Wow wow wow!! I could not put this book down! I finished it in just about one day. I was immediately pulled into Lucy's story and there was no need to skip to the good part because this entire book was magic! 😉

For possibly the first time this year I've felt truly a part of this story and felt all the emotions of the characters. I laughed and cried right along with them. This book touched me in a way that I hope to never forget!

GO READ THIS BOOK NOW!! It will change you!

Lucy Hung is only 26 years old. She lives with a few roommates, keeps going on one bad date after another and her job is far from ideal. Her life is quite different from most of her friends who are embarking on excellent careers and entering into serious relationships. After a disastrous date in which everything goes wrong Lucy makes a wish.

The next day Lucy wakes up to find herself in a completely different life. She's married, has kids and a career but no memory of how it all happened. Lucy stumbles while adjusting to her new life and isn't sure if she wants to remain it or return to her old life.

This is quite a fun and cute book. Easy to read and entertaining.

What happens when you could "skip" to the good parts...this is exactly what Lucy experiences going from a broke, tired twenty something to a successful wife, mom and business women.

All Lucy wants to find is the right person after some horrific dates, and to wake-up without water dripping on her face. One day she stumbles upon on a wishing machine which skips her to the "good parts" of her life wiping everything in the middle out. This story begs the question - do we truly want to skip to the good part or let life happen for lessons and experiences.

This was an absolutely enjoyable story.

Thank you PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for the complimentary copy.

Lucy is having a hard time. She feels like her job is floundering, she hates her apartment, and her love life is nothing to write home about. When she finds herself at an old Wish Machine, she makes a wish that will change her life. "Take me to the Good Part." When she wakes up the next morning, she's married with two kids and an amazing job...but how did she get there?

Sophie Cousens never disappoints when it comes to a romcom with so much heart. This was no exception. The story is perfectly told without spending too much time on HOW this all happened and more on allowing Lucy to grow as a person because of it. We've all read books and watched movies that use this trope but this book does it so well. There isn't any rocky marriage or job. Lucy really has a good life and an amazing man. She just missed out on all of the bits that got her there. If was truly sad by the end of this book, in a good way. Bravo! This was a great read!

Also, Sam is a book boyfriend for sure. Loved him

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!

I really enjoyed this book. Lucy is unhappy where she is currently in life and wants to fast forward to the "good" part. She has a particularly rough night, stumbles on to a wishing machine, and ends up 16 years in the future. This was a lot of fun other than she kept harping on looking old and she was only 42 (not appreciated by a middle-aged woman, ha). Lucy finds she is married with kids and has no memory of any of it. She wants to get back but finds as time goes on, she is enjoying being in this life. Highly recommend reading this to see what Lucy discovers and how things go.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy, and I give my review freely

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Lucy is burnt out on life. Work, dating, life, everything is just not going the way she would like. During a storm, she stumbles into a shop that has a wishing machine. She puts in her coin and asks to skip to the good part. She wakes up the next morning with a handsome husband, beautiful kids, and an amazing job. But she can’t remember the past 16 years of her life.

This was such a lovely story about growth, love, and patience. We’ve all wanted to “skip to the good part” but then we realize that the good part is everything leading up to that point. I love a time travel story and this one was fantastic!! Sophie Cousens has such a gift of writing these amazing stories. Her characters are relatable and you feel like you’re in the story. I couldn’t put this down and look forward to Cousens next book!

📘: The Good Part by Sophie Cousens
🗓️: November 7, 2023

Thank you to NetGalley, Sophie Cousens, and Penguin Group Putnam for this ARC!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

*Reviewed on NetGalley and Goodreads.

Sophie Cousins is always an automatic Read and buy for me! The Good Part intrigued me because of the Freaky Friday vibes it gave off (if you know…you know!). I was laughing from the beginning with the water falling down on Lucy from her upstairs neighbor. I really enjoyed the book and thought it was well thought out and executed! Can’t wait to buy a physical copy!

New favorite book by Sophie Cousens! Flew through this story in 2 days flat, it was tough to put down! Endearing characters, well written, and engaging from start to finish. Highly recommend!

The Good Part by Sophie Cousens is another amazing and entertaining story that I adored from the very beginning to last page.
I’ve enjoyed every book this author has written and this was no different.
Cousens writing is so witty and heartfelt she pulls her readers in and makes them feel every emotion.
Once I started reading I could not put it down!
I was completely captivated from start to finish! I highly recommend this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the opportunity to read this ahead of its publication date in return for my honest review.

4/5 - I devoured this in two days - I HAD to know the ending! It’s a time hop story - 26 year old Lucy is struggling in pretty much all the ways, stumbles across a quirky lady in a newsstand bodega with a wishing machine and wishes to skip to “the good part” of her life. Welp, she wakes up 16 years later! Very 13 Going on 13 / Big vibes.

Cousens’ writing is brilliant and the storyline was thoughtful. I loved the dialogue (the kids omg), general and British humor, depiction of the future, character development, lovable and well thought out cast and the London setting. I audibly laughed quite a bit!

That being said, this was not a feel good book for me. I think I might be in the minority here, so take it or leave it. Do not misunderstand me, this is not a feel BAD book, but I had big feelings about the story that were tough to work through! Some of that was due to prominent plot points related to motherhood and children (I can’t say more because I don’t want to give anything away but DM me if you want) and some was simply wrestling with how I would manage a similar situation that was sometimes at odds with Lucy’s thoughts/actions. I felt heavily connected to Lucy at 42 vs Lucy at 26. I understood her 26 year old thoughts - been there! - but her 42 year old day-to-day really resonated with my 36 year old self. And that made me biased in what I hoped would happen!

Overall this was a fabulous read - I’m not afraid of a little introspection and appreciated the nudge! Thank you to @netgalley, @putnambooks and Sophie Cousens for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! Out 11/7!

📚: The Good Part by Sophie Cousens
⭐️: 3/5

Do you remember being in your 20s, at the lowest level at work, eating ramen noodles and drinking cheap wine, single in an apartment with roommates and thinking, “when the hell is my life going to actually start?!”

I do. And so does Lucy in The Good Part. Part 13 Going on 30 and part Freaky Friday, this book focuses on our main character making a wish to just “get to the good part” of her life - and then faces what happens when 16 years of life just slips away.

This book was a quick read, funny at moments and heartwarming at others. Where it missed the mark was the bulk of the middle, as Lucy attempts to try to navigate the future. Her character felt insanely unlikeable, and instead of feeling for her, I pitied her. The story rebounded by the end, but not without leaving me with a middle of the road overall feeling.

Thanks to @putnambooks via @netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Good Part is out next Tuesday, 11/7!

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 just because I adore her writing style. This Time Next Year was one of my favorite reads from 2022, so I was excited to try another Sophie Cousens book!

The Good Part focuses on Lucy, a broke twenty-six year old trying to rise up in the ranks at her television production job. Disappointed at where she is in her life, she makes a wish on a wishing machine (a la Big) to skip to the “good part” of her life. When she wakes up the next day, she’s 42, married with two kids, and in her dream job.

This book has been compared the most to 13 Going on 30, for obvious reasons. While entirely accurate, I actually enjoyed this more than the movie (and not just because I’m not a Jennifer Garner fan). Having been in Lucy’s twenty-six year old shoes before (and not totally out of them), it felt more relatable than any desire to be ~thirty, flirty and thriving.~ I thought Lucy was a fun main character, although I loved reading most any scene with her son Felix most, who was very akin to Jonah in Sleepless in Seattle. I also thought the setting of the “future” was fun, with talk of robots and drones and people landing on the Mars, making it all very lighthearted.

While I did enjoy it and shed some tears towards the end, it probably isn’t the most memorable story out there. I love Cousen’s banter-y writing, but it’s just one of those plots that you know going into it how it’s going to end. This book isn’t as much of a romance as This Time Next Year, and I do think her romance writing is stronger. (Her scenes with Lucy and her husband Sam can easily back it up — he’s so good that he’s borderline too good to be true.) This does, however, makes me want to push her other two books up on my reading list.

Big thank you NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Genre: General Fiction, Romance, Women's Fiction
Trope: Time-Travel
Pub Date: November 7, 2023
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Read if you like: 13 Going on 30, The Family Man, 17 Again

I was very excited to be approved for this ARC because Number 1. I love Sophie Cousens writing and Number 2. I could relate to the main character.

When I was in my early twenties I could not wait to be 30! My friends and I always joked about it and referenced 13 Going on 30..a lot 😄

If you are looking for a fun, witty time-travel trope-- this is it!

Thank you to @netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the eARC.

Everything seemed to be going wrong in Lucy's life. Living in a dump, working at a job where she got a fake promotion, enduring awful dates, and penny pinching had Lucy wanting to get to the good part of her life. When she stumbled upon a wishing machine and made her request, she woke up sixteen years in the future to find she was married to a wonderful man, living in a beautiful home, and the Queen Badger at work. But Lucy found herself missing those sixteen years and began to wonder if skipping to the good part was really the best choice for her.

Sophie Cousens has become a favorite author of mine, and this book is a stellar example of why. She brilliantly blends humor, warmth, and heartbreak to craft stories that never fail to fill my heart to bursting. I loved all the nods to those time-jump films we know and love. From the allusion to Zoltar from Big, to a Freaky Friday moment when Lucy observes her middle aged self. These moments made me smile, bringing to mind all those greats, but it also made me appreciate how Cousens spun this in her own way.

"We are lucky, we are here, when others are not. I wear the gray in my hair as a badge of honor, the privilege of aging"

I think many people have wished to get to the good parts of their lives. That part where everything is going smoothly and according to plan. But, how good is the good part if we never experienced the painful or disappointing parts? That's one aspect of the story that really stood out to me. It's all our experiences, the ups and downs, the good and the bad, that shape us and our lives, and skipping any part of those experiences would change the emotions attached to the present.

I am getting all deep here, but as I have already mentioned, this book had Cousens' signature humor. There were so many fun and slap-sticky moments associated with Lucy adapting to her new life in the future. But, I think what delighted me most, was watching her fall in love with her husband and her children.

In the end, I was so invested in Lucy and this life of her's. When I read this one part, I burst out in tears because I loved this life for her and her family.

"I don't want to miss our first kiss, our first fight, our first anything. And I'll take the heartache and the horror and the losses too, the fear of not knowing how it will all come to be, because that is life, in all its glorious, messy Technicolor. And I know I am so lucky to be here, and that every breath I take is the good part."

Overall: This was a beautiful reminder to embrace life and recognize the little things that make it special. I laughed, I cried, and I had an amazing time with Lucy as she learned to recognize all the good parts.

I have read all books by Sophie Cousens, and they keep getting better and better!

The Good Part was a bit more Women's Fiction than Romance. There was magical realism with the time travel element. Lucy's story was funny, relatable, and at times heartbreaking. I got a bit teary a few times, and laughed out loud at other times.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC, and for letting me share my early thoughts on The Good Part!

Sophie Cousens knows how to add humor, a splash of magical realism and fantastic characterization to help her tell some heavy stories. Lucy Young is in her twenties and is trying to find her way in life. She wants to move up in her career and she's tired of dates going nowhere. On a particularly bad day, she comes across a wishing machine and she wishes to get to the "Good Part" in her life. One wish granted and many wrinkles and years later, she finds that she does indeed live a good life, but what happens if you can't remember how you got there? I find that books by Sophie Cousens are stories to be savored. I take my time with them and really consider the heart of what her characters are going through. Their struggles are existential but very relatable. Her books are for readers who like romance with their plot, but also like heartfelt stories that will make you think as well as keep you entertained.

Though The Good Part had an intriguing premise, I didn't feel that it delivered. With the way the story was structured, it never felt like a romance, which is what I expected going into the book. There were parts of Lucy and Sam rediscovering their relationship, but it was such a minor part of the story.. I agree with others who felt that Felix was one of the more compelling pieces of the story, and I enjoyed Lucy finding her footing with Felix.

Lets start by saying that Sophie’s books have become “must buy” for me. I love what she brings with her stories and im always looking forward to them. This one was no different, Lucy’s story is a wild one but i was along for the ride. I loved reading this love story backwards and was so intrigued as to how it had all started. I also fell in love with Felix and the relationship he has with Lucy and just everything about its, it brought so much laughter and amusement! This is a 100% recommended book from here on out!!!

Lucy, 26 years-old, is terribly unhappy with her life. One day she happens upon a wishing machine that takes her straight to the "good part" of her life: age 42, with a darling and hot husband, two wonderful kids, and a job to die for. But she's a stranger in her own home. As she experiences life 16 years in the future, she has to decide, does she stay here, having missed nearly two decades of her life, or does she go back to the crumby life she had, younger but more care-free?

Get ready for a roller coaster! I AM 42 years-old, so reading this was especially "spot-on" for me. I found myself wistful for my own 26 year-old self. This story was full of heart. It's made of everything life is made of: pros and cons, heartbreak and triumph. The importance of uplifting the people in our spheres of influence is prominently featured. I love books that make you see your own life in a new way, and this book does that in spades! It was romantic, gripping, and fun. But it was also sad, anxiety-provoking, and serious. Just like life.

Trigger warnings: death of a friend (off page), death of a baby (off page), ailing parents, memory loss, cheating, divorce, stress related to aging, stress related to job performance, brain aneurysm, death related to infection following surgery

I'd like to thank PENGUIN Group Putnam and Netgalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

When this book started, I liked it but was waiting to see if I would love it. About 50-60% through, I got what I was looking for! Lucy leaves from an awful tinder-like date (who hasn’t been there? 😅) and finds a wishing machine where she wishes that she could skip to the good part of her life. She wakes up the next morning 16 years into the future, with a husband and kids, and no memory of I how she got there. I am always so intrigued with how authors contemplate memory loss/wishes granted/a different life and I thought that, even though this book followed a familiar approach, Sophie Cousens was able to put her own spin on it. I really appreciated the acknowledgement that there are both good and bad things about skipping a significant chunk of your life. By the point in the book where Lucy got to choose if she wanted to stay or go back, I really wasn’t sure what she would do, because the family she meets and the way her relationships have shifted, and the way she’s excelled in her career made for a compelling argument to stay. I think either staying or going could have both been good options, and I think it’s hard for an author to write a book like that! Lucy’s son Felix was easily one of my favorite characters. He was so cute and curious, and reading how Lucy was able to bond with him was sweet. If you’re a fan of the memory loss trope, or the It’s a Wonderful Life vibes of wishing life away, you will enjoy this book!!