Review: Forbidden by Sophia Malik

Published: July 2016

Pages: 348

Synopsis: “Annabelle was just a normal sixteen-year-old girl who found herself falling desperately for her best friend's father Javadd Knight. Javadd was a grown man who had a happy family and who was old enough to be her father. In this riveting tale of Forbidden love that blossomed between these two unlikely people one can only hope that it might end well. But unfortunately Forbidden love is always a rollercoaster of pain and tragedy and maybe just maybe Annabelle will have to learn to accept that harsh truth or let go.”

Rating: ***

I received a free copy of Forbidden in exchange for an honest review.

There were a few typing mistakes, diary was often spelled as dairy as there were a few occasions of os rather than is. I found it difficult to read at times as there wasn't a space between a full stop and the first letter of the next word. There were also inconsistencies with the tense, for example, when describing something as if it were happening in the present, there would often be words and phrases in the past tense.

The writing however felt incredibly authentic, the author was definitely channelling a 16 year old girl; the plot was relatable as I am sure many people develop feelings for people they shouldn't (but don't necessarily act on them). The plot flowed well and I found myself speeding through. The sections written from Javadd's perspective felt different to those from Annabelle's and it was as if genuinely from two different people's perspectives.

I would definitely be interested in reading a sequel, perhaps how this affects Annabelle’s relationships later on. Overall, I felt that Forbidden just needed a really good edit, and it's for that reason that the book dropped a couple of stars.