Review: Forbidden

Title: Forbidden
Author: Tabitha Suzuma
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Source: Publisher
Release Date: June 28th, 2011
★★★★★

Summary
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. – goodreads.com

Review
I don’t even know where to start with this book… It’s amazing, heartbreaking, tragic, beautiful, and perfect. My review, and the 5 stars I give it, will not do it justice. I was so emotionally torn up after reading this… There was no possible way I could write a review. That would mean that the story was over, that it was done, and the idea of such a thing left me utterly heartbroken. Now, a day later, I finally stop tearing up at just the thought of it.

First let me say, this is about incest, a very touchy subject for most people. But, I can promise you, if you open your mind and your hearts to the characters you will not be disappointed. I started reading this out of pure curiosity and out of a desire to have my beliefs challenged. And challenged they were.

My favorite thing about this book was the characters, especially Lochan. If the entire book was written from his point of view I would have been fine with it. His struggle, seemed much worse to me than Maya’s. Not only was he dealing with providing and caring for the family, but he also had a crippling social anxiety that prevented him from communicating with people he didn’t know well and from speaking in class. He was the most selfless character in the book… He was always putting his family before himself, unlike the mother who was rarely present, and hung-over when he was. She frustrated me so bad! I hate her… I hate her SO much. And I blame her too… For everything. I loved cute little Willa, Tiffin, and rebellious Kit. They weren’t the perfect family, but as I was reading it, they were mine…. they were real.

Suzuma’s writing pulled me into the story in ways that I never thought I could be. Her writing was just so… real. When Lochan was having his panic attacks, I was right there with him, pulse increasing and eyes bulging. When he was breaking down…. so was I… It was a wonderful and terrible thing to become so invested in these characters, particularly Maya and Lochan. I felt for them and empathized with them… I wanted them to be happy. I wanted them to be together without shame or guilt.

Even knowing this book was not going to have a happy ending, I kept hoping, wishing, and praying that it would.That maybe Maya and Lochan would go get a blood test and find out they weren’t brother and sister. It never happened… but I continued to hope. The ending of this story was so shocking and came up on me so fast, that it absolutely ripped me apart. I was helpless. Forbidden has devastated me. It has left me with a gaping hole in my chest. I feel so empty and lost that I truly believe this story will haunt me forever.

I can’t recommend Forbidden to everyone, particularly young readers, because of the subject matter, but for anyone who is willing to invest themselves emotionally, I strongly, strongly, recommend this…

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