Is it incest?

[Naomasa298]

Technically no. But I'm asking more whether you'd *feel* it was incest or not?

So here's the scenario. A man's been away from home for a decade. While he's been away, the family has adopted a girl, who he's never met. She is now 18, he is 26.

He comes home and meets his adopted sister. They fall in love and eventually decide they want to marry.

So how would you, as a reader, feel about that?

 

[ps102]

If they're not biologically related, I don't see the problem—especially since they just met. It'd be different if they knew each other from childhood, found out they aren't siblings after all, and suddenly fell in love. That'd be more questionable.

What bothers me most is their age gap. It's not huge per se, but 18 and 26 is a combination many would take issue with. An 18 year old is still a teen and fresh out of high school. There is a massive difference in life experience. If we were talking about a 30 year old and a 38 year old (same gap), they'd have more identical life experiences (working a job, being a 'full-fledged adult', etc).

 

[Naomasa298]

Though legally, it is incest, biologically, it isn't.

As far as the ages are concerned, I don't personally see an issue with it but I accept that some readers might. I think it's about acceptable (I've used a similar gap in another story). Also to note, this will be a supernatural thriller story.