Hi everyone! Today I’m going to be reviewing Better Than The Movies by Lynn Painter.
Rating: ✯✯✯✯✯
Better than The Movies follows the protagonist, rom-com obsessed Liz, who has always disliked her next door neighbor, Wes. When her childhood crush, Michael, returns to town, though, he seems to hit it off with Wes, meaning Liz needs him as an in to get Michael to notice her and be her prom date. But as Liz and Wes start spending more time together she realises he’s not as bad as she thought – and that her Happily Ever After might not necessarily be what she first imagined.
I really enjoyed Better Than The Movies – in fact, I’d put it up there with my favourite reads of the year! Once I started it I truly couldn’t put it down and I ended up finishing it in less than a day. There was just something about Liz and Wes that pulled me in and ensured I couldn’t step away from it until I had finished, which is always the sign of an amazing book!
I think it goes without saying that Liz and Wes together were my favourite part of this book. I loved reading the gradual development of their relationship, with their enemies-to-friends-to-lovers love story – which might just be my favourite trope! They fit so perfectly together and I loved all the adventures they went on, from the shopping trip and the baseball game through to when they finally got together. I was rooting for them throughout!
Of course, the romance wasn’t the only relationship I liked in Better Than The Movies – there were also some really amazing friendships. The standout one would definitely have to Liz and Joss’, who were best friends. Liz wasn’t always the best friend to Joss but I really loved how there friendship was written – it was realistic in that it acknowledged that friends can mess up and make mistakes, but ultimately you would do anything for each other. It was such a lovely take away from the book!
The character development was also done really well. I really enjoyed reading Liz’s progress throughout the book and her journey of self-discovery. Part of this included being more open with others about how she was hurting, which is another really important lesson that we could all do with remembering sometimes. I don’t want to spoil too much else, but I think Painter hit just the right balance between Liz staying true to herself and realising she needed to make some changes.
I also really liked the exploration of grief throughout. Liz’s mum died a few years before the book began, but Liz was still really struggling with her death and learning to let go. I really appreciated that Painter explored how difficult it must be to go through something momentous like senior year without your parent beside you, and it definitely made me sympathise with Liz – particularly as someone who’s just completed year thirteen.
Family was another really important theme in Better Than The Movies! Liz lived with her dad and her step-mum and there were some really tense moments in there. Still, I loved reading Liz and her step-mum’s relationship develop, with Liz slowly letting her in more – I think her inner turmoil between wanting to please her step-mum whilst keeping her mum’s memory alive was really thought out and executed really well.
I feel like prom needs a separate mention in this review! Liz’s prom was honestly nothing like I expected it to be but I found myself loving it all the same. Liz’s night ended up being really amazing (despite all the miscommunications) and it was lovely seeing more of her and Joss together. I also really liked the chemistry between Joss and one of Wes’ friends – I’d definitely be interested in a spinoff, haha!
The ending was also perfect. It wrapped up the book so well and I think it was the best way to end Liz and Wes’ story. Wes’ declaration was honestly the sweetest and I really enjoyed the epilogue too – I think it really further exemplified how much Liz had grown and was super sweet.
I also really loved the Wes and Liz playlist included at the end. Throughout the book, Liz and Wes discussed what would be on their playlist and I really appreciated seeing the list at the end. It’s quite a small detail but one that I thought was really special and added that little something extra to the book!
Of course, the rom-com movie quotes at the start of each chapter also did this. I haven’t watched many rom-coms but I still really enjoyed this addition, and reading the quotes was always so much fun! I can only imagine what they would add for someone who’d actually seen all of the rom-coms featured.
Overall, I would recommend Better Than The Movies for anyone looking for a cute contemporary, as this was absolutely adorable and had everyone I wanted from the genre. I’d also recommend it to any fan of rom-coms, as the references were fantastic and something any rom-com fan would be sure to appreciate.
Have you read Better Than The Movies yet? Will you be adding it to your TBR? Let me know in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed this review!
Ceri
Read And Review It 
I haven’t read this book yet but based on your wonderful review I want to! I appreciate the romance and friendships and really enjoy when I can see characters develop as the book progresses. Thanks for sharing Ceri!
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I’m so glad to hear that Jodie! Me too, reading all the different relationships was great and character development is always a must. I hope you enjoy it if you do check it out, thank you so much for reading and commenting!
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I love the title of this book and all it hints at! Your hints about the unexpected perfection of the prom and the character interactions all sound so fun too. ❤
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I’m so glad to hear that Jaya! I honestly loved the prom scene so much, it wasn’t what I expected but it was amazing nonetheless, and I loved all the relationships too. Thank you so much for reading and commenting ❤
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This sounds like a great read! I love that you couldn’t put it down and read it all in one day. That is amazing and I wish every book was like that. It’s awesome that it’s a well-rounded book with friendships and grief as well. I’m adding it to my TBR. Thank you!
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It definitely is, I really recommend it! Haha I was certainly hooked with this one – I wish every book was like that too! The themes in this one truly were so amazing. I really hope you enjoy it as much as I did, thank you so much for reading and commenting!
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Great review, and great you couldn’t put it down. Like the sound of friendships and the lessons learnt throughout!
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Thank you! I’m so glad to hear that you like the sound of it, thank you so much for reading and commenting!
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I haven’t heard of this book and author before. But it sounds like something I would read. I am intrigued about the prom. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Lauren
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I’m so glad I could bring it to your attention then – I hope you enjoy it if you end up reading it! Thank you so much for reading and commenting.
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Great review! We completely agree with you. Better than the Movies was one of our favorite books of 2021!
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Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it too, it’s so amazing – it’s actually one of my favourite reads of 2022, haha! Thank you so much for reading and commenting.
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We loved Better Than the Movies. We read it last year and found it hilarious. We have her next book, The Do-Over, on our TBR!
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I’m so glad you enjoyed it too, it’s such a fantastic book! I’m so excited for The Do-Over as well – I preordered it a couple of days ago and I can’t wait to read it! Hopefully we all enjoy it, thank you so much for reading and commenting.
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Great review! This sounds like a lovely book – I’ve heard a lot of good things about it xx
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Thank you! It definitely is, I really recommend it – it’s totally worth all the hype! Thank you so much for reading and commenting xx
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You’ve certainly got me wanting to read this asap! I like that it explores grief as I think many people will be able to relate to that. I love a good book to get lost in and this defiantly sounds like one of them. Thank you so much for sharing such a amazing, in-depth review with us lovely Xo
Elle – ellegracedeveson.com
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Haha I’m so glad to hear that Elle! Same, I think it’s such an important theme and I’m so grateful to the author for including it. You can certainly get lost in this! I really hope you enjoy it if you end up reading it, thank you so much for reading and commenting xx
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This looks really good! And I’m a sucker for rom coms :D. It sounds like this book had a lot of complexity with the character development and addressed different topics as well, like grief. thanks for sharing 🙂
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It definitely is! I love a good rom-com too, they’re always so much fun 🙂 It definitely did, I loved all the themes in this! Thank you so much for reading and commenting 🙂
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This sounds like such a cute read! I’m so happy to hear it’s one of your favorites of this year. It sounds like all of the relationships in this book were captured really well. Thank you for sharing your great review!
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It definitely is, I really recommend it – I ended up loving it so much! The relationships were honestly on another level here. Thank you so much for reading and commenting!
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This sounds great and the fact you read it in a day says a lot. I love stories like that, when you can’t wait to get through more of the book.
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Oh it definitely is, I highly recommend it! Agreed, it’s honestly the best feeling when you just whizz through it. Thank you so much for reading and commenting!
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Sounds pretty good. I like your way of reviewing. I also like this type of falling for someone they don’t originally like.
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It definitely is! Thank you so much, that means a lot to me. Honestly so do I, it’s one of my favourite tropes! Thank you so much for reading and commenting.
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This sounds really good! I usually tend toward the dark and sad, but I do love the occasional happy, easy book. I’ll definitely have to add this to the ole list. Thanks for the recommendation!
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It truly is! Light hearted, easy reads are just what you need sometimes. I hope you enjoy it, thank you so much for reading and commenting!
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