Author: Tabitha Suzuma
Genres: contemporary ya, drama, family
Summary: 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.
(Hey followers of Jane Speare at Much Ado About Books. Much thanks to her for posting my review here! I hope you like it.)
Heartbreaking!
This book was probably one of the best all a round books I've ever read. I would say that everyone should read it, but that is not true. Not everyone can fully enjoy this book (enjoy thats not the word, except).
Before reading:
I was bored in yearbook and logged on to Goodreads. I looked through my recommend books from this site. I saw Forbidden there, I read the summery and was instantly intrigued. Why, you may ask. It's a story about a bother and sister romance. Yeah well sometimes I like twisted stories like that. It makes me think. How can it work out? What will the ending be like? -I'm one of those people who are very good guessers and can usually guess the ending of a book or a movie. So one in which I cannot guess the ending excites me.
I marked this book to read in February, and it has be lingering in the back of my mind since, saying read me, read me, you want to know what happens!
So a week ago a gave in and put it on hold at the library. It came in a few days after that and I picked it up on Friday. Saturday (yesterday) I started it. And today (Sunday) I finished it!
One thing is that this story is very different from my normal reads. Honestly their is no action, and the story progresses at a slow rate. Normally I hate that in a book. But for this one I couldn't put it down, not for a minute. It pained me that I had to sleep and do my chores on Sunday (today), and I had to make sure I ate considering I missed two meals on Saturday because of this book.
NOTE
This book is not for everyone! It deals with not only a brother and sister relationship, but a completely screwed up family.
And as a warning, there is a very graphic part of this book...(and I'm not talking a bloody sort of graphic).
I would say this book is for older teens and up. If I were to rate this in movie ratings it would defiantly be R. (being 17 I guess thats no big for me). But defiantly for mature only!
I also think being an only child helped with this book not bothering me as much in the relationship part.
So here we go...
This book takes place in London. Which I didn't figure out until the third chapter, I think. (The one problem with that is they said soccer, in England, Europe, pretty much everywhere except the U.S. soccer is called football. Sorry but it bothered me.)
The Whitely's are a broken family to say the least. Their parents got married because their mum was pregnant with Lochan. The couple and four more kids, then their dad left. He was sick of their mum. He moved to Australia with a new wife and that was that, they never heard form him again, -well for a few years they got calls and birthday presents but soon that stopped as well as the child support. (The story takes place five years after their father left.) The mum- now at first I tried, I mean I really tried, to give her the benefit of the doubt. But she is a class A bitch, pardon my language but I hate that alcoholic slut! She never wanted kids and blames them for everything, especially Lochan, because she got pregnant with him! She expects Lochan and Maya to take care of the three younger ones Kit, Tiffin, and Willa. She is a sunken partier at 40 something and dates these guys who will never marry her. She is almost never home.
Lochan is the oldest he is 17 a senior in high school. He also is extremely shy. It's more than shy he has an extreme phobia. He gets panic attacks. He never talks or looks at anyone outside of his family. Maya is 16 and beautiful. She is a junior in high school. She is a good liar, she fakes that she is just like the other kids when she is not. Together Lochan and Maya raise their younger siblings. Kit is 13 and a rebel. He is so distraught about his fathers gone and he hates that his brother is in charge so he rebels. At the beginning of this book you see that he is about at the peak of his rebellion. (Just have to add this, my favorite line of the whole book is said my Kit "F***-a-doodle-doo" haha) I loved seeing how this was effecting him, being at such a young and impressionable age it was truly hard for him. I also loved seeing him change in little ways so you could see that he really was not all bad, just had a terrible childhood. Tiffin is 8 I believe. And he is a big soccer star. He is a typical 8 year old. He wants to play video games, eat too much candy and play with his friends. Last is young Willa only 5. She was a baby when her father abandoned them, so she has no memory of him. She is sweet and kind. Adorable. And has to deal with too much at her age. Due to her brothers being a hand full for Lochan and Maya, Willa does not nearly get enough attention.
Lochan and Maya have taken on the role of parents. Growing up the two (being only 13 months apart in age) were best friends. And all their lives they have been there for one another, through everything. They fell in love and honestly who can blame them they were practically married, taking care of three children.
Now I get it, its sick and wrong. But they know that and they try to stop the relationship, only to cause a major depression. They are lonely and distraught. Everything that has happened to them has caused them to come to this.
Thought the book I found myself conflicted. Because I know its wrong for them to be together, but I wanted them to work out. Because they deserved to be happy, after everything they deserve it!
Sometimes I myself forgot that they were siblings. The romance between them was sweet. It wasn't cheesy like Twilight or anything. It was real. Their love felt real, the worst part was they had to hide it, be ashamed of it and fear it. They are the worst kind of star-crossed lovers, or forbidden lovers. This is no vampire human relationship or rich and poor relationship. This is a brother and sister who share a unique kind of love.
Before I talk about the ending I'm gonna talk about the writing. Tabitha Suzuma captured my heart and tormented it. Loved her writing, I loved hearing both Lochan and Maya's thoughts (thats my favorite in a romance to see the boy and the girls side). It was beautifully written.
The ending is so heartbreaking I couldn't breath. And even though I finished the book hours ago I can still feel the threat of tears.
Now here comes the controversy. In history (Royalty) marrying siblings or cosines was ok to keep the thrown in the family, keep the bloodline pure. Now its against the law, but is it the laws place to tell us who we are to love? I understand birth defects are a problem with this situation. But Lochan and Maya don't want kids, they raised their siblings for god sakes. Should they be aloud to love each other? I think yes.
I just finished this book and already I want to read it again! Honestly this may be the best book I've ever read! and thats saying something.
-I feel bad because my friend has been trying to get me to read this book for her book club tomorrow and I'm 1/4 though it, but this book has just grabbed me too much, sorry Jane.
I think I'm gonna reread this before I give it back to the library!
5 stars no question!
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*claps* Thanks Rishelle!
