Better Than the Movies
by Lynn Painter
★ Top 25 book of 2021 · #13 on Best Books of 2021
Dreamy Liz Buxbaum wants her longtime crush Michael to notice her, so she teams up with her annoying neighbor Wes, who has become friends with him. As they scheme, Liz finds she enjoys Wes's company and rethinks her idea of happily ever after.
Best for: Teen readers who love funny, sweet rom-coms with scheming and enemies-to-friends moments
Better Than the Movies is #13 on BookWard's Best Books of 2021, out of 59 2021 books that cleared our data bar.
What Better Than the Movies is about
Liz Buxbaum, a high school senior, grew up on romantic comedies, the films she shared with her screenwriter mother, who died when Liz was a child. Now she wants her own love story to play out just as neatly. When her longtime crush Michael moves back to town, she plans to ask him to prom. Standing in her way is Wes Bennet, the next-door neighbor who has tormented her since childhood with pranks involving frogs and beheaded lawn gnomes. Wes is also Michael's new friend, so Liz strikes a deal with him to help her cause. It is a young adult romance novel, described as a teen rom-com that follows a hopelessly romantic teen girl and her neighbor as they scheme to get her noticed by her crush.
Better Than the Movies on the Best Books of 2021
Better Than the Movies came out in 2021. Of the 59 books first published in 2021 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #13 on our Best Books of 2021 list.
Why it made the list: 3,337 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.7 out of 5 (74 ratings); 181 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
It earns Being read right now.
Nearby on the 2021 list
- Do Epic Shit Ankur Warikoo, #11
- Haunting Adeline H. D. Carlton, #12
- Heartstopper, Volume 4 Alice Oseman, #14
- Heartstopper, Volume Five Alice Oseman, #15
See all Best Books of 2021 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2020 Best Books of 2022.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 3,040 want to read it, 181 are reading it now and 116 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 3.7 out of 5 from 74 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 92 | 55% |
| Reader love | 24 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 92 | 20% |
Questions about Better Than the Movies
When was Better Than the Movies published?
Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter was first published in 2021.
Was Better Than the Movies one of the best books of 2021?
Better Than the Movies is #13 on BookWard's Best Books of 2021, out of 59 2021 books that cleared our data bar. 3,337 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.7 out of 5 (74 ratings); 181 are reading it right now.
Why is Better Than the Movies on the Best Books of 2021 list?
3,337 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.7 out of 5 (74 ratings); 181 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 2021
- The Love Hypothesis Ali Hazelwood, #1
- Twisted Games Ana Huang, #2
- Project Hail Mary Andy Weir, #3
- As Good as Dead Holly Jackson, #4
- You've Reached Sam Dustin Thao, #5
- Twisted Love Ana Huang, #6
See the full Best Books of 2021, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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