wasn’t just her illness. She was smart, sarcastic, caring with a hint of sensitivity. Norah didn’t have a whole lot going on with her personality but that is to be expected when you don’t leave your house.
I did at one point feel that the author may have done too much with feeding into Norah’s paranoia. Other than that, I cannot complain about this book. It was a realistic interpretation of mental illness and the fear of people not accepting you, believing you and helping you. While also throwing in there some cute cute first love.
This was a perfect read and I highly recommend it to people who are even remotely interested in mental illness from fiction viewpoint.
5 Pickles
Motif by Tanya 