FORBIDDEN by TABITHA SUZUMA ; Book Review

Publication date: May 27th 2010
Publisher: Definitions
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 432
Goodreads description: 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 grown up fast. And the stress of their lives- and the way they understand each other so completely- has also brought them closer thank 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.

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The first thing that came into my mind after knowing what this book was about was that the author was brave. Brave to touch such subject matter. Incest isn't a topic you find in books that often. In fact, you can rarely find them. It's nice to know that someone out there want to get this subject discussed and isn't afraid to write about it.

It felt so real. The characters were real. They were people taken out from this world and put into this book. It was amazing and mind boggling how real everything felt. Every character was well thought out. They had depths that reaches the bottom of the ocean. 

Lochan was strong. How he held himself together throughout the whole obstacles his family was facing. He showed me love for family. His love for his brother Kit and how he cares for him knowing how much Kit loathes the family. Maya mirrors Lochan with her love for the whole family. How they held the  Tabitha Suzuma makes you forget that they're siblings. You know it's not right but why does it feel right? I was rooting for both of them as they face these challenges and struggles of their relationship. This book makes you think whether they grew out because of the wrecked family they have or is it purely love? Thoughts like these stay with the readers that stirs up uncertainty. 

Tabitha Suzuma's writing is captivating. The way she plays with words to show the feelings of the characters makes you think that you are feeling it and you are the character. My untouched emotions was dived into by these characters. How Tabitha Suzuma shows the sadness and loneliness of these characters makes me wonder whether she has felt these emotions because they were so real. I'm not gonna lie, I have found a handful of difficult words while reading this book. A dictionary is always needed.  

It made me think about how people look at incest. Hearing that word would probably make you cringe or shudder in disgust. But incest happens around us. Why not talk about it? If love is love then why are people against it? If the relationship is consensual and real, what's wrong about it? Thoughts like these invades the minds of the readers. It made me think about the past. Wherein people who are homosexual get executed or get sent to jail for loving a person who has the same sex as them. 

I don't want to say more for maybe I'll drop some spoilers. This book taught me the true meaning of love and sacrifice. Of patience. That being alone with your own thoughts could destroy a person. It taught me about living once again. Of pushing those walls away and experience the fresh air that you have kept away. And that even the strongest person has their own breaking point. This book wrecked me to pieces. It killed me slowly. This book did not feel like a book to me. It was so much more. 

5/5 BANANAS