Book Review: Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

'How can something so wrong feel so right?'

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma
Goodreads -- Amazon

SYNOPSIS:
Sixteen-year-old Maya and seventeen-year-old
Lochan have never had the chance to be
'normal.' Having pulled together for years to
take care of their younger siblings while their
wayward, drunken mother leaves them to fend
alone, they have had to become much more
than simply 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...


**NOTE: IMO, Forbidden is not
suitable for younger readers.**

So... First of all let me say: WOW! Like HOLY-you know what-! I had heard great things about this book, but I definitely wasn't expecting to love it the way I did.

I'm not sure why i was expecting the book to just start out in the middle of craziness and for everything to be like full blown just happening, but it wasn't like that. It didn't have a whole lot of back story, which was fine, but I knew what was going on. It took a lot longer than I was hoping for, for the plot to really get going.

The very beginning was really boring. I suppose I was expecting more conflict and problems, but it just seemed like a bad mother and the siblings trying to do the right thing. And then, it really picked up! And there was a whole bunch of stuff going on... Everything from their mom really messing up, to sibling rivalry, to school problems... It was actually perfect for how we knew the story would go.

So, we all know this book is about a brother and sister falling in love, no spoilers there, it's in the synopsis. Something I didn't like was Maya did too much explaining on why they couldn't be together or how they could lie about it and then they would be happy. I understand those were her feelings and essential parts of the book, but sometimes it just kept going on for pages and pages. It was just a smidgen too much for me. Eventually, I just started to skim the pages waiting or her to be done.

I think Lochan was a very lovable character. He was loving, fun, smart and also very shy. He would and did do anything in his power to help his siblings and keep the family together, and so did Maya, it just broke my heart thinking of how these kids were living their life. Even more because I know there are real families in situations like this. Maya was great also, she cared so deeply about trying to keep the family together and for the little ones to feel happy and not as if the family was falling apart. She tried hard to be a normal teenager, hanging out with her friends at school, getting the latest gossip. It was fabulous!

So let's talk about the last quarter or so of the book.... Wow! I honestly didn't see any of that happening. I thought it was going to go completely different, but after it all happened, I thought it fit very well. Made perfect sense. All I can say about this book is READ IT! READ IT NOW!

It is quite a touchy subject, but it's a great read! I give it 4 stars. The only reason it didn't get 5 is because of the little bit of boring-ness in the beginning and the little bit of over explaining.


I've inserted a little quote I saved while reading the book. In this scene Maya and Lochan are arguing, it was very intense and really powerful. What she said and how she said it made me think- "WHOA!" Enjoy!

'Oh, it's all about you!' I scream at him, sobs threaten-
ing to explode in my throat. 'This whole thing - it's al-
ways been about you! What will people think? How will I
look? How might I be judged? Whatever feelings once
existed between us clearly mean nothing to you compared
to your pathetic fear of other people's narrowminded,
bigoted, parochial prejudices that you once despised
but now adopt as your own!'


Have a good day!