This book was the hardest book I have ever read, without a doubt. I come from a family of three kids, I have two older brothers. Sitting here, reading a book about incest just seemed wrong on so many levels. But at the same time everything about it just seemed so right.
Don't get me wrong, I don't agree with the themes of this book in the slightest but what you have to understand is Lochan and Maya aren't like a brother and sister. There is no sibling rivalry there, they don't argue and fight, they haven't grown up playing happy families. Their home life is horrendous. With only 13 months between them, a mother that is a drunk and a father half way across the world, Lochan and Maya are more like a couple, caring for their three younger siblings. They are juggling through going to school, taking exams, doing the food shop, bathing and feeding their siblings, going to parent/teacher consulations.
Their is nothing seedy like an 'insta-love' here, the author has done an absolutely incredible job of taking her time before introducing any kind of physical relationship. We get to know the family, we get to know the way they are with their siblings and more importantly we get to witness the unique relationship between Lochan and Maya. I want to say 'I can't blame them' but that seems just as wrong as agreeing with that they have done. How the hell do you rationalise your feelings over such a taboo subject?
"He was always so much more than just a brother. He is my soul mate, my fresh air, the reason I look forward to getting up every morning."
I think it's important for readers to know that eventually Lochan and Maya do move on to a physical relationship. It isn't for a long way through the book but it is there. Whilst I was reading I was feeling sick, feeling so awful that I was witnessing this but at the same time, it really was all so right. The author wrote the scenes beautifully and so perfectly. I think it was important for this scene to be included, regardless of how it all ended, and I don't think it could ever have been written any better.
"How can something so wrong, feel so right?
The ending absolutely broke me and tore me apart. Make no mistake, there is no happily ever after here and I knew that going in to the book. I was prepared for that, and I had my guesses to how it would end, but none of that made it okay or easier. It is absolutely heart breaking that it had to end that way but honestly, any other ending wouldn't have been right.
"It's so good it hurts. I think I'm going to die from happiness. I think I'm going to die from pain."
This book has really made me think and that doesn't usually happen when I read, unless the book is powerful enough and this was exactly that. Who are we, as a society, to decide what should be right and wrong in a relationship? Every single relationship is different with different circumstances and nobody knows what really goes on behind closed doors. I know this isn't right or normal but I've said it before and I'll say it again, Lochan and Maya were not like brother and sister and they never had been. It's so easy to understand and accept how they ended up in the situation they did.
I really did love this book and although I say I recommend it, you have to make sure you are really in the right frame of mind. It is a painfully difficult read and I won't be reading it again in a hurry. Saying that though, I am glad I finally have read it.
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