LuvemBooks
LuvemBooks

Honest Book Reviews & Recommendations

​
BOOKS
L

Lynn Painter

About This Author
Published

Read Time

8 min read

Reader rating

4.5

· 28,774 Amazon ratings
reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
$7.57 on Amazon
Curated & edited by

LuvemBooks Editorial

How we create our reviews →
Share This Review

Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter Review: A Romcom-Loving Teen's Charming Coming-of-Age

Lynn Painter's Better Than the Movies is a young adult romance novel that follows Liz Buxbaum, a romcom-obsessed high schooler who enlists her lifelong frenemy and next-door neighbor Wes Bennett to help win her long-term crush Michael — only to find her feelings shifting in an unexpected direction. Originally published by Simon & Schuster in May 2021 and reissued in paperback in July 2022, the novel became a BookTok phenomenon and has spent 40 months on the New York Times Young Adult Paperback Best Seller List as of March 2026. Critics called it a "charming, fluffy concoction" that packs every conceivable romcom trope into one plot, while School critics praised its quippy banter and lovable characters. A sequel, Nothing Like the Movies, was released in 2024, and a Netflix film adaptation was announced in May 2026.

Back cover with synopsis, review quotes in heart shapes, and illustration of two figures.Tap to enlarge

LuvemBooks Verdict

Best for

Romantic-comedy devotees — teens and adults alike — who want a high school romance that gleefully stacks every beloved trope (fake dating, enemies-to-lovers, the big misunderstanding) while also sneaking in a genuinely affecting grief subplot.

Worth it if

You arrive wanting a warm, witty, self-aware love letter to the romcom genre and are happy to be charmed rather than surprised by where the story goes.

Skip if

Readers who are genre-literate enough to map the plot from chapter one, or who come hoping for subversion rather than sincere — if densely trope-packed — celebration of romantic comedy conventions, are likely to find it more predictable than delightful.

Kirkus Reviews gave the novel a "GET IT" verdict, calling it a "charming, fluffy concoction" that "manages to pack into one goofy plot every conceivable trope" — a density it treats as a feature rather than a flaw. Common Sense Media highlights Liz's grief over her late mother as movingly and realistically portrayed, and positions the book as appropriate for readers 14 and up, while bossybookworm.com describes it as "basically a perfect young adult romantic comedy," praising its blend of humor, banter, and emotional growth.

“This charming, fluffy concoction manages to pack into one goofy plot every conceivable trope, from fake dating to the makeover to the big misunderstanding.”

— Kirkus Reviews
Sources: Kirkus Reviews, Common Sense Media, Bossy Bookworm
4.5from 28,774 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score

Age & Reading Level

Recommended age

Ages 12–18

Reading level

Young adult

Browse all 12–18 books

Content to know about

mild sexual innuendo
mild swearing
underage drinking (background, keg party)
parental death (backstory grief)

Best for: Ages 14+ — Common Sense Media places the reading age at 14 and up, citing kissing, sexual innuendo, mild swearing, and a teenage keg party; younger teens may also lack the film-reference context central to the main character's voice.

Skip if you're looking for a YA romance that subverts or deconstructs romcom conventions rather than sincerely celebrating them.

Trending Now
Movie/TV Adaptation

Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter is Trending

Netflix Movie Adaptation Officially Casting — Filming Starts September 2026

Better Than the Movies is heading to Netflix, and the buzz is very real right now. Leads have been cast, filming kicks off in Chicago on September 3, 2026, and BookTok is absolutely running with it. If you've been curious about this YA romcom, this is a great moment to pick it up.

Netflix's adaptation of Better Than the Movies just moved from announced to actually happening. Beatrice Kitsos and David Iacono have been cast as Liz and Wes, and cameras are set to roll in Chicago starting September 3, 2026 through late October. Lynn Painter herself has been talking about the adaptation in interviews, and fans are already dissecting every casting choice and filming location update.

This book has been a quiet powerhouse since it came out — 40 months on the New York Times YA Paperback Best Seller List is no small thing — but the Netflix news has brought a whole new wave of readers to it. BookTok has been buzzing with 'read it before the movie' energy, and with production literally starting in days, that energy is only going to build. The sequel, Nothing Like the Movies, also means there's more to read once you're hooked.

If you're a fan of the enemies-to-lovers trope, frenemy slow burns, or just a book that leans fully into every romcom cliché with a wink and a smile, this is the one everyone's going to be talking about when the Netflix film drops. Getting in now means you'll have opinions before the discourse starts.

Read more
Updated Aug 26, 2026
In This Review
  • What Works & What Doesn't
  • What the Novel Is and What It Does
  • Cultural Footprint and BookTok Breakthrough
  • What the Book Does Well: Tropes, Banter, and Emotional Depth
  • Genuine Limitations: Predictability and Uneven References
  • Who This Book Is For

What Works & What Doesn't

What Works
  • A BookTok and New York Times bestseller phenomenon with 40 months on the YA Paperback list as of March 2026, signaling broad, sustained readership
  • Critics praised the novel's charming blend of romcom tropes delivered with energy and humor
  • School Library Journal highlighted the quippy banter between Liz and Wes as a consistent source of appeal
  • Liz's grief over her late mother is noted by Common Sense Media as movingly and realistically woven into the story, adding emotional substance
  • Ellis Cochrane awarded four and a half stars in The Independent, arguing the novel transcends its age-category label
What Doesn't
  • School critics noted that romcom-savvy readers will find the plot's direction predictable from early on
  • Some film references are aimed at audiences older than the book's core YA readership, potentially leaving younger teens without the full intended resonance
Better Than the Movies is a high-energy, trope-embracing young adult romance that doubles as a love letter to the romantic comedy genre — and a gentle challenge to the impossible standards it sets.

What the Novel Is and What It Does

Back cover with synopsis, review quotes in heart shapes, and illustration of two figures.
Back cover with synopsis, review quotes in heart shapes, and illustration of two figures.
Better Than the Movies centers on Liz Buxbaum, a senior in high school and a devoted fan of romantic comedies — a passion she inherited from her late mother, a screenwriter who died when Liz was a child. When Michael, Liz's long-term crush, moves back to her hometown during senior year, she resolves to engineer the kind of grand, movie-perfect romance she has always envisioned. To do it, she recruits Wes Bennett — her next-door neighbor, Michael's new friend, and the boy who has irritated her with pranks since childhood — to feign romantic interest in her as a way of drawing Michael's attention. As Liz and Wes spend more time together, miscommunications and mounting secrets complicate her scheme, and her feelings for Wes begin to change in ways her romcom blueprint never anticipated. The novel was originally published by Simon & Schuster on May 4, 2021, with a paperback reprint following in July 2022.
“charming, fluffy concoction [that] manages to pack into one goofy plot every conceivable trope”

Cultural Footprint and BookTok Breakthrough

Few young adult novels of the early 2020s illustrate the power of social media word-of-mouth as clearly as this one. According to Wikipedia, the book's surge in popularity coincided directly with the release of its paperback edition, and Painter has credited creator Haley Pham, who called it "the best romance book [she had] ever read," with igniting that momentum on BookTok. As of March 2026, the novel has spent 40 months on the monthly New York Times Young Adult Paperback Best Seller List and held the number one position for two of those months. A sequel, Nothing Like the Movies, arrived in 2024 — following Wes and Liz into college — and was nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award for Best Young Adult Fiction. In May 2026, Netflix announced a film adaptation in development, with director Julia Hart attached and co-writing alongside her creative partner Jordan Horowitz. For a debut young adult title, that trajectory is remarkable by any measure.

What the Book Does Well: Tropes, Banter, and Emotional Depth

critics described the novel as a "charming, fluffy concoction [that] manages to pack into one goofy plot every conceivable trope" — and that density is, for its target audience, a feature rather than a flaw. The book incorporates classic romcom devices including fake dating, an enemies-to-lovers dynamic, and a makeover sequence, deploying them with clear self-awareness. Mary Kamela, writing for School critical coverage, noted that the banter between Liz and Wes drives much of the novel's enjoyment, alongside lovable characters and a sustained "will-they-won't-they" tension. Common Sense Media's review singles out Liz's grief over her mother's absence during senior year as movingly and realistically portrayed — a thread that gives the novel emotional weight beyond its comic scaffolding. Wes, in Common Sense Media's assessment, is characterized as kind, compassionate, and open-minded. The book also includes a soundtrack list at its close, tying the story's music references together as a final nod to its pop-culture sensibility.

Genuine Limitations: Predictability and Uneven References

No honest account of the novel ignores its constraints. School Critics observed plainly that readers already familiar with romantic comedy conventions will be able to predict the story's trajectory — the plot architecture is transparent to genre-literate readers. Kirkus Reviews, while positive in overall tone, acknowledged the novel's reliance on virtually every available romcom trope, which some readers may experience as formulaic rather than affectionately familiar. Common Sense Media also flags that the film references woven throughout the narrative skew toward titles aimed at older audiences than the book's own readership, meaning younger teens may miss a meaningful portion of the cultural texture Painter builds into Liz's voice. These are not crippling weaknesses, but they are real ones for readers who arrive seeking subversion rather than sincere celebration of the form.

Who This Book Is For

Ellis Cochrane, reviewing for The Independent and awarding the novel four and a half stars, argued that Better Than the Movies demonstrates that young adult literature need not be confined to young adult readers. Common Sense Media places the appropriate reading age at 14 and up, noting the presence of kissing, some sexual innuendo, mild swearing, and a teenage keg party (at which the main characters consume little or nothing). The novel is designed for readers who love romantic comedies — in any medium — and who want a high school romance that takes its genre seriously enough to both honor and interrogate it. For that audience, the combination of comic timing, slow-burn tension, and a genuinely affecting grief subplot makes it a strong and well-regarded entry point into contemporary young adult romance.

Sources & Further Reading

The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.

  1. Cited in this review
  2. 1
    'Better Than the Movies' Cast: Sadie Sink and More Picks for YA Romance Adaptation

    swooon.com

  3. 2
    Better Than the Movies - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org

  4. 3
    Better Than the Movies Book Review | Common Sense Media

    commonsensemedia.org

  5. Further reading
  6. 4
    Lynn Painter — author profileHigh-authority source

    Lynn Painter, Wikipedia

  7. 5
    REVIEW: Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

    dearauthor.com

  8. 6
    Review of Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

    bossybookworm.com

  9. 7
    Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter Book Reviews - YA Books Central

    yabookscentral.com

  10. 8
    Review: BETTER THAN THE MOVIES by Lynn Painter – The Bookish Libra

    thebookishlibra.com

  11. 9
    Book Review: Better Than The Movies by Lynn Painter • Pretty Little Memoirs • Award Winning Book Blog

    prettylittlememoirs.com

  12. 10
    Better Than the Movies Summary | Characters & Ending Explained

    aibooksummarizer.com

  13. 11
    Better Than The Movies Summary | A full recap of Better Than The Movies by Lynn Painter - Book Series Recaps

    bookseriesrecaps.com

Related Reviews

Reviews of books we picked for readers who enjoyed Better Than the Movies.

Fake Skating cover

In our catalogue

Fake Skating

Lynn Painter

Same author, same sharp banter — a fake-dating setup that trades small-town senior year for the rink, delivering the same enemies-to-lovers momentum.

If He Had Been with Me cover

In our catalogue

If He Had Been with Me

Laura Nowlin

Childhood neighbors become something more across senior year — quiet grief and slow-building romance mirror Better Than the Movies's emotional core almost beat for beat.

The Summer of Broken Rules cover

In our catalogue

The Summer of Broken Rules

K. L. Walther

Grief-tinged summer romance with a frenemy energy and family warmth — for readers who want the same emotional balance but swapped into a vacation-house setting.

The Fault in Our Stars cover

In our catalogue

The Fault in Our Stars

John Green

Witty, pop-culture-fluent YA romance where grief isn't background noise — for readers ready for a story that puts loss at the center rather than the edges.

The Summer of Second Chances cover

In our catalogue

The Summer of Second Chances

K. L. Walther

Second-chance summer romance from the same author as The Summer of Broken Rules — same warm, banter-driven tone for readers who want more of that emotional wavelength.

Noah Can't Even cover

In our catalogue

Noah Can't Even

Simon James Green

If the tropey romcom structure felt too familiar, this UK YA delivers the same chaotic high-school energy and sharp comedy with a genuinely unpredictable plot and fresher genre riffs.