Sex Is Forbidden

The Dasgupta Institute has strict rules designed to focus and improve the mind: no leaving the grounds, no reading or writing, no stimulants, no interaction with the opposite sex. Beth Marriot (a sexually hyperactive, twenty-something, drop-dead gorgeous songwriter hiding from her past) has been at the Institute for nine months (is any other time frame allowed in coming-of-age stories?), following the Institute’s rules as best she can in order to make sense of her life.

But Beth is bored, of course, because she is a reckless, restless soul, and she soon finds, and eventually steals, the diary of a male guest. What she reads unlocks the memories and the emotions she has been avoiding, and Beth’s real journey of self-growth begins.

Beth’s first-person narrative of her inner turmoil has wonderful moments of sly humor; she is very funny, and the Institute is the perfect setting for odd characters and ironic observations. In spite of these moments and the rich potential of the material, however, Sex Is Forbidden is disappointing. Beth is an unconvincing, annoying character, a cliché of bland fantasy and attention-seeking behavior, and her road from crisis to recovery is as dull as it is predictable.