Reviews for Forbidden

So how do we discuss the taboo? Vicariously, through fiction, seems an admirable start. And Suzuma has made an incredibly powerful contribution to the debate. Lochan and Maya have never really been brother and sister. With an absent father and a mother who wilfully neglects them in favour of a search for bygone youth, a man, and freedom to hit the bottle, the two teenagers have acted as partners and parents to their three younger siblings for five years - long before they even hit puberty. They've had to hide their home circumstances from the outside world out of an all-consuming fear of social services and children's homes, and so they've only ever had one another to turn to. Lochan, in particular, has suffered. Crippled by anxiety and nerves, he can barely even talk outside the home. School is a nightmare despite his academic talent and - apart from Maya - he's utterly friendless. So is it so very surprising that their flooding adolescent hormones find an outlet in a sibling? The sibling who is the only other person on the planet that they can fully trust? No, it isn't. Told in a turn-and-turn-about dual narrative, readers can see the full turmoil in both Lochan and Maya. They can see the desperate need, but they can also see the doubt, the worry, and yes, the self-disgust too. They try to put a stop to things several times but, with no escape from the pressure cooker of their home environment, neither can do it. They can't manage alone. So, suddenly, the reader is rooting for this star-crossed couple. And that is a tremendously shocking thing to find yourself doing. It forces you to confront some very difficult feelings. It can't end well, of course, and I cried floods of tears at the inevitable denouement. Is sibling incest always wrong? Well, personally, I'm going to have to say yes. There is a reason almost all human societies have rejected it and while that reason is probably based on prehistoric genetic drivers, we are still left with relationships that cause too much confusion and too many problems. That doesn't mean the people involved are wrong though - and this is the critical point that Suzuma makes and that my grandmother made too, all those years ago. This is a brave and important book. And I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it was to write it. Bravo. Jill Murphy There is a moment in Tabitha Suzuma’s Forbidden (Definitions, £6.99) when Maya, its 16-year-old heroine, says to her friend Francie, “So nothing is taboo any more?” It is a question which must occur increasingly to anyone keeping abreast of developments in what we have come to designate “Young Adult” fiction and one which will definitely surface in a reading of Suzuma’s own novel. For Maya’s query arises from the fact that she has fallen passionately in love with her brother Lochan, one year her senior, an obsession which in its move into a fully consensual sexual relationship becomes the focus of what – predictably perhaps – grows into a harrowingly tragic story. Narrated in alternate chapters by the two teenagers, the novel makes its greatest claim on the reader’s attention by presenting the abnormal in a context which, as Lochan himself at one point describes it, “is not an ideal family set-up but one which just about fits within the bounds of normality”. An absentee father, a feckless and alcoholic mother, three younger siblings: all authentically combine to impel Maya and Lochan into their ever closer union. This, of course, is an interpretation which, while it may explain, does not necessarily excuse. Suzuma’s writing is compelling and its quality beyond question but there will be many (and not just those in the “young adult” category) who will be genuinely shocked by what they are reading here. Robert Dunbar Usually when the blurb of a book guarantees you will remember it long after you have put it down, I tend to take it with a pinch of salt since it is designed to pique the interest and draw in new readers. In the case of Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma, this comment is 100% true: I finished this book last night, at two in the morning, having been unable to put it down over the preceding four hours, tears wet on my face, and I don't think I will ever forget it. The story of Maya and Lochan and their forbidden love is told in alternate viewpoints, which I think adds to the depth of the book. You hear their own impressions about the situation; their own battle against their feelings; you learn it is completely consensual. They truly believe they are falling in love with each other. The subject of the book makes for incredibly tough reading, but Suzuma handles it with sensitivity and grace. Not once did I feel that this novel had been written with sensationalism in mind, or a desire to shock. It does shock - how can it not when dealing with incest? - but you find yourself drawn into the decisions that Maya and Lochan make. At times I even found myself questioning why it would be so bad for them to start a relationship, which then made me feel very ill (I think anyone with a sibling can particularly relate to me there). This most certainly is one of the last taboos, and Suzuma brought it into the light and examined it carefully and with logical reasons for every motivation her characters had. Suzuma does an excellent job drawing these characters: they are three dimensional, fragile and very human. My one minor complaint was that sometimes it became a little difficult to hear the difference in voice between the two characters in the alternate viewpoints, but this was surmountable. Not only are Maya and Lochan powerfully-written, but Suzuma works hard to make the more peripheral characters people you believe in and want to read about. Kit, especially, is someone you hate at times, but empathise with. Not only did Suzuma deal with the central tangle of incest, she also covered abandonment, depression and social anxiety: issues that a large number of teenagers will be handling silently. This is an incredibly powerful book that I think should be read by a large audience, so that they realise they are not alone when they suffer panic attacks and feel as though it is an effort to make it through each day. Suzuma pulls on her own experiences to provide poignancy and authenticity to the suffering of Lochan, in particular. The ending made me cry - seriously, I bawled my eyes out. I find it rare that a book is so affecting it brings me to tears, but in this case I felt I had travelled a journey with these characters. I believe it is the highest compliment to pay an author when I say: I lived through these characters as I read Forbidden. I would strongly suggest that younger readers do not tackle this thanks to the difficult scenes within Forbidden's pages, but I find myself recommending this to all other readers. It is tough, sensitive and very vulnerable. Essential reading. Amanda Rutter I'm just pulling myself back together after reading Forbidden. Yes, it tackles a very conversial topic - consensual incestuous relationships. But the author does not do it lightly. There is so much depth to the characters in this novel and so much consideration of the topic, I really think Tabitha Suzuma deserves to be applauded for her bravery... When I went into reading this book, I had so many questions in my mind about the way society perceives sexual relationships between a consenting brother and a sister. So many types of families and relationships are now viewed as socially acceptable in our society. I couldn't help but think really if they wanted to be together then why shouldn't they? Granted most of us have an inbuilt mechanism, a biological barrier, I guess that tells us our siblings are not attractive. We need that biological function for the survival of the human race. But if two people happen not to have it, are they really doing something so morally wrong that they deserve to be imprisoned? The book does answer some of these questions indirectly as Lochan and Maya discuss how the world would view their love. The law protects us against incest because such relationsips are more likely to be abusive and not consensual. I have to say that I am bursting with questions about norms and values, crime and deviance, freedom and abuse from reading this book. If you are at all interested in sociology, you will find this book completely absorbing. I have very little answers. Except to say that Forbidden is a fascinating, dark, emotionally challenging novel that left me sobbing and contemplative. I really encourage you to be brave and read it! Becky Scott Forbidden is Tabitha Suzuma’s new novel on that very dreaded subject, incest. I had been dreading it, while also knowing I had to read it. The dreading wasn’t because I disapprove, except I can’t sit here and say I actually approve, either. Of incest; not the novel. But I just knew that however positive a novel Forbidden might be, it just couldn’t end well. And that’s a problem. It doesn’t end well. No spoiler there. You just couldn’t end with a happily-ever-after incestuous relationship, however much you’d want to. And you do want to. Trust me. It made me think of inter-racial relationships not so very long ago. They weren’t just frowned on; they were illegal. That has changed. Could this change too? Maya and Lochan are sister and brother; 16 and 17 years old. They are lovely people, and they really do love each other. It’s not simply lust. I kept feeling they were just too lovely. But had they not been, we would have frowned on their relationship. As it is, we like them and feel for them and love them back. They have a father who left years ago. They have an inadequate mother, who is almost never there at all. And they have three younger siblings who they look after, trying to keep the family from being torn apart by social services. At first I wondered why Tabitha added this complication to the equation, but it’s necessary. They have to have something to fear, so they have to reign in their feelings. The way they play mum and dad to their siblings makes them impossibly good, and they are clever academically, and very mature when we read their thoughts, as we do. But we do need to respect them. And they have a problem that is just not going to go away. It’s mainly a case of when it’s going to go bad, and how. Until it does, it’s an almost happy story, with so much that is positive, if we discount the ghastly parents. I’m not sure why Tabitha felt the compulsion to write this book. I’m guessing she thinks that incest is not quite as black and white as we mostly tend to believe. The question is whether society can rethink the rules and boundaries for this, too, in the way race has ceased to be the big problem it was. Or same-sex love. Is this different? Ann Giles As soon as I read the premise, I knew I wanted to read this one. I was honestly surprised an author would be brave enough to take on such a taboo subject. I just had to see how Suzuma would handle it. Wow! It's hard to put into words how I feel about this one, but I am so glad I took this one on. Just about everybody's first reaction to hearing about consensual incest would be, "Oh my God, that's gross! Ew, only sick people would do anything like that!". I know that's my reaction. I have never thought about where someone's mind would be at to do something like that. Forbidden gives you a look into that mind.The story is told alternating between Lochan and Maya's point of view. I enjoyed the different POVs. It gave you a good look into where they both were at. Without them, it might not have been as clear that they were both feeling the same way toward each other. Lochan and Maya are victims of child neglect. Their dad took off and isn't in the picture anymore. Their mom is a pathetic alcoholic who is hanging onto her youth, living at a boyfriend's house. So that leaves Lochan and Maya to take care of their three younger sibling all on their own. These two are forced to play house. They are the only parent figures their siblings have. They can't go to anyone for help, for fear of social services breaking the siblings apart. Because of the situation Lochan and Maya are forced in, they only have each other to go to for love and understanding. While reading Forbidden, I couldn't look at Lochan and Maya and think they were just sick and disgusting people. We are shown what they have to sacrifice for their younger siblings, and they do so willingly to keep what family they have together. They are good kids in a terrible situation. You become so emotionally invested to each of them. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying what they did is right. But I did care for them. I just wanted to reach in the pages and get them out of their situation. Yes, because of the story's subject, some parts were extremely difficult to get through. It was like a horrific car accident. You wish to never see something so tragic. But when you do see it, there is no way you can stop staring. Because of how sweet Lochan and Maya were towards each other, it was easy to forget they were brother and sister at some points. But when I was reminded, my mind was screaming, "Wrong, wrong, wrong!". I have never been so completely torn as a reader. On one hand, they truly care for each other. Their love is not hurting anyone, right? But on the other hand, it doesn't matter! Because it is so not right! Suzuma takes you inside the heads of two characters you thought you could never possibly understand, and proves you wrong. The ending, oh my God. I can honestly say I have never cried that hard while reading. I was loudly sobbing within the last few chapters. Days after reading, I would think about Forbidden and start tearing up again. I have never been that emotionally drained from a book before. I was shocked at where Suzuma dared to take the story. I can't say enough what a powerful story teller she is. You hear writers talking about writing a story because the character forced them to, haunted them until their story was out there for the world. This has to be the perfect example of that. Suzuma didn't write a happy love story to sell books. She wrote a heart-wrenchingly painful story, because it was a story that had to be told. I love her for that. Forbidden was that hardest book I have ever read. But it was also one of the most poignant and capturing books I have read as well. Unbelievably sad, and somehow beautiful. Because of it's content, I can't recommend this book to everyone. Especially not to very young YA readers. But if you are looking for a story that will completely take over your emotions and never fully leave you, I urge you to give it a try. Painful. Powerful. Brilliant. YA Addict