Title: Forbidden 
Author: Tabitha Suzama
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: June 28, 2011
Hardcover: 464 pages
Where’d I Get It: Purchased

Synopsis (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 Thoughts: It has taken me quite some time to form my thoughts on this book.  I’ve even talked about it quite a few times with the husband and my dear friend Bree over at All The Books I Can Read. It’s one of those thought provoking, deep books that really makes you stop and ponder things.  When I expressed concern to my husband over reviewing a book about this particular topic, he said to me, “Good books frequently deal with uncomfortable topics”.  Well, that’s true.  And since that’s true, I’m just going to go ahead and review it.

Disclaimer: If you are uncomfortable with the topic of incest (well, we’re probably all uncomfortable with the idea of incest…) then stop reading and definitely don’t read this book.

Forbidden is an emotionally charged book.  It’s a story of loss, of heartache, of trials and tribulations that no child should ever have to go through, and it is the story of a love so fierce that nothing and no one can stand in its way.  The book is focused on a pair of siblings, Lochan and Maya, who have been mostly deserted by their parents (entirely by their father, and nearly completely by their mother) and who are having to not only exist themselves, but also raise their younger siblings.

It’s a tough, horrible situation and as someone who grew up with parents who loved her, I cannot fathom existing in the type of world these two had to deal with.  These two individuals are put through so much…

Tabitha Suzuma’s writing is so excellent, her story so poignant, her characters so undeniably lovable, that it makes a book about a hard topic very easy to read.  Forbidden is beautiful and heartbreaking.  Read it.

Rating: 4 of 5