Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter | YA BOOK REVIEW
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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.
Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter | YA BOOK REVIEW
BETTER THAN THE MOVIES BY LYNN PAINTER
BOOK REVIEW
I received a copy of this book from the publisher for free in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Recently I read so many great YA contemporary romances, like Perfect on Paper, and The Summer of Broken Rules. Every single one has been a wonderful young adult rom-com that checked all the boxes for me.
BETTER THAN THE MOVIES was a rom-com about rom-coms and it was really well done. It’s about a girl, needing the help from her bad boy neighbour to get noticed by a childhood crush. Of course this plot is nothing new and has been done before. But I couldn’t have cared less about that, because it was such an adorable and fun YA rom-com. Light hearted, entertaining, and sure a bit predictable too. But that didn’t take away from the overall enjoyment.
I LOVED the couple. Really loved them. I loved their enemies to lovers neighbour vibe. And I loved their banter, especially their banter. They had such a great connection. Both just knew how to push the other’s buttons. And Wes was one of the swooniest YA heroes I had the luck to come across.
The entire novel was delightful. From the rom-com quotes at the beginning of each chapter, to the many rom-com references. This is such a great book for any rom-com fan. Also the writing was just so on point. It was fun, flirty, and smart. The novel was an easy read, that was enjoyable from beginning to end. I had fun with it. And from the cast to the plot it’s been one great read. It’s a book I can only recommend, especially if YA contemporary is your kind of jam.
FOUR STARS
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Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter | YA BOOK REVIEW
I adore the cover of this book and your review makes it sound even better than I thought it might be.
Give it a go, I had so much fun with it, and the book actually matches the cover 😀