Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
Blurb (on back of book): Liz Buxbaum has always known that Wes Bennett was not boyfriend material. You would think that her next-door neighbor would be a prince candidate for her romantic comedy fantasies, but Wes has only proven himself to be a pain in the butt, ever since they were little. Wes was the kid who put a frog in her Barbie Dreamhouse, the monster who hid a lawn gnome's severed head in her little homemade neighborhood book exchange.
Flash forward ten years from the Great Gnome Decapitation. It's Liz's senior year, a time meant to be rife with milestones perfect for any big screen, and she needs Wes's help. See, Liz's forever crush, Michael, has just moved back to town, and—horribly, annoyingly—he's hitting it off with Wes. Meaning that if Liz wants Michael to finally notice her, and hopefully be her prom date, she needs Wes. He's her in.
But as Liz and Wes scheme to get Liz her magical prom moment, she's shocked to discover that she actually likes being around Wes. And as they continue to grow closer, she must reexamine everything she thought she knew about love—and rethink her own perception of what Happily Ever After should really look like.
MY OPINION: ****
My friend was dying for me to read this book and I finally decided that it was time. I'm not a YA person anymore but I had just finished
If This Gets Out and was already on a roll. This book reeked of YA and cheesy lines but for some reason, I got addicted to it to the point where I finished it in a day (or a night).
I would like to start out by saying that this book was literally The Duff 2.0. I hate to say it but the similarities were uncanny. The boy-next-door named WES, the OTHER MAN (Michael in this case), the quirky, "different" main character girl, the DRESS?, the DANCE? This was just a little bit too similar for me BUT as a Duff stan (movie only unfortunately) I was willing to let it slide.
This book hit WAY too close to home. I found myself highlighting countless passages of things that I related to. She's going through college decisions (TW) and doesn't have a date to prom. Her mother passed away when she was little and she felt like all of her best senior memories were being wasted since her mother wasn't there to see them (not to get personal but to get personal, same girl). Her friendships are changing (and not in a good way). Honestly, this book was uncanny in the parallels I found in my life.
I do feel the need to say that this book is pop references galore. We get every single 21st century music artist at this point, we hear about movies, Bridgerton (!!!!), various Netflix shows, social media, and other references that I honestly found a little bit cringey. I don't know about y'all but when someone references TikTok or Taylor Swift in a book, I don't find it cute. It might just be me but. I do have to say that the musical implementations were important to the story so I am willing to look past those, but sometimes this book reeked of Gen-Z.
I absolutely LOVE enemies-to-lovers. We all should know this by now. This one was no exception (though they weren't REALLY enemies if we're being realistic). Wes and Liz have fought over the same parking spot for years (?) and despite having known each other since they were children, spend more time arguing than actually talking to each other. Typical YA enemies-to-lovers (NA ETL is sort of different). I really liked seeing all the cute little banter-y conversations, which really moved the book along; Liz was so oblivious I found myself rolling my eyes multiple times.
As this is YA, this book was far too... immature for me. I honestly don't read about high schoolers anymore (yes, I am still in high school) so this one felt sort of weird for me. However, I do think since I was the exact same age as the characters, I could relate a lot more.
There were many overly cute scenes that were so saccharine I felt sick inside that this wasn't real life. As in most YA books, the characters and their relationships are full of drama that make the book that much more interesting and compelling. This one read sort of like a Wattpad novel (take that as you will) but as a veteran Wattpad reader, I was willing to overlook it.
I love the concept of rom-coms and Liz's fascination with them (her mother really loved them and it helps Liz feel connected to her). Wes is definitely a closeted rom-com whore and I was here for it. I've seen most rom-coms so I actually understood the movie references in this book (in most books, I have no idea what the heck they are referring to). I did like how that played a role in the story and Liz's rose-colored view of what the world and relationships are really supposed to be like.
Helena deserved better.
Michael also deserved better.
Jocelyn also deserved better but to be quite honest, I found her quite annoying. Both Liz and Jocelyn annoyed me so their friendship was quite irritating and felt very toxic, if we're being frank.
I would have DIED for Wes's perspective in this book. I absolutely HATE rom-coms that don't give the guy's perspective. This man was feral for Liz but since we were reading from her oblivious point of view, we didn't get to see any of it.
The book followed the most conventional tropes and yet somehow, I was encouraged to keep reading. I knew exactly what was going to happen but I still wanted to... see it??
Yes, this book is cheesy. Yes, this book has so many unrealistic scenes I was laughing half the time. Yes, this book is addictive. I would recommend it to readers looking for a cute, fast-paced, fluffy rom-com.
Main Character: Liz
Sidekick(s): Wes, Michael, Noah, Jocelyn, Adam, etc
Villain(s): Misunderstandings, romanticization, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was all very real to life.
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