Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

"You've always been my best friend, my soul mate, and now I've fallen in love with you too. Why is that such a crime?"
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.


I have so much praise for this book. Of course when I first read the blurb I was curious - I mean, as it often says in the book, falling in love with a sibling is taboo. Any other kind of sexual incest relationship is more socially accepted than this. At first, I thought the siblings had been seperated at birth, and then reunited when they were older - or that they were half-siblings, or even step-siblings. But no - Maya and Lochan are pure brother and sister, and they have grown up together side-by-side, looking after their family of five children while their father is with his new family in Australia, and their mother has abandoned them for her boyfriend. It is understandable how they fall in love, and you cannot help but practically befriend the characters themselves. Suzuma writes in such a way that it feels like you are literally right there with them, living their lives alongside them. You feel yourself developing a bond and a soft-spot for the two main characters, as well as their other siblings Kit, Tiffin and Willa. However, the only fault I find is that although it was better with two POV's, it got incredibly confusing sometimes, because of how alike the characters are portrayed. I sometimes found myself thinking I was reading a Maya chapter, but found out a couple of pages in that it was actually Lochan. But despite this, the book was beautiful and heartbreaking, especially at the last 50 pages, where everything seems to go downhill for not just the two characters, but for the whole family, and you will find yourself in tears as you read the last two or three chapters. But despite the sad finish to the book, it is also sort of happy, and leaves you with a mildly satisfying feeling that for the characters, everything will be okay. I strongly recommend this book, because it is not only a good story, but it will really change how you view certaint things in your life.
Rating:5/5