Lucy - 26, single and wishing she had just a bit more in life wishes to get to the good part in life and who would’ve thought that wish would come true!

I absolutely LOVED this book and am so grateful for the ARC copy I received from NetGalley (I recognize this review is posted well beyond the publishing of the book).

Lucy, all of the relationships she had with her friends, the quirkiness to the story, the romance, TIME TRAVEL, great character building, and points that made me genuinely tear up were just wonderful.

I’m sad I didn’t read this book sooner.

If you’re looking for a book about discovering oneself, close friendships, good family relationships, all mixed in with the quirk of time travel and hilarious moments, this book is for you!

I LOVED this one! I felt like Lucy was super relatable and funny. I was really rooting for her the whole time! I feel like we can relate to having a moment where we can skip to the “good part” of our lives and seeing how it plays out for Lucy was just such a heartwarming story. There’s a little less romance in this one than expected, but still really great!

3.5/5

For some reason, I just didn’t love this book. It felt slow at most parts and was a struggle to get through.
It was cute and had some good parts. I liked watching Lucy bond with Sam and her children. Learning difficult news and coming back from it. The ending was great as well.

Just not a favorite of mine by Sophie Cousens. I do usually love her books though so I’ll definitely read more by her!

This was a super cute book! I loved the characters and found Lucy to be super relatable. What 20 year old hasn’t wished to “skip to the good part” at some point? This gave me 13 Going on 30 vibes and I was here for it!

I always enjoy a good time travel trope, and this book does it very well. I'd call this a romcom, not a romance (for those looking for steam/spice, this isn't it) but it is a fantastic exploration of why skipping to the good part isn't all it seems.

Let’s skip to the good part takes on a new meaning for Lucy who is tired and dissatisfied with her living situation, career and disastrous dating life and with the help of a wishing machine finds herself 16 years in the future. I adore a good time jump book situation and this was no exception. This was less a romance and more a book about discovery and change and navigating a strange existence that is you but also doesn’t feel like you. As she tries to navigate her future life and build relationships she’s faced with a dilemma of can she get her missing years back and, if so, does she want to? Sam and Felix were absolutely delightful. I had a blast reading this one and grateful to NetGalley for my review copy. 4.5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of The Good Part in exchange of a honest review.

I love Sophie Cousens and this story did not disappoint! This book shows the importance of living in the moment. If you love time jumps and amazing character growth then you will definitely enjoy this one!

Sophie is one of my go to favorite authors and The Good Part did not disappoint. I loved the time travel aspect as it lent some magical elements to the story. It was not only a great story but a reminder to not waste one’s life endlessly pursuing the what’s next.

I love magical realism and time travel so this story was a great fit for me. A fun and thought-provoking storyline. I thought the story stalled a bit in the middle, but overall I really enjoyed it. 3.5 stars, rounded up

If you like 13 Going on 30 and Back to the Future Part 2, then you’ll like this book since it’s basically the combination of the 2 movies. I thought it was a fun romp with a great main character and even better supporting characters. I would highly recommend it to fan of any genre since I think, while mainly a rom com, could be seen as few other genres as well.

4.5 ⭐️

Sophie Cousens has the most insane ability to transform inner monologues into interesting plots. This book was a delight to read and so well balanced between the difficult realities of always wanting to fast forward and taking time to remain grounded. 10/10 would recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing team for the advanced reader copy!

Thank you Putnam Books and NetGalley for the eARC of The Good Part! All opinions in this review are my own.

Sophie Cousens is one of my favorite authors so when I found out she wrote a book with a similar concept to 13 Going On 30, I knew I had to read it! While Lucy is more 24 going on 42, The Good Part was such a good read! Cousens does an excellent job at expressing the impatience of waiting for the "good part" to happen when you are struggling in your 20s. Lucy just wants to feel settled in her life and over the course of the novel, she learns that each stage of her life has both good and bad experiences. The Good Part made me both laugh out loud and tear up once again proving why I read all of Cousens's books!

At the end of the book, Cousens includes a section where she asked people in her life "What advice would you give your twenty-six-year-old self?" The answers are both funny and heartfelt, and definitely worth a read through.

The Good Part is a beautiful story about learning to enjoy the journey instead of constantly waiting to reach your destination. After feeling tired and working towards seemingly nothing, Lucy wants to get to the part of her life where she feels successful and happy with her career, love life, and family. But after making a wish to skip to the good part of her life, Lucy finds herself married with two kids and the career she's always wanted, but she can't remember how she got there and feels like she missed out on the best parts.
This book tackles the idea that so many people struggle with, wanting time to move faster and for things to happen quicker. Cousens reminds us through this book that The Good Part is always and that the journey as is as good, if not better, than the destination. I would recommend this book to anyone anxiously waiting for their life to "get better."

Can we skip to the good part? This book highlights the risk and rewards of wishing you could just skip to "the good part" of life. It makes you think about all that you have and regardless of where you are at in life, there are always things you wish were different or could be better. I loved Sophie Cousens way of making this thought come to life through comedy, heartbreak, and friendship.

Loved. What a fabulous story that shows us all that it's better to live the moment that we're in, rather than wishing away the hard parts. This story is packed full of character growth and beautiful moments. This was my first Sophie Cousens book and it definitely won't be my last!

Thank you to Netgalley for my complimentary e-arc. All thoughts here are my own.

The Good Part follows Lucy, a down-in-the-dumps 26 year old who is frustrated with her finances, her job, her apartment and her love life. When she stumbles across a wishing machine and decides to give it a go she ends up being granted her wish of skipping to the 'good part.' But by jumping across many years she has to try to navigate her new life with no memories, good or bad, of the years between and her son who thinks that his mum has been replaced with an alien.

This book was a great romcom, goofy with just enough sad bits to balance it out. Although it was a bit confusing with the kids, who sometimes seemed to be characterized much older than their given ages and then would suddenly seem much younger again.

What would you consider to be the "good part" of your life? Have you lived it yet, or does it lie somewhere in your future? That's the brilliant idea behind Sophie Cousens' new novel, The Good Part, which follows a down-on-her-luck twenty-six year old Lucy Young as she wishes away her youth in exchange for the "good part" of her life. Lucy wakes up sixteen years later at age 42 to discover that she has a husband, kids, and high profile job ... but at what cost? What happened in those sixteen years that she cannot remember?

As Lucy sets out on a journey of (past) self-discovery, she learns how she came to be her future self. Some parts of her life she loves - her job, her husband, her home ... maybe her kids? - but as she discovers some of the darker things that have happened to her between now and then, she grieves the years, and people, she lost. As Lucy becomes more accustomed to her future life, she has to decide ... does she stay here in the now, or does she try to find her way back to the past?

The Good Part is a fun and fanciful book that manages to also be profound and thought-provoking all at the same time. This novel is an utter delight to read, positing a question that is intriguing to ask - "If the 'good part' of your life was waiting for you in the future, would you skip ahead to it?" I personally would not want to time travel myself, but it makes for a rather enjoyable "no-risk" read.

While much of The Good Part is light-hearted and funny, it also deals with some heavy topics, and relies heavily on self-reflection, as Lucy, who begins the novel as an immature and naïve twenty-something, grows into the woman she was always meant to be. I loved how Cousen used Lucy's "memory loss" as a plot device, revealing "secrets" about Lucy's past to both the reader and Lucy herself at the same time. I found this to be an utterly compelling and page-turning plot device!

On the other hand, Lucy could be a bit insufferable at times, and her son Felix must be some sort of prodigy in the making because he was well-advanced for his age ... I had to suspend disbelief every time he entered a scene because he had the brain and vocabulary of someone much beyond his years.

Recommended to lovers of Melissa Wiesner's The Second Chance Year.

"Be careful what you wish for, life is never quite sorted whatever stage you're at."
Loved this one! It’s a lighthearted, sweet, funny, yet reflective, rom-com type of book had me actually laughing out loud!!
Lucy Young is in her mid twenties living with roommates in a run down London flat.
Despite her new promotion she is feeling a bit under appreciated and stalled out at work. After a couple of really bad days and a sudden downpour, she seeks solace in a quirky shop with an even quirkier shopkeeper who loans her a coin for the store's wishing machine. With nothing to lose, Lucy pops the coin in and wishes for a ceiling that doesn't leak...respect at her job... and to just skip to the good part of life already.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Love! This was such a sweet story. It does feel a little familiar, like maybe something I have read before. With that in mind the characters are lovable and watching the relationships develop is so sweet. There are some heavier themes mixed in which aids in the storytelling. I haven't read Sophie Cousens before but this makes me want to add to my TBR.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Lucy is 26 years old and over her seemingly dead-end job, her dating life, her roommates and crappy apartment, and never having enough money to just enjoy life. After a particularly terrible day and night, she half limps into a shop and finds an antique wishing machine. The elderly owner convinces her to try it and Lucy wishes for "the good part" of her life to begin.

The next day she wakes up next to a strange "older" man and realizes that she woke up 16 years into the future. She's married, has 2 kids, and is running a television production company. Lucy has to learn to navigate this new life and relationships with her husband, kids, and friends. She can't decide if she wants to stay in "the good part" with memories starting to fill-in the blank spots or try to go back, deal with her messy life and experience the 16 years she is missing.

This book was so good. I think the majority of people question life in their 20s and wonder when "the good part" will happen. And then to move into the future with a marriage, kids, house, and career... I'm also in my early 40s with a husband, kids, house, and career and sometimes it was hard to get here but I also appreciated what it takes to experience this life. I loved that Lucy was set in one way but after being around her kids and husband in the future, she realized that life is to be experienced - both the good and bad parts. I loved her growth as a person and navigating grief and loss. My only criticism is that the ending seemed a bit rushed - I would have loved to read what happens during that last scene.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this eARC. The Good Part is out now.