Name: Jessie's review of Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter
Item: Nothing Like the Movies
Rating: 2.5
Author: Jessie

Lynn Painter

In this highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling Better than the Movies, Wes and Liz struggle to balance their feelings for each other with the growing pains of being a college student. For a few beautiful months, Wes had his dream girl: strong-willed girl-next-door Liz. But right as the two were about to set off to UCLA to start their freshman year together, tragedy struck. Wes was left dealing with the fallout, which ultimately meant losing Liz in the process. Flash forward months and months later and Wes and Liz find themselves in college, together. In a healthier place now, Wes knows he broke Liz’s heart when he ended things, but he is determined to make her fall back in love with him. Wes knows Liz better than anyone, and he has a foolproof plan to win her back with the rom-com worthy big gestures she loves. Only…Liz will have none of it. Wes has to scheme like a rom-com hero to figure out how to see her. Even worse, Liz has a new friend…a guy friend. Still, Wes won’t give up, adapting his clever plans and going hard to get Liz’s attention and win back her affection. But after his best efforts get him nowhere, Wes is left wondering if their relationship is really over for good.

Nothing Like the Movies

Canela

por siempre Wes mi alma esta conectada a la tuya

korfai 

I looked into the only eyes I’d ever loved and confessed, “Because our good moments were the crumbs that fed me for seven hundred and nineteen 12:13s when I was alone.“

"Please don't be missed at me for saying this, Liz," I said quietly, very aware that this was her world. "But I'm kinda intimidated by how cool you are now."

Emilia Vulliamy

Did I have five minutes? For Liz? My entire life. 

Jessie

first of all, liz kinda felt insufferable to me in this book which is sad because i LOVED HER in the first book. granted that pain can change people, but i was pissed at how stand-offish she made herself seem towards romance. i loved that she was unapologetically herself in the first book.

second, the build on the “plot twist” about wes not cheating and his whole backstory with his father just felt so “meh”. it did not elicit much emotion from me, because it was already so explicitly stated in the previous chapters. to add, the interruptions on serious moments also made me a bit icky about the whole thing. once was enough, but it seemed to happen nearly everytime that it just started to piss me off. it’s like a failed attempt at comedic relief.

third is the taylor swift references it made that i personally didn’t like. it was just a reach most of the time especially during the whole confrontation at morgan, it felt as though wes was trying TOO hard to be romantic and poetic but it’s just wound up being cringy (also i guess i just don’t like taylor swift as much as other people do). goodness gracious, some of the dialogue just felt so forced.

i love wes and liz though so this book was still enjoyable to me regardless of everything. 

first of all, liz kinda felt insufferable to me in this book which is sad because i LOVED HER in the first book. granted that pain can change people, but i was pissed at how stand-offish she made herself seem towards romance. i loved that she was unapologetically herself in the first book.

second, the build on the “plot twist” about wes not cheating and his whole backstory with his father just felt so “meh”. it did not elicit much emotion from me, because it was already so explicitly stated in the previous chapters. to add, the interruptions on serious moments also made me a bit icky about the whole thing. once was enough, but it seemed to happen nearly everytime that it just started to piss me off. it’s like a failed attempt at comedic relief.

third is the taylor swift references it made that i personally didn’t like. it was just a reach most of the time especially during the whole confrontation at morgan, it felt as though wes was trying TOO hard to be romantic and poetic but it’s just wound up being cringy (also i guess i just don’t like taylor swift as much as other people do). goodness gracious, some of the dialogue just felt so forced.

i love wes and liz though so this book was still enjoyable to me regardless of everything. 

missed opportunity to reference fever pitch with jimmy fallon and drew barrymore

issa

Nicole Grace

I understand that some people don't like this book maybe because they compare it with the first one, which makes it less likable for some of them...but I liked it maybe because I love Lis and Wess so much that I couldn’t help but smile when they kissed or bawled when they argued... but more because it was somehow relatable,  Liz's feelings, Wess' attempts to get her back while restraining himself...

I like it the way it is and I love them for forever

Nia Singh 

I understand that some people don't like this book maybe because they compare it with the first one, which makes it less likable for some of them...but I liked it maybe because I love Lis and Wess so much that I couldn’t help but smile when they kissed or bawled when they argued... but more because it was somehow relatable,  Liz's feelings, Wess' attempts to get her back while restraining himself...

I like it the way it is and I love them for forever

immediately jumped into reading this after reading the first book and i wished i gave it some time because WHAT 😭 this book broke the heart that 'better than the movies' fixed

i LOVEEE the dual pov and that it showed just how much they've grown from the first book and how they dealt with and overcome their individual adversities in life, because it allowed me to get to know liz and wes better. however, i had to drag myself into finishing this because wes's story made me cry so much and somes scenes were bit heavy.

i also felt like liz's character in this book shifted too much from the liz in the first book, which again, showed just how much she has matured, but that made her lose her some of her charm to me (bc i loved her so much in bttm). that is not to say the new liz was bad. the new liz had her own charm (she's such a girlboss!!!), and i liked that she freed herself from her previous notions– to be like a character in a rom-com movie– bc apparently, she's 'anti-romantic' now, as her friends call her, but i love my love lover liz. 😭

nevertheless, still such a good read overall. i love them sooo much!

vera ౨ৎ

immediately jumped into reading this after reading the first book and i wished i gave it some time because WHAT 😭 this book broke the heart that 'better than the movies' fixed

i LOVEEE the dual pov and that it showed just how much they've grown from the first book and how they dealt with and overcome their individual adversities in life, because it allowed me to get to know liz and wes better. however, i had to drag myself into finishing this because wes's story made me cry so much and somes scenes were bit heavy.

i also felt like liz's character in this book shifted too much from the liz in the first book, which again, showed just how much she has matured, but that made her lose her some of her charm to me (bc i loved her so much in bttm). that is not to say the new liz was bad. the new liz had her own charm (she's such a girlboss!!!), and i liked that she freed herself from her previous notions– to be like a character in a rom-com movie– bc apparently, she's 'anti-romantic' now, as her friends call her, but i love my love lover liz. 😭

nevertheless, still such a good read overall. i love them sooo much!



I was really looking forward to reading this book since I enjoyed the first one so much. This was a good addition to the first book, but I don't think it was necessary. I liked the storyline, and everything flowed together nicely. The only part I didn't like was the plotline about Liz and Clark's fake relationship. It was so unbelievable that anyone who knew them before should've been able to see right through it. One of my favorite scenes was when Wes climbed up the balcony to try to win Liz back. Good book, but it was just a little difficult for me to get into. 

Maggie Hotmer

lynn painter does it again!! i ate this one up. i loved better than the movies so much and was anticipating this release for awhile. nothing like the movies takes place with liz and wes as college students and that setting was SO fun. just getting to see liz grow and wes become the young man that he is!

this book wasn’t as fluffy, but it was surely real and fun. a little angsty overall but i enjoyed following along liz and wes finding their way back to each other. fun vibes and well written!

Tara Bounkeovisane

lynn painter does it again!! i ate this one up. i loved better than the movies so much and was anticipating this release for awhile. nothing like the movies takes place with liz and wes as college students and that setting was SO fun. just getting to see liz grow and wes become the young man that he is!

this book wasn’t as fluffy, but it was surely real and fun. a little angsty overall but i enjoyed following along liz and wes finding their way back to each other. fun vibes and well written!

The characters felt so real. We got to real them real with real life trauma and problems but that ending love you like no one else you’re the only one for me ever speech. Wow 

Liz Bennett 🥹

The characters felt so real. We got to real them real with real life trauma and problems but that ending love you like no one else you’re the only one for me ever speech. Wow 

Is it just me or the author is rushing to end this book? 

Katie Roberts

I LOVE LIZ AND WES FOR EVER!!!!

THEY ARE THE BLUEPRINT FOR YA ROMANCE

Lien Andries 

one of the few, if not the only, english romance book that i did not cringe over.

lala

i was like, "no, i can't read this. ignorance is bliss" and then proceed on reading it. "bttm doesn't need a sequel." OH YES IT DOES. 

for starters, i HATE second chances trope because idw them to break up. like why do they have to? so i was hesitant at first if i should read nltm or not, but i still did lol. 

you definitely need to read bttm first to get a clear gasp of everything, but i have to say (i hate to say this) that i guess, i liked nltm more than the first book. 

i love the college life, the character development, the angst, the grief—everything for that matter. i was so SCARED of starting this novel, i was so wrong for that tbh. i did not cry about their break-up, i did not cry because they have fallen apart, but i did spend consecutive nights crying my heart out of how painful it is to me to read the story of wes and liz. their experiences had me sobbing so hard :'(( i can't get mad or annoyed at their decisions because ik it hurts so bad. ik that if i were in their shoes, i'd probably do the same thing or i'd probably resort to something worse. 

nltm had me spiraling w all my emotions scattered around the place. it hurts so bad that i love it; i love it because it hurts so bad. 

the wes and liz that i loved during bttm is still there. idc what anyone says, i felt like this sequel is a need. if you think you're going to cry because they broke up, think again. [ and read it, so you'll know ] 

i want the hardcopy so bad, and i'll probably get one soon. until then, i'll probably miss them both so much. 

this is also getting me to watch more romcoms LOL, and i will. : pp

kshi

i was like, "no, i can't read this. ignorance is bliss" and then proceed on reading it. "bttm doesn't need a sequel." OH YES IT DOES. 

for starters, i HATE second chances trope because idw them to break up. like why do they have to? so i was hesitant at first if i should read nltm or not, but i still did lol. 

you definitely need to read bttm first to get a clear gasp of everything, but i have to say (i hate to say this) that i guess, i liked nltm more than the first book. 

i love the college life, the character development, the angst, the grief—everything for that matter. i was so SCARED of starting this novel, i was so wrong for that tbh. i did not cry about their break-up, i did not cry because they have fallen apart, but i did spend consecutive nights crying my heart out of how painful it is to me to read the story of wes and liz. their experiences had me sobbing so hard :'(( i can't get mad or annoyed at their decisions because ik it hurts so bad. ik that if i were in their shoes, i'd probably do the same thing or i'd probably resort to something worse. 

nltm had me spiraling w all my emotions scattered around the place. it hurts so bad that i love it; i love it because it hurts so bad. 

the wes and liz that i loved during bttm is still there. idc what anyone says, i felt like this sequel is a need. if you think you're going to cry because they broke up, think again. [ and read it, so you'll know ] 

i want the hardcopy so bad, and i'll probably get one soon. until then, i'll probably miss them both so much. 

this is also getting me to watch more romcoms LOL, and i will. : pp

I’m going to put this book away and pretend it doesn’t exist 

irina

amazing, my only kinda like “complaint” about it was the fact that we weren’t clued much in on Liz’s new found hate for romanticism  because like yeah after that break up i totally get it but the reason she was like that was because of her mother, like i wish we went into that since it was such an integral part of better than the movies. Like yeah she’s unromantic now but how does that and not being able to not talk to her mom’s grave affect her? how does she keep that part of her mom with her??? like i wish that was elaborated on during her points even if it isn’t necessarily a book about her.

melanie

I absolutely loved the first book in this series, so this felt somewhat like a letdown.

There was almost zero chemistry between the characters, and the banter that I loved was almost not there. It was mostly her avoiding him and then being annoyed by him when they'd talk or getting away from him quickly after chatting.

I like the ending, but the majority of the book dragged on. The nostalgia and leftover love that I had for these characters kept me going.

Sarah Campbell

I absolutely loved the first book in this series, so this felt somewhat like a letdown.
There was almost zero chemistry between the characters, and the banter that I loved was almost not there. It was mostly her avoiding him and then being annoyed by him when they'd talk or getting away from him quickly after chatting.
I like the ending, but the majority of the book dragged on. The nostalgia and leftover love that I had for these characters kept me going.

No words; so incredibly beautiful. I love love. 

Zoë Mauldin

idc what anyone else says, this book was GREAT. i will say liz was pissing me off majority of the book bc she was acting like a scorned woman while wes just wanted a smooch. i love these characters so much i hold them very near and dear to my heart so having a whole book about them again felt like home 🫶🏼

julie reads

Idc what people say this book was great. Unnecessary maybe but never the less it was still good. 

Josie h

3.9 i like the book but it just took wayy too long for them to get together, she finally confessed she loved him at 96% of book when he got badly injured, like cmon on, we don’t see them as a real couple in the first book and we barely do in this book, i just want to see them happy together for more than a chapter and i can’t really even remember what happens in the first half of the book, i feel like it really started when they went to their home town and finally spoke to each other, wes had it little too hard but i also understand why lib wasn’t going to fall back immediately because he did it to himself bc why did he tell her he cheated like damn, i like the friends and clark was probably best character, ok the end 

Jessie &
Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter

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