39 pages • 1 hour read
Lynn PainterBetter Than the Movies
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter 14-EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 14 Summary
Liz jogs to the cemetery, furious at Wes for his apparent rejection and regretful for her lies to Joss. She is shocked to find Helena at her mother’s grave. Helena tells Liz that bonding with her will not erase her mother, and again Liz lashes out. She resents Helena for being there and trying to talk to her, and races back home where she runs into Wes.
She thanks him for his help with Michael and insults him by claiming Michael is more of a hero than he is. He angrily informs Liz of his plan to ask Alex to prom. He also tells Liz that her worshipping of rom-coms and idealized versions of her mother is hurting her. He claims she should just be who she is instead of trying to live up to what she believes her mother’s expectations would be. Liz cries and bitterly tells him to forget everything that has happened between them. That night, Liz falls asleep listening to emotional music and dreams of her mother.
Chapter 15 Summary
As she gets ready for prom, Liz tries to get excited for an evening with Michael but cannot stop thinking of Wes. She and Michael have dinner before the dance, during which Michael reveals that he almost asked Laney to prom but was too afraid of rejection. Liz sympathizes but is otherwise unaffected. They run into Laney. After Michael tells Liz about Laney’s kindness, Liz discovers she may have been wrong in despising her.
Michael also shows Liz texts from Wes containing affectionate words for Liz back when he was trying to help her win Michael. She wonders if Wes still feels that way about her. Liz finally decides to tell Michael the truth about the scheme, and they laugh it off. In the restroom, she runs into Laney again, who appears concerned about her. Liz is shocked when Laney correctly guesses that senior year must be hard without her mother. Laney confesses her feelings for Michael, and Liz realizes she has misjudged her all this time. Liz advises her to tell Michael how she feels.
At the prom, Liz and Michael meet up with Michael’s and Wes’s friends, whom Liz has come to think of as her own. Liz is heartbroken when she sees Wes dancing with Alex. She encourages Michael to talk to Laney, and he runs to find her. To avoid Wes, Liz hides in a nearby hallway where she finds Joss also hiding from her date. Liz apologizes and explains why she lied to her. Joss is angry but forgiving; they promise to be honest and supportive in the future.
Noah, Wes’s friend who hit Liz with the basketball the other night, joins Liz and Joss. Liz realizes he and Joss have a connection. They drop Liz off at home before heading out to another party. Liz sits on her porch as she thinks about Wes.
Chapter 16 Summary
Later, Liz is watching You’ve Got Mail. She asks Helena to join her to make up for her outburst at the cemetery. They discuss the movie and Liz shares what happened at prom. She officially apologizes to Helena, and they make amends. Helena reveals that Wes has liked Liz since they were kids. She and Liz’s father claim that Wes used to listen to Liz play piano and that he now uses the parking spot as an excuse to interact with her. Liz is skeptical, but Helena insists that Liz should “be brave enough to go big” in her attempt to make up with Wes (329).
Chapter 17 Summary
Liz decides to make a grand gesture. She makes Wes a CD containing all the songs from their playlist, gathers s’mores supplies, puts on Wes’s sweatshirt and gifted shoes, leaves a note for him on his porch, and waits for him in their “Secret Area.” When he finally gets home from prom, Liz hears him approach with Alex and is disheartened. She assumes he has brought Alex to their spot for a private romantic moment. Quickly, she tries to hide the evidence of her grand gesture, but Wes and Alex catch her, and she is humiliated. She makes up an excuse about looking for a lucky coin she dropped and rushes back home, leaving Wes and Alex confused.
Chapter 18 Summary
Liz drives around aimlessly to avoid running into Wes and Alex again. When she parks in their parking spot, Wes knocks on her window to confront her about the romantic things she left behind. He is angry because he claims Liz is playing games with him. Frustrated and jealous, Liz finally confesses the truth about her feelings for him. She tells him she regrets going after Michael.
When she asks about Alex, Wes claims Alex is not her (Liz). He reveals he has fallen in love with her. He tells her he was jealous of Michael before kissing her passionately. Liz happily plays a Bazzi song in her head as they reunite.
Epilogue Summary
A few months later, Liz and Wes are at the cemetery before they leave for California; Wes has decided to join Liz at UCLA. They have planted new flowers at her mother’s grave, and Liz shares that Helena decorated the grave with a bench for Liz to use while she talks to her mother. Liz reflects on the misguided decisions that led her to Wes, who has remained supportive and loyal. Before they leave, a cardinal lands on the grave, which reassures Liz that her mother supports her leaving to start a new chapter in her life.
Chapter 14-Epilogue Analysis
The final section of the novel highlights established rom-com tropes by rewriting and reimagining them. Liz’s “brave” attempt at reconciliation with Wes is an allusion to the grand gesture trope typically seen in the climax of rom-coms. Liz fails in enacting the gesture when Wes and Alex interrupt her. The scene is comedic, and shows once again that Liz is not your typical heroine, subverting how the grand gesture operates in rom-coms.
Wes’s final speech is meant to fulfill the “proclamation of love” trope. However, the narrative subverts the trope when Wes tells Liz that his desire to punch Michael out of jealousy should not make her happy or be considered “swoony.” This undermines the popular stereotype of the jealous “alpha male” romantic hero. Liz is aware that Wes is not that guy, but she cannot help being influenced by the romantic ideals born of her favorite movies. In the end, the novel wavers between featuring classic romantic patterns and being humorously self-aware and subversive.
The novel innovates by incorporating music. Music plays an integral part in films, as it communicates what the dialogue sometimes cannot: emotion, depth, and hidden meaning. The main scene in the end of the novel takes place at a dance like prom, making music especially significant. When Liz enters the ballroom, an upbeat song is playing, almost mocking her for being so heartbroken when she should be having fun. Later, an emotional Taylor Swift song plays, and the prose is interspersed with italicized lyrics from the song that help express what Liz is feeling. After the prom, Liz watches a scene from You’ve Got Mail in which the protagonist discusses a Joni Mitchell song, and once again, lyrics add import to the prose. In the end, an emotional Bazzi song cements the novel’s happy ending, showing how music is a crucial part to the story’s atmosphere and meaning.
The novel explores Adolescent Concern With Future Uncertainty. At the beginning of the novel, Liz is reluctant to start a new chapter of her life, afraid of leaving behind her childhood and memories of her mother. She doesn’t accept her stepmother, Helena. By the novel’s end, Liz is ready to go to college and become an adult. She has grown closer to Helena, though Helena has not replaced her mother: This is signified by Helena decorating Liz’s mother’s grave with a bench for Liz to use when visiting. Liz also feels that her mother gives her approval to move forward when a cardinal, representing her mother, lands on the grave. Liz has completed her character arc, not only in terms of transitioning from wanting Michael to falling in love with Wes, but from moving from childhood to young adulthood.
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By Lynn Painter
