After finishing Same Time Next Year by Tessa Bailey, I needed a palate cleanser. I'd seen a review that Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter was charming, so I thought I'd give it a shot. It couldn't be worse than the last book I read, and I'm a sucker for YA high school romances.
This book, y'all.
This book has it all.
Official synopsis:
Perpetual daydreamer Liz Buxbaum gave her heart to Michael a long time ago. But her cool, aloof forever crush never really saw her before he moved away. Now that he’s back in town, Liz will do whatever it takes to get on his radar—and maybe snag him as a prom date—even befriend Wes Bennet.
The annoyingly attractive next-door neighbor might seem like a prime candidate for romantic comedy fantasies, but Wes has only been a pain in Liz’s butt since they were kids. Pranks involving frogs and decapitated lawn gnomes do not a potential boyfriend make. Yet, somehow, Wes and Michael are hitting it off, which means Wes is Liz’s in.
But as Liz and Wes scheme to get Liz noticed by Michael so she can have her magical prom moment, she’s shocked to discover that she 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 ideas of what Happily Ever After should look like.
I literally read Better than the Movies in one sitting, staying up all night because I couldn't put it down. I needed to know what would happen with our two main characters, Wes and Liz, even though, let's be honest, I knew what would happen.
But the way this was written, I couldn't stop reading.
At times it was laugh-out-loud funny. It was the middle of the night, my husband was lying next to me, dead asleep, and there I was, cackling out loud at an innocent prank involving hair styling and trying not to wake him up. Maybe I was slap-happy, but it's not often that a book makes me laugh, and this one had multiple instances where that happened.
As a Young Adult novel, there was plenty of angst, especially regarding Liz's deceased mom and her step-mom, but it mostly felt realistic and earned.
Also, as a YA novel, there was plenty of cringe. You couldn't help but feel bad for Liz at the party, where her crush thought she was wearing a waitress uniform, and then, well, I don't want to spoil how the evening ends.
But, there were also a couple of moments where I had tears in my eyes.
Mostly, Better than the Movies reminded me of my own first love in the best way possible. I could easily place myself in both Wes and Liz's shoes, feeling those hopeful first notes of early romance. The moment Wes and Liz share on their walk to the hospital – I've been there. And I loved being transported back in time for a few hours.
I rarely give a book 5 out of 5 stars, but this is one of the few. There's nothing I would change except I'd love a sequel! (While not a full sequel, if you head to Lynn Painter's website, you'll find some extra chapters! I hungrily devoured them, too, after a couple hours of sleep.)
