Stuck On Vacation With Ryan Rupert (Ryan Rupert #1) by P.S. Malcolm
Genre: Contemporary YA
Publication: June 30th 2016
Publisher: Self-Published
Source: Review copy from Author
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Rating: ✵ ✵ ✵
Aubany Winters’ life soon becomes a nightmare when her Mom gets cancer and has to leave for California with her Dad. Left with her neighbours, the Ruperts, and to her displeasure, their son Ryan, she finds herself forced to tag along on their family vacation to Nula Island. There’s just a few problems, like her fear of the ocean, her and Ryan’s mutual hatred for each other, and the psycho girl who is trying to kill them.
Will Aubany overcome her fears? Will she and Ryan ever stop hating each other? Or will their flaws and disagreements lead them right into the enemy’s hands?
Ryan Rupert is a typical immature rude superfishal teenage douchebag when we first meet him, but it was actually his parents that drove me nuts. They are rather negligent in my opinion. Serisily! Who the heck lets two teenage kids’ room together for six weeks unsupervised. Even once they find out a nut job has been on the loose tormenting their kids, they still leave the teens unsupervised! But hey, maybe i’ll feel different once my eldest reaches seventeen – yeah maybe not.
It was at about the 50% mark I realised I was thinking about the book all wrong. I wasn’t reading a book that was trying to change the world or teach me a lesson. I was reading a book that just wanted to entertain me. I had a Disney movie light bulb moment and really started to enjoy the book and appreciate it for what it was.
This book is like a Disney channel teen movie. Not deep and meaningful. But super cheesy and at times preposterous. It’s light, fluffy, fun and extremely entertaining – if you’re in the right mood.
The stories redeeming qualities: Aubany’s fighting spirit. Aubany’s fear of the ocean and her overcoming it. The murderous twist. The writing being easy to read and the story flowing well. Heck even with the issues my mummy brain had with Ryan and the parental units in the story, I still couldn’t help but enjoy the story.
Stuck On Vacation With Ryan Rupert is a hate to love YA romance set on an island paradise with a murderous twist and I can see myself reading and enjoying the sequel to once it’s released.
Who would like this book: Younger YA readers, as i’m sure they’d love it if their parents abandoned them on an island OR someone fed up with everything having to have a deeper meaning and that is just after a fun read.
Stuck on Vacation with Ryan Rupert is P.S. Malcolm’s self-published debut. Pagan did a guest post on The Adventures of SacaKat a little while back talking about how the story came to be – View the post HERE.
P.S.Malcolm links: Goodreads | Twitter | Website | Amazon | Wattpad
RIOT’S REDEMPTION 
It’s funny you mention the light bulb moment, I think that’s my issue with so many contemporaries, they’re written to entertain readers rather than invoke discussion or even depict real life scenarios. I think we’ve been spoilt by contemporaries though so I typically forget just to enjoy them. I do like the sound of this one, although what’s with the irresponsible parents? There’s being able to enjoy a narrative but with such ridiculous choices by the adults in this one, it’s certainly a head scratching moment. Incredible review Sarah!
As you said we’ve been spoilt by all these brilliant YA contemporaries of late that are deep and meaningful, heartbreaking and soul healing, that it was hard to slip back into a different frame of mind for a minute. I kept having WTF moments and was really struggling in the beginning. Then I decided, okay the parents are really shitty parents – yep plenty of them in this world – move on and ignore it Sarah.
I just keep imagining I was watching Disney or Nickelodeon and it was a goofy tween romance. Although even Disney or Nick wouldn’t have such crappy parents. I kept wishing it was set at some kind of summer camp and the councliers and parents were unawares – i think that would have made it more believable.
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I’m glad you ended up enjoying this one, Sarah! I know that lightbulb moment, I really have to change my reading lens when I read something for fun/something that is fun versus when I’m reading a book that tackles issues and need to critique it.
I love reading books that feel like movies! It always adds that extra level of enjoyment when I can imagine what it would be like set out as a film.
I hope you enjoy the sequel!
Thanks Chiara. Yeah, I found it really had to switch my overthinking brain off.
It was strange reading something so “fluffy” and entertainment only, as most of the books I read these days have underlying messages\agendas & or highlight series social issues.
❤ 🙂