A review by kalventure
Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

3.0

 A book for the lover of romantic comedies, Better than the Movies is a cute and fun story of romantic expectations, chasing your dream love interest, and falling for the one who was there all along. Yes friends, this books is enemies-to-lovers fake dating.

"Neighborhood friends were like that. You grew up with them, running over hot sidewalks and yelling to each other over fresh-cut lawns, but once you got older, you became acquaintances born of proximity with nothing but a surface level of basic knowledge."

The book is told in the first person perspective of Liz Buxbaum, a head-in-the-clouds romantic daydreamer who's childhood crush has moved back into town a few weeks before senior prom. Trouble is he still thinks of her as "Little Liz" the neighborhood weirdo, and he's been getting close to another girl Laney. But that's no matter to Liz! (Ugh, don't do this.) I appreciate that Liz's best friend Joss calls her out on her shitty plans instead of just going along with it.

"'Sometimes we get so tied up in our idea of what we think we want that we miss out on the amazingness of what we could actually have."

This is a book where the first person POV didn't work for me, unfortunately. I found the narrative to be a little repetitive at times due to its inner monologue style, and being inside the head of an unlikable (to me) character is always a little painful. That being said, I really enjoyed Liz's character growth and development and it felt earned. I just was more interested in Wes as a character and would have loved to have some chapters from his point of view!

While I wasn't a fan of Liz, I really appreciate how much of the book focuses on the complicated grief from a loss of her mother in the fifth grade and how milestones are tinged with sadness because you can't share them with loved ones who've passed. Watching her open up and share with Wes, who shows Liz time and again how thoughtful he truly is, was a joy. Love is truly what happens when you aren't looking.

Content warnings: bullying, car accident, depictions of grief, loss of a parent, smoking, underage drinking, vomit

eARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley for my honest review. This has not affected my opinions of the book nor the content of my review. Quotations are from an unfinished proof and are subject to change upon final publication.