Over the past 4 years, Lynn Painter has published nine young adult novels. When reading Painter’s books, her use of back-to-back chapters stood out to me; she wrote from both the boy’s and the girl’s perspectives of the same event, letting readers experience each main character’s thoughts and feelings. This not only shifts how readers see them throughout the same story, but also makes her books ten times better. These three stand out as the best.
#1 Better than the Movies
Better than the Movies follows Liz Buxbaum and Wes Bennett, neighbors who unexpectedly develop feelings for each other during senior year, even as Wes helps Liz pursue her longtime crush, Michael. Liz soon realizes the traits she hates about Wes are qualities she actually likes, especially the attention he gave her. The novel isn’t just about romance, though romance is what drives the plot; the novel also explores Liz’s personal growth, her friendship, and her goal of turning senior year into the perfect rom-com. By the end, Liz learns that love doesn’t have to match the movies she had written in her head.
It’s a cute, charming, heartfelt teen romance book that still shows real emotion. Liz and Wes’s relationship feels relatable and genuinely sweet.
After graduation, they both head off to UCLA. Their first year, they face the classic “right person, wrong time” situation, setting up the sequel, Nothing Like the Movies.
#2 Nothing like the Movies
In the second book, Wes gets the devastating news that his dad has passed away, pushing him to drop out of UCLA and move back home. Feeling cornered, he ends things with Liz, resulting in a huge argument and a two-year estrangement.
Eventually, Wes returns to California and returns to UCLA, where he and Liz begin talking again. But rebuilding isn’t easy. Trust issues still linger. And both have to push back the past to see if both can get a second chance.
Throughout both books, Painter explores themes of grief, responsibility, and healing, showing how messy and complicated love can be, but is rewarding at the end when both people are willing to work through it. This makes the sequel sound realistic; she makes the dialogue feel more natural, making the heavier moments hit harder, which I loved.
#3 The Do-Over
When exploring more of Painter’s books, The Do Over stands out as a chaotic, fun YA rom-com. It follows Emilie Hornby, a teenage girl stuck in a Groundhog Day-like loop where her perfect day, Valentine’s Day, turns into a total disaster, and she’s forced to relive it over and over. She keeps trying to fix everything, avoiding the drama, dodging accidents, and saving her relationships. But Emilie always ends up crashing into the same guy, Nick Starks, no matter what she changes. I felt like fate was trying to push them together. As the loop continues, Emilie starts to let go of her cheating boyfriend and actually gets to know Nick. Towards the end of the book, her relationship with Nick shifts from forced daily encounters to a more genuine connection. This allows Emilie to grow into having self-understanding and more confidence.
The Do-Over wasn’t as realistic as the others, which is why it’s at #3. The whole time loop is fun, showing the adventures they go through, but the emotion doesn’t feel as much like Better than the Movies or Nothing Like the Movies; it still showed a genuine connection both of them had, even if only one of them could remember their past interactions.