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The World of Normal Boys #2
Robin and Ruby
In his award-winning bestseller The World of Normal Boys, K.M. Soehnlein introduced readers to the richly compelling voice of teenager Robin MacKenzie. In Robin and Ruby, he revisits Robin and his younger sister, masterfully depicting the turbulence of the mid-1980s and that fleeting time between youth and adulthood—when everything we will become can be shaped by one unforgettable weekend.
At twenty years old, Robin MacKenzie is waiting for his life to start. Waiting until his summer working at a Philly restaurant is over and he’s back with this boyfriend Peter…until the spring semester when he’ll travel to London for an acting program…until the moment when the confidence he fakes starts to feel real.
Then, one hot June weekend, Robin gets dumped by his boyfriend and quickly hits the road with his best friend George to find his teenaged sister, Ruby, who’s vanished from a party at the Jersey Shore. For years, his friendship with George has been the most solid thing in Robin’s life. But lately there are glimpses of another George, someone Robin barely knows and can no longer take for granted.
Ruby is on an adventure of her own, dressing in black, declaring herself an atheist, pulling away from the boyfriend she doesn’t love—not the way she loves the bands whose fractured songs are the soundtrack to her life. Then a chance encounter puts Ruby in pursuit of a seductive but troubled boy who might be the key to her happiness, or a disaster waiting to happen.
As their paths converge, Robin and Ruby confront the sadness of their shared past and rebuild the bonds that still run deep. In prose that is lyrical, compulsively readable, and exquisitely honest, K.M. Soehnlein brilliantly captures a family redefining itself and explores those moments common to us all—when freedom bumps up against responsibility, when sex blurs the line between friendship and love, and when what you stand for becomes more important than who you were raised to be.
At twenty years old, Robin MacKenzie is waiting for his life to start. Waiting until his summer working at a Philly restaurant is over and he’s back with this boyfriend Peter…until the spring semester when he’ll travel to London for an acting program…until the moment when the confidence he fakes starts to feel real.
Then, one hot June weekend, Robin gets dumped by his boyfriend and quickly hits the road with his best friend George to find his teenaged sister, Ruby, who’s vanished from a party at the Jersey Shore. For years, his friendship with George has been the most solid thing in Robin’s life. But lately there are glimpses of another George, someone Robin barely knows and can no longer take for granted.
Ruby is on an adventure of her own, dressing in black, declaring herself an atheist, pulling away from the boyfriend she doesn’t love—not the way she loves the bands whose fractured songs are the soundtrack to her life. Then a chance encounter puts Ruby in pursuit of a seductive but troubled boy who might be the key to her happiness, or a disaster waiting to happen.
As their paths converge, Robin and Ruby confront the sadness of their shared past and rebuild the bonds that still run deep. In prose that is lyrical, compulsively readable, and exquisitely honest, K.M. Soehnlein brilliantly captures a family redefining itself and explores those moments common to us all—when freedom bumps up against responsibility, when sex blurs the line between friendship and love, and when what you stand for becomes more important than who you were raised to be.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published March 12, 2010
15 people are currently reading
650 people want to read
About the author
K.M. Soehnlein
5 books146 followersK.M. Soehnlein's next novel, ARMY OF LOVERS, will be published on October 11, 2022 by Amble Press.
Advanced Praise for ARMY OF LOVERS:
"Soehnlein delivers a sprawling portrait of our darkest days, capturing all the anger and heartbreak and heroic love that forged who we are today. If you want to know how it felt, read this.”
—Armistead Maupin, author of TALES OF THE CITY
“Just when a moment in history is about to be forgotten, an author comes along to capture its passions and struggles and hope. Soehnlein has performed that magic for readers here. ARMY OF LOVERS will become essential reading for years to come. Read it now; be moved, enraptured, emboldened, and reminded what it was like to be young at a turning point in history.”
—Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize winning author of LESS IS LOST
K.M. Soehnlein is the author of THE WORLD OF NORMAL BOYS, winner of the Lambda Award for Gay Men's Fiction; its sequel, ROBIN AND RUBY, an Indie Next Bookstore Selection; and YOU CAN SAY YOU KNEW ME WHEN, praised by The L.A. Times as "a dense, enjoyable read, like one of those famed Beat road trips: pedal to the metal until the next inspired digression."
He is the recipient of the Henfield Prize for short fiction and an SFFILM/Rainin Foundation Grant for screenwriting. His play, OUT OF SITE: SOMA, co-written with Seth Eisen, was performed on the streets of San Francisco and over Zoom in 2019 and 2020.
His stories and essays have appeared in the anthologies WHO'S YER DADDY?: GAY WRITERS CELEBRATE THEIR MENTORS AND FORERUNNERS, which received a Lambda Award; GIRLS WHO LIKE BOYS WHO LIKE BOYS; BOYS TO MEN: GAY MEN WRITE ABOUT GROWING UP; LOVE, CASTRO STREET; and BOOKMARK NOW. His journalism has appeared in Queerty, San Francisco Chronicle, Out, The Village Voice, San Francisco Magazine, 7x7, and more.
Raised in New Jersey, K.M. Soehnlein now lives in San Francisco, where he teaches at the University of San Francisco and enjoys life with his husband, Kevin Clarke.
Advanced Praise for ARMY OF LOVERS:
"Soehnlein delivers a sprawling portrait of our darkest days, capturing all the anger and heartbreak and heroic love that forged who we are today. If you want to know how it felt, read this.”
—Armistead Maupin, author of TALES OF THE CITY
“Just when a moment in history is about to be forgotten, an author comes along to capture its passions and struggles and hope. Soehnlein has performed that magic for readers here. ARMY OF LOVERS will become essential reading for years to come. Read it now; be moved, enraptured, emboldened, and reminded what it was like to be young at a turning point in history.”
—Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize winning author of LESS IS LOST
K.M. Soehnlein is the author of THE WORLD OF NORMAL BOYS, winner of the Lambda Award for Gay Men's Fiction; its sequel, ROBIN AND RUBY, an Indie Next Bookstore Selection; and YOU CAN SAY YOU KNEW ME WHEN, praised by The L.A. Times as "a dense, enjoyable read, like one of those famed Beat road trips: pedal to the metal until the next inspired digression."
He is the recipient of the Henfield Prize for short fiction and an SFFILM/Rainin Foundation Grant for screenwriting. His play, OUT OF SITE: SOMA, co-written with Seth Eisen, was performed on the streets of San Francisco and over Zoom in 2019 and 2020.
His stories and essays have appeared in the anthologies WHO'S YER DADDY?: GAY WRITERS CELEBRATE THEIR MENTORS AND FORERUNNERS, which received a Lambda Award; GIRLS WHO LIKE BOYS WHO LIKE BOYS; BOYS TO MEN: GAY MEN WRITE ABOUT GROWING UP; LOVE, CASTRO STREET; and BOOKMARK NOW. His journalism has appeared in Queerty, San Francisco Chronicle, Out, The Village Voice, San Francisco Magazine, 7x7, and more.
Raised in New Jersey, K.M. Soehnlein now lives in San Francisco, where he teaches at the University of San Francisco and enjoys life with his husband, Kevin Clarke.
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February 5, 2024
✰ 3 stars ✰
“But it must still be possible to love and be loved back in equal measure. It has to be.
Because why else is that love put in your heart, if not to find expression? And why else do we carry on, if not to try again?”
In the years that followed after the tragedy that shook the MacKenzie family gives us a glimpse into what kind of people Jackson's older siblings, Robin and Ruby grew up to be and the challenges that they faced. It's both a reflective and hard-hitting personal look into their different personalities and lifestyles, while still being able to capture how deep their sibling bond connects themselves to one another. There were parts that stood out for me and parts that bored me - parts that were written well, parts that didn't quite land right. But, what stood at the center of it all was the depiction of how seven years later, Robin and Ruby's lives have been severely challenged by the passage of time.
“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.”
It is a touching portrayal of a family affected by grief and the results of said grief; how their lives went down paths they weren't expecting, but somehow, ended up at this point that was also something they were not prepared for. The story alternates between Robin and Ruby's perspective, which was something different than the first book, but somehow, befitting. For while the author takes us in the heady whirlwind of sex and drugs and the swagger of lust and love, there is still the wrinkle of hope that there is a silver lining through all the anger, the rage, and frustration. 🙏🏻🙏🏻 Their personalities are vastly different, and yet, they are entwined by that common ground of trying to find their place in this world - what does it mean to be Robin and Ruby and who in their lives they want to share themselves with?
“What has been lost, and why, and what part of it is his fault? It is a moment of infinite disorientation:
There is pain that he thinks he has caused, and pain that he thinks was thrust upon him, but he can’t tell one from the other.”
Since I bid adieu to Robin at the bus stop seven years ago, it was comforting, and strangely rewarding. It hasn't exactly been smooth sailing for him since then - exploiting himself in the rigors of casual sex, thwarted by his lingering attachments to those two young men who awoke his desires. 'When you’ve been told your whole life that you’re good looking, it’s easy to doubt that anyone values anything else about you. Good looks get attention, but not all attention is a good thing.' 😢 But it was an enlightening and heartening moment seeing him try to make some semblance of a life for himself with his best friend, George, getting the layout of how he finds life in Philadelphia, while struggling between staying here or pursuing his career in theater abroad.
What always resonates with me in this author's style of writing is the honesty in the voice of his characters; that no matter how crude or harsh, it's Robin talking - Robin feeling - Robin emoting - Robin expressing his inner thoughts and desires with such candor or fervor that it becomes almost second nature to be inside his mind. ' It’s his own heart that’s been injured, again and again, sometimes cleaved by rejection, sometimes smothered by silence.' The nature of his past sexual endeavors still lingers over him as a cloud, and being the 80s, it's a tough and rough subject for him - the prevalent fear of AIDS washing over every next impromptu move. 😥 George was the voice of reason - the stable hand, the guiding touch for Robin, when he felt lost and abandoned. 'He’s changed; they’ve changed each other. Peter is back there somewhere, turning into the past, and George is right here at his side, as he’s been all along.' Having him by his side, watching him shoulder through heartache and troubling thoughts was a welcome comfort for him - especially, when it came to helping out Ruby. 🥹
“It was unfair, how the sun cast the same light on the good as it did on the bad, on kind people as well as cruel.
She still finds herself wishing for cosmic justice—if there is a God, why doesn’t he punish those who truly deserve it?”
I didn't realize how pivotal a part Ruby's presence in Robin's life had been till I read the story from her perspective; how I didn't acknowledge that her life, as well, had changed drastically. Her story was wild and disoriented, but held together by her crippling hope to have something to hold onto. It was inhibitions lost and desire unleashed that led Robin in her pursuit, and thankfully, exactly at the moment she needed him. It was a bit jarring at times, but the author captured the intensity of the college lifestyle with a brazen and bold look that felt realistic to me. 👍🏻
I'm a big fan of the 80s vibe, the rush of life, those catchy tunes, the zest for not knowing what fate awaited the youth - for both sides of the spectrum, so to speak. And even as she spiraled, she was learning and accepting things about herself - things that she had closed off for so long. '— but rather it’s the fact that their lives seem, for the first time ever, to be made up of the same material. Maybe separate from each other, but at least parallel, which is something.' 🥺 Much like the moment that changed their lives, this almost intervention-like experience was cathartic to both of them - both at the next step in their respective journeys and for them to have to collide in this manner - was perhaps, the best thing that they could have hoped for.
“And he wants to bow his head again, because what he wishes for, hopes for, even prays for, if that’s what this is, is not forgiveness, not for the past, but courage, for what comes next.”
For, in the end, it all comes down to family - returning to that familial setting that was their home for years - the place of memories that linger and can't be forgotten. How some guilty actions and some unresolved feelings still haunt both of them and perhaps, needed to be addressed to clear the air and their hearts. ❤️🩹❤️🩹 'Not a prayer for his brother, dead and gone, but a wish for himself and his sister, to find a way out of the past, once and for all. To find forgiveness.' It's that critical moment in your life, when you didn't quite expect your life to end up here; but, now that you're here - do something about it. All the little details that highlight their relationship with their parents were subtly done, but enough for me to see how they've all felt the brunt of time. 😔
I won't deny that I didn't quite get that same emotional impact that resonated within me from this sequeL.But, it was a very character-driven read - one where these siblings were searching for a way to achieve this closure of a happiness with someone that would give them: stability, trustworthiness, sexual safety.' 🤍And despite how both their attempts failed at the first chance, it doesn't mean that it will always be that way. I also appreciated getting to see where these characters ended up and how the trajectory of their lives was an emotional upheaval they all endured. They're trying to make the most of what they have - struggling and learning what it is not that life expects of them - rather, what they expect from it. 😥
The final few chapters are really where the emotions hit and I felt the weight of everything crash upon me, as well. How Robin finally had a chance to think and reflect - something, that in his hasty efforts to chase the next person to fall into bed with, to blind himself to his developing feelings for his best friends, and to cover up the guilt of the past that he has not yet forgiven himself for - that I could finally feel the power of the words really shine. 🤌🏻🤌🏻 He and his sister were always close, and just knowing that Robin dropped everything to come and check up on her shows how much they mean to each other - despite how judgmental they can be of each other. 'When someone goes missing, you either search for her, or you wait it out. The idea of a “search” is hard to pull into focus. But the waiting is unbearable.' Their lives have been messy, their personalities even more erratic - but, when it mattered - they were still family - they still cared and trusted in the bond that they shared with each other. 🫂
Strangely enough, I'm still tempted to try out more books by K.M Soehnlein; perhaps, there is much to be desired from the writing, but the ideas that appeal to me are there. And the writing can be so evocative at times - 'the ocean is perpetual, and the tides, and drowning. But so is love, and desire' - that it feels impossible to turn away. 😔 If they could only, somehow, be channeled into something a bit more promising with a lot more to take away with, then I might just have a winner on my hands one of these days.
“But it must still be possible to love and be loved back in equal measure. It has to be.
Because why else is that love put in your heart, if not to find expression? And why else do we carry on, if not to try again?”
In the years that followed after the tragedy that shook the MacKenzie family gives us a glimpse into what kind of people Jackson's older siblings, Robin and Ruby grew up to be and the challenges that they faced. It's both a reflective and hard-hitting personal look into their different personalities and lifestyles, while still being able to capture how deep their sibling bond connects themselves to one another. There were parts that stood out for me and parts that bored me - parts that were written well, parts that didn't quite land right. But, what stood at the center of it all was the depiction of how seven years later, Robin and Ruby's lives have been severely challenged by the passage of time.
“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.”
It is a touching portrayal of a family affected by grief and the results of said grief; how their lives went down paths they weren't expecting, but somehow, ended up at this point that was also something they were not prepared for. The story alternates between Robin and Ruby's perspective, which was something different than the first book, but somehow, befitting. For while the author takes us in the heady whirlwind of sex and drugs and the swagger of lust and love, there is still the wrinkle of hope that there is a silver lining through all the anger, the rage, and frustration. 🙏🏻🙏🏻 Their personalities are vastly different, and yet, they are entwined by that common ground of trying to find their place in this world - what does it mean to be Robin and Ruby and who in their lives they want to share themselves with?
“What has been lost, and why, and what part of it is his fault? It is a moment of infinite disorientation:
There is pain that he thinks he has caused, and pain that he thinks was thrust upon him, but he can’t tell one from the other.”
Since I bid adieu to Robin at the bus stop seven years ago, it was comforting, and strangely rewarding. It hasn't exactly been smooth sailing for him since then - exploiting himself in the rigors of casual sex, thwarted by his lingering attachments to those two young men who awoke his desires. 'When you’ve been told your whole life that you’re good looking, it’s easy to doubt that anyone values anything else about you. Good looks get attention, but not all attention is a good thing.' 😢 But it was an enlightening and heartening moment seeing him try to make some semblance of a life for himself with his best friend, George, getting the layout of how he finds life in Philadelphia, while struggling between staying here or pursuing his career in theater abroad.
What always resonates with me in this author's style of writing is the honesty in the voice of his characters; that no matter how crude or harsh, it's Robin talking - Robin feeling - Robin emoting - Robin expressing his inner thoughts and desires with such candor or fervor that it becomes almost second nature to be inside his mind. ' It’s his own heart that’s been injured, again and again, sometimes cleaved by rejection, sometimes smothered by silence.' The nature of his past sexual endeavors still lingers over him as a cloud, and being the 80s, it's a tough and rough subject for him - the prevalent fear of AIDS washing over every next impromptu move. 😥 George was the voice of reason - the stable hand, the guiding touch for Robin, when he felt lost and abandoned. 'He’s changed; they’ve changed each other. Peter is back there somewhere, turning into the past, and George is right here at his side, as he’s been all along.' Having him by his side, watching him shoulder through heartache and troubling thoughts was a welcome comfort for him - especially, when it came to helping out Ruby. 🥹
“It was unfair, how the sun cast the same light on the good as it did on the bad, on kind people as well as cruel.
She still finds herself wishing for cosmic justice—if there is a God, why doesn’t he punish those who truly deserve it?”
I didn't realize how pivotal a part Ruby's presence in Robin's life had been till I read the story from her perspective; how I didn't acknowledge that her life, as well, had changed drastically. Her story was wild and disoriented, but held together by her crippling hope to have something to hold onto. It was inhibitions lost and desire unleashed that led Robin in her pursuit, and thankfully, exactly at the moment she needed him. It was a bit jarring at times, but the author captured the intensity of the college lifestyle with a brazen and bold look that felt realistic to me. 👍🏻
I'm a big fan of the 80s vibe, the rush of life, those catchy tunes, the zest for not knowing what fate awaited the youth - for both sides of the spectrum, so to speak. And even as she spiraled, she was learning and accepting things about herself - things that she had closed off for so long. '— but rather it’s the fact that their lives seem, for the first time ever, to be made up of the same material. Maybe separate from each other, but at least parallel, which is something.' 🥺 Much like the moment that changed their lives, this almost intervention-like experience was cathartic to both of them - both at the next step in their respective journeys and for them to have to collide in this manner - was perhaps, the best thing that they could have hoped for.
“And he wants to bow his head again, because what he wishes for, hopes for, even prays for, if that’s what this is, is not forgiveness, not for the past, but courage, for what comes next.”
For, in the end, it all comes down to family - returning to that familial setting that was their home for years - the place of memories that linger and can't be forgotten. How some guilty actions and some unresolved feelings still haunt both of them and perhaps, needed to be addressed to clear the air and their hearts. ❤️🩹❤️🩹 'Not a prayer for his brother, dead and gone, but a wish for himself and his sister, to find a way out of the past, once and for all. To find forgiveness.' It's that critical moment in your life, when you didn't quite expect your life to end up here; but, now that you're here - do something about it. All the little details that highlight their relationship with their parents were subtly done, but enough for me to see how they've all felt the brunt of time. 😔
I won't deny that I didn't quite get that same emotional impact that resonated within me from this sequeL.But, it was a very character-driven read - one where these siblings were searching for a way to achieve this closure of a happiness with someone that would give them: stability, trustworthiness, sexual safety.' 🤍And despite how both their attempts failed at the first chance, it doesn't mean that it will always be that way. I also appreciated getting to see where these characters ended up and how the trajectory of their lives was an emotional upheaval they all endured. They're trying to make the most of what they have - struggling and learning what it is not that life expects of them - rather, what they expect from it. 😥
The final few chapters are really where the emotions hit and I felt the weight of everything crash upon me, as well. How Robin finally had a chance to think and reflect - something, that in his hasty efforts to chase the next person to fall into bed with, to blind himself to his developing feelings for his best friends, and to cover up the guilt of the past that he has not yet forgiven himself for - that I could finally feel the power of the words really shine. 🤌🏻🤌🏻 He and his sister were always close, and just knowing that Robin dropped everything to come and check up on her shows how much they mean to each other - despite how judgmental they can be of each other. 'When someone goes missing, you either search for her, or you wait it out. The idea of a “search” is hard to pull into focus. But the waiting is unbearable.' Their lives have been messy, their personalities even more erratic - but, when it mattered - they were still family - they still cared and trusted in the bond that they shared with each other. 🫂
Strangely enough, I'm still tempted to try out more books by K.M Soehnlein; perhaps, there is much to be desired from the writing, but the ideas that appeal to me are there. And the writing can be so evocative at times - 'the ocean is perpetual, and the tides, and drowning. But so is love, and desire' - that it feels impossible to turn away. 😔 If they could only, somehow, be channeled into something a bit more promising with a lot more to take away with, then I might just have a winner on my hands one of these days.
July 6, 2016
What a huge disappointment!
The first book in this series, The World of Normal Boys, was absolutely fantastic (to see my review click here). Robin and Ruby was the exact opposite. Where the first book was life changing, this one was simply boring. I really don't get the point of the story. I kept reading to the end in hopes that something changed. Sorry to say nothing did.
April 30, 2010
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.
January 7, 2012
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 out what it means to be adults (making your own decisions, accepting responsibility for your actions even if you don't want to, and owning up to your mistakes and the lies you may have told). The author's writing is certainly as engaging as in the first book; if anything, I tried to hold back on reading too much in a sitting because I wanted to savor this installment of Robin and Ruby's lives as much as I did the first time I was introduced to their characters.
That, of course, leads to my only major complaint about this book: it was too short! I could spend weeks, if not longer, reading about about Robin, Ruby, their mother, and their friends and lovers and never tire of it.
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 out what it means to be adults (making your own decisions, accepting responsibility for your actions even if you don't want to, and owning up to your mistakes and the lies you may have told). The author's writing is certainly as engaging as in the first book; if anything, I tried to hold back on reading too much in a sitting because I wanted to savor this installment of Robin and Ruby's lives as much as I did the first time I was introduced to their characters.
That, of course, leads to my only major complaint about this book: it was too short! I could spend weeks, if not longer, reading about about Robin, Ruby, their mother, and their friends and lovers and never tire of it.
Read
June 28, 2011Absolutely 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) while Ruby is enjoying possibly the worst house party on the Jersey shore. All the minor characters are vivid in this book, including two "townie" girls who take Ruby under their wing--vivid, feisty, hilarious, and sympathetic.
As with The World of Normal Boys (which focused on Robin several years earlier, a boy torn both by his sexuality and a severe injury his brother suffers) when I try to characterize this book, I make it sound less than it is: two kids trying to negotiate friends, family, and love and, at the same time, form an idea of self. But when your in these stories, they are absolutely real and compelling. (R&R even more than Normal Boys, I think.)
Read this and feel young.
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) while Ruby is enjoying possibly the worst house party on the Jersey shore. All the minor characters are vivid in this book, including two "townie" girls who take Ruby under their wing--vivid, feisty, hilarious, and sympathetic.
As with The World of Normal Boys (which focused on Robin several years earlier, a boy torn both by his sexuality and a severe injury his brother suffers) when I try to characterize this book, I make it sound less than it is: two kids trying to negotiate friends, family, and love and, at the same time, form an idea of self. But when your in these stories, they are absolutely real and compelling. (R&R even more than Normal Boys, I think.)
Read this and feel young.
December 18, 2023
3,5 out of 5
μια χρονιά μαραθώνιος, που με εξάντλησε σωματικά και συναισθηματικά. και ένα reader’s block που έμοιαζε αναπόφευκτο.
τουλάχιστον κλείνω τη χρονιά και τερματίζω (ελπίζω) το reader’s block με το βιβλίο ενός φίλου, έτοιμος (;) για κάτι καινούργιο.
μια χρονιά μαραθώνιος, που με εξάντλησε σωματικά και συναισθηματικά. και ένα reader’s block που έμοιαζε αναπόφευκτο.
τουλάχιστον κλείνω τη χρονιά και τερματίζω (ελπίζω) το reader’s block με το βιβλίο ενός φίλου, έτοιμος (;) για κάτι καινούργιο.
September 26, 2010
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 1."
January 22, 2011
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 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.
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.
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June 19, 2010This 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.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0758232187/?...
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.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0758232187/?...
July 10, 2010
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 :)
February 27, 2021
This book is set 6ish years after The World of Normal Boys, and follows Robin - now 20 - as he navigates life, love, college and family. We also follow his sister Ruby, who is dealing with similar things but in a different way.
I liked the juxtaposition between Robin and Ruby. In both narratives, sex is an important part of the storylines. In Robin's case, as an openly out gay man in the early 80's, his mind is filled with worry about the very new, very real AIDs epidemic. He is safe with his boyfriend, but his mind keeps shifting to all the partners of his past, and whether AIDs will just sneak up on him somehow, as if it's been lurking inside him, waiting to make him ill.
Ruby on the other hand is very protective of her body. She has such a positive outlook on her own autonomy after one horrible experience several year prior, so has decided that because she didn't enjoy it, she won't have sex until she is completely ready - which has given people the idea that she is a virgin. Her overbearing boyfriend seems to be the last person she wants to be intimate with, so she's trying to distance herself from him, trying to find the perfect time to break it off (if that's possible while at a party hours away from home, with all of his friends)
Both of these narratives offer in-depth analysis of what it means to be 'gay and easy' or 'virginal and uptight' throughout the book. The expectations placed on each of these architypes are unravelled and argued against by the very headstrong, independent siblings. Why is every character Ruby meets so insistent on having an opinion about her lack of sexual activities? Why is Robin's boyfriend quick to judge him about his past, even though he has been nothing but faithful?
The book also deals with race, as Robin's flatmate and best friend George is a gay black man. The book is from Robin's perspective (well, half of it anyway), so we see the ignorance, and microaggressions from the outside looking in - from other characters and situations, but also from Robin himself, even as he lives in a predominantly BIPOC area.
Most of the story takes place over one weekend, Ruby meets a long lost person from her past and goes on a wild adventure, Robin and George may or may not be taking their friendship to a different level, and on top of it all it's a milestone anniversary of the death of Jackson, their little brother, who would have been turning 18 years old. (Read The World of Normal Boys first so you get all the backstory on that!)
I liked the juxtaposition between Robin and Ruby. In both narratives, sex is an important part of the storylines. In Robin's case, as an openly out gay man in the early 80's, his mind is filled with worry about the very new, very real AIDs epidemic. He is safe with his boyfriend, but his mind keeps shifting to all the partners of his past, and whether AIDs will just sneak up on him somehow, as if it's been lurking inside him, waiting to make him ill.
Ruby on the other hand is very protective of her body. She has such a positive outlook on her own autonomy after one horrible experience several year prior, so has decided that because she didn't enjoy it, she won't have sex until she is completely ready - which has given people the idea that she is a virgin. Her overbearing boyfriend seems to be the last person she wants to be intimate with, so she's trying to distance herself from him, trying to find the perfect time to break it off (if that's possible while at a party hours away from home, with all of his friends)
Both of these narratives offer in-depth analysis of what it means to be 'gay and easy' or 'virginal and uptight' throughout the book. The expectations placed on each of these architypes are unravelled and argued against by the very headstrong, independent siblings. Why is every character Ruby meets so insistent on having an opinion about her lack of sexual activities? Why is Robin's boyfriend quick to judge him about his past, even though he has been nothing but faithful?
The book also deals with race, as Robin's flatmate and best friend George is a gay black man. The book is from Robin's perspective (well, half of it anyway), so we see the ignorance, and microaggressions from the outside looking in - from other characters and situations, but also from Robin himself, even as he lives in a predominantly BIPOC area.
Most of the story takes place over one weekend, Ruby meets a long lost person from her past and goes on a wild adventure, Robin and George may or may not be taking their friendship to a different level, and on top of it all it's a milestone anniversary of the death of Jackson, their little brother, who would have been turning 18 years old. (Read The World of Normal Boys first so you get all the backstory on that!)
August 15, 2024
3.5 🌟
This is the sequel to The World of Normal Boys, and even though it doesn't hit nearly as hard, it's still a beautifully constructed piece of writing. Honestly, why is no one talking about this guys writing? It's so confident and assured and yet somehow really comforting. He deserves way more praise and way better covers. It was really nice to see how these characters had matured during the 8 year gap, and because of this maturity, this novel is much more interior and reflective than the first one. Although that makes sense, they're adults now (19 and 20 instead of 12 and 13), and so you have them desperately trying to make sense of all these new, strange responsibilities that come along with that. Plot wise, it's actually fairly quiet and gentle compared to the craziness of Book 1, but it's so beautiful written that I didn't mind this at all. I also enjoyed being in New York in the 80s, rather than the 70s New Jersey of Book 1. I have to admit, I wasn't as fond of Ruby's sections as I was Robin's, but come on, a straight girl is never going to be as interesting as a chaotic gay boy, so that's to be expected (lol), however, I still thought he did a good job balancing the two viewpoints. I gave Book 1 five stars, and if I'm being being honest, this was much more like 3.5, although I still really enjoyed it, and if he were ever to write a part 3 set in the 90s, with the same characters, I would be there with bells on.
This is the sequel to The World of Normal Boys, and even though it doesn't hit nearly as hard, it's still a beautifully constructed piece of writing. Honestly, why is no one talking about this guys writing? It's so confident and assured and yet somehow really comforting. He deserves way more praise and way better covers. It was really nice to see how these characters had matured during the 8 year gap, and because of this maturity, this novel is much more interior and reflective than the first one. Although that makes sense, they're adults now (19 and 20 instead of 12 and 13), and so you have them desperately trying to make sense of all these new, strange responsibilities that come along with that. Plot wise, it's actually fairly quiet and gentle compared to the craziness of Book 1, but it's so beautiful written that I didn't mind this at all. I also enjoyed being in New York in the 80s, rather than the 70s New Jersey of Book 1. I have to admit, I wasn't as fond of Ruby's sections as I was Robin's, but come on, a straight girl is never going to be as interesting as a chaotic gay boy, so that's to be expected (lol), however, I still thought he did a good job balancing the two viewpoints. I gave Book 1 five stars, and if I'm being being honest, this was much more like 3.5, although I still really enjoyed it, and if he were ever to write a part 3 set in the 90s, with the same characters, I would be there with bells on.
September 23, 2017
Good sequel to The World of Normal Boys. Interesting dramatic situations. It's the further adventures of Robin and Ruby, bother and sister, in their early college years. Robin is gay; his sister is not. They both have dramatic romantic relationship as they attempt to find themselves and the persons they want to be involved with. Basically, this is a novel about relationships - between siblings, parents, friends and lover. And about sex. I enjoyed the book.
November 3, 2018
I remember the surprise of seeing this after its prequel was one of my fav books during my teenage years. It is just great to hear the evolution of two characters you used to love years and years ago. Lovely book
July 12, 2017
I enjoyed this John, though apparently this author known for 'gay men fiction', it was a story that read like a story where a character happened to be gay.
September 4, 2017
Boring.
October 30, 2017
Review to come
September 19, 2018
The feels man, the feels!
Want to read
July 19, 2020elibrary
August 14, 2020
I really like the characters but the plot development was weak for me. I wanted more of a complete feeling at the end.
September 22, 2020
Great Book!
November 8, 2023
一對成年邊緣的兄妹，各自在弟弟忌日前夕經歷了感情、友情、家庭關係的波盪；同志哥哥被男友甩了之後，直面自己對於一起長大好友的難言慾望，妹妹則是對於男友耐心盡失，卻在派對上遇見高中時期ghosting的曖昧對象，兩個支線寫得叨叨絮絮，雙方生活一團亂（尤其是在派對的妹妹），最後不免一起回到老家，與離異的父母達成某種程度的和解，厚厚一本，明明文字淺顯但看得好累。
April 15, 2011
"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.
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.
April 22, 2013
This was a wonderfully written story filled with accurately drawn characters who read like real people. Although a little heavy on 80's references, this book did draw me back to a time and place I know well..Seaside Heights in the mid-80s. (Although it wasn't called Club XS until the 90's...in '85 I think it was called Club Paradise, but it has changed incarnations so many times it's hard to remember.) I loved Robin, Ruby and George. I loved how the author didn't try to sugarcoat his gay characters and depicted them as real everyday people with the type of conflicted emotions every twenty year old has. Every character in this book, whether main or a sidenote had that touch of reality. This book is a sequel to another and I hope there's a third, so that we can see what happens next to Robin and Ruby. This was refreshingly honest, thought provoking and gives a true glance in to what it was like for many gay young men in this time period, as well as being a poignant tale of family love and loss.
June 8, 2010
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 touched on here and there without much depth given to it. I would have liked to see George developed a little bit more and his background further explored instead of here's George to hold Robin's hand. Here's George again. It's like he's a prop instead of a character.
All in all it was a light breezy summer read.
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 touched on here and there without much depth given to it. I would have liked to see George developed a little bit more and his background further explored instead of here's George to hold Robin's hand. Here's George again. It's like he's a prop instead of a character.
All in all it was a light breezy summer read.
August 1, 2019
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, it was a disappointment.
August 11, 2012
This was an interesting look at a family torn apart in many ways by the death of the little brother years ago. Set in the early 80's when the AIDS epidemic was becoming public. Robin is a 20 year old gay theater student frightened by his past sexual behavior; Ruby is his sister, 19 and anti-everything. Robin is dumped by his boyfriend and then must go to the Jersey shore because Ruby has disappeared on a weekend trip. Robin's long time best friend is a black man which adds race to the mix of homosexuality, family dysfunction, rebellion etc. Lots to thik about.
December 1, 2023
I read the author's first book, 'The World of Normal Boys' and then went on to read this one, his second. Like the first my memory of this book is almost entirely absent except for a feeling of impatience and disaffection. Perhaps that is due to a lack of cultural identification - I do find many American novels tiresome in the way they imagine the world outside of the USA is as obsessed with the what concerns Americans. I still give it three stars because I didn't dislike the book but I am sure I will not reread it.
May 9, 2014
Catching Up With Old Friends
Reading “Robin and Ruby” was truly like spending a weekend catching up with old friends.
Alternating between Robin and Ruby, K.M. Soehnlein tells us what they’ve been up to, but more notably, what chaotic happenings they are about to encounter this weekend.
If you haven’t read “The World of Normal Boys”, I strongly recommend reading this Lambda Award Winning novel, then catching up, by reading “Robin and Ruby”.
Adam James
Reading “Robin and Ruby” was truly like spending a weekend catching up with old friends.
Alternating between Robin and Ruby, K.M. Soehnlein tells us what they’ve been up to, but more notably, what chaotic happenings they are about to encounter this weekend.
If you haven’t read “The World of Normal Boys”, I strongly recommend reading this Lambda Award Winning novel, then catching up, by reading “Robin and Ruby”.
Adam James
December 11, 2014
This was a little too much of a "coming of age" tale for me. I also didn't read The World of Normal Boys, so maybe that would have helped. I enjoyed the beginning with Robin, Peter, and George, but by the time Ruby came into the picture, I lost interest. Her parts felt like bad Bret Easton Ellis and I found myself skipping through them to get back to Robin. I would read something else by Soehnlein, just not something involving people who are a little older and more mature.
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