Forbidden Kindle Edition

First off, I read a lot of books based on their reviews, but there are some stories that receive endless praise that I have had to force myself to finish because I lost interest within the first 5 chapters. Then there are the stories I randomly stumble upon and will stay up all night on a work night to finish because putting the book down is physically painful. Forbidden definitely falls under the latter category for me. Although I read a lot of book reviews, I have never felt a need or desire to leave a review myself until this particular book. From what I gathered before actually reading Forbidden, I knew it was going to be a heartbreaking story so I was already mentally prepared for that. What I wasn't prepared for was the gut wrenching intensity of the last few chapters! Up until the end, I had vague ideas of how the book would turn out but I was completely thrown with how it actually ended. In an unexpected way, the author actually made me understand Maya and Lochan's relationship and I found myself not judging them for their choices, but feeling able to comprehend why they turned toward each other.

If you find yourself sensitive to any kind of taboo relationship or other "scandalous" situations, this book isn't for you. I don't feel like you can grasp the true emotion from this book if you have a hard time looking past your beliefs for the sake of a story. I was hesitant at first because of the incestuous relationship but felt I needed to give it a shot and have an open mind, and I am so glad I did.

The kind of books that I fall in love with are the kind that make me physically feel the emotion portrayed within the pages regardless of genre or subject matter. This book was definitely that for me and my thoughts will drift back to this story for quite a while. I recommend this book to anyone who longs for that passion that only a well written story can bring.

I saw this book circulating on a few blogs a while ago and I knew I had to read it. It sounded dark, twisted, heartbreaking and controversial– definitely something I would be interested in! This book deals with the extremely taboo subject of incest. This book took an issue that I consider to be very black and white, and made it all murky and gray. Let me be clear: while I was definitely disturbed by the subject matter, the author handled Maya and Lochan’s relationship with such sensitivity and thoroughness that I understood how they got there. I didn’t agree with it, but the wrongness of their relationship didn’t make it any less heartbreaking. We grow to care about two very broken people, and watch as their relationship develops, knowing it can’t lead anywhere good.

Being together, we harm nobody; being apart, we extinguish ourselves.
The book is told through alternating points of view so we intimately get to know Lochan and Maya. They grew up in a broken home with an absent, emotionally abusive alcoholic mother. Not only do Lochan and Maya have to be totally independent, but they also have to care for their three younger siblings. This strange family structure forces Lochan and Maya to act as parental figures as they work together to raise their family.

While I felt for Lochan, he was an extremely difficult character to read about. Between his inability to talk to anyone (other than family) without having a panic attack and his sore below his lip from constant chewing and rubbing, I could feel the tension and anxiety coming off of the pages. Poor Lochan, he really struggled in this story. All he wanted to do was care for his family but his body and his mind were often against him. Lochan’s inability to socialize caused him to be ostracized and he was extremely lonely- the only person he cared about was his sister, Maya. She was really the only person he could be himself around. There were a few other disturbing aspects to Lochan’s character, such as his tendency to violent outbursts, that honestly made me uncomfortable to read about. Lochan is clearly a disturbed character but I couldn’t help but feel for him.

Maya has similar struggles, but seems to cope better than Lochan in some respects. She also has to play the role of mother to her three younger siblings and sometimes the only thing holding her together is Lochan’s support. Lochan is her partner in every way and he eventually becomes something more, despite how wrong both of them know it is to pursue a relationship. And that’s the thing that was so hard about this book- they knew it was wrong. They were disturbed and didn’t understand why they felt the way they did. And the sexual tension in this book was crazy, as disturbing as it may have been.

This book gave me the feels. I was angry with their mother, I was disturbed by Lochan and Maya’s relationship but I grew attached to them and also wanted them to be happy. I was frustrated and confused by Lochan’s character, and I was heartbroken by the ending. This book will take you for an emotional ride! This was certainly a heavy book to read, but I didn’t bawl my eyes out like I have in the past with other books (I’m looking at you, Colleen Hoover). However, it was absolutely heart-wrenching and I definitely needed a light book after finishing it. I highly recommend this book if you want to be challenged in your current way of thinking and if you want to see a well-thought out story on a very taboo subject.

A brother & sister supposedly fall for each other over the trauma and teamwork of raising their younger siblings together. But the thing is, neither have an after school job and mom, the emotionally unavailable and out all night having fun parental figure, somehow holds down a job well enough for the bills to get paid and the kids to go grocery shopping. And although they supposedly can’t count on her at all, they often happily convince her or trick her into taking the younger kids somewhere for the day so they can be without the responsibilities of babysitting. So, they trust her that much and she pays the bills that much. I admit she still sucks as a mom, but I’m not so convinced that she is painted as a bad enough mother for them to develop the way they supposedly do. I would have for sure at least had one of the kids working to give that sense of the kids being the parents. Okay, so forget that. My next point is, that I am supposed to believe or understand that because this eldest son has extreme social anxiety and major anger management issues, that his sister is the only girl he would be attracted to, as she is his best friend too. And that the sister who is fairly socially functional and seemingly developmentaly normal would make the leap from admiring, trusting, and loving her brother, to being sexually attracted to him and acting on it... I just rationally and emotionally didn’t get there by halfway through the book when they are making out on the couch.
Im trying to be open minded to ways this could have happened, the kids having low IQs maybe? But not getting there. I have a brother myself and too much experience with teens in the social services system and am not really buying into this book. Can I just say, though, the author’s writing style and words, and ability to create vivid pictures is really beautiful and I’d love to read something else written by her, so that earns it three stars.