Better Than the Movies

I don’t think I would usually choose to read books like this, however, I hadn’t been reading much and was in somewhat of a slump when I picked it up. It definitely helped and I finished in in a day. This was a quick and easy read, with nothing major to focus on, like worldbuilding throughout the book, and I really enjoyed it.

The story was about a girl (Liz) who had been rivals with a boy (Wes) since childhood. Liz found out that her childhood crush (Michael) had moved back into town, and wanted to find a way to talk to him again, and possibly to get him to ask her to prom. She eventually asks Wes for help in the matter as she discovers that he is friends with Michael and intends on going to a party with him. Once he agrees to this, the pair decide to fake date as an attempt for Liz to show Michael that she has grown up since their youth. However, overtime, Liz falls for Wes, and he already liked her from the start.

This was such a fun read, however some of the scenes did give me a little second-hand embarrassment. One moment I remember particularly well is when Wes and Liz go to a burger restaurant. Wes tells her “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you eat like a man” which Liz then replies to with “I like food. Sue me”. This just seems like the stereotypical 2012 ‘I’m not like other girls’ character which is really off putting to me. I see it as poor writing when the author has to go back to the default stereotypes when they can’t develop a character's personality much.

Despite this, I did think this book was great, it’s just that there were some parts that were a bit annoying to read. The idea that Liz made a new playlist for every situation she was in was an interesting aspect of the story, and I liked it. I understood why she used the songs she did, which made this even better.

Another slightly frustrating part of this book was Liz’s treatment of Laney. She was just a girl trying to live her life, and Liz, for some reason, made it her responsibility to ruin that. She tried to be nice to Liz, but she always shut her down and turned her away. In addition, Liz knew that Laney and Michael had been talking and that they both liked each other, but she still went out of her way to try to get with her idea of Michael, without understanding that was all it was, an idea. She didn’t want to be with Michael, only the idea of him that she preserved in her head throughout the time he had been gone.

Overall, I really did like this book, although there were some irritating points, because it helped me to get out of a reading slump and get back into reading more books. After reading, I looked at the other books Lynn Painter, and I am looking forward to her new book ‘Betting on You’. I believe her writing is good for a light read, but it was nothing I would invest my time on further.

★★★★