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Aug 23, 2011

Lyndsey rated it:

So... *awkward pause*

How many of you little sisters out there have come to a point in your life when you look at your older brother and think "Yeah, I'd hit that," and not in the punch-you-in-the-arm kind of way?

Raise your hand. No one? Oh - you haven't?! Really? Are you sure?!

Well, maybe it's for the best that you've never thought about your sibling like that. And maybe you wouldn't be interested in this book. Or maybe you still would... More...

75 comments like (259 people liked it)

Dec 04, 2011

Jillian -always aspiring- rated it:

(Actual Rating: 3.5 stars)

To give some perspective before I launch into my review, I want to say that this book left me with many of the same feelings that I had after finishing Stolen by Lucy Christopher. Forbidden is just that kind of book to slowly carve out your heart, possess it for a short while, and then hand it back to you right after you finish the final page.

The plot blurb lays it on the table straight: Forbidden is about incest. Now, the only books I can reca More...

27 comments like (48 people liked it)

Dec 30, 2011

Sunny rated it:

Heart-Breaking!!! - I don't know if I have anymore words than that. I've been crying for an hour and I find the need to go take a Xanax.

<spoiler> As I am writing this, I have been crying so far about 65 minutes. I am at the computer looking at other's reviews to see if they were affected like me. While I am typing, my damn cat won't stop rubbing along my keyboard (she can't take the hint that I am not in a good mood right now). I have a roll of toilet tissue on the desk, bl More...

30 comments like (47 people liked it)

Feb 09, 2012

Reynje rated it:

So, About Taboo Subjects in YA Literature
Or: Do Teenagers Really Use the Word “Ensconced”?

Somewhere deep in the world of technical things I don’t really understand, there is an algorithm that persisted in listing Forbidden in almost every shelf of personalised recommendations. Based on my previous reading and shelving habits, it insisted that I should read this book. But I dug my heels in: “Stop trying to make Forbidden happen, Goodreads. It’s Not. Going. To. Happen.” (Because More...

37 comments like (43 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

karen rated it:

three stars is indicative of my personal enjoyment of the book, but that does not change the fact that this author has done something extraordinary, and this book should probably be read by most people. let's call this 3 3/4 stars for fun.

why did i read this?? duh, obviously, i wanted to see what kind of writing chops this lady had to think she could write a Y/A book about brother-sister incest. how do you market the taboo to the teen set? this is the same impulse that made me read l More...

69 comments like (51 people liked it)

Sep 03, 2011

Cory rated it:

EDIT: As of 5/16/2011, I have re-read this book and realized that my four star rating was because of the sex scenes. I still maintain the content of my review, but I do not think this book holds the same value as my other four star books. Anyway, thanks for reading. Also, my spoiler tag comes off because I doubt that I'm really spoiling anything you wouldn't have figured out from the blurb.

I really don't know how to feel about this book. In some ways it's better than Flowers in the A More...

10 comments like (31 people liked it)

Jun 09, 2011

Wendy Darling rated it:

This is the story of a boy and a girl who fall in love. Lochan and Maya are best friends who have known each other their entire lives and have helped each other and fiercely loved one another through the many brutally painful experiences of growing up.

The thing is, they also happen to be brother and sister, and the unholy mess of the repercussions from their choices looms over this entire story.

No one who picks up a book like this can be unaware of the potential pitfalls. More...

54 comments like (75 people liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Dinjolina rated it:

Before everything:
If you are starting this book or are planing to, put this song on your player and have it as a theme song for the book. Believe me. It helps when you get to the crying part :)
Together
First of all I have to tell you that what I am going to write will not please a lot of people.
So don't agree with me.
Don't read.
Don't comment.
I don't care.
This book was so powerful I simply do not care if somebody thinks that what I feel is wrong.
More...

7 comments like (47 people liked it)

Feb 19, 2012

Jude rated it:

The Review is long, but necessary

So Wrong Its Right...

Shit. This book was…. Shit. I’m at a loss of words, so emotionally drained that I am actually cursing. And I never Curse. Period. So shit.

This book reminds me of Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, not in the story, they are total and complete opposites, but the same feeling afterwards, that hollow in me, at the pit of my stomach, hands shaking and my heart nowhere in sight. It was an Amazing book. Not the kind o More...

17 comments like (18 people liked it)

Sep 02, 2011

Emily rated it:

After reading recent comments, I feel the need to stress an important point about this book: it is not about accepting incest. It's not a book like Flowers in the Attic or How I Live Now where incest is romanticised. It is a sad story about the danger of dysfunctional families and should never be regarded as another angsty tale of forbidden love, even though the title suggests otherwise.

So, first let me say that this was a very brave book to tackle such a controversial subject matter More...

12 comments like (32 people liked it)

Jul 06, 2011

Nomes rated it:

I am out on my own little limb here in saying I did not care for this book *waves to all my goodreads buds who love it to the max*

It is not the subject matter that irked me but rather the heavy-handed and melodramatic way in which it was handled.

This book, IMO, is the equivalent to a daytime drama* ~ complete with sappy character names (Lochan, Maya, Kit, Tiffin and Willa are the children), over-wrought "true love" sentiments, parental issues of alcoholism, ab More...

17 comments like (47 people liked it)

Jan 20, 2012

Beth rated it:

I am always in the unenthusiastic minority, aren't I?

Let me get one thing straight. I am not marking this book down because of the subject matter. Yes, incest is disturbing and seems plain unnatural to people like you and me. But I was willing to judge it for the characters.

Did Tabitha Suzuma win me over?

Well, yes and no.

I would have INFINITELY preferred this book if it was in one POV. Maya and Lochan were always so incredibly similar in their narr More...

13 comments like (30 people liked it)

Jul 24, 2011

Isamlq rated it:

I knew what Forbidden was about even before I started it and this was what kept me from reading it. And with that ending I felt like my heart was breaking into pieces for them. In fact, midway, I was hoping they wouldn’t go down the path that I knew they were headed… hoping for a different ending. Why? Because despite what they were doing, they were kids. Kids with a massive responsibility on their shoulders and kids who coped through a totally unacceptable way. I HOPED, I WANTED a different en More...

9 comments like (22 people liked it)

Jul 30, 2010

Arlene rated it:

Rating Clarification 10 stars
Or rather… the highest rating I can ever imagine giving a book

As an avid reader you come across dozens and dozens of books hoping the next one you pick up will either move you to uncontrollable tears, challenge your belief system, take you on an emotional rollercoaster, show you love, make you feel hate, sigh with happiness, leave you with a sense of longing, or simply just close the book when you're done and say to yourseslf "wow, that was abs More...

55 comments like (94 people liked it)

Jul 21, 2011

Natalia Belikov rated it:

Oh my God...

★★★★★★★★★★ 10 stars!... but...

How can I possible say that I loved this book when it broke my heart into pieces and I am still trying to recover from this emotionally intense and chocking reading. I struggle for words to describe a book that put on the verge the moral dilemma of consensual Incest. How to define what is right from wrong? or what is wrong from right? Does it have to be one or the other? How in some cases love can be wrong in front of the eyes of More...

18 comments like (25 people liked it)

Jun 22, 2011

Katie(babs) rated it:

I knew when I picked up Tabitha Suzuma’s Forbidden it would be a hard book for me to review. The main reason is because of the disturbing love story. Disturbing because a brother and sister fall in love with one another. Forbidden is also being marketed as a Young Adult novel and to be honest, this makes me uncomfortable. Why? Because of incest being used as romantic trope shown in graphic detail. Nothing is left to the imagination here. We see the brother and sister engaging in sexual acts; muc More...

5 comments like (19 people liked it)

Jun 24, 2011

Elle rated it:

I read somewhere that Forbidden is to become required reading for high school students somewhere or other in Canada.

Really?

Well, in my day, (because I went to high school back when dinosaurs roamed the planet...

... Ok, ok. Granted. I am a spry thing of only 26 but I work in the wedding industry which is a cesspool of embryos who tipe lyk ths and don’t know who the Addams Family are, so you understand my attitude and why I feel like a geriatric after a da More...

8 comments like (39 people liked it)

Apr 19, 2011

Diane ϟ [ Lestrange ] rated it:

Wow! just wow.

This was a definite emotional roller coaster. A mind tripping BOOK.
Harsh, beautiful, inspiring and utterly heart-breaking.

description

Short synopsis, but what more needs to be said? The term ‘food for thought’ comes to mind and is immediately redefined by this novel. Emotionally driven, unrelenting, shocking but not gratuitous – this story is the epitome of open-minded topical address. I’m not a prudish reader – in fact the more trying a novel is More...

7 comments like (24 people liked it)

Dec 01, 2010

Christina rated it:

This is a difficult book to review, so I'll just write down some of my thoughts,hope I make sense and try not to abuse the italics button.:)

First of all,the fact that the author picks a repelling, taboo subject such as incest and morphs it into one of the most beautiful, heartbreaking love stories I, for one, have ever read is a feat in itself and recommendation enough.
Now,the fact that all this is done in an utterly believable and realistic manner, is what took it straight to More...

16 comments like (26 people liked it)

Jul 30, 2011

Flannery rated it:

I was talking to Lyndsey about how it feels to have a brother and the best example I could come up with is this: It feels like that force when you try to put two similar magnetic poles together, but right at that moment when it starts to push away. The love I have for my brother is so strong but he repulses me at the same time. I mean, he’s great as an adult but he is the same kid who once filled his Skeletor action figure with urine and sprayed all 3 of his sisters with it. He is the same broth More...

27 comments like (33 people liked it)

Jan 08, 2012

Saniya rated it:

What I have learned from this book:

If your brother/sister shows any signs of extra love, and are slightly older or younger than you, punch him/her and run away.
Yup. Thats the only logical Mortal or lesson I have got from this book.

Talking about the cover, I think, its so simple yet unique and full of meaning.
And talking about the plot, when I first saw this book on goodreads, I didn't mark it as read. But after many readers reviewed and rated this book very More...

6 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jan 25, 2012

Kasey rated it:

I generally don't post written reviews unless a story has moved me in one direction or another (I'm not shy about posting negative reviews when a story disappoints me). Forbidden is a story that has left me both speechless and wanting to tell people about it. It wasn't a perfectly written story, but its content - the tale it told - was absolutely compelling.

I read this book last night until 3:30 am. Could NOT put it down until it was done. It even haunted my dreams afterward. Dream More...

7 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jul 18, 2011

♥ Sarah ♥ rated it:

As I write this my eyes are still burning from the tears this book has wrung from me. I can't remember the last time a book has affected me so much emotionally. It's one of those things that is so very hard to explain to someone who hasn't read this book. But I will try my best.

When you read the summary for this book and read all the raving reviews, you will probably be one of two people. You will either be completely disgusted with the idea and the people who not only read it, but gav More...

40 comments like (11 people liked it)

Jun 29, 2011

Greta is Erikasbuddy rated it:

This book is super sonic cool unbelievable with chocolate pop tarts on top.

You know how you first bite into a poptart and you like "Meh... its alright"..... Then you take another bite and hit the oowy goowy filling? YEah baby! That's what this book does. It starts out kinda slow and then once you get half way through, are scratching your head, and thinking --- "Uhh, this is popular, why?" THEN!! IT freaking showers you with candy sprinkles and don't More...

18 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jun 13, 2011

Glass rated it:

Ovo je jedna od najmorbidnijih, najčudnijih, zastrašujućih, ali opet prelijepih priča koje sam pročitala... Knjigu sam pročitala sinoć, ostala sam budna do pet ujutro, ali jednostavno nisam mogla da čekam do jutra da nastavim.

Svi oni koji imaju ikakvih preoštrih moralnih stavova (ili starijeg brata), neka ne čitaju ovu knjigu - ovo je priča o jednoj od najvećih tabu tema, o incestu (u ovom slučaju između brata i sestre). Nemojte slagati face, odmah se buniti i govoriti kako je to odvra More...

22 comments like (12 people liked it)

Jul 02, 2010

~Tina~ rated it:

I don't even...I can't... I'm floored!

Forbidden is a very powerful and unnerving novel about a brother and sister who tries to raise there three other siblings and pick up the pieces from there abandoned father and drunken mother.
Lochan and Maya have a hard reality, and are barely making it in there world. With there mother slutting ways and always drunk, they have to be the responsible ones and make sure the kids go to school, feed them, do homework and basically be the parent More...

22 comments like (26 people liked it)

May 04, 2011

Aleeza rated it:

(Note: I kinda edited this review up after lots of introspection over the book. Just sayin'.)

I’d never thought I’d be so into reading a novel that so boldly deals with incest. But my goodreads friends were all gaga-ing over it, so I knew I had to give it a try. As soon as I found it, I began it and finished it less then twelve hours later. That says something about the awesomeness of it, doesn’t it?

Like the title and summary of the book say, the love between Maya and Loch More...

2 comments like (10 people liked it)

Dec 03, 2011

Stacia ~ platonic rated it:

*second read December 2011 for Rated YA-MA group read.

Wow. Even knowing that this story could not end well, I wasn't expecting it to go the way that it did. Yes, a couple of tears threatened to fall. I dare you to read this book and not feel at least a twinge of emotion at how it all ends. To say that this book is a mind f*ck would be an understatement.

I have a weakness for books which push the boundaries of the norm. Whether it be polygamy, incest, student-teacher relation More...

10 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jul 09, 2011

Lisa rated it:

Originally posted at Read Me Bookmark Me Love Me

This has got to be one of the most magnificent and moving novels I have ever read. There are no mysteries, big twists, smoke or mirrors. It is just a simple story about two siblings and the hardships they face, but what a story it is. Beautiful. Perfect. Incest. Sex. Incest. Perfect. Beautiful. Get those things drilled into your head now, especially the beautiful part. I've never been one to shy away from taboo subjects, so I had no probl More...

8 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jul 17, 2011

Cinnamon rated it:

This review may also be found on A Thousand Little Pages.

4.5/5

This is the story of a boy and a girl, a brother and a sister, who woke up every morning to neglect and were shoved the responsibilities of parenthood. This is the story of their love.

Sigh...

Despite the controversial subject that Forbidden explores, I found myself rooting for Locchan and Maya as they struggled with the reality of society's view on their relationship. Yes, I did feel twinges of d More...

7 comments like (7 people liked it)