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A review by beccabookshelf
Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter
4.0
I read Better Than The Movies in January this year and absolutely loved it, then devoured every bonus content chapters we were given. So when this book was announced I was eager to get my hands on this proper sequel.
Lynn Painter's writing style is fun and quick paced, I absolutely sped through this book in one night and the short-medium length chapters really helped keep me entertained as we swapped back and forth in perspectives between Wes and Liz. I really loved how this book was more Wes focused as we got to really get inside of his head. I enjoyed the UCLA setting and could tell that Painter did a lot of research to get it accurate. Getting to meet all of Wes and Liz's college friends was probably my favourite part of the book, I loved seeing how all of their dynamics worked with one another. It definitely seems like some of the moments were hinting at potential characters that we might see again in future Lynn Painter novels (fingers crossed!)
The main reason for this not getting a 5 star rating despite how much I ended up enjoying it, was just that the plot as a whole didn't make too much sense to me, seemed unrealistic and a bit unbelievable at times as characters seemed to take a complete 180 degrees from the version of them we knew originally. There wouldn't have been much room for this sequel if Wes and Liz stayed happy in college, and it's realistic that they would have their struggles as they transitioned into adulthood together. Though I feel like this could've been better done as a standalone book focused on one of the new side characters with cameos of Liz and Wes, the way Painter has done with her other books. Wes breaking up with Liz to avoid dragging her down with him as he struggled, not telling her the reality of his home life after he left college, lying to her and claiming he cheated to force her to move on from him; does not seem at all like the Wes Bennett I grew to love in BTTM. I understand that he grew and changed and was going through a traumatic moment, but surely whilst processing the death of a parent, your girlfriend who has her own parental loss experience would've been the first person you'd be able to talk to about it.
Most of the pre-breakup and breakup information we get as readers is fed to us through conversations within the book, and I feel like I would've enjoyed it if the book was actually longer and really gave us those moments in depth as they happened before fast forwarding the two years.
Lynn's writing is always full of references to movies and music, especially the Taylor Swift references. However at times in this book I was getting really sick of them, like at one point a Taylor Swift song was playing at a party they were at, and it quotes lyrics from Breathe??? What kind of party full of college aged students has Breathe on their party playlist. The song itself was suitable to the way that Wes was feeling, however seemed a bit of an odd choice for a party environment.
Overall the things I didn't like about the book didn't make it a terrible reading experience, just nitpickings since I love these characters so deeply and felt a bit shaken up by the big changes. However it is still an incredible YA romantic comedy, and I will continue to read everything Lynn releases in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC in return for my honest review.
Lynn Painter's writing style is fun and quick paced, I absolutely sped through this book in one night and the short-medium length chapters really helped keep me entertained as we swapped back and forth in perspectives between Wes and Liz. I really loved how this book was more Wes focused as we got to really get inside of his head. I enjoyed the UCLA setting and could tell that Painter did a lot of research to get it accurate. Getting to meet all of Wes and Liz's college friends was probably my favourite part of the book, I loved seeing how all of their dynamics worked with one another. It definitely seems like some of the moments were hinting at potential characters that we might see again in future Lynn Painter novels (fingers crossed!)
The main reason for this not getting a 5 star rating despite how much I ended up enjoying it, was just that the plot as a whole didn't make too much sense to me, seemed unrealistic and a bit unbelievable at times as characters seemed to take a complete 180 degrees from the version of them we knew originally. There wouldn't have been much room for this sequel if Wes and Liz stayed happy in college, and it's realistic that they would have their struggles as they transitioned into adulthood together. Though I feel like this could've been better done as a standalone book focused on one of the new side characters with cameos of Liz and Wes, the way Painter has done with her other books. Wes breaking up with Liz to avoid dragging her down with him as he struggled, not telling her the reality of his home life after he left college, lying to her and claiming he cheated to force her to move on from him; does not seem at all like the Wes Bennett I grew to love in BTTM. I understand that he grew and changed and was going through a traumatic moment, but surely whilst processing the death of a parent, your girlfriend who has her own parental loss experience would've been the first person you'd be able to talk to about it.
Most of the pre-breakup and breakup information we get as readers is fed to us through conversations within the book, and I feel like I would've enjoyed it if the book was actually longer and really gave us those moments in depth as they happened before fast forwarding the two years.
Lynn's writing is always full of references to movies and music, especially the Taylor Swift references. However at times in this book I was getting really sick of them, like at one point a Taylor Swift song was playing at a party they were at, and it quotes lyrics from Breathe??? What kind of party full of college aged students has Breathe on their party playlist. The song itself was suitable to the way that Wes was feeling, however seemed a bit of an odd choice for a party environment.
Overall the things I didn't like about the book didn't make it a terrible reading experience, just nitpickings since I love these characters so deeply and felt a bit shaken up by the big changes. However it is still an incredible YA romantic comedy, and I will continue to read everything Lynn releases in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC in return for my honest review.