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Robin and Ruby

by K.M. Soehnlein (Goodreads Author)

3.16 · rating details · 81 ratings · 21 reviews

Soehnlein's beloved and highly praised debut, "The World of Normal Boys," introduced unforgettable teenager Robin MacKenzie. Now, Soehnlein introduces Robin's sister Ruby, in this story of love, loss, and emotional upheaval.

Hardcover, 352 pages

Published March 30th 2010 by Kensington (first published March 12th 2010)

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Apr 30, 2010

Lewis Buzbee rated it

This is a deeply satisfying novel about a brother and sister and the jersey shore, and the mysteries of the human heart. Completely engaging. It's been over three weeks now since i finished this book, and it's still floating around in my head. Soehnlein's characters are sharply and deeply drawn, and the prose is immaculate. But the great success of this book is that the writer does what so few novelists can do, capture an entire world, an entire era, and make it come alive.

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Jun 28, 2011

Vestal McIntyre added it

Absolutely wonderful.

This novel is nicely balanced between Robin and Ruby, brother and sister, who are having separate but converging adventures over the course of a weekend in the 80s. Soehnlein is not afraid to be sincere and exuberant in his writing--why would you be, when you're describing kids on the brink of adulthood and all the joy and anxiety that entails? Robin is finding an unexpected romance as he hits the road with his best friend George (a vivid character with bite)...more

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Jan 21, 2011

Anthony rated it

Shelves: lgbt

When I finished reading Soehnlein's THE WORLD OF NORMAL BOYS back in 2000, I was satisfied with the ending to a book I absolutely loved and was moved by. I knew the characters must go on to live their lives, but I wasn't clamoring for a sequel. So when I found out Soehnlein had written ROBIN AND RUBY, my first thought was "did you really need to go back to that well?" Upon reading the book, I'm glad he did.

R&R finds Robin MacKenzie now 20 years old, a college student working...moreWhen I finished reading Soehnlein's THE WORLD OF NORMAL BOYS back in 2000, I was satisfied with the ending to a book I absolutely loved and was moved by. I knew the characters must go on to live their lives, but I wasn't clamoring for a sequel. So when I found out Soehnlein had written ROBIN AND RUBY, my first thought was "did you really need to go back to that well?" Upon reading the book, I'm glad he did.

R&R finds Robin MacKenzie now 20 years old, a college student working his summer away in Philadelphia alongside his childhood friend George and knee-deep in a relationship with a slightly older man that you know right away is just not working out. Robin's sister Ruby is now in high school, dating a boy who also doesn't seem quite right for her. She accompanies him to a party house on the Jersey Shore and a chance encounter with a boy from her past sets her off on a path that brings Robin and George to the Shore to find her.

Soehnlein does what I think is a wonderful job summarizing the earlier book, which took place when Robin was fourteen. The events of that book, surrounding Robin's homosexuality and the injury/death of his younger brother Jackson, haunt this book. We are never really free of our past, and Soehnlein works that idea into the novel without letting it completely overwhelm the story. Robin and Ruby's thoughts drift back to how Jackson's death affected them, how they've never really gotten out from under the shadow of being "Coma Boy's" siblings, how far apart their family has drifted thanks to divorce after Jackson's death. But the story itself propels on something completely different: the lives Robin and Ruby now lead, the fears and hopes they hold. At it's heart, ROBIN AND RUBY is a relationship drama: sexual relationships, creative relationships, familial relationships, and friendships. Robin's break-up with Peter and the changes in best friend George interweave with Robin's connection to Ruby's scriptwriting rich boyfriend Calvin; Calvin's connection to Robin reveals things about his personality to Ruby; the weekend at Calvin's sister's rented Shore house show Robin things about both herself and the life she would lead if she stayed in love with Calvin. And then there's the mystery boy from Ruby's past who brings memories of who she was after Jackson died compared with who she has become. NORMAL BOYS was told exclusively from Robin's point of view; Soehnlein rightly alternates sections of this book from both Robin and Ruby's points of view, the switching-back-and-forth happening more frequently as the book moves towards its conclusion.

Soehnlein also has a nice attention to period detail. I remembered that from NORMAL BOYS, where he sprinkled enough late 70s pop culture references to firmly root you in the era without being over-the-top. He does the same thing here for the early 80s: songs heard on the car radio or in the club bring back, for me at least, memories of where I was in those years.

I actually now find myself hoping, in a few years' time, that Soehnlein will write another book with these characters, showing us where they are as they move into the 90s.(less)

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Jun 19, 2010

Elisa Ramblings added it

This novel follows Robin, from The World of Normal Boys, in that phase in life when you change from boy to man; only that Robin has already had that change, he is not a normal 20 years old guy, and so his summer spent waiting tables in an upscale Philadelphia restaurant is not careless and light as for any other normal boy.

I wondered why K.M. Soehnlein chose to set the story in the middle of the ’80, and other than the obvious reason that, being a sequel of a previous story set in t...moreThis novel follows Robin, from The World of Normal Boys, in that phase in life when you change from boy to man; only that Robin has already had that change, he is not a normal 20 years old guy, and so his summer spent waiting tables in an upscale Philadelphia restaurant is not careless and light as for any other normal boy.

I wondered why K.M. Soehnlein chose to set the story in the middle of the ’80, and other than the obvious reason that, being a sequel of a previous story set in the same period, it had to be, I think there are also not so obvious reasons, like, for example, the fact that 20 years old boys in the ’80 were maybe still “innocent”, or at least more than today. There are social tensions that now are almost non-existent, or at least not openly acknowledged; AIDS was still an almost unknown threat, still the “gay cancer”, if you were not gay it was not your problem; having a interracial relationship was still almost a taboo, something daring and brazen.

The story follows both Robin than Ruby, and they are at two different moments in life, but to both of them is asked to take a decision, an important one for their future. Robin is living an adult life, he has a steady boyfriend, plans for the future, and obligations; Ruby instead is on the brink of adulthood, still a teenager but with the urge, and the desire, to leave that part of her life behind. In a way Ruby wants to be an adult and Robin instead wants to re-catch his lost teen years. Robin is dumped by his grown boyfriend Peter, but I think he is not so much upset by that; he has George in his life, his long lasting best friend George, someone who was not ready to be something more when they were teenagers, but who is now all grown up, and a living temptation. Robin wants to have another chance with George, but not in a serious way, he wants the carelessly feelings of having a boyfriend, of going and making out, without the oppressive weight of “adult” sex, with the danger of the virus.

In a way, this is not a coming of age story, since Robin doesn’t want to take that step into adulthood, he wants more time, he wants to enjoy the thoughtlessness of having a relationship with someone like George, someone he can trust, since George was always there, always a good friend, and for sure not someone who wants from Robin more than Robin is ready to give. Even with sex, Robin and George are behaving more like teenagers than adults, while the real teenager, Ruby, is testing the water with real sex. At some point Robin will be ready to go further on, maybe with George, maybe with someone else (I hope not, I think George is good for Robin), and maybe Ruby will regret those years when everything was still so scaring and unknown.

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Apr 15, 2011

Jayson Bucy rated it

"And in this moment her entire life realigns. What matters and what doesn't. What is passion and what is just passing time. What everyone else has wanted for her, and what she wants for herself." Although this quote from K.M. Soehnlein's Robin and Ruby is referring to Ruby, the same can be said for Robin as both their lives completely change over one adventurous weekend. Robin's boyfriend breaks up with him and immediately he finds a deeper relationship in his best friend George. ...more"And in this moment her entire life realigns. What matters and what doesn't. What is passion and what is just passing time. What everyone else has wanted for her, and what she wants for herself." Although this quote from K.M. Soehnlein's Robin and Ruby is referring to Ruby, the same can be said for Robin as both their lives completely change over one adventurous weekend. Robin's boyfriend breaks up with him and immediately he finds a deeper relationship in his best friend George. Ruby’s interest in her current boyfriend fades, only to be reunited with a past love interest. A mysterious phone message from Ruby leads Robin and George on a road trip to find his missing sister. Once they track her down, we witness the moment each emerges from their child self into the adult they are to become as they realize they are alike in more ways than they had imagined. They each lose a love, gain a new one, and are forced to make life-changing choices while the former death of their brother and the divorce of their parents haunt their every thought.

Robin and Ruby face many obstacles, and while they sometimes run away from them, they eventually confront them head on and deal with the outcome. They look back on their past, trying to come to terms with what happened, and are able to find a bit of hope. Most important of all, though, they recognize that they will always have the support of each other. "So here it is again, that eternal resemblance, the way her life will always reflect his, not only on her face, but beneath that, too, in the knowledge that they share."

K.M. Soehnlein has captivated me with his descriptive narration of one of the most chaotic times in our lives. The truthfulness of his characters and the realistic experiences they endure show that he really understands what it is like during this emotional period. The similarities in story line and characterization of both Robin and Ruby strengthen their rediscovered connection they have buried within themselves. Robin and Ruby is a story of growing up, but it is also a story of love, whether it is between siblings or between old friends.(less)

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Jun 08, 2010

Julie rated it

The book was a fairly quick & easy read. I was a little disappointed though, it was a lot of build up to a whole lot of nothing, the end was very abrupt. What seemed like resolution was all undone in the last sentence, he hears that she is crying.

It reminded me of a soap opera more then a novel in the sense that it could have endlessly went on and on introducing new characters to the same scenarios. The main points of friction such as the race difference in boy loves boy was lightly ...more

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Jan 06, 2012

Brian rated it

I loved Soehnlein's first novel, The World of Normal Boys, and I was enthralled with the characters, especially Robin and his sister, Ruby. I've had this sequel on my shelf only briefly, and even though I often find follow-up novels to be let-downs, I couldn't wait to read this one, and I was not disappointed.

Though I did enjoy the first book more, Robin and Ruby allows us to explore the lives of both characters a bit deeper and at a time in their lives when they're finally figuring...more

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Dec 31, 2010

George Ilsley rated it

Shelves: fiction, gay

The title does say Robin and Ruby, but really this is Ruby's book. She makes friends, has friends, even has the biggest sex scene. Her gay brother however has very little happening that didn't already happen in The
World of Normal Boys (which was a brilliant novel; read it twice; loved it). This book however did not work for me. Midway through I felt that if this had been Ruby's book, with more about her life, this would have been a better tale. As it was, with expectations so high, i...more

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Jul 12, 2011

Paul Wilson rated it

Not as good as Soehnlein's first two books. This one just didn't captivate me, and it was a struggle just to finish it.

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May 24, 2010

Mandy Dake rated it

Shelves: 2010, kindle

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 19, 2010

Marsha Kay rated it

Interesting but certainly not for everyone. If the homosexual lifestyle is offensive to you, this is not a book for you.

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Jul 31, 2011

Greg Wolfson added it

pretty lame/tame gayish version of any other coming of age novel set in the 80's

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Aug 05, 2011

Greg Wolfson rated it

· review of another edition

pretty lame/tame gayish version of any other coming of age novel set in the 80's

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Sep 26, 2010

Scott rated it

Shelves: lgbt

This sequel to The World of Normal Boys was a dead-ringer for those adolescent emotions that come along with growing up and trying to figure out what is important in you life. Robin and Rudy are siblings whose lives run emotional parallels. Their exploits take them on some pretty heavy topics. It reminds of you of when you were in your early 20's: the paranoid feelings, naivete, experimenting, lack of responsibility..... I had a hard time putting this book down just as I did with "part...more

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Sep 21, 2010

Chris rated it

****

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Jul 10, 2010

Jennefer rated it

Shelves: m-m-romance

OMG! I tried! I really, really tried! I wanted to love it and fall in love with the characters and see what all the rave reviews were about but I just can not go on any further!!! Barely 50% read and I have been working on it for a month! Ugh... It just keeps feeling like the set up and like it never gets to the actually story! If half way threw I am still wondering "what the hell is this book about?" there is a problem! For me at least :)

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May 14, 2010

Lbug rated it

I really liked this book but I feel like it could have been a little better.

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Jan 23, 2011

Geoffrey rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, gay-fiction, ebooks-to-lend

There are parts that are quite well done, but overall it felt choppy and like the author was going for the Gen-X angst of an early Bret Easton Ellis novel just 20 years after.

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Mar 13, 2011

Colleen rated it

Very engaging story of a brother and sister relationship. Highlights, to a degree, one siblings trouble with drug abuse.

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Apr 06, 2011

Falbs rated it

Great read, one hell of a sequel to "The World of Normal Boys".

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Aug 26, 2010

Brenda rated it

Recommends it for: no

not very good

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Feb 05, 2012

Diana marked it as to-read

Feb 05, 2012

Marquis Lawson rated it

Feb 03, 2012

Kristin marked it as to-read

Feb 01, 2012

Kim marked it as to-read

Jan 31, 2012

Angelie marked it as to-read

Shelves: slice-of-life

Jan 30, 2012

Kimberly marked it as to-read

Shelves: library, general-fiction

Jan 30, 2012

Saura marked it as to-read

Jan 24, 2012

Michelle marked it as to-read

Shelves: fiction

Jan 22, 2012

Jently rated it

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About K.M. Soehnlein

K.M. Soehnlein is the author of the new novel ROBIN AND RUBY, the story of a brother and sister during one eventful weekend in the summer of 1985. The novel follows the main characters from Soehnlein's debut, THE WORLD OF NORMAL BOYS, winner of the Lambda Award for Gay Men's Fiction. Soehnlein's novel YOU CAN SAY YOU KNEW ME WHEN, was praised by The L.A. Times's Regina Marler as "a dense, enj...more

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