Floating

by Robin Troy

Winner of the MTV Fiction Contest
Marking the debut of a vibrant new voice in American fiction, Floating is a poignant and sharply original novel about the fragile boundaries between desire, love, and betrayal. For most people, Whitticker, Arizona, population 641, is just a rest stop on a highway to somewhere else. But for twenty-five-year-old Ruby Pearson, there is nowhere else. With husband in jail and an eight-year-old son at home, Ruby knows what she wants what she doesn't -- and is determined to break free of a life going nowhere. When a pickup-truck cowboy named Sean rolls in off the interstate, bringing with him a world possibilities, Ruby is given her chance. Problem is, Sean's her husband's brother, her son's uncle...and maybe her best shot at true love and a ticket out.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Young Adult

272 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1998

About the author

Robin Troy is associate professor of English and director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Southern Connecticut State University. She has an MFA from the University of Montana and is the author of the novel Floating.

Reviews

[Gohnar23 · Rating 2 out of 5]

#️⃣4️⃣6️⃣8️⃣ Read & Reviewed in 2025 💔🩸
Date : 🚀 Sunday, September 14, 2025 🚫🔻❌
Word Count📃: 47k Words 🧨🔪🎈

⋆⭒𓆟⋆｡˚𖦹𓆜✩⋆ >-;;⁠;⁠;€ᐷ °‧ 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 ·｡

( ˶°ㅁ°) !! My 42th read in "READING AS MANY BOOKS AS I CANNN 😢 cuz smth....happened.....irl.........😥" September ⚡

2️⃣🌟, Brian is the only interesting part in the entire thing.
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This almost feels like a horrible cashgrab ripoff of another famous "gosh, who will i choose!" trope where she basically choose between Sean...AND HER LITERAL HUSBAND WHICH ALSO HAPPENS TO BE SEAN'S BROTHER.

I think the right answer is already in her face but here we go again with characters like Ruby complaining and bitching about not being satisfied enough with her current relationship so she needs something a little bit more, a little bit of "thrill" which is basically just cheating on her husband with his brother. AND ITS ALMOST LIKE SHE FORGOT THAT SHE HAS A CHILD which obviously needs the love and attention of the actual father so you can't just,.,,,..,.,, let another person take the responsibility of being a father just because you're "bored with your current husband" gosh gtfo.

And all the entire thing was structured so it makes you think that there's going to be a massive decision being made at the ending but the ending is a massive disappointment as it doesn't even do anything and basically doesn't even resolve the story. Who did she choose? Idk,,.,, the ending didn't say anything. 😑😑😑😑😑😑

[Speedtribes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is just about what you would expect from a girl who writes about some place in the midwest and has horses on the cover. I expected horses, but they weren't really a strong presence. The "I write about midwestern love, pickup trucks and water buckets." tone was, however.

I'd come across this book right on the tail end of reading Dogrun, which has a completely opposite tone and feel. I can't say the story really drew me in, and the writing style, while clean and pretty would really only suit me while I'm in a certain mood. Luckily, it was summer, and the wind was mild, the air was warm and I was in the right mood. It was as gentle a read as the story was.

For that summer afternoon, I came away feeling relatively relaxed and satisfied -- even if I hadn't stretched very far to get there.

[Tory · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dull.

It had the potential to be less so, but it never got there. None of the characters were very likeable, except maybe Brian. The eight year old.

Mostly the author just told you things about the characters, but there was no written proof. Ruby was supposedly wonderful and loved and adored… but there was no content that would make the reader think so about her.

[sisterimapoet · Rating 3 out of 5]

It read more like a novella - but not a bad one at that. I liked the sparse nature of the people and the prose. I liked the way it ended back where it began.

[Cheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

All through this book I had this weird feeling that i"d already read it, but I read it again anyway which turned out to be a gigantic waste of my time. Boring, and definitely not worth a second read.

[Nabeeha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Where do I begin. First of all this book felt like a draft. One word ms troy. EDIT!!!

This book focused on the most unnecessary details when the author should have been writing better and stronger characters. This author thought she could just have characters that we “get” right off the bat but no. Embarrassing how strong she though her writing was.

The author also tried to like explain why the characters did what they did and it never made sense. I wouldn’t questions anything they did if it wasn’t for her weird, wordy explanations.

Also the way they treated Brian. God he deserved sm better. Both parents just projected on him and then said in their heads how sorry they were. Literally awful.

The ending SUCKED!!!! It wasn’t even an ending, nothing l was resolved. I was reading only to find out what would happened in the end spoiler alert!! Literally nothing. I think her publisher gave her a page limit and she wasted it on describing the horse corral.

Overall the book was just words on paper. I felt no connection with the characters or even the plot. I just kept reading cuz it was short and I held out hope. False hope.

November 9, 2021.

[Stephanie A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm watching Revolution yet again, which means I'm more than primed for a story about a woman falling for her husband's brother. If there are horses, even in the background, so much the better. Unfortunately, this is attempted Literature, so beyond a few evocative descriptions of a small and dusty town and a briefly interesting affair, it is very dull to me personally. I did not care about any of the characters and I'm not even sure what happened at the end -- as in, I read the words, but couldn't tell if the vague descriptions and metaphors meant they were staying together or splitting up.

[Katharine · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 so I rounded up because I can’t believe this is rated so low! This is a fun, quick read that was really enjoyable. The characters felt realistic, the plot kept my interest, and the pacing was really well done.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book when I was 17, dragged it all of the country for years.

I finally read it and I’m disappointed

[woodemc · Rating 3 out of 5]

A complicated love story. Light and airy.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because it was part of the MTV books that were popular about five years ago. I felt bad for the main female character being stuck in a situation like that but it happens to many women all the time so the plot wasn't very original or refreshing.

[Jas Deol · Rating 2 out of 5]

stupid.