Better Than the Movies
Feel good
Heartwarming
Sweet

Better Than the Movies Better Than the Movies #1

Lynn Painter2021
Liz Buxbaum has always known that Wes Bennett was not boyfriend material. You would think that her next-door neighbor would be a prince candidate for her romantic comedy fantasies, but Wes has only proven himself to be a pain in the butt, ever since they were little. Wes was the kid who put a frog in her Barbie Dreamhouse, the monster who hid a lawn gnome's severed head in her little homemade neighborhood book exchange. Flash forward ten years from the Great Gnome Decapitation. It's Liz's senior year, a time meant to be rife with milestones perfect for any big screen, and she needs Wes's help. See, Liz's forever crush, Michael, has just moved back to town, and—horribly, annoyingly—he's hitting it off with Wes. Meaning that if Liz wants Michael to finally notice her, and hopefully be her prom date, she needs Wes. He's her in. But as Liz and Wes scheme to get Liz her magical prom moment, she's shocked to discover that she actually likes being around Wes. And as they continue to grow closer, she must reexamine everything she thought she knew about love—and rethink her own perception of what Happily Ever After should really look like.
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Reviews

Photo of Mey
Mey@mey
2 stars
Apr 21, 2025

What in the Chapters

+2
Photo of Lane Loyola
Lane Loyola@asheashketchup
4 stars
Apr 10, 2025

overall story is very cute and the story is short. wes was such a green flag but liz was kind of unbearable at the start but she started to grow on me. in conclusion pretty good read but dont expect too much from it since it does play with the typical cliches and usual stories available in the market. while its the same basic formula, i really enjoyed it more than i expected.

+2
Photo of Ella Williams
Ella Williams@ellawilliams
3 stars
Mar 26, 2025

A cute read!

The main character annoyed me so much though

Photo of Shaza. A
Shaza. A@shaza
5 stars
Mar 25, 2025

The cutest book i have read in awhile 🤌🏻

+3
Photo of **✿❀ Gray ❀✿**
**✿❀ Gray ❀✿**@cupid_cutie
5 stars
Mar 14, 2025

OH. MY. GOD.
This was the best book I have read in a really, really, really long time! <3 I LOVED LIZZZZZZZZZ! And also like Wes step on me-! <3333333

+3
Photo of Emma
Emma @emma3012
4 stars
Mar 3, 2025

i like this book love how they set it up don’t want to spoil it to much but it is a very realistic book on what could happen in real life

+13
Photo of mikki ☆
mikki ☆@letters2mikki
2.5 stars
Feb 26, 2025

Okay I won’t lie I dnfed this book but I wanted to rate it 😛 I genuinely did like the book AT ONE POINT. I did like the characters and their relationships and ngl it did have me giggling and kicking my feet but then LIZ STARTED PISSING ME TF OFF and yes I know that was the point but at one point I genuinely couldn’t take it anymore. Also I feel like a lot of it was way too corny for me like I would read parts and I would be like “Oh! This isn’t for me…” By the end my ass was yawning like every half a page I WAS LITERALLY LIKE 30 PAGES AWAY FROM FINISHING AND I JUST COULDN’T DO IT. I know everyone glazes this book but it’s just not for me 😔

+3
Photo of korfai
korfai @korfai
5 stars
Feb 8, 2025

This is so “When Harry met Sally” vibe and when they mentioned the movie when they were eating hamburgers at a diner. WOAH. They were breaking the fourth wall right there.

+3
Photo of Tiff Brunson
Tiff Brunson@tiffbrunson
2 stars
Jan 14, 2025

This was not good but I still enjoyed reading it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Photo of alice l
alice l@atinyfrogo
3 stars
Dec 11, 2024

this was not better than the movies but it was still cute! its a ya book so theres some cringey dialogue and humor, but its fine and to be expected in a ya book.

this just reminded me of like a hallmark rom movie, which is fun and cute and i enjoy them from time to time. but its nothing amazing and ill probably forget about it in a few months.

+1
Photo of Ashley Lively
Ashley Lively@ashlivluv
5 stars
Dec 1, 2024

This was my first ever romance book and I'm glad I started with this one. Wesley and LIz were such a good couple but I hate Liz for being a bit stupid and going for Micheal but then she later realized that she loved Wes instead. I also disliked Wes for bringing Alex to his house and then I was so confused about what happened at the time between the two. I would absolutely want to read more of Wes and Lz's relantionship.

This review contains a spoiler
+4
Photo of Jenna-Lee Gordon
Jenna-Lee Gordon@jennaleegordon
4 stars
Nov 22, 2024

top tier banter but predictable

+4
Photo of sam
sam@smrh01
3 stars
Nov 8, 2024

my first YA romcom book in YEARS and a quarter thru the story i got reminded of why i avoid stories like this. (but i am planning to read the sequel 🫣)

Photo of eden
eden@eternallysargent
4 stars
Nov 8, 2024

lola tung will forever be liz buxbaum in my eyes don't @ me

Photo of peyton
peyton @peyy_millie11
5 stars
Nov 3, 2024

this book was phenomenal and just the perfect romance book for any reader.

+5
Photo of kshi
kshi@bykoushi
5 stars
Oct 30, 2024

vv cutesy, very demure 🪼

the young adult setup is giving me so highschool by taylor swift. got into this book due to the amount of videos from booktok, and i wud have to say that i'm not disappointed.

altho it roamed around romcoms and all that, i still think that it was kinda more on the realistic side—with all their feelings and decisions. younger me would probably think "???" with all the encounters, but i guess, i now understand everything.

liz's grief was too heavy to handle, ik it's not easy. it affected her relationship w the people around her, but i hav to say that the development in the end was so nice. it showed how it wasn't really easy even if you really really wanted to reconcile w them, but with all the courage she had, she still did it. i'm so proud of her. >< little liz is not so little anymore.

and of course wes bennett, the man you are. his "greenest green flag" title from me was challenged w the ending chapters, but his reasons justified that. so, he's still the best man ever !! i love everything about him. and the way liz narrates how his smile looks like, i'm now vv much curious to see HOW.

for now, i'd be our little liz and hope 4 the best in my real life—wes bennett from somewhere in this planet.

++ some bias take because i'm also a music and a romcom girlie. liz and i, we're both just girls. ✧⁠*⁠。

p.s. i'm not so ready for nltm yet ,, pls spare me some heartache.

i'm really happy that nothing better than u was written, there's nothing more i love than having a glimpse of wes' pov. that guy is inlove, like really REALLY in love.

Photo of Hana
Hana @han31
5 stars
Oct 22, 2024

Friends to lovers trope I loved this book enjoyed it so much. She asks her neighbour to help her get a guy who she likes but eventually likes the neighbours Wes and yeah it was adorable. 

Photo of donits ~inactive
donits ~inactive@shawarma
5 stars
Sep 17, 2024

✨️the cure to every book slump✨️


Now, where is my own Wesley Bennett? 🥺🥺


I relate to Liz so much—we’re both certified delusional bitches. 🫦💅

I actually have a childhood friend. We’ve been classmates since kindergarten to grade 7 and we're classmates again during grade 11 and now grade 12 HAHAHAH and it’s been great! After reading this book, I realized how hard it is to maintain a childhood friendship, its hard to maintain a friendship that you've had for years and keep that spark alive😥😥

I also loved how this book goes deeper than just a simple cutesy romance, it also talks about some really serious issues like dealing with grief😢

Overall, this book is so sweet i literally cried because i was too happy and i felt so overwhelmed😭😭

+2
Photo of Joey Arnold
Joey Arnold@joecool1368
4.5 stars
Sep 14, 2024

Solid book with no spice. Great.

+2
Photo of melanie
melanie@melanieslibrary
4.5 stars
Aug 22, 2024

cutie little rom com but that 3rd act break up that’s in every rom com was so much worse on paper than it is in movies somehow

This review contains a spoiler
Photo of Lien Andries
Lien Andries @lien_andries
5 stars
Aug 14, 2024

Ik heb nog nooit in heel mijn leven een boek in 3 dagen uitgelezen!!! (Ik doe er normaal +- een maand over) IK BEN VERLIEFD😍

Photo of shiya
shiya@shiya
5 stars
Aug 13, 2024

my emotional support romcom.

Photo of ang
ang @angslibraryy
2 stars
Jul 29, 2024

annoying

Photo of Joana Brito
Joana Brito@joana_11
5 stars
Jul 29, 2024

Its the best romance book i've read

+5

Highlights

Photo of jean
jean@jeanclarity

“She’s not you.”

“What?”

“She. Isn’t. You.”

BYE

Photo of jean
jean@jeanclarity

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.

Photo of jean
jean@jeanclarity

Do you really want to stick with over-romanticized ideas when you can have an awesome real thing?

Photo of jean
jean@jeanclarity

I want the possibility of something more. So … why not you? Why not us?

Photo of jean
jean@jeanclarity

You look best when you’re you.

Photo of jean
jean@jeanclarity

The more I think about it, the more I don’t want to settle. I want the possibility of more, even if it doesn’t work out.

Photo of jean
jean@jeanclarity

Wanting something but being unsure if you’re able to have it? Or if it’s safe to have?

Photo of jean
jean@jeanclarity

Life pressed forward with a burning velocity that left all of the beautifully-pressed details quickly forgotten.

Photo of jean
jean@jeanclarity

Why did his take on most things — even when he was mocking — make me laugh?

Photo of jean
jean@jeanclarity

Just putting it into the universe could make it true, right?

Photo of alara
alara@alara_reads

“Trust me when l tell you that sometimes the person with the most 'magical night possibility' is the last person you'd expect. Sometimes there can be someone you've known forever, yet never really noticed."

Page 250
Photo of korfai
korfai @korfai

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

Photo of mohamed
mohamed@xziw3

.

Photo of Alessia (Taylor's version)
Alessia (Taylor's version) @ale40

He started laughing. Hard. I raised my eyes to his face, and I couldn't stop myself from joining, because he had one of those laughs. Happy and mischievous and full-on little boy; it was contagious.

Page 57
This highlight contains a spoiler
Photo of donits ~inactive
donits ~inactive@shawarma

he was a Mark Darcy.

Only better.

Photo of donits ~inactive
donits ~inactive@shawarma

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

gurl im gonna cry

Photo of donits ~inactive
donits ~inactive@shawarma

“She’s not you.”

“What?”

“She. Isn’t. You.”

Photo of donits ~inactive
donits ~inactive@shawarma

“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.”

❤️💓❤️💓❤️💓❤️

Photo of donits ~inactive
donits ~inactive@shawarma

I really had fallen hard for him, hadn’t I? I stared at them, the picture-perfect couple, as Taylor Swift made my soul ache.

please🙏🥺 dOnt👎🙌 evEr bEcoMe a 😥strAngEr😔😔


GURL THE SONG IS SO PERFECT

Photo of donits ~inactive
donits ~inactive@shawarma

He lifted his hands, put two fingers in his mouth, and whistled loudly. And then he dropped his right arm across Alex’s shoulders and gave me a thumbs-up.

wes⁉️⁉️ wut iz diz behaviour💔💔

Photo of donits ~inactive
donits ~inactive@shawarma

Had I really just sent Wes Bennett a motherloving prom dress selfie? Holy shiiii—

HWHAJSBWJSBWGKAH

Photo of donits ~inactive
donits ~inactive@shawarma

“Besides, what’s more fun than a story that starts with a fake relationship?”

dabest

Photo of donits ~inactive
donits ~inactive@shawarma

“You make aging sound incredible. I want that life now.”

Photo of donits ~inactive
donits ~inactive@shawarma

Music made everything better.

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