Better Than the Movies

Product Information

The plot highlights romance, family, and friendships: Main character Liz Buxbaum is navigating her last year of high school and looking for love with an old crush while also grieving the loss of her mom. I read a lot of contemporary and historical, both adult and YA, and I've also been enjoying more and more fantasy lately. I knew we’d have a good time—we were grabbing dinner beforehand with Kate and Cassidy, the funnest of our little friend group—but prom was supposed to be the pinnacle of high school romance. It’s full of pop culture references (from Taylor Swift to To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before) as well as references to all the classic rom-coms ( Bridget Jones, When Harry Met Sally, and more).

It’s actually Liz promising Wes unlimited access to that parking space that makes him agree to help her get Michael to notice her.I can't imagine how hard it would have been to have all these intense feelings as a teen and not know what to do with them. In BETTER THAN THE MOVIES, Liz Buxbaum is hoping to find romance with her old crush, Michael, during senior year. Liz’s relationships with Joss and Helena also suffer as Joss discovers Liz’s lies and Liz shuns Helena from her life for fear of replacing her mother. Liz is a quirky but relatable teen who likes wearing boldly patterned dresses with pockets, reading novels, and watching romcom films.

Will her story become one worthy of the enemies-to-lovers trope that’s so popular in rom-coms or will she end up with her first crush?Common Sense is the nation's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of all kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the 21st century.

We were probably going to be late because of our impromptu hallway meet-up with Michael, but it would totally be worth it. It's Liz's senior year, a time meant to be rife with milestones perfect for any big screen, and she needs Wes's help. I love the genre (quelle surprise) so understood why Liz was so obsessed but I also understood Wes and Liz's stepmom's feelings on the genre. When the novel opens, Liz and Wes are in the midst of an ongoing war over the parking space out in front of their homes.I especially like how Laney is introduced to us, through Liz’s gaze, and then we as readers get to decide how we feel about her. Michael is a fan of The Duke and I by Julia Quinn, on which the first season of Bridgerton is based. I don’t want to say anything else because you just really need to experience Wes and Liz’s immensely entertaining journey for yourself.

But the issue lays with his eyes already being on someone else—and the fact that he still thinks of her as “Little Liz. These rocky, awkward moments just made Liz come across as all the more real and, for me, made her that much more likable and relatable.My dad tried to be involved, he really did, but he wasn’t an emotional guy, so it always just felt like he was the official photographer as I traversed the highlights alone.