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tanuka_ds 's review for:
Better Than the Movies
by Lynn Painter
“I came for the rom-com clichés. I stayed for Wes freaking Bennett.”
Let’s get one thing straight: Better Than the Movies is basically a love letter to every ’90s/early 2000s rom-com that ever had a ridiculously choreographed rain scene, an epic grand gesture, and an enemies-to-lovers trope you saw coming from Chapter One—but guess what? I devoured it. With glee. And just a pinch of judgment.
Spoilers & Sass Ahead.
Our heroine, Liz Buxbaum, is That Girl™. Lives for movie soundtracks. Daydreams about Meg Ryan monologues. Obsessed with orchestrating her own perfect, cinematic love story. Aka, she’s cute, but tragically delusional. Because her “leading man” of choice is Michael, a boringly handsome, predictably unremarkable boy-next-door-who-moved-away-and-then-returned-for-the-plot™.
And yet Liz is convinced he’s her destiny. Why? Because she watched 13 Going on 30 too many times and apparently learned nothing.
Enter Wes Bennett, the actual boy next door. The bane of Liz’s existence. The guy who parked like a criminal and ruined her life in the 7th grade by… being annoying. Basically, he’s the human version of a smirk, and I loved every scene he was in.
And of course, you know how this goes. She makes a deal with the devil (aka Wes) to help her get Michael’s attention, and in doing so accidentally stumbles into a plot twist literally everyone except Liz saw coming: Wes was the main character all along.
Sassy Highlights (because duh):
📚 Liz trying to make fetch happen with Michael? Girl. He had all the emotional depth of a paper plate.
🍕 Wes feeding her pizza and quoting her dead mom’s favorite movie while actually listening to her feelings? I ascended.
👠 The “fake car date” scene? Was I screaming into my pillow? Perhaps.
🌧️ THE. PROM. KISS. IN. THE. RAIN. I know it was cheesy. I know I was being emotionally manipulated. And I did not care.
But here’s the kicker: this book actually had heart. Liz’s grief over her mom’s death, her complicated relationship with her stepmom, and the way she tried to force her life into the perfect movie script? It hit. It made the fluff feel earned.
Wes Bennett is the kind of fictional boy that ruins real-life standards. Funny, loyal, thoughtful, hot, with just enough sarcasm to keep it interesting. If he were any more perfect, he’d be illegal in 47 states.
My only complaint? Liz needed to stop being so damn slow on the uptake. Wes was out there screaming “I’m the love interest!” with his entire face and she was still drawing hearts around Michael’s name like a Hallmark extra.
Final Thoughts:
✔ Enemies-to-lovers? ✅
✔ Fake dating adjacent? ✅
✔ Boy next door with golden retriever tendencies? ✅
✔ Every rom-com trope ever, but somehow it works? ✅✅✅
✔ Me, screaming at Liz to open her eyes and stop simping for a walking beige flag? ✅
Read this book if:
• You miss the days when movies had soundtracks and slow dances.
• You want a romance that gives you butterflies and bruises your emotional kneecaps.
• You need a fictional boy to raise your standards to dangerous levels.
Wes Bennett, you are better than the movies.
Michael Young, thank you for your irrelevance. You may now leave the narrative.
Rate : 4.5 Stars. (Reference to songs & honestly? Sometimes life should feel like a movie.)
Let’s get one thing straight: Better Than the Movies is basically a love letter to every ’90s/early 2000s rom-com that ever had a ridiculously choreographed rain scene, an epic grand gesture, and an enemies-to-lovers trope you saw coming from Chapter One—but guess what? I devoured it. With glee. And just a pinch of judgment.
Spoilers & Sass Ahead.
Our heroine, Liz Buxbaum, is That Girl™. Lives for movie soundtracks. Daydreams about Meg Ryan monologues. Obsessed with orchestrating her own perfect, cinematic love story. Aka, she’s cute, but tragically delusional. Because her “leading man” of choice is Michael, a boringly handsome, predictably unremarkable boy-next-door-who-moved-away-and-then-returned-for-the-plot™.
And yet Liz is convinced he’s her destiny. Why? Because she watched 13 Going on 30 too many times and apparently learned nothing.
Enter Wes Bennett, the actual boy next door. The bane of Liz’s existence. The guy who parked like a criminal and ruined her life in the 7th grade by… being annoying. Basically, he’s the human version of a smirk, and I loved every scene he was in.
And of course, you know how this goes. She makes a deal with the devil (aka Wes) to help her get Michael’s attention, and in doing so accidentally stumbles into a plot twist literally everyone except Liz saw coming: Wes was the main character all along.
Sassy Highlights (because duh):
📚 Liz trying to make fetch happen with Michael? Girl. He had all the emotional depth of a paper plate.
🍕 Wes feeding her pizza and quoting her dead mom’s favorite movie while actually listening to her feelings? I ascended.
👠 The “fake car date” scene? Was I screaming into my pillow? Perhaps.
🌧️ THE. PROM. KISS. IN. THE. RAIN. I know it was cheesy. I know I was being emotionally manipulated. And I did not care.
But here’s the kicker: this book actually had heart. Liz’s grief over her mom’s death, her complicated relationship with her stepmom, and the way she tried to force her life into the perfect movie script? It hit. It made the fluff feel earned.
Wes Bennett is the kind of fictional boy that ruins real-life standards. Funny, loyal, thoughtful, hot, with just enough sarcasm to keep it interesting. If he were any more perfect, he’d be illegal in 47 states.
My only complaint? Liz needed to stop being so damn slow on the uptake. Wes was out there screaming “I’m the love interest!” with his entire face and she was still drawing hearts around Michael’s name like a Hallmark extra.
Final Thoughts:
✔ Enemies-to-lovers? ✅
✔ Fake dating adjacent? ✅
✔ Boy next door with golden retriever tendencies? ✅
✔ Every rom-com trope ever, but somehow it works? ✅✅✅
✔ Me, screaming at Liz to open her eyes and stop simping for a walking beige flag? ✅
Read this book if:
• You miss the days when movies had soundtracks and slow dances.
• You want a romance that gives you butterflies and bruises your emotional kneecaps.
• You need a fictional boy to raise your standards to dangerous levels.
Wes Bennett, you are better than the movies.
Michael Young, thank you for your irrelevance. You may now leave the narrative.
Rate : 4.5 Stars. (Reference to songs & honestly? Sometimes life should feel like a movie.)