Review: Robin's Blue

Robin's Blue by Pam Alster

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Robin's Blue by Pam Alster is a hard look at a young woman growing up in the eighties, trying to find her place in the world. She has a variety of issues from the beginning--her mother is dead, her father is always a bit distant, her sister is a sociopath. The novel begins when Robin is just sixteen, partying it up with all of her friends, coworkers and a host of bad influences.

The novel continues to follow Robin through her love and marriage to Jeff, her turn to prostitution, and her eventual recovery from drug addiction.

While the story was intriguing, the narrator was anything but a sympathetic character. In fact, she's downright conceited until the last page of the novel. It was frustrating to constantly read how she thought she was better and prettier than everyone, yet she had no real redeeming moment, even after she admitted to a drug problem. While the setting and supporting characters may have changed, her attitude did not.

The novel also had some show and tell issues. I would have loved to read much more about the two years with Jeff and their marriage, yet these vital events were mostly glossed over to make room for more than a dozen other characters that come and go faster than the reader can figure out who they are. Adding more about Jeff may have made the difference on understanding why she was the way she was.



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