This sequel is even better than the first one. I fell for Liz and Wes all over again. I really liked to read from Wes' POV and understand his struggle. The author did a good portrait of what grief could be like and having to give up on your dreams because of it.

I’m forever going to love Better than the Movies better than everything but this was cute. I wish it focused more on Liz and Wes being together though. This just felt like another romcom all over again. I get why and the griefy stuff was done really well. I’m glad they came together I just wish they always had been.

Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter [Simon & Schuster Canada #NetGalley]

I fell in love with Better Than the Movies when I read it in 2021 and it quickly became one of my absolutely favourite YA romances. It was a pleasure to return to Liz and Wes' story that happens during their time after high school. There's a lot of history to catch up on for these two since we left them with their happy ending. And things have not been good. But Wes is determined to make up for things, despite Liz's best efforts to avoid him.

While I did enjoy this sequel, it just doesn't come close to what the first book does. It's definitely a case of the first-book-was-better. But it wasn't bad - just that the characters have matured and it's not quite as light and fun as it once was.

This one sadly took me a while to get through and i ended up not even finishing it.

It’s always such a shame when sequels that didn’t really need to happen like this just undo all that was good and charming about the first story you loved so dearly.

I just felt like we were having to go through unnecessary drama with this one. Both characters felt “out of character” from the two people we all fell so madly in love with in Better Than the Movies.

I’d say just stick with only reading Better Than the Movies and forget this one exists all together.

Loooved this book. I’m a sucker for second chance romance so this was perfect for me. I loved that both characters were fully informed. They both had support systems outside of each other which were fun to follow. Also loved the detail of Liz possibly becoming Elizabeth Bennett 🥰🥰.

4.5 stars
this was very cute!! felt more mature than the first one which i appreciated and felt consistent with the characters as well since they are in their 20s here. i enjoyed the way the author handled the mental health aspect and the topics of grief as well.

It was so good to be back here with Liz and Wes!
For me, Wes stole the show in this one. His story was everything and I would not mind an entire book giving us the nitty gritty of everything that he experienced in the two years he and Liz were apart - even if it would probably be a rather tragic read.
The story is sweet and full of heart.
My only issue with it is the lack of open communication - gosh that can be annoying. However, if there wasn’t, then we wouldn’t have the story we have here, so I just have to suck it up. I would still read this again and recommend it. I could have also gone for more grand gestures 😉.
I recommend this book to all of Wes and Liz’s fans. If you’re looking for college contemporary story with a touch of romance - old flames being reignited - then this could also be for you.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an e-arc of the book. The opinions expressed are honest and my own.

Better than the Movies was one of my top favourite reads of 2021. I adore everything Lynn Painter writes. I think she's one of the best contemporary YA writers out there right now because she writes her stories with grit, humour, compassion and a realism that really dives into today's youth's realities and struggles. However, when I saw that she was publishing a sequel to Better than the Movies, I was…. skeptical. How could she top this beloved book? Well, reader, she did. Nothing Like the Movies is a fabulous sequel that honours the original story but also lets Liz and Wes grow up and explore their life a few years after the first book. 

At the very beginning of the book (this isn't a spoiler; it's in the synopsis), we discover that Wes and Liz broke up during their first year at university, and Wes, dealing with some traumatic events, breaks Liz's heart. Nothing like the Movies is, therefore, a second-chance romance that explores how two people can rediscover each other and love who they were while embracing who they've become. This book is swoony, emotional, and filled with Lynn's trademark banter. 

I loved going back and spending more time with Liz and Wes. These two are such fabulous characters, and it was great to see them as young adults rather than teens. Liz's passion and zest for life are still as strong as ever, but we get to experience her actively working toward her dream career while working through school. Wes has had some life-changing experiences, and his path is not what he expected. He's fighting to rebuild his life and find his balance again. Liz and Wes find each other again, and Liz is not pining over him this time. Wes has to GROVEL and proves that he's worth a second chance. Nothing like the Movies is filled with an incredible cast of secondary characters, some new and some returning familiar faces, who get on board to help Wes win the girl. You'll be cheering by the end of the book. 

Nothing like the movies is one of the best sequels I've ever read and I can't wait to reread it again, and again and again.

I will never get enough of Liz and Wes and this second chance, dual POV college romance was EVERYTHING one could want from a sequel and MORE!!!! In this story Wes finally makes it to college to take his shot at baseball and has to work with Liz who has a sports video internship and has to shoot the baseball team. Full of romcom nostalgia, swoony moments and an epic miscommunication trope, this was a wonderful sequel perfect for fans of Rachel Lynn Solomon!! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!!!

✨ PUB DAY REVIEW ✨

Nothing Like the Movies by @lynnpainterbooks

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Let me tell you, there is no better feeling than being reunited with your favourite characters! 😭 Better than the Movies is one of my favourite books of ALL TIME so I am happy to report… Lynn hit it out of the park again with this one!!

Nothing Like the Movies has everything I loved about the first in the series: iconic romcom references, banter that gave me SERIOUS butterflies and so many laugh out loud moments, but it also had something a little bit more…

Wes and Liz are in college now and after dealing with some of life’s toughest stuff and falling victim to growing up and growing apart, we see them reunite!

There’s a maturity, depth and honesty to the characters and their story that made me love them even more! Wes and Liz are not naïve kids in love for the first time anymore, they are young adults who are trying to find themselves and following their dreams.

I absolutely loved getting to know our Wes and Liz all over again! ❤️

Thanks to the author, @simonschusterca and @netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this magical book!

I feel such tremendous excitement for the book community today as this one is released to the world! May all of your pre-orders arrive on time 🤞🏻and enjoy the ride!

PS. try to convince me that Wes and Liz aren’t 1989 coded, you won’t… 🤷🏻‍♀️

Nothing Like The Movies
By Lynn Painter
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

This is the second segment of a beyond epic young adult romance and I ate up every word in under 24 hours. If you’ve already met Liz and Wes, then you understand. If you haven’t, I recommend reading Better Than The Movies first so you can live their story for the first time like so many of us wish we could.

Everything about this book made sense. It makes you smile and think and laugh and cry sometimes all on the same page. Lynn is just that good. She does an amazing job of reminding us all what school was and is like out there. She also does an incredible job of creating tension and resolving it at the end. My heart absolutely bled for Wes Bennett and his family and for Liz Buxbaum and hers. She’s trying to move forward after being crushed by love and just can’t fully seem to. The new side characters beside the returning ones are also amazing. I can’t wait to see if Carter and Sarah get their own book at some point!

Read this book if you love:
Music, especially Taylor Swift and Noah Kahan
Young Adults who behave like young adults
Second chance love stories
Epic writing
Delightful side characters
Family drama, isn’t there some in all families
And one true love stories

Wes and Liz are absolutely soulmates!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the free eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

I appreciate that I got to read an early copy of Nothing like the Movies since I loved Better than the Movies so much. This book had me stressed out for the majority of the book. (Because in my head, I never imagined Wes and Liz breaking up at all.) It was frustrating and difficult to read about Liz’s actions towards Wes. I can understand where she’s coming from with trying to protect herself from further pain, but I still found her annoying at times. Grief is an interesting emotion like that because it really follows no rules. Same goes for Wes with the passing away of his father. I appreciated reading from Wes’ perspective more since you could really experience the panic and trauma he was working through. I enjoyed the first book more. I am glad that we got our HEA, but I wish we had more time with them being together again and figuring out how to navigate their new relationship. Thanks again to NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for my honest review. I give this book 3.5/5 stars.

This has been the most excited I’ve been for a sequel in a long time & I couldn’t believe I got the ARC for it! I missed these characters so much & this sequel did not disappoint! As a diehard Liz & Wes fan it broke my heart to start the book with them being broken up but even with them not being together most of the book the chemistry between them was off the charts and I couldn’t put the book down until I knew what truly happened between them! I loved getting to dig into Wes’s character more and I absolutely loved the new side characters that were introduced, especially Clark. I would read another ten books with these characters and never get tired of them. An easy 5/5 and I can’t wait for this book to hit the store shelves!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for this eARC, I am so incredibly grateful! <3

If I could summarize Lynn Painter’s writing into one word, it would be: earnest. It just feels so genuine, and as a reader, you feel so in tune with the characters; it’s almost like you’re on FaceTime with your best friend. Lynn Painter serves rom-com (the early 2000s kind, is there anything else???) and giddiness in each one of her books. With ‘Nothing like the Movies,’ there were moments where I caught myself cheesing at my iPad like a maniac, contrasted with relentless waterworks, and yet, swoon-worthy moments of AWWWW.

Now, I know people loved the ending of the first book, but I feel like because Wes and Liz were literally children back then, seeing their growth and learning about their individual journeys presented a dynamic we may not have gotten the opportunity to explore before. There’s no doubt that it’s a complex story, especially with Wes—healing, managing grief, but while in love, and navigating a significant life transition. In a way, I feel like we grew up with them—I was straight out of high school when I first read about Wes and Liz, and so, I feel like I was more able to appreciate where they were both at in life during NLTM. For both Wes and Liz, I thought that we got to learn more about who they are and their personal challenges. Their stories were well-paced and flowed well, keeping me engaged and up till 5 AM.

Like the last book, there were also a lot of pop culture references. Namely, the music!!! Sometimes, I felt like there was an automatic playlist humming in my head, and I thought that it really made the story feel more alive and engaging! At times, it did feel a bit like a Swifitie x Liz Bennett fanfic, but what’s wrong with that?! I think the one moment where I did a little internal groan was at the self-reference of ‘lil Liz,’ but I do understand the vibes she was trying to express. For me, I found that I liked having the tone of a chapter prefaced with a movie quote more than an explicit reference to a lyric/artist/song in the actual dialogue or prose of the story.

Overall, I loved this story, and like all of Lynn Painter’s books, it was endearing and one of the best reads of the year (even though Clark gives off major vibes of TikTok millennials cosplaying an Indie coming-of-age movie). I can’t recommend this book enough, and I’m so excited to see what’s next!!!

If you haven't read BETTER THAN THE MOVIES, this is your sign to. No one does YA with 80's/90's romcom nostalgia like Lynn Painter, and this book about fake dating frenemies Liz and Wes was EVERYTHING!! References to your favourite romcom movies x infinity.

Now Liz and Wes are back! While last time we got the story from Liz's take, this time the story is told in dual POV, so we get to be in both Liz and Wes's heads. It's two years later and Liz and Wes are at college together, but it hasn't exactly gone as planned. Is an HEA in their future after all?

I was so happy to be back in Liz and Wes' universe! Wes is charming and arrogant (I dare you not to love him), and Liz is stubborn and a die-hard romantic (you will 100% relate to her).

The first book gave childhood enemies to friends to fake dating to falling in love and this book hits on (more) fake dating, second chance romance and 'it's always been you'. Here Liz and Wes are a little bit older, a little more mature and dealing with some serious issues. It was a little slow burn to get into the main story, but I found the slow climb also helped build the emotions. And emotions there were- I almost cried at multiple time points. I felt so connected to these characters and loved their growth and love story continuation. Do we get another book when they graduate college, get married,
and have kids? Because I would read them all.

So should you pick this up? A thousand times yes. Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada and Netgalley for my earc and physical copy.

My teenager got me to read this book and I thoroughly enjoyed this charming, fun book that took me on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. This book dealt with heavy themes like heartbreak, mental health and grief in a realistic way while also being cute and at times cheesy. My child liked the character development of Wes and Liz and how they had matured. Rom-com fans of any age will love this book. Thank you to Lynn Painter for writing another amazing book and Simon & Schuster Canada and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for this review.

Another winner from Lynn Painter! I absolutely adored Better Than the Movies when I first read it and I've loved Lynn Painter's books ever since. When I heard about a sequel for Better Than the Movies, I've been eagerly waiting for it to be in my hands and I'm so happy to say it did not disappoint!

While the circumstances behind the plot are devastating for any Wes and Liz lovers, Lynn does a fantastic job at bringing these two lovable characters back together. I loved every minute of this story and I'm glad we as the readers get more time with these wonderful characters. The witty banter, the adorable pop culture references, and the swoon-worthy romance are perfect for any rom-com lovers. Wes is pure perfection and I know I'll be re-reading Better Than the Movies and Nothing Like the Movies for years to come.

Also, I'm all for a cute romance starring Clark and Sarah, just saying :) Clark is the perfect little cinammon roll — I loved him as a side character and I know I would love him as a lead character too! :)

🎥⚾🏘️🩵🎶

Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada and netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I ADORED Wes and Liz in Better Than the Movies so I was super excited to read this book and read more of their story. In this book, you can see the growth and maturity that has occurred within Wes and Liz between the first and the second book. You get to experience how their loss, heartbreak and grief shape Wes and Liz into the people that they are. The dual POV also gives the reader a better understanding on why each character makes certain decisions based off their own grief and heartbreak. We still see glimpses of Wes and Liz's old personalities, but we also feel the change and impact of how their life experiences shaped them into the adults that they are becoming. Their banter is still top tier. I love the way they joke around and can be totally themselves around one another. I also loved the addition of the new characters in their lives, as well as the return of some old ones! Also the dual pining was 🥰😭🥰😭 Their years apart also completely shattered me. Although the decisions between Wes and Liz are justified, in my opinion, it was still painful to read their experiences of that time. WES.. the man that you are ... he truly broke my heart.

I highly recommend this book to anybody who loved the first book. You get to experience their love story through a different light after they have both experienced great loss and heartbreak. I LOVED Better Than the Movies, and I LOVE this book too. Although this novel deals with heavier themes, I think it is equally as amazing. I am so grateful that I got to read more of Wes and Liz!

Tropes:
- dual POV/dual pining
- forced proximity
- second chance romance
- childhood friends

Nothing like the Movies: ★★★★★ (5)

Pub date: Oct 1 - preorder your copy now!

3/5 stars

Listen, better than the movies was one of my favourite books the year it came out, I recommended to everyone I know who wants to get into contemporary romance. However, I thought this book was meh... I think Better than the Movies was good as a stand alone and she should have left well enough alone. I didn't love the way Wes' character was developed and I think the plot suffered for the pop culture references. This book gets 3 stars solely because I love the world that Lynn built and it was nice to see what happens after, but I think a novella would have done just fine.

Oh Wes Bennett the man that you are. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC I am forever grateful ❤️ This is a second chance YA romance that follows the first novel - Better Than The Movies!! I read that book earlier this year a thoroughly enjoyed it but I feel like I appreciate the characters and built a stronger connection to them after reading this book. I almost feel like rating the first book higher after reading this one cause it made me feel so much more about the characters.

Tropes:
Second chance romance
Soul mates
Fake dating
Hate to love fmc x love to love mmc
College romance
Sports romance