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A review by londonsbooks
Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter
5.0
liz buxbaum and wes bennet
(pt 2)
holy shit, if i had to use one single song to describe this book, it’d be “two ghosts” by harry.
yeah, it’s that intense.
(also, honorable mention to “in between” by gracie)
my babies didn’t deserve to suffer this much! lynn put them through the gutter but i felt like it made their relationship foundation better and stronger in the end (but oh how it hurt to get there)
the only thing missing would be a bigger epilogue. i want more happy scenes. please.
‘I’m not sure if things got quiet or loud, blurry or hyperfocused, but I know the universe changed as I looked at Liz, everything melting into impressionistic streaks of fuzzy background colors.’
-
‘He threw his head back and laughed, and even though I couldn’t hear it over the noise, I knew exactly what it sounded like. A laugh I’d recognize anywhere. God, I hated him for looking that good. He wasn’t allowed to look that good.’
-
“Hey, Buxbaum,” I managed, which was ludicrous. There was so much history between us, a million I love yous and a thousand stolen kisses, yet the two words I managed to piece together in her presence were the same words I might use to say hi to any random stranger who shared her last name.
-
‘God—the way he was watching me made butterflies go wild in my stomach, because he looked at me like he knew me better than anyone else in the world, like he was seeing my every thought and remembering our every moment. His gaze not only saw through me, but it wrapped itself around me like a pair of strong arms. His gaze was more than familiar. His gaze was home.’
-
‘Want. What a ridiculous word. Because the want that I felt when she’d lifted her lips to me like an offering was so much greater than four pathetic letters. I mean, people wanted things like coffee and new cars, right? How could the same word be used for what I felt when she looked at my mouth? It couldn’t. The English language had yet to create a word that could capture my level of frenzied, desperate need.’
-
‘I heard Wes’s laugh right after we arrived. I couldn’t see him, but his laugh was unmistakable. I could close my eyes and be so many places with that laugh. That laugh was the cohesive thread, the little recurring melody that showed up in so many scenes of my life, like Mia and Sebastian’s theme in La La Land. Always there, playing in the background.’
-
‘Everything about the kiss had felt like coming home, like a reunion, like some kind of agreement had been reached. That kiss had been the heroine and hero, running toward each other while the music crescendoed. That kiss had been Elizabeth Bennett telling Darcy that his hands were cold. That kiss, God help me, had been the one that lets you know the characters are finally going to end up together.’
-
“I love you. Of course I love you; you’re Wes. You are the only boy I’ve ever loved in my entire life. I think I’ve loved you—without stopping—since you set me on the trunk of my car after prom and kissed me at 12: 13.”
-
“Promise this is real?” I nodded, so happy that it felt a little painful. “I promise. If we were in a movie, the first notes of the closing song would be starting this very minute.” “Oh, yeah?” he asked, smiling as he squeezed my hand. “What song would it be, Buxbaum?” “‘ One and Only’ by Adele,”
(pt 2)
holy shit, if i had to use one single song to describe this book, it’d be “two ghosts” by harry.
yeah, it’s that intense.
(also, honorable mention to “in between” by gracie)
my babies didn’t deserve to suffer this much! lynn put them through the gutter but i felt like it made their relationship foundation better and stronger in the end (but oh how it hurt to get there)
the only thing missing would be a bigger epilogue. i want more happy scenes. please.
‘I’m not sure if things got quiet or loud, blurry or hyperfocused, but I know the universe changed as I looked at Liz, everything melting into impressionistic streaks of fuzzy background colors.’
-
‘He threw his head back and laughed, and even though I couldn’t hear it over the noise, I knew exactly what it sounded like. A laugh I’d recognize anywhere. God, I hated him for looking that good. He wasn’t allowed to look that good.’
-
“Hey, Buxbaum,” I managed, which was ludicrous. There was so much history between us, a million I love yous and a thousand stolen kisses, yet the two words I managed to piece together in her presence were the same words I might use to say hi to any random stranger who shared her last name.
-
‘God—the way he was watching me made butterflies go wild in my stomach, because he looked at me like he knew me better than anyone else in the world, like he was seeing my every thought and remembering our every moment. His gaze not only saw through me, but it wrapped itself around me like a pair of strong arms. His gaze was more than familiar. His gaze was home.’
-
‘Want. What a ridiculous word. Because the want that I felt when she’d lifted her lips to me like an offering was so much greater than four pathetic letters. I mean, people wanted things like coffee and new cars, right? How could the same word be used for what I felt when she looked at my mouth? It couldn’t. The English language had yet to create a word that could capture my level of frenzied, desperate need.’
-
‘I heard Wes’s laugh right after we arrived. I couldn’t see him, but his laugh was unmistakable. I could close my eyes and be so many places with that laugh. That laugh was the cohesive thread, the little recurring melody that showed up in so many scenes of my life, like Mia and Sebastian’s theme in La La Land. Always there, playing in the background.’
-
‘Everything about the kiss had felt like coming home, like a reunion, like some kind of agreement had been reached. That kiss had been the heroine and hero, running toward each other while the music crescendoed. That kiss had been Elizabeth Bennett telling Darcy that his hands were cold. That kiss, God help me, had been the one that lets you know the characters are finally going to end up together.’
-
“I love you. Of course I love you; you’re Wes. You are the only boy I’ve ever loved in my entire life. I think I’ve loved you—without stopping—since you set me on the trunk of my car after prom and kissed me at 12: 13.”
-
“Promise this is real?” I nodded, so happy that it felt a little painful. “I promise. If we were in a movie, the first notes of the closing song would be starting this very minute.” “Oh, yeah?” he asked, smiling as he squeezed my hand. “What song would it be, Buxbaum?” “‘ One and Only’ by Adele,”