Não é como nos filmes

Better Than the Movies #2

by Lynn Painter, Alessandra Esteche (Translator)

Fenômeno literário no Brasil e no mundo, Melhor do que nos filmes ganha sequência recheada de referências aos filmes de comédia romântica

Wes e Liz viveram uma história de amor inesquecível e foram juntos para a Universidade da Califórnia. Mas o universo parecia ter outros planos para eles. De uma hora para outra, a vida de Wes virou de ponta-cabeça, e ele precisou voltar para casa e tomar uma decisão inesperada: terminar com Liz.

Dois anos depois, Wes convence os treinadores, ganha outra chance no time e volta à universidade. Mais maduro e determinado, ele vai fazer de tudo para reconquistar a garota dos seus sonhos. E conta com um plano perfeito para isso.

Liz, por outro lado, não parece disposta a facilitar as coisas. Afinal, não é tão simples perdoar o garoto que partiu seu coração. Além disso, ela precisa conciliar as aulas com um emprego e um estágio superimportante, mas o reencontro com Wes abala suas certezas. E tudo fica mais complicado quando ela começa a acompanhar a equipe de beisebol para um documentário.

Só que… Liz tem um novo namorado. Então talvez seja tarde demais para Wes reconquistar a garota que ele ama. Será que os dois estão dispostos a reescrever essa história? Ou será que, na vida real, o “felizes para sempre” não é como nos filmes?

Muito aguardada pelos fãs, a sequência do best-seller Melhor do que nos filmes faz inúmeras referências às músicas da Taylor Swift e a clássicos da comédia romântica e alterna os pontos de vista entre Wes e Liz.

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary, Audiobook, Second Chance, Fiction, Rom Com

416 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2024

Reviews

[shanayaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

➳ 2.5/5 stars

“Okay, so tell me your three favorite things about UCLA so far.”
Liz Buxbaum, Liz Buxbaum, and Liz Buxbaum."

First of all, I have to say that I absolutely loved Wes and Liz! BETTER THAN THE MOVIES was such a beautiful story that stayed close to my heart. I’ve read it twice, and both times, I was moved to tears by how adorable and heartwarming their relationship was. But sadly, this book completely shattered that love for me. It feels like the entire legacy of Wes and Liz was tarnished because of this single book.

I don’t know what Lynn was thinking, but the magic that made their story so special feels lost now. It’s heartbreaking to admit, but after reading this, I’m not sure I’ll ever look at Wes and Liz the same way again, and that thought genuinely makes me so sad.


➳ ABOUT THE BOOK

This book, the second in the series, was one of my most anticipated reads last year. I was so excited to dive back into the world of Wes and Liz, especially after how much I adored them in the first book. But, not gonna lie, it took me so much time to finish it, and that’s saying something!!!

In this book, Wes and Liz are no longer together, and it’s heartbreaking. Wes is dealing with some serious personal struggles, which led to their breakup. Now, he’s back at UCLA, not just to study but also to win Liz back. But here’s the kicker: when he returns, he finds out that Liz has a boyfriend. Wes, being the hopeless romantic that he is, doesn’t give up, though. His love for Liz has always been endless, and once he learns she’s single again, he decides to take his shot.

"The dude looks at you like he knows he’s going blind in an hour and he’s trying to memorize every detail of your face."

Of course, things aren’t that simple. The emotional distance between them feels like a mountain they can’t climb, and it’s the main reason they’re stuck in this cycle of “almost but not quite.” But let’s be real, what do you think happens in the end? Yep, a big, beautiful, happy ending! Because when it’s Wes and Liz, love always finds a way, no matter how messy the journey.

➳ ABOUT THE CHARACTERS

╰┈➤ WESLEY HAROLD BENNET

"The English language had yet to create a word that could capture my level of frenzied, desperate need for her."

I’ve always loved Wes, and I truly thought nothing could ever change that for me. But, oh, how life loves to throw curveballs, and this book was mine. Wes didn’t even feel like the same guy I fell head over heels for in the first book. Instead of the chill, nonchalant guy I adored, he came across as insecure and, honestly, a bit dumb in this one. I get it, trauma changes people, absolutely. But the way Lynn wrote him here felt like a completely different person, and I can’t sugarcoat that.

In the first book, Wes was laid-back and easygoing, someone you couldn’t help but root for. But here? He made one questionable decision after another. Like instead of communicating with Liz, the person he loves more than anything, he decided it was better to end the relationship entirely. Not only that, but he took it a step further by lying to her, telling her he cheated just to push her away. Like, seriously? That trope didn’t even work in cheap ’90s movies, so why Lynn thought it’d work here is beyond me.

And the worst part? Wes didn’t stop there. He ignored her, avoided her, and let the love of his life slip away, all while hurting himself in the process. But then, the moment he realized she was truly out of reach— committed to someone else—it’s like a switch flipped. Suddenly, he wanted her back. Suddenly, he couldn’t live without her. I mean, come on, Wes, pick a lane!

I’ll admit, I’m blinded by my love for him, but even I couldn’t defend his actions in this book. It was frustrating, heartbreaking, and left me shaking my head more times than I can count. Honestly? I’m so done with him right now!

"Did I have five minutes? For Liz? My entire life, the answer to that had been something along the lines of hell fucking yes"

╰┈➤ ELIZABETH BUXBAMM

"because there was never anyone else for me but you wes."

And don’t even get me started on Liz. After Wes dumped her, she somehow managed to become even more annoying than she was in the first book, which is saying something. I wasn’t a huge fan of her in the first book, but at least she was tolerable. Here? She crossed every line of annoyance, and let me tell you, reading this while in my luteal phase made me despise her even more.

In the first book, Liz’s childishness was frustrating, but I thought maybe, just maybe, she’d mature a little in this one. Joke’s on me, though, because she was ten times worse. After the breakup, she suddenly decided she was anti-romantic, hating her once-favorite movie, swapping out anything girly, and declaring her undying love for football. Oh, and of course, she had to join the “I’m one of the bros” club. Like, girl, what are you doing? Who are you trying to convince here? Honestly, I couldn’t figure out how Wes even fell for her in the first place.

"Little Liz can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, ’cause she’s dead."

LOOK HOW BADASS SHE IS SMH! 🤷🏻‍♀ TBH I LOVE TAYLOR SWIFT BUT THIS REFRENCE CRINGED ME TF OUT

And don’t even get me started on the family thing. Sure, I get it, seeing Wes would’ve been hard. But girl, not everything in life is about him! Your family exists too, you know? She didn’t even bother visiting them, which, to me, felt ridiculous. It’s like she let the breakup completely dictate her life, and instead of growing from it, she just spiraled into this “I hate everything I used to love” phase.

Honestly, Liz needed a major wake-up call. She was frustrating, immature, and exhausting to read about. Girl, please, grow up already!

"And in my wildest dreams, I never would’ve imagined that while I was crying through so many 12:13s, you were too. I’ve loved you, and I’ve missed you, and I’ve hated you and regretted you, but I’ve never forgiven or forgotten you."

the only quote by her that I actually adored 🤦🏻‍♀️

➳ FINAL THOUGHTS

I’ve always loved Wes and Liz but, alas, this book completely changed that for me. Honestly, I’m just going to pretend it never existed so I can go back to my own little Lalaland (if you’ve read the book, you’ll get the reference!) and keep loving them the way I used to.

The biggest issue for me was the miscommunication. It was intolerable. More than half of the book revolved around them not talking, misunderstanding each other, or just plain behaving like idiots. And then, when they finally reconciled, it felt so short and rushed. Like, what even was that?

I don’t mind second-chance romances, but they’re very hit-or-miss for me, and this one, sadly, leaned way more toward “miss.” The cherry on top was their endless miscommunication, it was frustrating beyond belief to watch them go in circles when a simple conversation could’ve solved it all. That said, the reconciliation, as brief as it was, did manage to tug at my heartstrings a little. It was sweet to see them finally get their happy ending, even though it felt like it was crammed into the last few pages. And yeah, I get it, it’s a rom-com, so we all knew it was going to end on a happy note, but it still could’ve been handled better.

Oh, and can we talk about Liz constantly saying “GAHHHH”? It drove me absolutely nuts. Like, girl, STFU please, and what the fuck does this even mean? Why does it have to be in every other sentence? It’s not cute or quirky it’s just annoying.

All in all, this book had its moments, but the miscommunication and rushed ending really killed it for me. I’m glad they got their happy ending, but this one definitely didn’t live up to the Wesliz legacy I loved so much.

"Overall if you have read better than the movies don't read this book it's for your own good! you'd thank me later " 💌

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

꒰🌷⊹ ࣪ pre-read review ᯓᡣ𐭩

Lynn you better not disappoint me with this 🔪🔪

[Clace · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.65!

"Trust me, Lib," I said, picturing her lips. "In a crowd of million ski masks, I'd still be able to find you."

-My biggest flex is having watched all the movies/shows mentioned.

This book was not needed and the breakup felt so odd that I wasn't able to enjoy that aspect. However, I would be lying if I said that I did not enjoy this book because it was very enjoyable, maybe it was Lynns writing in this one or maybe it was the longing that I felt to meet these characters again but despite this, I still had problems one of them being the overuse of Taylor swift references, to an extent are fine but this was just too much, and other problems. one thing that I really appreciated was the length of the book it wasn't overwhelming or too much, I liked it, it was easy to read and the flow of writing was there, keeping me connected to the story. I also liked the fact that Lynn sticked to chapters with short to medium length instead of those long chapters in bttm because this was much more easy to read, tbh I read this faster than bttm because its written in an easy to reads way. Now where did my problems start? well:

“Now we’re just two people who used to know each other.”

The characters. it was obvious that the characters that we have come to adore so much would face changes because of the time jump but man :( I did not enjoy it that much, it was understandable that they had to change but I was just not happy that they had to change because the way they were written in bttm was near perfect and I loved that version of them.

Liz Bauxbaum, her character was likeable to an extent, I was with Liz on this side of the break up because she did nothing wrong and was kept out of the blue, I liked how mature she was and I also liked how she handled and managed everything and how good she was doing. Though I liked that part of her, I so missed her old character that I loved sooo much was missing and I loved that Liz, she was charismatic and fun to read. The traces of her juvenescence vanished into thin air. One more thing about Liz that I found missing was her love for rom/coms and I liked how the quotes from the rom/coms written in bttm were something reflected Liz and Wes's love and how Liz would talk about them, this was so missing and the quotes from the rom/coms in this one didn't hit. That was one of the reason why I did not enjoy it because I missed her old version so much.

Wes Bennett, I was excited to read about Wes the most because I loved him in bttm and I wanted to read more about him, but it was not the way I wanted to read about him. His story was very complex, I did and did not agree with his actions. I loved how much he groveled, I loved how he didn't give up when he came back and I also loved how he was head over heels in love with Wes but I did not agree with him shutting off Liz and breaking her heart like she was nothing and then trying to claim it back?? I was so mad tbh at this because the break up hit Liz so hard and with how he lies to Liz because he knew she would not give up on him and she would have helped him but his constant need to push her away and to be alone made me furious, I did understand it (barely) but it still made me mad because I knew he was worth looking over, worth caring for and worth everything Liz had to offer but his constant denial at that fact and his guilt driving him and Liz apart made me so angry because I did not want to see Liz like that, These two are inseparable and no matter what the other says they would always stick with each other, so when I saw the methods Wes used to keep Liz away, it broke me because that was just low. Some people won't understand this but in my eyes the Wes from bttm movies would NEVER do that. I still forgave him but it bugged me a lot.

“Say it again.”
“I love you.”
“Again,”
“I love you, Wes Bennett, I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love you.”

The romance, I mean come on guys?? it's Wes Bennett we're talking about. He is everything. The way he groveled for Liz and tried to keep a distance when he learned that she was dating (fake) someone else, so it wouldn't ruin her relationship with him, that is the Wes I know and love. I loved how he didn't give up, I loved his banter with Liz, his little flirtatious comments , the teasing, the pining, the angst, the tension, everything was so well done and how it went till the end was the saving grace for this book in my eyes it was so well done and I loved Liz the most here for acting so mature in this situation and with how she handled everything, especially their conversation outside the ice cream shop where everything bottled inside of them bursts free and the confessions + the arguments that we got were *chefs kiss* I was knees deep in love with that and oh my god! Lynn just aced the romance part. However, everything related to the breakup was infuriating especially Wes thinking that he could just break Liz's heart and try to claim it back.

It was truly such a complex novel to love, I would have lived happy without having read this because in my eyes the perfect version of these characters exist, and now they are flawed, I still enjoyed the more mature gaze from their perspective but I missed their younger versions of themselves, maybe in another year when I pick up this book, I would appreciate the emotions put into Wes's pov more and would be able to look at it from a fresh pair of eyes, enough to make it worth four stars

Also this was also more enjoyable for me because I buddy read it with Roxy that process itself, the timing and the rants were so fun and we both had somewhat mutual feelings so I think that was definitely another reason for an increase in my enjoyment for this book 🙂‍↕️ also not us reading this book after going through a traumatic phase like it was nothing 😭

Overall, I enjoyed it and would recommend to people who are dying from more LizWes content but if you want to keep the version of LizWes as they were in better than the movies than I wouldn't recommend this book because it will ruin that image 😭
___
I got this book but I'm so scared to read this 😭 wdym they break up 😔 I better see some groveling and NO MISCOMMUNICATION 🙏🏻 🥺

[♥︎ Heather ⚔ (New House-Hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"𝒯𝓇𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓂𝑒, 𝐿𝒾𝒷,” 𝐼 𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹, 𝓅𝒾𝒸𝓉𝓊𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝓅𝓈. “𝐼𝓃 𝒶 𝒸𝓇𝑜𝓌𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝒶 𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝓈𝓀𝒾 𝓂𝒶𝓈𝓀𝓈, 𝐼’𝒹 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊.” ˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗
:¨ ·.· ¨:
`· . ୨୧

"𝐵𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹𝓃'𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓈𝓅𝓁𝒾𝓉 𝒶 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝓌𝑜 𝒾𝓃 𝑜𝓇𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑜 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂." ˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗

"𝐵𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝓇𝓊𝓂𝒷𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒻𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓈𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝒽𝓊𝓃𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝓌𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓎 12:13𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑒."˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗
ಇ.

🌟 10/10 Stars! 🌟

I wouldn't say that I was outright skeptical going into this book - because, well, it's Lynn Painter and I've pretty much loved every single one of her books but when I'd heard that Wes and Liz had broken up... I guess, I was maybe a little apprehensive. Just a little worried.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ The thing is- Better than the Movies was so good that you're probably thinking 'why would the author go out and write a second book when the first one was so good, it's not needed etc. etc. etc. I personally can't get enough of Liz and Wes but in my very humble opinion, Painter came through with an absolute banger with book two.

╰┈➤˗ˏˋ 𝓠𝓾𝓲𝓬𝓴 𝓢𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓻𝔂

The story picks up around two years after BTTM ends and Liz is at college, enrolled at UCLA. Wes's father has passed away and his mother was suffering badly from PTSD after and wasn't functioning well at all. She was unable to work, care for herself or for Sarah (Wes's sister) and so Wes leaves school in order to return home to help his family.

The situation is incredibly tough, Liz is flourishing in school, Wes is stuck at home shackled with all of the responsibilities of an adult - he feels like he'd potentially be holding Liz back with all of his problems and so in order for her to continue to grow and get the best out of college and for her future Wes breaks off their relationship.

Liz, after two years of grieving the loss of the relationship and her friendship with Wes, is a freaking powerhouse at school. Lining up her goals and just knocking them down. She's cautious, a little jaded - and definitely not the romance obsessed, heart eyed, little Liz.

After two years, Wes is finally able to put his life back on track and return to UCLA - determined to win Liz back. Will they, won't they? Do they even know each other anymore after all the time that has passed?

╰┈➤˗ˏˋ 𝓜𝔂 𝓣𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼

Besties. Besties! I really did not, in a million years expect for this book to have me in such an emotional chokehold! The number of tears I shed- oh man. The pain, the joy, the reminiscing. I just loved everything about this book so much!

ೃ⁀➷ You would think that the relationship between these two was the focus front and center - and it is, but there is so much more to this novel that warmed my heart. The relationship between Liz and her parents had me so choked up at times, eyes burning and brimming with tears. They're such a good example of what parents should be and so supportive of Liz during a difficult time.

ೃ⁀➷ Everything that the Bennett family went through with the loss of Stu just ripped at my heart strings. There is a whole scene in Wes's living room in the middle of the night between Liz and Wes where I almost totally lost it lol. I had to put the book down, put my hand on my chest like that was going to prevent it from cracking. Total epic moment.

We meet a new character, Clark who is one of Liz's roommates - I can't express how many times he had me laughing out loud as well as the other college friends that we meet.

I loved the way that Painter was able to give us everything we love in both Liz and Wes but made them more weathered emotionally - all of these layers that she added to both of their personalities made it feel like you were getting to know them all over again since the last time we saw them in BTTM. They're more mature, they've been through some shit, while still being the bright-eyed, love-struck characters we love.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Highly recommend! In Lynn Painter we trust!


"𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝒸𝓇𝑒𝓌𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝑒 𝓊𝓅, 𝐿𝒾𝒷, 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝐼'𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓃 𝓁𝓎𝓇𝒾𝒸𝓈 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒶𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝑜𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝒶𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓂𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝑜𝓇𝓈 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓈𝑒𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝑒𝓁𝓈𝑒. 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝒶𝓇𝑒𝓃'𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈, 𝐼 𝒹𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝓇 𝒶𝓁𝒷𝓊𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎'𝓇𝑒 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂, 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒢𝑜𝒹'𝓈 𝓈𝒶𝓀𝑒, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝑒𝓍𝒶𝒸𝓉𝓁𝓎 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝐼 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁.
ಇ.
𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝒶𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓂𝑒 𝒶 𝓈𝑒𝒸𝓇𝑒𝓉 𝓁𝒶𝓃𝑔𝓊𝒶𝑔𝑒 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝓈𝓅𝑒𝒶𝓀 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝑒𝓁𝓈𝑒- 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒, 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝓇𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝓌𝓇𝑜𝓉𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝐼 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝒾𝓉 𝒹𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓌 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝒷𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈. 𝐵𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝑒𝓍𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒, 𝐼 𝓈𝓌𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝓉𝑜 𝒢𝑜𝒹."

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ 𝓯𝓾𝓬𝓴𝓲𝓷 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊
┊ ┊ ┊ ˚★⋆｡˚ ⋆
┊ ┊ ⋆
┊ ★⋆
★


Many thanks to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, and Lynn Painter for the complementary digital copy in exchange for my honest thoughts. 💐

[SK · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was indeed Nothing Like The Movies cause movies are good, serve a purpose and have a story whereas this was the exact opposite.

Am gonna keep it brief- If you LOVE Better Than The Movies, Wes and Liz then please save yourself from this book. I honestly didn't even have high expectations and am still disappointed.

1. Lack of mental health representation even tho the characters' story demanded it. The book starts off with both being broken up (no, this isn't a spoiler. It's in the blurb). The first couple of chapters were fine and even tho it was a bit concerning, I still wanted to give it a fair shot. I thought Wes struggling with his mental health would be represented aptly. But nooooo, we went from Wes struggling and grieving from the loss of his life and Liz to BOOM! "I am okay and I want the chick back in my life" within TWO FREAKING PAGES!!!

2. Wes is a problematic character and a red flag. m genuinely sorry to say but Wes was the greenest flag in BTTM. That was all stripped away from him. Now he's manipulative, lacking communication, ogling person and a liar. What the author was trying to do with his character is beyond me. His excuses for breaking up with Liz were just beyond pathetic and did not make any sense given how well developed a character he was in BTTM.

3. Liz is immature and acts like a 13 year old. She wants to be mature but all her actions and decisions but in reality she just came across as a whiny wannabe. She gave me a headache and the way she uses others whenever it suits her motive was simply annoying to read.

4. The romance is trash at best. They keep going in circles. The author tried to present the break up as such a tragic story when it couldn't be far from it. It wasn't tragic, it was absolutely pathetic. There was no depth to it. They have minimal chemistry. Second chance romance paired with miscommunication paired with a false cheating trope paired with shitty characters was just the perfect way to kill a book. When the two finally made up, I didn't enjoy it. I would rather they break up again cause these two demonstrated that they can't stay together or overcome hurdles in life.

5. The writing is so poor and boring. It reads like a draft. It was also quite chaotic. In some places it doesn't even make sense. The way the characters were lusting after each other and comparing the other to steak and whatnot, I would rather it be a cannibalism book.

I wouldn't recommend reading this after BTTM. What's the point of giving the characters a happy ending and character development when you are going to take it all away from them for absolutely no reason?? This book wasn't needed at all.

Thanks to lovely Gracie for reading this with me. The book was bad but she kept me motivated to finish it and I did have fun ranting about it to her. Hopefully our next BR will be much better 💜

[Ali Goodwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars! I felt mixed on a few elements of this book but I'm glad I read it!

What I liked:
1. SO many swoon-worthy moments. Lynn Painter is fantastic at making me want to kick my feet & giggle
2. Great to be back in the world of Liz and Wes!
3. I thought it was interesting to explore how life hardships, college, etc. can impact a relationship & how people change and grow individually.

What I disliked:
1. I think I went in expecting the same adorable romcom that Better than the movies is & I was not prepared for the more serious tone this book has.
2. The second chance conflict was a bit frustrating to me. I understand why a certain character did what they did but it was still hurtful. Didn't know how to feel about it.

This book is just a more serious life-is-messy kind of book which was just sooo different from book 1. Really enjoyed it overall!! I think it just took me a while to shift my expectations bc I was expecting a book like BTTM.

[caleigh]

someone needs to tell authors that some books are just meant to be standalones 👍🏼

[ʚɞ mariam · Rating 2 out of 5]

ALREADY A MASTERMIND REFERENCE, DUAL PINING, & WES' POV?? FALL 2024????? going into hibernation until then.

edit: not her making them break up just so she could write a sequal

[lexie · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was incredibly disappointing. beyond my worst nightmare. i, SINCERELY, would not read this book if you liked better than the movies, extra content be damned!

there are so many things i want to say but i absolutely won’t get spoilery, so i’ll start with how painfully boring it is. the romance didn’t just take the backseat, it missed the bus. instead, we follow them separately as they grow into their own individuals in the “real world”. girl i couldn’t give two flying fucks about their personal journey, i was here for a second chance romance 😐

i was also let down by the characterization of these older versions of these beloved characters. liz specifically was unrecognizable and in the worst way, who even was that??? it feels like the magic and swooniness of the first book is nowhere to be found and the tone of this book is a lot more morose, slow-paced, and lacking in all the romcom of a…romcom. supposedly.

this only makes me want to go back and reread the first one to assure myself, yes at one point i did enjoy this word and characters 😭

[Avery · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I am just Wes fucking Bennett, Lib, the guy who can't remember a single day in his life when he didn't love you.”

this quote made me smile, but only because it reminded me of the old Wes and Liz 😭

When I first heard about this book, I was ecstatic. Until the synopsis came out and I realized they broke up....and then the reviews started coming out....and it just kept going down down down.

This book confused me, and I don't like that.

The Plot

The book was honestly pretty big for a romance, and despite how I didn't like it all that much, I didn't find myself getting that bored, since it was Wes and Liz. But not the same Wes and Liz, y'know.

It was just annoying that they broke up in the first place, when there was no reason for it. This book was definitely unnecessary and unneeded, fueled only by how popular Better Than the Movies got. I'd have rather gotten a collection of Wes and Liz in the future, not a whole second chance, miscommunication nonsense.

The miscommunication infuriated me to no end, because as I've said multiple times, it was NOT NEEDED.

And why were they broken up for 2 years? It would've been better if it was 1, but even that's a long time for those two to come back to each other. It would've just made it so much more understandable had they been broken up for a shorter amount of time that Wes would still be so obsessed with her, but hey, that's what always happens in books.

I don't mind pop references in books, but this one was ENDLESS, and I have a strong feeling it's fueled by how much love the T-Swift references got in BTTM which I will admit to having loved, but they were coooonstant in this.

I will admit, I did love how this was dual pov because Wes's pov was the only thing saving me.

I found myself smiling at random points because the old Wes and Liz were coming out, but then I was brought back to earth by how ANNOYING Liz was.

“In your dreams, Bennett,” she teased.
“Every damn night, Buxbaum.”

gonna need to reread the OG as a palate cleanser

The Characters

Elizabeth Buxbaum made me want to scream in this book. I was nearly crying at some points because she was annoying me so damn much. I'm not gonna lie, I didn't like her all that much in BTTM for some reason, but she was SO much better in that book than this one. You would think that college would have made her more mature, but you'd be mistaken. Tell me why her ENTIRE character that made her even a little bit enjoyable ended up being completely changed? Her romantic, cutesy self was the main reason for all of the rom-com quotes at the top of the chapters. Now, she wears black all the time, is dubbed as a romance hater, and is one of the boys. My least favorite type of character. Never forgetting this stupid quote that made me shut my book and put my hand over my eyes:

“Little Liz can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, ’cause she’s dead.”

Like, just stop. Please. Forever. It is the cringiest Taylor Swift reference I have ever seen in my entire life. Don't even get me STARTED on the hatred she held for Wes. Like I get it, because he told her he cheated on her, and she's got every right to be mad since he broke her heart, but the fact that she just kept denying him and denying him and didn't realize she still loved him until he got HURT made me want to rip my hair out. And she literally stayed away from her family for so long just to avoid Wes, as if her entire life revolves around Wes and there's nobody else but them. The way she just kept talking about how Little Liz was dead was just making me so sad, because no, I'm not moving on from that time, and it was literally only 2 years ago.

And Wes....I cannot. I felt so bad being in his head and hearing all of his thoughts about his dad, but it really felt like he also needed to go to therapy, but we didn't really dive deep at all into his mental health, which brings me into how his character felt so surface. As if his one character trait was Liz, his only thoughts were of Liz, and it made me so mad. He was so lovesick in this that it was making ME sick. Like yeah, he loved her, but please, I miss nonchalant Wes. Wes would NOT ever say "climb on me like a good girl" like what the actually hell. And why was he growling so much? Just because they're like 20 now doesn't mean he's gonna turn into one of those macho main guys in those adult romances that growl and bite necks.

And oh my gosh, the fact that he thought he had to break up with Liz to help her or whatever is the most classic, annoying trope EVER, and why I hate second chance romances (I haven't read many, but it's because I stay away at almost all costs.) He tried to take her feelings into account, but he just ended up hurting her and himself in the process instead of talking to her about how he was feeling and what he was actually going through. BTTM Wes would never. And then to top onto that, pretending he cheated?? Like why would he do that.

Moving on from those to, there are appearances from Charlie and Bailey who are in Betting On You, I think. I haven't read that one yet, but I have it.

Also, I want a book between Lilith and Ross.

“There was never anyone else for me but you.”

sigh

The Romance

I don't understand why we had to go through all of that when it was so obvious they'd get back together in the end anyways, because Wes and Liz are such a beloved couple that people would literally fight if they stayed broken up, and, I repeat, 📢📢 UNNECESSARY 📢📢

I enjoyed the glimpses I got of them being cute together because most of this book had NONE of that. The date night and the baseball field scene were like the only ones I enjoyed (until Liz had to RUIN the baseball field scene)

There was a moment in time I didn't think they'd get back together because it was literally down to like the last 10 pages until Liz finally came to her senses. And honestly, I felt nothing. When they kissed again that other time too, I felt literally nothing but sadness because it had been TWO YEARS since they'd broken up. At that point, move on. I cannot believe that they were so in love in their high school years, no matter how cute they were in BTTM, that they'd find their ways back to each other that long later.

The miscommunication between them was enough to send me off the raaaaaails. I miss the old Wes and Liz.

“I exist to exist alongside of you.”

such cute quotes wasted on this book

Anyways, this book just confused me, because while it seems like I hated it and want to throw it down a cliff, I didn't hate it. It was enjoyable if you don't think about all of the negative qualities, I guess. If you're a diehard Wes and Liz lover....I recommend sticking to the little novellas. WHICH THIS BOOK SHOULD'VE BEEN; just a collection of cute moments between them.

2.5 stars

“It’d been better than the movies, I swear to God.”

I repeat: sigh

<><><><><><><><>
smh

might change this to 2 stars, depends on how angry i get when i write my review ☹️

rtc

<><><><><><><><>
edit 4/2: I just read a snippet from the book and although it was happy it felt so off IM SCARED FOR MY BABIES

edit 3/6: STOP I DIDNT REALIZE THERE WAS A SYNOPSIS. I HATE THESE KINDS OF BOOKS, IF THERE'S A LOVE TRIANGLE I'M LITERALLY GONNA DIE

edit 2/7: COVER. AND APPARENTLY IT'S SECOND CHANCE WHICH IS NOT GOOD FOR MY HEALTH-

exCUSE ME??? i'm dead, wesliz in college, DUAL POV, and possibly MORE ROM-COM AND TAYLOR REFERENCES??

[Mel · Rating 1 out of 5]

When Taylor Swift said "It was unnecessary, should've let it stay buried", she was talking about this book.

[maria · Rating 1 out of 5]

જ⁀➴ 1 ✰

I’M FINALLY FREE!!!!

This book was totally unnecessary in my opinion.
if you really love Liz&Wes from bttm then think twice before reading this one😭

The charm that made better than the movies a good read was nowhere to be found in this book.

Honestly if Lynn really wanted to give us more content of Wes&Liz, if she really needed more money, she should have done a book with all those extra scenes that she usually shares and I’m sure that people would have bought it just the same. But this? this nonsense??? Horrible, after reading this I don’t want to see anything about Liz and Wes anymore. Their adorable image in my head is already ruined.
It honestly feels like a cash grab🤷🏻‍♀️ I stand by that opinion👩🏻‍🦯‍➡️

I’m all about second chance romance, I actually do love them. I think there’s something appealing about two people falling in love again. But this was trash, save yourself from this torture.

I was trying to find something that I enjoyed so I could give this at least 2 stars but I couldn’t find anything. I hated this book, hated the characters, hated the pace, the writing, the plot. Everything.

It was the most boring thing ever written, it took me over 5 days to finish it because I just couldn’t bring myself to be interested in them and after the 60% I had to start skimming through it.
the writing was terrible, I don’t know if my english wasn’t englishing or what, but I had to reread a lot sentences more than 3 times to make sense out of it. And the pace was draggingggggg, it was insanely slow.

The constant pop culture reference was driving me insane and I’m not talking about only TS, but the whole songs lyrics being in the middle of a paragraph out of nowhere, like please, just stop.

I don’t like Taylor Swift, I don’t have anything against her, she’s just not my cup of tea but I usually tolerate the reference to her in books but this one was just out of control. Every chapter, in random moments and in the cringiest way possible.

⤷Little Liz can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, ’cause she’s dead.

Seriously? 😐

Someone needs to tell Lynn Painter to stick to writing rom-coms and avoid tackling mental health topics again because, in this book, she really missed the mark. At the start, when Wes’s grief was mentioned, I thought she was going to dive deeper into how it affected him. But it ended up being so superficial that it just became frustrating and tiresome to read. There was so much potential for depth, but it never delivered.

Liz
The new “anti-romantic” she’s one of the guys now, honestly I didn’t like her in bttm and in this one I was indifferent to her.
Her thoughts were giving a migraine, I seriously can’t stand that girl with how childish and annoying she was.
“Little Liz this" and "Little Liz that"—yet there’s only a two-year difference between "Little Liz" and her current self. If you really think about it, two years isn’t much time for people to be referring to themselves like that. It feels unnecessary and a bit exaggerated, given how short the time gap actually is.

I don’t blame her for changing her personality to be honest, I guess if my first boyfriend cheated on me I would be wary of love too but what annoyed me was how the book wanted to portray her as mature when she was far away from that.

Wes
🚨🚨the new red flag🚨🚨
If this is what we were getting from asking for Wes’s pov I would prefer this book to be single pov. Wes of bttm would never act like Wes from nltm did😔
His obsession with Liz mouth and legs was concerning. and every time he opened his mouth was to say something creepy to Liz.

⤷ “Libby, I don’t know if you know this, but I am obsessed with your mouth”

⤷“when her fingers slipped under the back of my T-shirt, I growled like an animal. She made me feral for her.”

⤷ “Now you climb on me like a good girl.”

😃

I feel bad for all the trees sacrificed to make this book, and I'm mourning all the time I wasted reading it.

thank you edelweiss for the arc


____________________________
ᝰ.ᐟ pre-read: ᯓᡣ𐭩୭˚.

I’ve been ignoring this arc for months and just realized that it’s coming out in a few days but all the bad reviews are scaring me.🫣

OMGGG I JUST GOT THE ARC!!!
going to put a hold on the rinaverse for now just to read this

[manas (suffering) · Rating 3 out of 5]

these hoes are SO dramatic.

[liz ౨ৎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

➸ 5 stars

“Now we’re just two people who used to know each other.”

Thank you so much to Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster for the arc!

I absolutely loved this book so so much, I will NEVER get enough of Wes and Liz <3 Lynn Painter thank you so much for bringing my silly little love lovers back in this sequel, I loved reading about this new version of them and their story. This book made me feel all the feels! I laughed as much as I cried… this was very painful.

Big thanks to my bestie dramatic owl reading for buddy reading this with me! I had such a fun time reading this and sobbing together LOL

—— 𝜗𝜚 If you’d like to go into this book blind without knowing ANYTHING about the book I’d recommend not reading these next parts, there won’t be any direct spoilers but I do talk a lot about the characters! feel free to skip <3

“He was the center of my world; we were my center.”

𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅ Liz Buxbaum - NLTM Liz and BTTM Liz are like two completely different characters! Liz is not the silly little love lover hopeless romantic she was in bttm and it just made me so sad to see how she lost all her light :( now I do like the new Liz! she’s a little moody and unromantic and annoyed me sometimes, but she’s also a determined and driven woman who’s working towards achieving all her goals! I also had such a fun time reading about all her new friends! especially Clark :)

“Clark was like my platonic soulmate. I was comfortable with him as I was with myself, and sometimes it felt like we were just extensions of each other.”

Their friendship was soooo cute!! And Clark was also so funny! And I’m sensing something brewing with him and Sarah… Lynn Painter IM BEGGING FOR A BOOK ABOUT THEM! GIVE ME THE MANUSCRIPT I KNOW YOU HAVE IT!

“Wes Fucking Bennett, ladies and gentlemen.”

𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅ Wes Bennett - Oh Wes… I cannot count how many times I cried :( I was just heartbroken after I read about what he went through. He deserves the world. Even after everything, he was able to come back from it and start over; I loved reading about his whole new outlook on life and how DETERMINED he was with school and baseball and overall just living life to the absolute fullest! I’m so proud of him I could cry! He was definitely the hopeless romantic and silly little love lover in this sequel!

“I was cherishing every fucking piece of it.”

“This is what I’ve been working toward, and I need to enjoy it.”

I also LOVED Wes’ friends! AJ, Mike, Wade, they were hilarious and so so supportive of him and just TEAM WES omg Clark as well! EVERYONE WAS TEAM WES! I also LOVED Micheal in this book, he’s such a good friend to Wes and helped him when he needed someone <3

ALSO, the little Bailey and Charlie cameo?! I LOVED IT and I’m glad to see Mr. Nothing is still giving piggybacks to his Glasses :,) AND THE NICK STARK MENTION TOO?! Lynn painter I love you.

“Eventually, we’d find our way back to each other again.”

𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅ Wes and Liz - I really don’t know what to say about them because so many things just happened and I can’t properly write my thoughts into words. They both went through a lot and I was really just heartbroken to see how two people madly in love with each other had to separate :( Wes had one thing in mind and that was to get Liz back while Liz was trying to stay as far away as she could! But the universe… the universe kept pulling them back to each other :) THE YEARNING THE PINING UGH I LOVED IT I LOVE PAIN AHAHAHAHAHAHAH

“There is no one for me but you, Lib.”

“There was never anyone else for me but you.”

Even after being apart for so long they still managed to easily fall back into the place they used to be! I loved how their banter and teasing was still there :)

“I am just Wes fucking Bennett, Lib, the guy who can’t remember a single day in his life when he didn’t love you.”

PLEASEEEE I AM ON THE FLOOR IN TEARSSSSSSSSS the way he kept the 12:13 alarm made me sob my eyes out. The way he kept count. 720. SEVEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY. Iykyk. HE LOVES HER HES IN LOVE WITH HER SOMEONE PICK ME UP OFF THE FLOOR!

“When I’m near you, the way I feel steals the breath from my body. It’s like I breathe for you, like I exist to exist alongside you.”

HE LOVES LIZ SO MUCH UGH I LOVE THESE CHARACTERS SO MUCH IT ACTUALLY HURTS ME I love them. I love their love. I love their story. They made me fall in love with them in book one then proceeded to break my heart and mend it back together piece by piece in this book. I will never get over them.

“Say it again.”
“I love you.”
“Again,”
“I love you, Wes Bennett, I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love you.”

The ending had my heart racing and had me absolutely TERRIFIED omg but it was amazing I absolutely LOVED how the book ended and tied everything back together! The little mention of Elizabeth Bennett was so cute and then finding out what Liz’s note from the beginning said at the very end and how it was revealed in that last paragraph brought me to tears! I couldn’t have asked for a better sequel to these characters I loved it so much!!!

—— 𝜗𝜚

“It’d been better than the movies, I swear to God.”

[Larissa Cambusano · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was everything i wanted it to be and more.

“hi buxbaum”
“hi wes”
<3

*cue in between by gracie abrams*
🎬⚾️🧸💌🎀🌟🫶🏻🧢🌼

[rae (jurdan's version)]

this is probably the most unnecessary sequel ever the ending of the first one was perfectly fine 😭

[Phuong ✯ · Rating 4 out of 5]

– 4.25 stars

this book wasn't anywhere near perfect and was quite frankly too depressing and the angst between Wes and Liz went on for way too long, but I still love this book. I just wish this book was a bit longer and had more happy wesliz moments at the end.

***

so scared and happy to get a sequel to Better Than the Movies... the first book was SO GOOD it's going to be hard to live up to the expectations *cough* It Ends With Us/It Starts With Us, buuut it's going to be DUAL POV and i will never say no to more Wes Bennett in my life 😭💕

[gracie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was...disappointing. As someone who enjoyed Better than the Movies for the sole reason of nostalgia, imagine how poorly I recieved this book when I realized, mid-read, that the author had completely stripped every defining and charming trait that made Wes and Liz.

I don't even know where to start with my anger towards this book. It was poorly written and horribly paced. The plot was lacking and the author had ignored meaningful plot points that would have added to the story in favor of pushing a romance that honestly shouldn't have happened. The first chapter of the book tells us that Wes lost his father and had to drop out of uni. For someone who was so excited to start university, I was expecting to see something, ANYTHING, about how Wes had to juggle both his disappointment at having to drop out and his grief and guilt at his father's death but we got NOTHING! Wes literally went from being sad to thirsting over Liz in a matter of paragraphs. I wouldn't have minded much if it hadn't led to a 'love fixes all' story and ending. The ignorance of mental health irritated me.

Another thing that grated my gears was how misogynistic Wes had become. In book one, he was written as this understanding, communicative guy who wanted the best for Liz, literally the perfect book boyfriend. Then, you get to book two and he's objectifying Liz, saying weird things that I would never imagine book one Wes saying #NOTMYWES!! He pushed boundaries he had no business pushing, he didn't take no for an answer when Liz told him to back off AND he was a manipulative bastard. There was nothing to like about him and halfway through the book I'd concluded I resented him.
“Just because there’s another customer inside the bakery with your donut in his cart doesn’t mean you can’t still grab it. Pastries are fair game until they hit the conveyor belt.”
Just an example of how misogynistic the book was getting.

On to Liz, I already wasn't her biggest fan from BTTM but I absolutely resented her in this one. She was childish, annoying and manipulative (low-key she and Wes deserve each other on this front). The author made her 'one of the guys' and I think that hurt me the most I'm ngl. It was so frustrating to see all the character development she'd gained in book one be basically non existent in this one.

I saw no point in them getting back together. Maybe I'm just incredibly cynical about the second chance trope but I do not see how I'm expected to root for them to end up together when they'd been broken up 2 years, had enough miscommunication and lies between them to fuel 12 romance books and to top it all off there was cheating (technically it was a lie about cheating but still!). We were literally going in circles with them until the very end!

TL;DR: stay away from this book if you even have a smidge of love for Wes and Liz because this book absolutely destroys their characters lol

The best part of reading Nothing like the Movies was getting to rant to SK about it. I most likely would have dnfed if not for her☹️💕


~~~~~~~~~~~
I got sent the ARC YASSSS!!!!!!

[bookworm ꣑ৎ‎ ˚. (more active) · Rating 2 out of 5]

₊‧ ୨୧ 2.5 disappointed stars ◞♡

this was truly nothing like the movies y’all
in fact, even my sister’s corny movies with over graphic sex scenes are better than this.


Little Liz can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, ’cause she’s dead
tell me this isn’t the most cringey thing you’ve read. say it to my face and i will openly laugh at u bc DAMN u must’ve read some messed up crap 💀


but hey — wes fricking bennet, everyone 🧍🏻‍♀️✋🏻

[Emmy Rosam · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ Only Wes Liz could make me cry… my favourite YA rom com duology ever. Let’s all say thank you Lynn Painter!!!

[aubrey౨ৎ₊˚⊹ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4౨ৎ “i exist to exist alongside of you”

wes bennett, they could never make me hate you <3

the elizabeth bennett lines at the end. that’s it
౨ৎ
“i am just Wes Bennett, Lib, the guy who can't remember a single day in his life when he didn't love you.”

[lila ୧ · Rating 2 out of 5]

→2✰
୨୧ — spoiler free!

⋆ﾟ꒰ఎ “there was never anyone else for me but you.”

my thoughts. 🪐
ㅤㅤthis was such a big disappointment for me. i did sort of go into this book with high-ish expectations because it's lizwes, duh. but in a way i ended this book feeling like i should never have picked it up in the first place. it wasn't a total fail because i still enjoyed some little minuscule moments. oh and there was a descendants 3 quote at the start of one of the chapters (if you know me you know that no matter how old i get i will always fangirl over any disney channel show/movie)!!

liz. 💋
ㅤㅤso apparently liz in now an anti-romantic, “she’s one of the guys you know? she’s just… different” (oh! i never want to read that sentence again tyvm), she doesn't watch gilmore girls anymore because she would rather watch football (no disrespect to football whatsoever), and she's a baseball manager/influencer/filmer (i was a teeny bit confused about her exact role in baseball but it was something like that). when i first realized this, i thought she was going to annoy me but her change in character really wasn't that bad (even though i do miss highschool liz and i want her back).

wes. ⚾
ㅤㅤwho's gonna tell lynn painter... don't write male povs. what was his character in this? i was constantly finding myself disgusted while reading his pov because this wes is not the wes that i know from bttm. i genuinely am not lying when i say i hated him in this book. why was he growling, why was he calling liz a "mythological sex goddess," and whywhywhy did he have to change so much? i miss wes because whoever this character was, it's not him.

“climb on me like a good girl”
nope im done. and yes wes said this! out loud!

p.s. everything i have stated is my opinion, and nothing in this review is meant to be offensive. happy reading <3

✧ㅤִ pre read.ㅤ.ㅤ ౨౿

i started this last week and why is liz sort of unrecognizable? please don't ruin lizwes for me lynn painter 🙏

[i didn't get the arc... everyone say thank you to oceanofpdf because if it wasn't for them i wouldn't have early access <3]

↳ feb. 2024 ༉‧₊
what is this cover 🙈
also why does the synopsis sound off? it might just be me idk 😭

[julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5˖⁺‧✮

i’m sorry but.. just no

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ the only thing i truly enjoyed about “nothing like the movies” was me experiencing some emotions throughout my read. at some moments i was very close to crying but otherwise book had no emotions, no tension, nothing to keep me interested.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ characters
i didn’t like liz before and i also didn’t enjoy her character now. her character had no development in the first book and i was hoping to see some in this one. but, unfortunately, her character was just forgotten about🤷🏼‍♀️ wes. i was soooo cringed when reading his chapters. i’m sorry, but some of his quotes… i was dying.

there was no chemistry or tension between liz and wes. i don’t know why, but I honestly think they overgrew each other. they weren’t fitting as much as they did in high school. and there is nothing wrong with that!!!!

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷necessity
i do still believe this book was unnecessary. why creating additional drama when you can leave characters alone. in my opinion, first story ended perfectly. BUT what i think is: this book should have been a different story with new characters. then!!! it would actually be good.


Thank you Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster for approving this arc

[Sophie Jayne Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5* ! I had a great time

[em ౨ৎ · Rating 1 out of 5]

★

Lynn Painter, repeat after me: SOME BOOKS ARE JUST MEANT TO BE STANDALONES

౨ৎ Tropes
~ second chance


౨ৎ So cringe
I'm not going to lie to you, this book made me cringe SO HARD. In Better than the Movies, I found all the gestures so sweet and cute!! But this book, it just didn't do it for me. I found myself literally FLINCHING at some things the characters would say. And don't even get me started on the language the college students used.

⁀➷ "It was the thought of that - having closure - that made me emo as hell"
EW NO.


౨ৎ No mental health rep even though the book desperately needed it
They were going through college so I thought they might mention something about the stress they were going through. You know, maybe make it relatable? But NO, I think there was a total of 2 sentences in the book relating to college stress. Also, Wes's father passed away and his mother was unavailable for a while. A good opportunity for grief representation right? WRONG. Basically 3 sentences saying again and again "I went through grief". Honestly, so disappointing.


౨ৎ 60% through and nothing had happened
I was more than halfway through the book and I was practically falling asleep. I swear NOTHING happened in the first 60% of this book. Lynn Painter could have cut out the first 200 pages of this book, because it was basically pointless.


౨ৎ I really couldn't care less whether they got together or not
Don't come at me for this, but I honestly couldn't give less of a shit whether they got back together, or went their seperate ways. And that pretty much defeats the purpose of a romance book. I really just did not care.


౨ৎ Wes
He was so annoying and arrogant and ALWAYS acted like the victim.


౨ৎ Liz
She was so emotional, but in an over the top way that she came off as extremely childish.


Let me just go scream into my pillow with disappointment.


⚠︎ SPOILERS ⚠︎
When Wes said he only pretended to cheat because he loves her… *sigh* I almost put the book down right there. I had to take a break from this book to go bang my head against the wall.

⁀➷ "I only said I cheated to get you to move on"
NOPE GET THE HELL OUT WES.


So anyway, I hope you like this book better than me

[tamara ౨ৎ˚⋆ · Rating 1 out of 5]

˖ ࣪ ⟡˚ 1 star ˚⟡ ࣪ ˖

this was indeed Nothing Like the Movies, as the movies would’ve been miles better than whatever this was.

ᝰ writing ⊹.˚
this feels like it was written by a totally different author. the vibes, everything is completely different.
the author decided to add an insane amount of pop culture references which extremely bugged me and constantly took me out of the story. there was at least one every chapter. it was very cringy.

ᝰ characters ⊹.˚
⭒ Wes, his entire personality was different. his internal monologue was so infuriating to read. all he kept doing was wining and complaining. it pissed me off so bad that i considered DNF’ing for that reason alone.
where was the goofy and cute Wes we had in BTTM?

⭒ Liz, to be honest, i couldn’t recognize her. she was completely different in this book. her behavior annoyed me so much. awkward, cute and bubbly Liz, i miss you.

ᝰ tropes ⊹.˚
⭒ second-chance romance
⭒ rom-com
⭒ miscommunication
⭒ college setting
⤷ spice level: ❌

this book was more focused on their separate lives, college, and problems rather than their relationship. and while in general i’d never complain about something like that, this book is called a ‘rom-com’ for a reason, and the romance was very much in the background.

ᝰ final thoughts ⊹.˚
in my opinion, this book didn’t need to be written.
it simply just feels like a cash grab.

[zoii]

this book: has literally no information about it

me: already knows this will be my new favourite

[lydia ‧ ia]

the cover hate on this book is too funny to me 😂 anyway, kind of wary of this because I feel like it’s going to be a lot of unnecessary drama 🧍‍♀️

[aira {vacay ia} · Rating 3 out of 5]

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 3.25/5

“I don’t want to discuss this with anyone, ever, but if I have to, I’d choose you over anyone else.”

I don't think I can talk about this book without talking about BTTM, so let's start there. BTTM is aira-approved, so that's how you know it's very special to me. It's literally one of 64 books on the official aira-approved shelf from the 462 books that I've read in total so far. However, I went into this with low expectations, because BTTM is a one-of-a-kind book. Everything about that book was amazing the more than I thought about it to the point that I had to push up my rating from a 2.5 to a 4. It's not mind-blowing, but it was just a really fun high school book.

However, for this book, I haven't seen the best reviews. I was super scared to read this so I've been putting it off since July, but I suddenly got the urge to read this book after missing Wes (and even Liz). While, I didn't completely hate it, I also didn't love it as much as I loved BTTM. I liked that we got the college perspective, but I guess I was expecting a little bit of a different approach to their college life.

Anyways, the whole lying about cheating just to break up with someone because you thought they deserved better really gave me wattpad flashbacks. I personally thought that was unnecessary as is the whole Clark thing.

"Little Liz can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, ’cause she’s dead."

ummm, ok? 🥴

There are some cringey moments and I don't really understand why it took Liz getting a new boyfriend for Wes to get his head out of his ass (she was lying about dating the dude btw). Also the way he talks about her legs was giving creep. Like, calm down, dude. The Wes from BTTM would never do any of the clown-y stuff that this Wes did. 🤡

The only reason I was willing to look past all that behavior is because he seems to still be reeling in guilt from his father's death. Oh, and also because these two are super special to me and I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I was contemplating giving this book a 1-star and then a 2-star, but it truly didn't feel like either. I might be generous with the rating right now, but I know that I'm fairly attached to these characters.

Also, it's so funny how I thought that Liz was actually the mature one at a certain point between the two of them. That was not on my bingo card for this book.

“Do you know how many 12:13s I’ve watched pass without you? Tonight it’ll be the seven hundred and twentieth,” I said, the words burning my throat. “The last thing in the world I want is to say something that makes that number infinite, but I also can’t let you erase our history. I don’t want to remember the bad parts, but I refuse to forget the good.”

folded. 😌

In conclusion, I didn't hate it, I had low expectations, and I did somewhat enjoy it, so it's a maybe. I just don't know if I would reread this again, you know? Like the first book, I will for sure at some time, but this one, I just feel on the fence about.

---------

pre-read: i'm reading this for WES!! 😌

[Deepak · Rating 1 out of 5]

“Being with you has changed the threads of my existence, I swear to God, so now being without you makes everything quieter, dimmer, and duller. So. Much. Smaller. And I fucking hate it”

Besides this romantic quote, I literally have no real praise for this book.

And my disappointment is indeed dramatic cause I was a profound lover of Better Than The Movies.

I understand why the title makes sense now, because it was NOTHING like the first book. Lynn, whaaaaaaat did yaaaaaa dooooo ? 😂

The academic setting felt cool and relatable, and I loved how the campus premises revolved around one of my favorite sports.

Besides that, both Wes and Liz were extremely insufferable.

Wes was a pity party yapper, and Liz kept denying things she didn’t want to admit.

However, for anyone who couldn’t stand Liz in the first book, will actually be pleasantly surprised here because she is far more acceptable this time around in comparison to Wes at least because this dude was literally a cringe sob song on REPEAT.

The lover boy that would do anything for his Libby is not here to be seen.

Also Liz and Wes had LITTLE TO NONE bonding moments where they reconcile their feelings. Poor execution, poor delivery, poor writing for the two of them.

My utmost favorite part though was how all the chapters were punctuated with references and quotes from some of my all time favorite romcom movies/romance slow jam songs🤌.

Like for real, seeing memorable quotes from La La Land, Breakfast from Tiffanys, The Notebook, Crazy Stupid Love, 50 first dates, Adele Songs and etc had me all jolly, reveling in my own admiration 💙.

Ah, now alas this is where I say that one of my most hyped up reads, one my favorite romcom couples, and everything that made them special to begin with… were trashed and neglected with galore.

Oh my, Lynn was hella considerate here.

I understand the hate for this one, really 😍.

[ava ✮⋆˙ · Rating 5 out of 5]

wes bennett is my roman empire