Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Summary:

She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But... they are brother and sister.

Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has also also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending.

Summary taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 454 pages (hardcover edition)

Source: Toronto Public Library

Publication Date: May 1st 2010

Okay I finished this book over a week ago and I am just now getting to my review. The book was such an intense read I needed time to let my thoughts simmer before I attempted to write a coherent review on it. This is probably one of the most uncomfortable reviews I've had to write simply because of the subject matter. Also, let me just say that I in no way approve of incest.

This book is about incest.

Seriously.

Brother & Sister = Love right? Sure, that makes sense. But not this kind of love. Well it makes sense how they fell in love but because of societal views it is wrong that they did. This book does not glorify incest in anway. I had to put that in there to be clear. It is not like other books that have incest in them such as How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff or books written by V.C. Andrews which I see it being compared to a lot.

Tabitha wrote an incredible love story, one that despite the whole incest issue I found myself hoping that through it all they would find they're happy ending. I was surprised at how good the book was. The author wrote it in such an awesome way it was as if I was really there in the book watching the scenes play out.

The way the author created the characters was great. They were well written and well rounded. They didn't fall flat. I really liked Maya and Lochan. They were such strong kids. It's unfortunate that they're mother was such a complete *beep* throughout the whole book. She abandons her children and starts acting like she doesn't have 5 mouths to feed alone and depends on Maya and Lochan to raise their siblings that she and their father laid down and made. I hate REAL people like that so it only seems fitting that I wanted to bash their mother's face into a brick wall and make her take care of the kids she made. *takes a deep breath*

That's what I loved about this book. It made me laugh, cry and fill me with rage and at the end filled me with anguish. To me that is a sign of an excellent writer. For me if a writer can make me feel so strongly and in so many different ways the book is that much more special. Whether or not this book is controversial means no never mind to me. All I was looking for was a great read and that's exactly what I got. Suzuma wrote a great novel about a controversial issue but she made me love the characters and feel their sadness and angst. It's a powerful read and one that made me feel disturbed, but happy that I read it. I even had tears at the end it was so moving, but I don't want to spoil it for you so you'll have to read it yourself.

I would definetly 100% recommend this book to YA lovers especially those who like realistic YA novels but I have to say that you have to go into reading this with an open mind. I personally loved it an am looking forward to reading this author's other books. This book is definately in my top 75 books of all time which says something since I generally don't like realistic YA novels.

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★ ★ ★ ★ ★