In 2021, Lynn Painter published the book Better than the Movies. The story follows Liz Buxbaum, a hopeless romantic who’s dream is the perfect prom night. As prom approaches she becomes doubtful of this ever happening, but then Michael Young, a boy from her past, reappears sparking hope within her. She knows she can’t get Michael to ask her on her own so she enlists the help of her annoying neighbor, Wes Bennet. Although she has always seen him as a problem over their fight for the perfect spot, her idea of him begins to change as she spends more time with him to complete their plan. She begins to wonder whether her initial idea of him was correct, or after all this time she has never truly known him.
Throughout the book, Liz’s love of rom-coms frequently appears. Due to her mom’s love of rom-coms, Liz fell in love with them too, with her connection deepening after her mom’s passing. Liz’s struggle in the book is going through all the experiences of senior year, without her mom, which she believes her friends won’t understand. This belief creates a wall in her friendships as she begins to separate herself from them in order to avoid the pain of going through these experiences without her mom. I think the author’s display of grief works well as Liz doesn’t want to lose the memories of her mother, creating motive throughout the book. While some of her actions may be frustrating, this background brings sense to all of them and provides satisfaction as she grows throughout the book and begins to realize letting others into her life will not cause her mom to be forgotten.
I am not a huge fan of rom coms and haven’t seen most of the movies referenced, but that had no effect on my enjoyment of the book. I think the book actually convinced me to watch more as I enjoyed this story so much and would like to know more of the rom coms it stems from. There are some I have heard of such as How Harry Met Sally which I may now actually watch after reading this book. The relationship between Liz and Wes and its development are cute and interesting.
Madison Lewin, a BHS junior said, “It was a light and fluffy romance I really enjoyed.”
Although since Liz has such an obsession with rom coms she probably should have seen the parallels between her relationship and the one’s in rom coms sooner. I wish the book showed more of the time they were actually together because it wasn’t official until the very end. The minimum could be not denying her feelings for so much of the book and accepting them earlier. These actions do make some sense though since in a rom com they wouldn’t have noticed but they also don’t normally have such emphasis on other rom coms within them.
Rukshana Tobben, a BHS junior said, “Stereotypical rom coms also feel very nostalgic, even if they are predictable.” I believe the basic rom com formula within the book still provided an enjoyable story that even people that aren’t rom com fans could enjoy.
