Review: Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

There are simply... no words I can use to describe Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma.  At least none that would do the novel any kind of justice.  It tackles a subject matter that is extremely difficult to read about, and even more so to talk about:  incest.

She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But... they are brother and sister.

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

I actually finished this book well over a week ago, but could not bring myself to write a review on it.  What can I say?  How can I review a book that affected me so profoundly?  I just couldn't.  I still can't.  And honestly, the less the reader knows going in to the novel, the better.

“I think I’m going to die from happiness. I think I’m going to die from pain.” 

So, yeah, incest.  I was a bit worried about that delicate subject when I first came across this novel.  It sickened me.  I did not want to read it.  But I did, anyway, and I'm so glad; Forbidden sucked me in, and spit me out.

Am I okay with incest now?  No.  But I believe in Lochan and Maya's love.  Although taboo, yes, it was beautiful, and it was pure.  And yes, I rooted for them, I did.

This is not a book for everyone.  If you do not like reading about star-crossed lovers, you will not like this novel.  If you require a happy ending, do not read this novel.  And lastly, if you require to have coherent thoughts about a novel, skip this.  This book, if nothing else, will make you feel, and it will make you hurt.  You may not be able to articulate your feelings into words, much like me, but they are there nonetheless.  And even if you hate this novel, which you very well may, it will stay with you.  Highly recommended, and now one of my all-time favorites.