Bookreview: 'Forbidden' by Tabitha Suzuma

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.

Heartbreaking. Deeply sad. Differently romantic. But forbidden.

„At what point do you give up – decide enough is enough? There is only one answer really. Never.“ - Lochan

When you think about forbidden love, what comes to your mind? An older man and an underage girl? A teacher and a student? But would you even think of a brother and a sister?

This book is about a whole new level of forbidden love. It goes beyond the usual understanding of something forbidden. Two siblings who love each other so deeply that they take all the risks.

Lochan and Maya grew up with three younger siblings, always taking care of them while their alcoholic mother was out working, drinking or celebrating. After their dad left the family for another woman, Maya and Lochan did all the work: school, home, siblings. When one day something changes between Lochan and Maya and they discover their feelings for each other.

A brother and a sister falling in love. It's against the law, against society's imagination of love, against everything that love should be.

It was pretty obvious that there couldn't be a happy ending to a story like this. The whole book is full of twisted emotions, affections and love. The process during the story is expected yet surprising. Tabitha Suzuma describes their emotions, feelings and affections in a refreshing, lovely way. It wasn't in a disgusting way, like you might think of when you hear about siblings being in love. It was so much more but at the same time it always comes back to that one fact: They are siblings! What they're doing is forbidden.

It's gut-wrenching and deeply sad, even if you knew all along that there'd barely be a happy ending. But the end of the book was surprising, and during the story I thought about a lot of possible endings and this was none of it! It leaves the reader thinking about how precious love is, how cruel it can be and what it can do to people.

„She loves me too much. She loves me too much. I so wanted her love, all of it. I got my wish... and now we are both paying the price.“ - Lochan