2021
WISE Score
Amazon
Liz Buxbaum wants a movie-perfect romance with her old crush, but she’s accidentally scripted a much better love story with the 'annoying' boy next door.
4.5
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Better Than the Movies is a rare YA rom-com that actually lives up to the hype. It’s not 'brain rot'—it’s a well-constructed, witty, and genuinely moving story about growing up and realizing that real life doesn't need a director to be good.
If your kid is into 'To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before' or 'The Summer I Turned Pretty,' this is an easy win. It’s safe, it’s smart, and it’s one of those books that might actually get a phone-addicted teen to keep reading past their bedtime.
This is a bullseye for 13-to-17-year-olds who live for Taylor Swift lyrics and 'enemies-to-lovers' tropes. It's clean enough for mature middle schoolers but sophisticated enough for high schoolers.
It's a sweet, emotionally resonant story about a girl navigating real-life love versus her cinematic fantasies. The relationship dynamics are healthy, and the exploration of grief regarding her late mother adds genuine heart without being manipulative.
While it's a contemporary romance, the 'meta' focus on rom-com tropes and the protagonist's creative use of music and film to understand her world shows a nice spark of curiosity and storytelling appreciation.
Standard YA fare. There's some mild swearing and typical high school party scenarios, but it stays firmly in the 'sweet' romance category. No graphic content or 'dark' themes beyond the emotional weight of losing a parent.
Great for emotional intelligence. It pushes back against the 'perfect' expectations of media and encourages kids to appreciate the messy, imperfect people right in front of them. It also models how to handle grief while still moving forward with life.
If your teen is suddenly carrying around a physical paperback with a bright, cartoonish cover, there is a high statistical probability they found it on social media. Lynn Painter is a heavyweight in that world for a reason. While a lot of the viral "romantasy" or contemporary romance titles trending right now lean heavily into explicit content, this book is the wholesome exception that proves the rule.
It is the perfect entry point for understanding BookTok and what teens are actually reading because it hits all the satisfying tropes—fake dating, the boy next door, enemies-to-lovers—without the "spice" that usually makes parents nervous. If you’ve been trying to navigate romance and mature themes in YA books, consider this your safe harbor. It’s sweet, it’s funny, and it’s genuinely well-written.
The central conflict isn't just about which boy Liz picks. It’s about her obsession with "main character energy." Liz views her life through a cinematic lens, specifically the lens of 90s and early 2000s romantic comedies. This makes her a slightly unreliable narrator because she is so busy trying to force her life into a scripted montage that she misses the actual human connections happening in front of her.
For a generation of kids raised on curated Instagram feeds and TikTok aesthetics, Liz’s struggle is incredibly relatable. She isn't just a "hopeless romantic"; she is someone using tropes as a shield against the messiness of real life. It’s a great jumping-off point to talk about the difference between a "perfect" moment captured for a screen and a real, awkward, meaningful moment that no one else sees.
One of the best things about this book is how it uses music. Each chapter is essentially "scored," and the references to Taylor Swift and classic rom-com soundtracks aren't just window dressing. They are the language Liz uses to process her world.
If your kid is a music obsessive, this book will click in a way others won't. It treats a playlist with the same emotional weight as a dialogue scene. It also serves as a brilliant bridge to older media. After reading this, don't be surprised if they actually want to sit down and watch You’ve Got Mail or 10 Things I Hate About You with you. It’s one of those rare modern works that pays genuine homage to the classics without feeling like a dusty history lesson.
Usually, the "missing parent" in YA feels like a cheap way to give a character an edge. Painter handles it differently. Liz’s mother was the one who shared her love for these movies, so Liz’s obsession is actually a form of grief. Every time she tries to create a movie-perfect moment, she’s trying to reconnect with her mom. This adds a layer of emotional depth that keeps the story from feeling like a shallow "who will she choose" triangle. It’s a story about how we carry the people we've lost into our new chapters, which makes the eventual happy ending feel earned rather than inevitable.
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