Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Book review #55
Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma
Rating: Five stars

Summary: (taken from Goodreads)
Sixteen-year-old Maya and seventeen-year-old Lochan have never had the chance to be 'normal' teenagers. Having pulled together for years to take care of their younger siblings while their wayward, drunken mother leaves them to fend alone, they have become much more than brother and sister. And now, they have fallen in love. But this is a love that can never be allowed, a love that will have devastating consequences ...How can something so wrong feel so right?

I don't think words can really describe this book or how I really feel about it. Forbidden evokes so many different emotions all at once. Reading the summary, I wasn't really sure if I could handle it. I thought I would be super uncomfortable the whole time. But I wasn't. Without a doubt Forbidden is probably one of the hardest books I've ever read, but it was definitely worth it.

Forbidden is centered around a struggling family consisting of children Tiff and Willa, teenagers Kit, and the elders Maya and Lochan. Their dad isn't in the picture and their mom makes it home on occasional, but is usually hungover. Maya and Lochan have taken over the role of the parents. They cook, transport the kids to school, read them bedtime stories etc. Together they become something much more than brother and sisters, but providers, best friends, and lovers? With each others love and support the two really keep the family together, but one can only be strong for so long...

All of the characters were just so precious, well aside for the nasty mom and Kit who had his rebellious moments. Maya and Lochan were such a great people with bright futures, but are held back by their responsibility. Maya was so sweet and heart-felt. And Lochan was so dependable, the rock of the family. He definitely had issues socially, but nothing that can't be overcome. I really felt Maya and Lochan's frustrations. How can something SO wrong, be oh so right? All I know for sure was that I wanted them to be happy. It's really hard to not root for them. Oh and Tiff and Willa were so innocent and cute. I couldn't imagine growing up like them.

You got to see both Maya and Lochan's point of view, which I was so grateful for. It was nice to see where each character was coming from. The writing was seriously amazing. I fell in love with it. The descriptions were so vivid and strong. There were times I had to reread parts to understand what was really going on. As I already mentioned, this is a very hard book to read. It will make you think really hard...really hard about the difference between right and wrong. I had to read this book over a few days, because of how much it was affecting me. It literally took over my day, I couldn't stop thinking about it. The book, the characters, just about everything will stay with you for a very long time if not forever. 

Forbidden is a very serious book, that really changed my outlook on things. I learned to not be so judgmental. I feel bad about how horrid my reaction was to this book before he picking it up. Forbidden is heart-breaking, painful, and definitely amazing. I have SO much respect for the author for tackling such a hard subject and doing is so wonderful. Forbidden is a book that was needed to be written. I sincerely recommend giving this one a try. But definitely not to younger readers, not only because of the inappropriate scenes, but you have to be mature enough to handle this one. Oh and as a warning, definitely have the tissues nearby.