Forbidden by: Tabitha Suzuma

Forbidden by: Tabitha Suzuma
Published: June 28, 2011
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Page Count: 464
Format: ebook
Series: None
Buy the Book: Amazon

Summary from Goodreads:

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.

My Review:

    How do I start this?
  
   Let me begin by saying what I was feeling during the first couple chapters and even before I began the book. The idea of a brother and sister having an intimate relationship was repulsing and creepy, and I had never heard of a book revolving around such disgusting nonsense. At the same time I figured there had to be some reason that Hyperion published it, right? So, I decided that giving it a chance was the best thing to do because if I didn't, it would be nagging at me until I did.
   I will analyze this book thouroughly and as best I can.
    The beginning and the first few chapters seemed pretty normal and somewhat slowgoing. I was paying special attention to the character development of Maya and Lochan, however, which made it interesting to read.
   They are basically homemakers all by themselves. Their mom still acts like an irresponsible teenager and they are always fighting to try and not have their younger siblings picked up by child services. The way it switches percspectives helped me in feeling exactly what the two of them were going through.
   Their more intimate relationship developed both slowly and suddenly. It took them both by surprise, like they had been denying there was ever anything more than family between them. They were utterly confused. It didn't make sense that they should feel anything more than a familial bond. It weighs on them so much, what they have started to realize and what refused to be ignored. They were in love and could tell no one. Anyone who knew would judge them automatically as being sick and perversed for even entertaining the idea.
   Both Maya and Lochan were tearing themselves apart, thinking there was something wrong with them. Surprisingly, in the middle of the book, I felt like yelling in there faces that there was absiolutely nothing wrong with them, that they were really and impossibly in love.
   This book taught me an important life lesson. A lot of the time, I judge people or situations automatically after acknowledging them. Now, if ever I hear about a situation like the one in this book or a simple news story, I will not judge the people involved or begin to assume anything about them or their situation. Thanks, Tabitha Suzuma, for teaching this to me and your other readers.
     I must praise Tabitha Suzuma on writing this novel so artfully. If anyone had to write a book on the very controversial subject of incest, she was the one for it.