Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Forbidden:
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.

After wiping away my tears, and cleaning up the multiple tissues I needed by the end of this book by Tabitha Suzuma, the only thought going through my head was...WOW. Just wow. For such a taboo subject, this book was beautifully written and engaging from the very first page. Told through the voices of Lochan and Maya, I immediately became enamored with their characters; quickly becoming emotionally attached and unable to put this book down. In fact I read it in one day. Tirelessly working together to raise their younger siblings when their mother basically abandons them, puts unimaginable pressure on the two teens in order to keep their family together. The relationship between Maya and Lochan was unbelievably natural, most of the time I found that I would completely forget that they were brother and sister. I didn't find myself becoming uncomfortable as their relationship crossed over into more intimate territory, in fact I was rooting for them; hoping that somehow, some way, they weren't actually related. Like maybe Lochan was somebody else's child. I just wanted it to work, because their love was so pure of heart.

When their relationship is discovered, Lochan tries to protect Maya in the only way he can: taking the blame and accepting the label of being a rapist. My heart simply broke at the ending of this book, and despite my dislike of Lochan's choice, he proves that he will do anything to protect the girl that he loves, no matter the cost.