Live, Laugh, Love, Liz (“Better Than The Movies” Review)

I traversed YA Romance territory.

Dun-dun-duuuun!

And I returned unscathed! Then, I updated each of my WIPs to avoid any blogging commitments I’d made. But you know what they say: your procrastination will find you out.

Consider this part two of this post. I’m following up on my assumptions. Did they live up to my expectations? Read on!

~Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

Yes, it still bothers me.

Assumption #1: “I’m very much going to enjoy the author’s writing style.“

Indeed I did! The first POV and conversationalist style fit well with the gist of the story. They were very YA (said the girl who’s read three of the genre in her life). I will admit that the Gen Z slang sprinkled around felt off by a smidge. Since Lynn Painter is not a Gen Z-er, this is the closest replication she could render, and I’m satisfied enough.

Assumption #2: “I won’t understand why Liz would go to such great lengths for a guy she doesn’t plan to settle down with.“

I said that?!

Note to self: Mellow down with whatever that was. What is going on with the inner workings of your brain, miss?

It-It has truth in it, in its own extremist way. But did Liz plan on settling down with him in the future? She didn’t touch on that, so I’m not sure. She did, however, call Michael—the dreamboat—her “endgame” somewhere if memory serves me right.

Unlike most things, however, this is about me, so what did I think?

It didn’t stick out to me. I’ve had friends with crushes and said friends tend to be…how to say this…enthusiastic about them.

I disagree with my assumption.

Assumption #3: “…this novel will succeed where not many romances do—presenting a likable female main character.”

Correct! As shown by the title.

I like Liz. I really do. She’s eccentric, girly, relatable, and extroverted. It was a gust of fresh air when many of the female protagonists I encountered were quiet, moody, emo, great at miscommunication, and, for some reason, painted (Hah! Painted. Painter.) as if they had to possess such qualities to be likable.

Common Sense Media gave BTTM a low score in diversity since all the characters are assumed to be white, but I felt represented by Liz’s personality and thought process. Isn’t that the kind of diversity we should be vouching for? Or should a story be measured by its including black, Asian, Hispanic characters, and/or other race minorities? Just some food for thought.

Certain Goodreads reviewers hated “Lying Liz,” as they called her, but I understood the build-up. She didn’t plan to weave a mess of rumors and then get tangled up in them. Is it okay? No. Is it plausible? Sure.

But, actually, the fake dating aspect of the book wasn’t what I expected. The trope wasn’t trope-ing. But Wes, he…🤭 You know what, I’ve said too much.

I’ll even say I like her better than Wes. She stood out more. However, the sequel is coming out in Fall 2024, and Lynn promises Dual POV, so perhaps he’ll redeem himself with his inner monologues. Perhaps.

Assumption #4: “He’ll fall first.“

Final Notes

There was a lot of swearing. And there was kissing. And there were jokes and innuendo. So, despite this book being enjoyable, I wouldn’t recommend it out of conviction. Sure, you may have heard about it from me, but you also know about the questionable things that come with it from me.

Keeping that in mind, lynnpainter.com has scenes rewritten from Wes’s POV, and the Simon & Schuster official website for teens has a free ebook in Wes’s POV of the prom and succeeding chapters, plus an epilogue. This stuff isn’t too clean, and language abounds, so use discernment.

This book was marked 13+; CSM put it at 14+. I place it at 15-16+, for conscience’s sake.

And the good parts:

• The movie line inserts and references were gold, even for someone so uncultured in romcoms as me.
• I adored how the setting was used. Give me a location from the book, and I can automatically picture a scene. (Now, this is something I’d love to incorporate into my writing.)
• I’m hoping, begging, wishing I wasn’t the only one who saw the spark between [name of Liz’s best friend] and [Wes’s friend]. Mrs. Painter, please add a side story about it! I’m a sucker for the best friend subplots.

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Thanks for reading!

I can see myself rereading BTTM in one to two years. I manually censored the swear words during the first half but gave up in the second. Seeing so much cussing discouraged me, but not emphasizing it allowed other parts of the book to shine.

But I will go back and cross them off for future reading. Soon. Right before I reread it. Which is later.

Later rather than sooner, am I right?

The Caraval follow-up is coming soon! Sorry for the delay. Life got hectic.

Were you convinced to get the book? Have you heard of it before? Did you already read it? Is there anything better than an Enemies-to-Lovers, fake dating mash-up? What do you think about YA?