Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Okay FicBreak’ers, you’re going to have to bear with me. There are a TON of books coming out this month and a lot of them release on the very same days. I’m going to do my best to recommend my favorites to you throughout the month, so prepare for titles that are coming soon.

First up this month we have:

Title: Forbidden
Author: Tabitha Suzuma
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 432

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.

I debated whether or not to post this book here, but then I thought about my own experience in reading it and decided to throw caution to the wind and just go for it.

In most cases, I personally would have looked at someone like a crazy person if they ever recommended this book to me. In that respect, I guess it’s a good thing I have that horrible habit of judging a book entirely on its cover and not even bothering to read a summary. Because if I had read the summary, I probably would have never started it. And I will admit that early on, I almost stopped reading because of the subject matter. But in hindsight, I’m glad I didn’t.

You’ve surely read the summary by now—you have, right?—so you should understand that this obviously isn’t your typical love story. What these characters share is quite simply explained in the title of the book.

Forbidden.

After their father abandons the family and their mother turns to alcohol (and a younger man), the two main characters, Lochan and Maya (ages 17 and 16 respectively) are forced to take on the responsibilities of not only going to school, but caring for, feeding and looking after their three younger siblings, Kit, Tiffin and the youngest, Willa. In the midst of that, these two come to a realization that they’re not just brother and sister, they’re soul mates.

The relationship these two share is, simply put, tragic. They aren’t supposed to love each other like they do, but I have to admit: I wanted them together. They had me thinking and pondering about things like reincarnation. About whether or not two lovers from a previous life would be cursed badly enough to come back as brother and sister. If that were to happen, how would you fight something that’s destined? How do you stay away from the one person who makes your half feel whole again? It would be impossible.

Suzuma’s writing is gorgeous and the alternating point of view between Lochan and Maya’s characters was an interesting way to see inside both of their minds and hearts.

This book is one that has and will stay with me for a while. If it did anything, it really made me think, which is why I’m recommending it to you. It’s one of those books you want everyone you know to read so you can compare feelings and see how they reacted. Yes, the subject matter is taboo, and it’s something people in our society know exists (but rarely acknowledge). I imagine there might be other instances of Lochan and Maya’s story out there somewhere that isn’t in the pages of a book, and I think it was brave of Suzuma to give us a look at the other side of what we normally would consider madness.

I’m interested to see if anyone takes the leap with me and decides to give this book a chance. Forbidden will be released in the US on June 28.