Book Review: Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

[juushika]

Title: Forbidden
Author: Tabitha Suzuma
Published: New York: Simon Pulse, 2010
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 454
Total Page Count: 119,065
Text Number: 346
Read Because: mentioned here by she_shies_away, borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Their absent, alcoholic mother leaves seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya to raise their three younger siblings, but the circumstances that force them into pseudo-parenthood make them realize something else: somehow, despite their relation, they've fallen in love. Forbidden is a gritty Flowers in the Attic with a side of Romeo and Juliet. In place of gothic trappings is the minutiae of parental abandonment, from the mother's drunken behavior to Lochan's struggles with anxiety; he and Maya fight poverty and exhaustion to raise three realistically problematic children, and the family interactions are strongly realized. The romance that blooms in the midst of this is distinctly teenage. It's hormone-fueled and exists in a state of constant exaggeration with a side of prosecution complex; every argument is catastrophic, and the teens stare balefully out windows and contemplate the futility of their continued existences. This gives the romance little dignity, but it makes it compelling and convincing, sometimes even evocative, despite the lackluster writing and a first person narrative which headhops between Lochan and Maya but never establishes a unique voice for either. Altogether, Forbidden is a transparent, problematic, often artless book, and its gritty setting and dramatic taboo romance never quite jive, creating something between them which is dark and emotional but too graceless to leave much impact. Nonetheless, I consumed it in a day. If the content interests you, by all means pick it up: it delves in without restraint, and ultimately succeeds. Still I recommend it only moderately; there are too many flaws to overlook.

Review posted here on Amazon.com.