REVIEW: Forbidden

Forbidden

Tabitha Suzuma

Goodreads Description: 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.

My thoughts: From what I had heard of this book, I was expected to be amazed and have my way of thinking changed.  It wasn't a terrible book, but I wasn't too impressed.  I think it seems so much worse because my expectations were high.  It really wasn't a bad book.  I did find myself a bit bored because it felt like the same thing was happening over and over again, and I just really felt sad....and I don't like to be sad!  I really just don't understand.  I didn't really feel anything for these characters.  Their life sucked, but that doesn't mean they need to be together while it sucks.

Lochan and Maya are really the parents in this family.  Their mother is off with her boyfriend who will never marry her.  Neither one of them want anything to do with her kids, but this boyfriend's kids are fine I guess.  The only time they see their mother is every couple of weeks when she pays a few bills.  Otherwise, the kids fend for themselves and try to save money to buy food and other essentials. 

Lochan has no social skills.  He can't talk to people at school, and has come to terms with the fact that he will never have a girlfriend or kiss anyone because he can't talk to anyone.  Maya isn't a social butterfly either, but she does have friends and seems to be getting along just fine.  She gets the attention of the best looking guy at school, and even goes out on a date with him.  She is unimpressed though.  I think she is mostly scared of sharing her life with him.  However, she can go to Lochie because he already knows what their life is like.  And Lochie has no problem being with Maya because she is the only person he will ever be able to talk to.

Honestly, I think they took the easy way out!  Hiding your relationship with your sibling would be easier than the alternative for Lochie.  The other option for Lochie would be to actually gain some social skills and succeed at college.  I can see so much potential in him, but he is just lazy.  He does start to talk to a couple of people, and he admits to Maya that it pretty much kills him, but he is doing it for her.  It just doesn't make sense to me.

What makes even less sense to me is why Maya was all for this relationship.  She really had much more of a chance than Lochie did.  So what is it about him that is so attractive?  Is it just that they have become so close because it has always been just them taking care of their siblings?  I really don't know.

I honestly think they are too young to decide that they are in love.  I don't think their relationship was ok, and I really didn't feel for either one of them.  I am surrounded by these types of families five days a week, and I just think there are other alternatives than this.

My rating: ☺ ☺ ☺