Note: This post contains major Lord of Shadows spoilers as well as references to relationships in Twilight, Divergent, and The Iron Fey.

Forbidden love. It comes up in many young adult books, does it not?

Bella and Edward in Twilight, Tris and Four in Divergent, Meghan and Ash in the Iron Fey... A vampire, your instructor, a Faery prince? These are only some of the scenarios used in young adult fiction. Forbidden love seems to come up quite commonly, but the reasons vary. It's an easy way to hook readers, have them rooting for two characters to be together.

I've read so many books with the forbidden love theme, and one of my favourites out of them all? Emma and Julian, The Dark Artifices. While this is a relatively new one, that doesn't mean it isn't brilliant. We have yet to find out how this tragedy ends, but so far their tale is beautiful and extremely tragic.

Parabatai. A bond formed out of love, but not of the romantic kind. They cannot be in a relationship because their bond which binds them can also destroy them with its power. In Lord of Shadows, Jules and Emma burn down a building with their power, and while it isn't a major moment it is the first showcase of exactly what parabatai in love can do.

As Jem tells Emma in Lady Midnight, their love is forbidden for a good reason, though the Clave does not know it. It could easily ruin them both as they become filled with power, too much power, so much it would corrupt them. For Jules, he desperately wants to break their parabatai bond, while Emma is constantly conflicted every time the two fight together because they make such a good pair.

What makes this tale stand out is that Emma and Jules know how to break the bond, but to do it would hurt their friends, and so they won't do it. In many other cases the pair would gladly do anything to be able to freely love, irrespective of how it may hurt others around them. To whatever happens next, I am sure Cassandra Clare has a clear picture in her head and it'll be great but heartbreaking.

What are your favourite forbidden romances?