Forbidden: Love Knows No Boundaries

I was drawn to the book by the original premise, yet I can't say I was very happy with what it turned out to be. Don't get me wrong - there are lovely things about this story. I simply feel that certain aspects of the characters and lack of editing ruined it for me. All the spoilers will be hidden under the “spoiler” mark.

The good stuff

I really like Ash's personality, and, for the most part, Iman's. It's also nice that the guys Ash works with treat her equally and don't give her any crap for being a woman. There aren't too many characters, and they all seem to fit into the story quite well. The story itself seems pretty well-structured, with all the knots tied at the end (mostly). I also enjoyed the sex scenes. I think their timing was appropriate and they added greatly to the overall emotional value of the story. At first I was annoyed with Kate's character, but her coming to Iman's aid when Joram assaulted her was a very emotionally powerful moment (because Kate had been raped in the past) and probably my favorite part in the book.

The stuff I didn't like

I absolutely hate the fact that Ash and Iman's romance comes out of nowhere! Yes, Iman has feelings for Ash from the start of the book, but Ash never seems to pay attention to Iman until she actually learns that Iman likes her! And it just comes out of the blue. Suddenly, Ash is burning with desire and love, even though they never really talked before. It's literally stated in the book: right before Ash confessed her feeling to Iman, Iman had a talk with Kate, during which Iman revealed that “We [Ash and her] don't really talk”. I feel betrayed, honestly.

Although I'm happy that Iman's family are not portrayed as stereotypical bigots, I felt like they were too perfect and that there was hardly any drama with them at all. Maybe that drama wouldn't be necessary, I don't know. I just feel like they were all super flat. If it weren't for Joram assaulting Iman and the talk about a gay person being attacked for being gay, there wouldn't be any sense of tension in the story and the title would completely lose its meaning.

I also feel like Joram's assault on Iman didn't get any proper resolution. I don't believe Syrian police would not do anything about an assault case.

The biggest reason why I don't feel like I enjoyed this book as much as I could have is that the main drama seems so trivial. The whole thing is one big spoiler though.

Since the reader never feels any real threat about Iman and Ash being together, up until the penultimate chapter, the first half of the book draws tension from Iman pining over Ash and dying of despair thinking that Ash might be with someone else. The other half shifts towards... yeah, this is the problem. I don't even understand what the problem actually is in the second half.While we all have probably felt down in dumps at least once in our lives learning that a person we really like has a significant other, especially when we were young (because I think part of growing up is being more realistic about these things), I feel like Iman's reaction to a thought that Kate and Ash were together might be a little over the top. Judge for yourself:She tugged at her chest, fighting for breath. There were no tears, just a red rage sweeping through her mind. She slammed her hands down repeatedly on the steering wheel. No, no, no. She wrestled with the high dress collar that threatened to choke her, ripping it away from throat. Pulling at her hair, wanting to scream, unable to release the energy that was consuming her, she felt trapped.Iman decides to get away from Ash, so she enrolls in school in France to become a chef. After she learns that Ash actually likes her back, she begins to doubt whether she should go. The way I understood it, she actually wanted to become a chef. Otherwise she would've cancelled the whole thing immediately once the love of her life accepted her in her embrace. Right? Iman and Ash talk a lot about how they would never feel safe living in Syria as a couple, but Iman also expresses that she doesn't want to leave her family. She does decide to go to France after all, but she doesn't explain why. At this point, the reader is left to assume that it's solely to become a chef. So Iman hugs her family goodbye and they all cry like she's going to war. Fine, some people are more sensitive than others, but I feel like no one is genuinely happy that Iman is going to get an education? The whole situation is described as something tragic.From Iman's point of view, the reader is told that it's because she doesn't want to leave her family. Which I feel is silly, because you can always return afterwards, or during holidays. From Ash's point of view it seems that the problem is a lot deeper - Ash is angry that the world is unfair and that she and Iman cannot be happy together here, in Syria. She even has a tamer version of Iman's car-steering-wheel freakout after she'd drove her to the airport. Iman decides not to go after all and comes back to Ash. Why? What is achieved by this?1) This decision does not make them more safe to be together.2) Iman loses a really good educational opportunity.What is the moral here? That we shouldn't pursue our dreams if it means leaving our family for three years? It really bothers me. If Iman was my friend, I would be seriously worried about her. Yes, long distance relationships are not easy, but Ash was already thinking about a possible transfer. There's always a solution.

Technical problems

I've already mentioned problems with editing. First of all - poor stylistics. I wouldn't say there's many examples, but I present to you three examples under the “spoiler” mark. They aren't spoilers - I just want to save some space. (1) Amena inched closer, put an arm around her shoulder, and pulled her close.(2) 'The world world is changing.' 'Maybe out there,' Iman indicated towards the horizon. (3) When she pulled away, her gaze was intense, her smile tense.

Next - repetitions. There are four repeated words and phrases throughout the 291-page book and I present to you the numbers under the “spoiler” mark (once again, to save space): (1) Slapped [him/her] on the arm: appears 19 times. ~ [him/her] on the back: 4 times ~ him on the shoulder: once ~ his hand: once ~ his shin: once ~ him: onceOther uses of slapped: 4Slapping him on the arm: 4 times ~ him on his back: onceTotal use of the word slap: 37 times.Think about it - this book has 31 chapters. It means on average, every chapter someone gets slapped on the arm (most likely Craig. Poor Craig).(2) Groaned: 52 times. Reasons characters groan: food, sex, annoyance.On average, a character groans 1.7 times per chapter, or in other words - once in every chapter, and twice in 21 chapters.(3)Fuck off: 19 times. Almost exclusively an exchange between Ash and Craig.(4)Light-brown - used exclusively to refer to Iman's: - eyes (12 times) - irises (4 times) - "pools" (in a poetic way) (twice) - gaze (once)Total: 19 times

Conclusion

Despite my extensive criticism, there is a lot of merit to this book and I think it's definitely worth a read if you're into lesbian romance. It definitely featured two of my favorite things - intercultural relationship and slow burn. I just feel like it wasn't executed as well as it could've been.