The Forbidden One by Zaarra Khader

There are stories that begin well and end well, not really happy but you say .. ok well, that was a good ending. Then there are stories that do not feel to be about others, they become a part of you some how. And a few stories look like news or gossip you have to hear subconciously.

The forbidden one is a collection of all such stories. It is a theme - forbidden emotions and situations one experiences some point in our life. My favorite story is "ardaas" which is about the strength a mother has for not just her daughter but also for giving a part of it as legacy to the daughter. It is a very realistic tale of society's ridiculous practices and how one has to sometimes take drastic steps to fight them.
Next I loved reading Youth Undefined , the story about a lady caught between looking younger or acting with grace and pride at her age and position in the household. This one story had the best writing and the feelings were so beautifully described that you felt and understood the psyche of the lady well.
Mango love and Sinful Aspurations were two stories i wanted to love so much but the last lara did not live upto the whole story build up. These two stories actually made me understand what I felt was the problem with this story collection - justification for the events.
The stories do not leave the reader to think and imagine the turmoil of the characters. Some explainations are not needed or maybe I was not convinced with the ending. The stories are good one time read but not many are worth remembering.
Also I feel the cover is a bit misleading. It would hve been better if it showed some story or something generic. This felt like deliberate attempt to catch attention.

I rate this book 3/5

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