From the Bookshelf of ༊*·˚ Stuck On The Book ♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧…

Better Than the Movies (Better Than the Movies, #1)

Lynn Painter

Start date: June 4, 2024

Finish date: July 1, 2024

Discussion: BOTM

Discussion leader: Alexia･ﾟﾟ･｡༉‧₊˚. ❧

Why we're reading this: JUNE BOTM - romance
[close] JUNE BOTM - romance

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By Alexia･ﾟﾟ･｡༉‧… · 1 post · 55 views

last updated May 09, 2024 12:16PM

MARCH BOTM!-romantasy suggestions ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚
By Alexia･ﾟﾟ･｡༉‧… · 5 posts · 21 views

last updated Apr 07, 2025 03:34PM

What Members Thought

Aug 26, 2025 ₊˚ ⁀➴ kenzie ⠀❦ jacks’ version rated it it was amazing

Shelves: summer-reads, reviewed, top-tbr, book-bfs, comfort-reads, wishlist

❝ She. Isn’t. You. ❞

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ Better than the Movies 🎥

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ∿ 4.5 super cute!

ꫂ ၴႅၴ ˚˖⋆ preread

⠀⠀⠀ ₊ my first Lynn Painter book!! I’ve heard so much about these books and can’t wait to start!!

❦ ˚˖⋆ overview & features (spoiler-free!)

⠀⠀⠀ ↳ A rom-com-obsessed Liz Buxbaum dreams of the perfect love story—until real life starts giving her moments straight out of the movies.

features
⠀⠀⠀ ∘ fake dating
⠀⠀⠀ ♡ childhood rivals
⠀⠀⠀ ∘ next-door neighbor
⠀⠀⠀ ♡ spice-free romcom
⠀⠀⠀ ∘ vibes: 🍿🏀🎥❤️🎧🎶📚🌷☔️ ...more

85 likes · Like · see review

Jan 03, 2024 Em ౨ৎ (semi-inactive) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance, 2025-reads, 6-stars, my-babies, must-reads, reread, booktok, physical-read, young-adult

⋆⋅˚₊‧🩰♡🦢⋆⋅˚₊

— 6 stars
ㅤ⤿ read 12/31/23 - 1/3/24
ㅤㅤㅤ⤿ reread 6/24/24 - 6/26/24
⤿ reread 4/20/25 - 4/23/25

“I fell in love with teasing you in the second grade, when I first discovered that I could turn you cheeks pink with just a word. Then I fell in love with you.”

︵‿୨♡୧‿︵

i. book review

In Between (Unreleased) - Gracie Abrams

Need my man to treat me the way Wes treats Liz...

BTTM is everything i want in life AND MORE. The romance was PERFECT, sweet, funny, AND actually well writt ...more

27 likes · Like · see review

Mar 28, 2024 veska rated it liked it · review of another edition

Br with Adylyn <3 and Emiley <3

Also book 2 tropes aren't surprising :) ...more

18 likes · Like · see review

Apr 15, 2024 Angie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Finished the rest of it(182-349) in a sitting, had to get some ice cream to calm myself down from the roller coaster. The quote from how to lose a guy in ten days, captured my entire heart. I loved it, the beginning was kind of boring and slow, but they’re love is just something so, so, so perfectly shaping a movie that isn’t a perfect start, it feels like maybe it could happen to you❤️

8 likes · Like · see review

Apr 04, 2024 ✰ soph ›› ᶻᶻᶻ rated it it was amazing

5⭐

Hello peeps 🤠 and welcome back to another review! For this one we have "Better than the Movies" by Lynn Painter, which is a very cute rom-com book in my opinion that I really enjoyed. For that reason it is getting 4 stars.

First up, I enjoyed Liz's personality, and Wes's of course, but more importantly, I liked the creativity behind Liz's form. For example, she liked dresses with floral / animal prints which I found really cute, and listened to good music. As the narrator of the book, she did a ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Oct 22, 2023 evie *s-ia* rated it it was amazing

this was awesome

MORE TO COME

2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 26, 2024 Kiara rated it it was amazing

I DIED

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Dec 21, 2023 nora ʚїɞ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: forever-favorites

liz and wes my loves

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 15, 2025 anna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Better than the Movies 4.25⭐️

“She’s not you.”
“What?”
“She. Isn’t. You.”

I love love🥹 this was so swoony! As a romcom lover and a hopeful romantic like Liz, I adored the movie references and quotes; 10 Things I Hate About You, Miss Congeniality, Bridget Jones’s Diary, When Harry Met Sally, Love Actually, 27 Dresses, so many classics. My personal favorite is 10 Things I Hate About You. Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles? Double whammy 🥵.

“Enemies-to-lovers—it’s our trope, Buxbaum.”

Better Than the Movies Better than the Movies 4.25⭐️

“She’s not you.”
“What?”
“She. Isn’t. You.”

I love love🥹 this was so swoony! As a romcom lover and a hopeful romantic like Liz, I adored the movie references and quotes; 10 Things I Hate About You, Miss Congeniality, Bridget Jones’s Diary, When Harry Met Sally, Love Actually, 27 Dresses, so many classics. My personal favorite is 10 Things I Hate About You. Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles? Double whammy 🥵.

“Enemies-to-lovers—it’s our trope, Buxbaum.”

Better Than the Movies follows Liz Buxbaum, a hopeless/ful romantic obsessed with grand, cinematic love stories. When her childhood crush, Michael (who I imagined looking like Bryce Lowski from Flipped) moves back to town, she sees it as her perfect chance for a real-life rom-com. To get closer to him, she reluctantly teams up with Wesley Bennett, the infuriating yet undeniably charming boy next door who has spent years teasing her. But as their fake-dating scheme unfolds, Liz begins to realize that maybe the love story she’s been chasing isn’t the one she actually wants.

Painter’s writing is witty and fast-paced, making Liz’s journey both hilarious and deeply emotional. The number of times I got teary eyed! 🥲The banter between Liz and Wes was fun, filled with the kind of chemistry that keeps readers hooked. While I did find myself frustrated with Liz’s choices and actions numerous times throughout the novel, her complexities were balanced by meaningful character growth.

AND. Wesley Bennett, where were you when I was in highschool? He was such a well rounded character! Charismatic, witty, confident, and thoughtful. The white chucks? Send me a dress pic? I wanted to punch him? This is a high school boy…bffr. He was the embodiment of golden retriever energy. I’m thirsting over a child, like send help😧

Lynn Painter is a YA author who I really enjoy. While her novels are relatively cliché, the story always gets me right in the feels! I read The Do-Over last year and absolutely adored it. Her novels feel nostalgic and are easy feel-good reads.

Ovreally, Better Than the Movies is a fun, feel-good novel with the right mix of romance, friendship, and self-discovery. If you enjoy witty banter, slow-burn, fake dating, enemies to lovers romance, this is for you! Up next, Nothing Like the Movies! Is that a second chance romance I’m sensing? 😉
...more

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Dec 02, 2023 Alayna rated it liked it

I would've rated higher if Liz wasn't such a HORRIBLE friend. It actually pissed me off so bad at the unnecessary lies that she just kept piling up FOR DUMB REASONS....😨 ...more

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