I'll admit, I was a little hesitant to read FORBIDDEN by Tabitha Suzuma, not only because it humanized the uncomfortable subject matter of incest but also because it featured a relatively detailed sexual scene between a teenage brother and sister. While many authors do attempt to draw in a readership with the promise of scandal and taboo, most succeed in creating little more than cheap exploitation thinly veiled as a sympathetic storyline. Needless to say, I wasn't particularly expecting to fall in love with a novel attempting to hash out the melodramatic world of teenage emotions surrounding "forbidden love" in a scenario quite this -- illegal? 
 So, if you haven't read the blurb on the back cover yet, FORBIDDEN is the story of 17 year old Lochan and 16 year old Maya, two teens forced to prematurely enter the adult world of child-care, bills, and endless responsibility, thanks to their dismissive, alcoholic mother who spends more time with her boyfriends than with her own children. Although the duo still attempts to maintain a typical teenage existence on the surface, attending high school like any other children their age, each knows that the demands of home life have formidably altered the scope of their meager teenage experience. After all, Maya and Lochan are regarded more as mother and father in the home than as sister and brother to their younger siblings, even if it is a struggle to keep it hidden from meddling neighbors and agencies that may stand to remove the younger children from the home. 
 While Maya is viewed by her peers as a young woman of astounding natural beauty, Lochan is seen primarily as an outcast. Stricken with severe social anxiety that makes him unable to formulate coherent verbal statements in public, he is ostracized by everyone but a few of his teachers who take pity on his fear and recognize his true intellectual capacities. And then, of course, there is Maya, the sister who always stands up for Lochan and sympathizes with the pain and pressure he holds on his shoulders. 
 In a world that continually disappoints them, Maya and Lochan have become accustomed to being one another's sole support, and they share a friendship that is unmatched by anything either has found in another relationship. So, neither can recall the exact moment at which the feelings of brotherly love transitioned into something far more forbidden -- passion. 
 The siblings are painfully aware that their desires are socially unacceptable and could not only lead to the destruction of their own family life but also to the distinct possibility of jail time. So, they devise a plan to indulge in a secret teenage romance in bits and pieces, only when the children are at school, only when their mother is absent from life again, and only when they are undeniably certain that NOBODY is suspicious of what is looming behind the bedroom door... 
 Except, nobody can really be that sure... 
 Switching gears to the characters. I was thoroughly impressed with the way that Suzuma constructed the characters of Maya and Lochan, as they managed to feel a bit romanticized without feeling sappy or unrealistic. It is easy for readers to feel sympathy for the teens, as they were given well-constructed voices that made them endearing for many chapters before any hints of a love story were mounted. Since the tale alternated perspectives between Maya and Lochan through opposing chapters, it was easy to believe in the innocence that each felt in the beginning stages of a very dangerous relationship. 
 Although the author does succeed in creating sympathy through not only strongly written characters and a gradually moving plotline, incest is still an uncomfortable subject matter likely to leave many readers squeamish, especially in the more descriptive scenes leading up to the time that Maya and Lochan first have sex. And be prepared for the ending, which is far more heart-breaking than I had even anticipated. 
 I appreciated the opportunity to read FORBIDDEN through S&S Galley Grab, and I could easily foresee myself purchasing the novel when it is released in the physical form as well. While such sensitive subject matters may not be everyone's personal cup of tea, I do think the sympathetic writing style is one that definitely deserves an honest chance.