Better Than the Movies

Huuuuge shout out to Ms. Painter for finally breaking my DNF streak! And with a killer 5 star story to boot! It is first person POV through only Liz's eyes (hallelujah!!!! for single POV), clean with a good bit of swearing."Enemies-to-lovers--it's our trope, Buxbaum.I loved pretty much every single thing about this book. It was captivating, it was enchanting, it was absolutely everything you want in a YA rom com. It wasn't cheesy. It wasn't unrealistic. It wasn't cringey or over the top.This book has throwbacks and mentions of all your favorite Rom Com movies, complete with a soundtrack at the end of the book of all the songs mentioned. I thought it was going to be formulaic with trying to recreate romance tropes, but it was not. The romance talk, the tropes, the movies referenced, were all integrated into the book seamlessly and flawlessly. Liz was a fantastic FMC because she was confident and secure in her oddities. She actually liked her quirks. Wes was a great MMC because he was normal. He wasn't too-good-to-be-true as a high school boy. He wasn't super arrogant, over the top flirty. But he was so good. The author captured teenagers (and their parents!) so perfectly that I felt like I could've been listening to a story from one of my high schoolers. It was refreshing and wonderful to read teenagers that actually sounded like teenagers--complete with slang and lingo that normally sounds really awkward and out of place to me, but here worked and sounded like it made sense.I read a review that complained that Wes was just a standard YA MMC, and I guess he was. He wasn't crazy douchey. He wasn't weirdly awkward. He wasn't super arrogant. He was normal. He was realistic. And it was adorable.As much as it made me tear up, I loved watching Liz's relationship with Helena develop. What a tough and sensitive subject matter to tackle, and Ms. Painter did it so beautifully.I hate how much Liz lied to Joss, but a lot of it was understandable. EXCEPT the Wes stuff. A girl who is utterly and completely obsessed with all things romance doesn't *want* to spill her guts about her new crush to her best friend?? I get that it would've been messy and complicated given her quest to get Michael and she's already lied a bunch about that, but it still just felt . . . weird. However, I love that author didn't just have Joss roll over. The resolution on that conflict was done really well. Again, very realistically and great for the reader.I went into this book thinking that she was going to set up different tropes for her and Michael to go through to get him. I honestly thought it was going to read a little more formulaic in that sense--and I was totally fine with that--and I was very pleasantly surprised to find out I was wrong. The Rom Com stuff was woven effortlessly and seamlessly into the story in a way that didn't feel disjointed like I thought it was going to. It wasn't over the top. It wasn't on every page, shoved in your face, THIS IS THE PLAN. Again, it just felt more realistic, and I loved that.My only complaint would be that I felt like the timeline didn't match up to real life for things like the basketball team still being in the playoffs (Feb maybe March) but it was also close to Prom (typically an April/May thing); baseball season had only just begun but we're prepping for Prom; Michael left his TX school senior year with less than a month left but then I think he's enrolled at their school? And I thought I remembered Prom being 2 weeks away but she hadn't bought her dress? (And does that mean everything happens over the course of just 2 weeks because it felt like there were more days covered than that.)This story was developed perfectly, paced to perfection, and written impeccably. And it just felt incredibly real. Even all of the teen lingo that was snuck in throughout the story--it just worked. Pick it up. This is one of those "cannot put down. One more chapter" kind of books. I cannot wait to reread this one. It's perfect for teen and adult alike. It's perfect for a romance lover or not. It it just perfect.Guys. This book made my stomach swoop like I was in high school crushing on the boy next door. I used to get this feeling when reading all the time when I was younger. When it disappeared, I figured I'd read too much romance, figured out the formula, grown too old to believe in fairytales... I don't know. But this book gave me that actual, physical feeling, and because of that, it is my duty to pass it along to you reading this review.And it is most definitely better than the movies.

Better Than the Movies was one of those books that was utterly predictable but wholly entertaining. There were times that Lynn Painter made me laugh out loud and other times she made me feel compassion for her characters. I liked our main characters a lot and the side characters added some fun. I enjoyed the way Painter used texted conversations to enhance her storytelling.I did feel a little annoyed with Liz at times when she was so oblivious to what was there right in front of her. Painter wrote the scenes where Liz is put in an awkward position so well that I often felt just as awkward and wanted to hide for Liz. I was a bit upset by what I thought was too much swearing. I don't think it was necessary to have that much, especially for a YA book.I heard that the second book wasn't as good, but I can't stop thinking about these characters so I'll probably read book two just so I can be with them a little longer

I’ll be honest—I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did. Since Better Than the Movies is a young adult romance, I went in thinking it might not be my thing, but I was completely hooked. From the first chapter, I found myself immersed in Liz and Wes’s relationship, and there was no turning back.The enemies-to-lovers dynamic? Absolutely perfect. Liz and Wes have this playful, banter-filled relationship that had me grinning the entire time. Wes, in particular, stole my heart. I was rooting for him from the very start—he’s charming, funny, and effortlessly swoon-worthy. The entire story felt like the ultimate romcom, packed with sweet, laugh-out-loud moments and just the right amount of emotional depth. It was so good that as soon as I finished, I immediately went to buy book two.Now, let’s talk about the audiobook. Jesse Vilinsky does a fantastic job narrating, bringing Liz’s personality to life in such an engaging way. Even though she had to voice Wes and the other male characters, it never pulled me out of the story—she handled it so well. The narration flowed seamlessly, making it easy to get lost in the story. If you haven’t listened to this audiobook yet, trust me—it’s so worth it!