This a very cute YA rom-com. While it kept me turning the pages and enjoying myself as I read, it was underwhelming. The main character, her best friend, the bad boy neighbor...all felt like they were younger copies of characters I’ve read in other books. Overall a light, cute, quick read but just not my favorite

Thanks NetGalley for the advance copy!

Better Than the Movies was pretty much the book I expected when I started reading it. It was the story of a girl that loves rom-coms and wants her life to play out like one. Ever since her mother passed away she held on to the romantic theory that this was possible and she refused to let it go. And I understood that to a point but it slo pushed the boundaries a little for me because Liz wasn’t always easy to like or connect with. Everything to her was black and white so she refused to see what Wes, the boy next door and also right out of a romantic comedy, was trying to show her. She was so wrapped up in her fantasy it made her hard to root for. But with that said I should also say I really loved the last 40/45% of the book. I feel like the plot and the characters hit their stride at that point and it had me wishing the beginning was as good as the end. But all in all an enjoyable read for a rom-com lover.

Wow I loved this fun YA rom com. It was very cute and well written. The chemistry between the characters was excellent. Highly recommend for teens and adults alike!

I read this book because it was reviewed by a friend who liked it. At first I was wary because teen romance is not really my thing, but I enjoyed the book. I was invested in the characters and wanted to throttle Liz at times. I was waiting for her to realize that she had the perfect guy all along and cheered when it finally hit her! I would recommend this book to others, even those who don't choose romance as their first choice.

I loooooved this book. It has everything I want in a YA romance; 90's rom com references, a cute frenemy boy next door, high school drama, family drama. The banter between the two characters was so good and I always enjoy a fake dating trope. I just loved this. So well written, I can't gush about it enough! If you are a YA romance reader this is a must read!

This fun book about a rom-com lover makes me feel seen. She is smart, funny, and obsessed with a happily ever after. He is sweet, surprising, and completely perfect for her.

The story is about Liz who is obsessed with romcoms. She is convinced that her one true love will come to her in a romcom scenario. Enter Michael her sweet childhood crush who has moved back to their neighborhood and their high school and is now super hot. She's convinced that he's her destiny and needs him to see her as girlfriend material and not sweet "little" Liz. The only way to get this to happen is to get help from Wes her good looking next door neighbor and arch nemesis. He is willing to help her but on the condition that he gets exclusive use of the parking spot in front of their house. What follows is a lot of fun, misadventures and second thoughts about who is really meant to be the lead guy in her life. Yes, this book is predictable but it's also filled with the best kind of sweet, fun YA romance.

What an adorable little YA rom-com! This one is perfect for fans of To All The Boys I've Loved Before. This book had amazing banter, cute characters, and definite chemistry. Although you can guess the ending right from the first page, Painter takes the reader on an extremely enjoyable ride through Liz's goofy antics as she tries to win the man of her dreams.

I loved Liz, and definitely can relate to her extreme awkwardness. I especially enjoyed all the rom-com references, as well as the soundtrack to go along with the book. Overall, this is the perfect lighthearted romance read.

Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter
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"Sometimes we get so tied up in our idea of what we think we want that we miss out on the amazingness of what we could actually have."
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Give me all the stars and heart eyes because I absolutely loved this book and would give them all to Lynn Painter. Better than the Movies was the perfect rollercoaster for my emotions and was exactly what I needed to read right now. I also foresee this being a book that I'll reread when I'm in a rut.

I really and truly loved all of the characters. I also really appreciated how Liz grew as a character and learned to manage the grief from her mom passing. I can't imagine life without my mom, but I understood her fears of letting her step-mom in. The male characters in the book were swoony even when they were making idiotic but hilarious comments.

I listened to a few chapters of the audiobook through Audible and was glad that I did. The narrator, Jesse Vilinsky, was phenomenal. She did a wonderful job of portraying the characters, their emotions, and overall, just helping the story come to life. Her pacing allowed me to bump the speed up to 1.5x which is exactly what I prefer.

Better than the Movies published on May 4th so if you don't have this one on your shelf, go grab it right now. I promise, you won't be disappointed.

Thank you NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, and Lynn Painter for the opportunity to read and review this book!
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Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️(5)/5

This was the cutest book. It totally took me back to when I had a massive crush in high school with the boy who lived across the street. I loved that Liz was truly her own person and, although she changed clothes, it was truly who she was (and what she wanted to wear) that attracted the boy in the end. I would totally recommend this book!

This book was an absolute delight to read! I loved all the references to classic rom-coms at the start of each chapter. I loved the characters and as I was reading it I could really see it in my mind like a movie!

Synopsis:

Elizabeth Buxbaum has always loved rom-coms since she first walked in on her mother watching Bridget Jone’s Diary. Now that her mother has passed the movies mean even more to her and help her keep her mother close by.

Sometimes she lets the movies go to her head with the romantic notions she gets. An old crush, Michae,l moves back to town and Liz is dead set on making him hers. She enlists her annoying neighbor Wes to help her. While Wes is helping her they become friends and he actually gets how she still misses her mom seven years after her death. With her senior year the milestones are making her miss her mother even more. In the end, Liz has to decide which boy will have her heart.

What I liked:

I loved the banter between Wes and LIz.
I liked that Liz marched to the beat of her own drum. She reminded me of Molly RIngwold in Pretty in Pink’s character.
I loved the enemies to lovers trope.
I loved all the references to music and looked them up on spotify while reading if I didn’t recognize the song.
There was another layer here besides romance, Liz was still trying to make peace with her mom being gone, navigating her relationship with her stepmom, and being honest with her feelings to her best friend

My only complaint is I was marveling at how PG the book was but about half-way through there were some “F” bombs and references to sex. Normally this wouldn’t bother me, but I’m always looking for books for my 7th and 8th graders and don’t like to recommend if there’s those kind of references.

This story was sweet and cute and quirky and predictable-in-the-best-way! I have plenty of YA romance readers in my high school library who will adore this novel.

𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝟒.𝟓⁣⁣
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PUBLIC SERVICE WARNING⁣⁣
I highly suggest to avoid consumption of food or drink for the duration of this book because you will not be able to contain it from spewing out of your mouth (or nose) during fits of uncontrollable laughter. I kid you not! 🤣🤣⁣⁣
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Liz and Wes are high school seniors that are next door neighbors. They have been at odds with each other since childhood but it’s ramped up quite a bit with their fight over The Spot. The one perfect place to park their cars where they don’t have to walk far to get to their house.⁣⁣
That all changed when a former neighborhood crush, Michael returns to the area and has moved back from out of state. Liz has googley eyes from day one and ropes Wes into helping her land him by tantalizing him with The Spot as his permanently if she can seal the deal with Michael. She needs Wes to get him to see her as the girl he wants to date instead of Weird Little Lizzie that he remembers when they were kids. ⁣⁣
But along the way, with so many fun dates with Wes she begins to get confused on who she really wants to end up with. And if she makes up her mind will they want her too?⁣⁣
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𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭:⁣⁣
This is like alot like a YA version of the Hating Game with the enemies to lovers type trope, which I have been waiting for since forever! But with a bit of a triangle. And also sort of fake dating, well more fake hanging than dating. ⁣⁣
It also tackles a serious side as Liz is dealing with the effects of being a senior and not having her Mom there for so many memorable occasions. And trying to deal with her Step Mom Helena and feeling as though she is moving in on her mother’s memory. ⁣⁣
I liked the premise that Liz was comparing real life to Rom Coms, or trying to maneuver life to be like a Rom Com anyway, most of the time because of her Mom. She wrote Romantic Comedy Screen Plays for a living before she passed. But I found it was also a bit cheesy. It was a bit overdone. On the flip side I did find it endearing that each chapter starts with a quote from one of Liz’s beloved movies. ⁣⁣
Basically the writing was witty and fun with a side of cheese, but had a serious side that made the book have some depth as well.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬:⁣⁣
I loved Libby and Wessey! They were hysterical. Liz is quite the little weirdo with her retro housewife style but in such a cute way. And Wes who you think is most likely a jerk in the beginning melted my heart with how wonderful he was. And funny! ⁣⁣
The banter between Wes was so very good. I just love the bickering between potential love interests. It makes me heart to potter patter! ⁣⁣
And Helena gets an award for the coolest Step Mom ever. ⁣⁣
I was kind of disappointed with the friendship between Jocelyn I thought there would be more chemistry between her and Liz. I barely felt like they were friends and Jocelyne seemed very unsympathetic a lot of the time. ⁣⁣
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Overall this book was amazingly cute. I believe it is a debut for Lynn Painter..don’t quote me on that for sure. But I never would have guessed. She really packed in the laughs and feels and made it a true Rom Com to be rivaled. ⁣⁣
Thank You so much SimonTeen for this adorable ARC

This was so dang cute!

In BETTER THAN THE MOVIES, we follow Elizabeth during her senior year of high school as she tries to grab the attention of her childhood crush, Michael. She enlists her nemesis and neighbor, Wes, to help her out, and we have the makings of a sweet enemies-to-lovers fake-dating romcom.

Truly all my favorite tropes, and done in a way that’s an homage to the genre rather than a grab bag of plot devices.

I loved following Liz and Wes along through all their hilarious and unfortunate hijinks (poor Liz, can’t catch a break!). Their chemistry and the pacing of this book had me staying up way too late so i could finish. This was truly delightful and if you’re in search of a fun fuzzy romcom look no further.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for an advanced ereader copy of BETTER THAN THE MOVIES in exchange for an honest review.

This book combines all the best rom-com movie scenes as the main character Liz tries to catch her love interest Michael with help from the boy next door. It will have you laughing to all of her relatable antics as Liz looks for love. This is an excellent read and I wasn’t ready for it to end.

BETTER THAN THE MOVIES by Lynn Painter is a sweet YA romance about a high school senior, Liz, who is obsessed with romantic comedies and their soundtracks. Her mother's death when she was in middle school has led her to have unrealistic expectations for herself and her romantic partners. The story focuses on the lead-up to prom, an event upon which Liz has pinned a lot of her hopes. She wants to go with Michael, her childhood crush who has just moved back to town, and schemes with the boy-next-door, Wes, to make it happen.

This book is very reminiscent of TO ALL THE BOYS I'VE LOVED BEFORE, from the writing style to Liz's character to the plot, which revolves around a convoluted fake dating scheme that causes Liz to see that her true feelings are for the boy who's been there all along. No surprises there—no surprises anywhere, really. I was most intrigued by Helena, Liz's stepmom, who is funny, goofy, and really fun, She didn't get much page time until later in the book, but there was a lot of heart there, which I appreciated.

Overall, this is a fun, quick read. It's predictable and doesn't add much to its blueprint, but I enjoyed it a lot. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC!

There aren't enough stars for the swoontastic, banter-filled perfection that is BETTER THAN THE MOVIES by Lynn Painter. I saw this cover and it's literally bursting with moments from all of my favorite romantic comedies and I just thought there's no way the story could could live up to that comparison. But this is a book that deserves its place among the greats! I loved every trope-filled second and if you have a heart in your chest you will too. And the kiss! THE KISS! It is epic and perfect and everything a book kiss should be. Do I even have to say this is my favorite rom-com of the year? Maybe of the decade? Maybe of ever?

Better Than The Movies was a fun story and a delight to read. Libby, the forever romantic, enlists her childhood enemy to help her get the attention of her childhood crush - it does not go according to plan. I really enjoyed the enemies to lovers’ troupe, and the banter was so good. Wes, is now a member of my fictional boyfriends. He was very swoon-worthy. I enjoyed that each chapter had quotes from different romcom movies and all the romcom references throughout the book. It reminded me of the movie, “You Drive Me Crazy.” This novel was excellent! It was an easy, fun read and I recommend this to anyone who, like me, loves all the romcoms.

If I can give Better Than the Movies more than five stars believe I would. This story was absolutely perfect and I loved everything about it. Let’s start with the book cover. It is absolutely beautiful. I enjoyed all of the quotes at the beginning of each chapter. I loved all of the movie references because I am a sucker when it comes to romance movies. I loved Liz and Wes, they were absolutely adorable. Besides all of the cute interactions between them I also enjoyed the concept of coping with grief. I shed a couple of tears because my mom and I have a special bond as well when it come to movies. Words cannot describe how grateful I am that I was able to get a copy. I can’t wait to have a physical copy because I absolutely loved this book!! Thank you so much NetGalley.

Rom-com loving Liz had heart eyes for Michael when they were kids, but then he moved away.
He's suddenly back in school their senior year, and besties with her pain in the you-know-what (yet undeniably hot) neighbor, Wes.

Needing to reconnect with some joy from her past because of some present pain caused by the relentless change of impending adulthood, she manages to get Wes to help her win Michael over into making them the perfect prom couple.

(I think we all know how wonderfully awry this can go.)

This book could NOT have been more targeted to me, because:
- I love watching rom-coms
- I love reading rom-coms
- I love the fake couple trope
- I love the enemies-to-not trope

The teen voice is pitch-perfect, the foibles of the main character are realistic (and rooted in something understandable). Highly recommend this fun, funny, swoony, moving teen rom-com book for readers 12+.