A Lazy Reader's Review of "Forbidden" by Tabitha Suzuma
Synopsis
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 been 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 brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blossoms 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.
Review
When I first read the synopsis for this book I was obviously shocked. I mean, the plot surrounds the incredibly taboo topic of incest. I don't think the author wants the readers to root for these two. I mean, duh. But I also think that there is a sense of sympathy that the author is asking for. These are two teenagers who were forced into a 'mother' and 'father' role after their actual father left them to start another family and their actual mother begins to drink heavily and be absent from the house more often than not. So, not only do these two have to worry about school and maintaining passing grades, they also have to make sure that they keep their three younger siblings alive, all while dealing with the challenges that come with being a teenagers. This is the stuff of nightmares. This book is essentially the love child of Shameless and Flowers in the Attic.
The writing was good. It wasn't spectacular, though it did have its moments, and it wasn't horrific. It was just good. I think that it's totally fine to say that an author's writing is just good. It's not a negative word, it is quite literally the opposite yet I can't help but notice that many readers will use it to throw shade? I don't know, maybe I'm reading too much into it. Something that I do often. Thanks, anxiety! The three younger siblings also fit into the typical archetypes given to younger brothers and sisters so there's really nothing much to say about them.
Okay, I'll be honest, even though the ending was predictable I was still thrown for an emotional loop. Let me explain. I didn't expect Lochan and Maya to be able to get away with their relationship and be able to live happily ever after. That's just not realistic and also not something that I would want to read. Because . . . incest. However, I did not expect Lochan to kill himself. That, ladies and gentlemen, made me ugly cry. I think a part of me just felt so bad for the two of them. It's not their fault their father left them and it's not their fault their mother is an alcoholic. It's also not their fault that they began to develop intimate feelings toward one another. Those things are 100% not their fault. The fault comes with their actions. In most countries, incest is completely illegal and in their case, because Lochan turned eighteen before the book ended (please correct me if I'm wrong my memory is a bit fuzzy) the fact that they had sex also meant that he technically raped his sister despite the fact that it was consensual. I think that's really just the fuck of it all. These two kids were forced to become surrogate parents for their younger siblings, because of this they began to experience romantic feelings toward each other, these romantic feelings then turned physical and they would begin to make out with each other, touch each other intimately, and eventually have sex. And because of this Lochan gets arrested and charged with statutory rape and committing incest. What the fuck.
Lochan getting arrested and then killing himself in jail was just so gut-wrenching. This book sort of changed my perspective on how the consequences of abuse and neglect can manifest in its victims. Although I don't believe that every victim will develop incestuous tendencies because of their trauma I do think that the results of said trauma in those that experience it will always be different in some way. Honestly, I didn't think that a book about incest would make me cry, but here we are. I want to say that I don't blame Lochan or Maya for the circumstances that they're in, I just wish it didn't result in them committing incest. What a strange sentence to type.
Favorite Quote: "At what point does a fly give up trying to escape through a closed window - do its survival instincts keep it going until it physically capable of no more, or does it eventually learn after one crash too many that there is no way out."
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