Oh this one is fun! If you’re around my age— this book may remind you of some fan favorites— 13 going on 30, Big, 17 again.. wishing to get to a certain part of your life and BOOM it happens!

Lucy was struggling and stumbled upon a wishing machine after a long night out.. and casts her wish to “get to the good part” of her life. She wakes up the next day 16 years older, in a strange house with a stranger in bed beside her.. who happens to be her husband. She quickly finds out she has 2 children, and has no recollection of getting married or having kids.

Her son quickly realizes that something is “off” with his mom and determines she is an alien 🤣 she tries to connect with her best friends and realizes that not everything there has stayed the same and some things she “missed” absolutely broke her heart.

Once I got into this one, I couldn’t put it down. I really enjoyed her husband, Sam, and all the grace he showed her as she went through this period of “forgetting.” He was just so understanding and sweet to her despite her struggles to catch up.

When she ultimately has to make her choice as to stay, and slowly remember.. vs track down the machine and hopefully return to her old life.. it pulled at my heart. A hard decision not knowing if her life would turn out the same. I definitely recommend this one- it was somehow my first by Cousens but won’t be my last!

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

If you are like me and love books that whisk you off to your childhood and give you a huge taste of nostalgia, then this is the perfect book for you! It’s a twist on Big and 13 Going on 30. While it was mostly fun and cute, there were definitely harder things to work through. Just like with every life, Lucy wakes up one morning in her 40s and there were some revelations that are difficult. I have enjoyed all of Cousens’s books and this one was no exception!

Thanks to NetGalley and GP Putnam’s Sons for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Reminiscent of 13 Going on 30 meets BIG, this tells the story of 26-year-old Lucy Young who after a crappy day makes a wish to just get to the good part of life. The next morning, Lucy wakes up in her 42-year-old body. Did her wish really come true or is she suffering from amnesia? Don’t get me wrong, I love new adult fiction, but I think what made this book better than a strictly Big or 13GO30 retelling is the fact that Lucy gets transported to her early 40s with a career, swoon worthy husband, mom-bod, kids, and baggage. In spite of missing 16 years worth of memories, Lucy starts to acclimate and love her new life.

This was a very cute book, and I especially loved the relationship between Lucy and her skeptical son, Felix.

Many thanks to Putnam Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

By chance I read two back to back fantasy wish books. Both were good but in very different ways. Lucy Young (26) lives in London working a low level job in TV. After a terrible date she ends up in a tiny shop where she makes a wish on a wishing machine. She wishes to get to the good part of her life. I like that the book moves fairly quickly to that point as it is all revealed in the blurb. She wakes up the next day and is alarmed to realize that it is sixteen years later. She is married and has two children and seemingly her dream job but she has no memory of the years between.

I was concerned for her in the future as she has people relying on her at work and she has no idea what is going on. But where this works for me is catching up with her BFFs and learning how she met her husband. And her relationship with son Felix is adorable especially as he knows she has changed before anyone else believes. Also unlike my other book there is a genuine choice moment which I won’t elaborate about. I did like the little touches of science fiction type changes like holograms and such.

This is my third book by Cousens and they are all good general fiction with some romance. (Intimacy is closed.) The humor is subtle and this one touched my feelings. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC and I am leaving a voluntary review.

Thank you @netgalley for the advanced copy of The Good Part, out November 7th!

What a great book - I would maybe put this under “Rom Com” but that’s not quite accurate. More like “Rom Self” as the main character, Lucy, ends up having to find herself and figure out what’s right for her.

Lucy is 26 years old and really in the grind - at a job that she likes but doesn’t feel appreciated, three roommates who don’t seem to know what boundaries are, an upstairs neighbor whose bathroom is leaking into her bedroom and nary an extra pound to spend. After a particularly tough night, Lucy finds herself at a bodega that has a wishing machine, where she asks “When do I get to the good part of my life?” And boom, the next day she wakes at 42 to find herself married with two kids and a seemingly great job. However, how did she get here? Yesterday she was 26!

This book was very cute because I found myself asking what I would do in this situation - being thrown into motherhood, marriage and not knowing a lick about the job you now have, how would you cope? Cousens puts all this together with a sense of humor and a realistic narrative on how this would play out. As Lucy learns, the “grass is always greener” scenario doesn’t come without some hidden gophers or weeds you have to dig out. The ups and downs seemed very “realistic” for a Magical Realism plot and I flew through it in about three days.

Synopsis: Think 13 going on 30, but rather 26 going on 42. A woman stumbles across a wishing machine after an especially terrible night out, and wishes that she can “skip to the good part” of her life. When she wakes the next morning she is in a new life that she has no recollection of.
Pros: I thought this was a very sweet women’s fiction story. It had great characters, funny moments and an overall nice message about appreciating the good and bad moments in life.
Cons: This is by a British author so I didn’t always ‘get’ the humor or references, but I enjoyed it nonetheless and would recommend it when it’s released in November!
Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the early copy!

I loved this book so much! Big meets 13 Going on Thirty and I'm here for it! After a very rough night (disappointing day at work, fight with best friend, weird date), twenty-six-year-old Lucy makes a wish on a machine to skip to the "good part" of her life, where her career and romantic life are "sorted." She wakes the next morning with a strange man in her bed and wrinkles she never had before. She's 42 and married with two kids! She has no idea how to care for children, run a company, or work the weird "future" car but eventually starts to love her new life and all the people in it and wonders if she wants to go back to her old life after all. The characters in this book were so charming, as is the case for all of this author's book. I especially adored Felix. He stole every scene he was in. I am such a huge fan of Sophie Cousens and am already excited for her next book!

I loved this book! Lucy was such a fun heroine and the way the story was told was so charming and delightful. I’m a sucker for time travel and British chick-lit so this was right up my alley, and exactly what I needed to read

Wow! This is such an amazing book, definitely a 5-star read for me!

The main character is done living her life as it is with a dead-end job, and she wishes that she can skip to “the good part” (cue the AJR song). Well, she gets her wish and what she experiences is so interesting and fun to read about.

I absolutely loved getting to read about some of the inventions the author dreamt up for the future. The characters are so well-developed. I especially loved little Felix 🥰

Besides a few typos (which are common in ARCs), the writing of the entire book was absolutely beautiful. Can’t wait to see what this author thinks up next!

Thank you to NetGalley for the free ARC in return for an honest review.

⭐️: 3/5

26-year-old Lucy Young is tired of waiting to get to the good part of her life, so when she comes across a wishing machine on the way home from another disastrous date, she wishes she could skip ahead to when she’s achieved everything she wanted. When she wakes up the next morning, it’s 16 years later, she has a husband and two kids, and her dream career. Unsure about whether she actually skipped ahead 16 years or if she just forgot parts of her life, she tries to embrace her new life and new relationships while trying to figure out how to go back, and furthermore, if she even wants to.

This is the second book I’ve read of this “skipping ahead in life,” Thirteen Going on Thirty theme in the past few months, and it’s…honestly not my favorite. I love Sophie Cousen’s books, especially This Time Next Year, and I definitely found this one entertaining and relatable at times (although Lucy could be particularly and annoyingly bad at just…things, even for a romcom FMC), but the ongoing theme that time-jump books have of just the anxiety and inner monologue of the main character panicking about how to live their new life and having no idea what’s going on in this future timeline just make me feel so claustrophobic for some reason, and also irritated with all the self-pity that usually goes along with it. Add in the fact that I can’t stop my brain from going through the whole scenario of “what happens to the future timeline if they go back? Are they basically killing everyone in the future timeline?? That’s so fucking tragic!” And they’re just…not my favorite trope. It’s hard to do or say anything new with them, and this one was no exception.

Thank you to @netgalley and @putnambooks for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!!

This gives me all the 13 Going on 30 vibes.

This was such a fun story. I liked how it was different--not just boy meets girl and fall in love. Lucy starts 26 and jumps 16 years in the future. She has a husband and kids she doesn't know and a whole career that's new to her.

This book dealt with some harder topics so don't let the cartoon cover fool you. Check out the TW.

I've been reading all the British rom com books this month and loving it! I adore Sophie Cousens and will continue to read all her books!

4/5 stars!

When it feels like her life is in shambles, Lucy stumbles upon a wishing machine and asks to skip to “the good part” of life. She then wakes up in a strange bed with no recollection of the last 16 years.

I love Sophie Cousen’s storytelling. It took some time for me to get into this one, but I enjoyed it more once Lucy was navigating her future life. It was entertaining to see Lucy fumble with motherhood and trying to explain her memory loss to her son Felix. I also loved the slow reveal of her and Sam’s love story as Lucy tries to remember the previous years.

This is a heartwarming read that reminds us that you can’t have the good parts without a little bit of bad along the way. It’s a story of growth and more women’s fiction than romance and I highly recommend.

📖 ARC REVIEW 📖

Thank you @putnambooks for an early copy of The Good Part by Sophie Cousens. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 🤍

Rating: ⭐⭐/5
Release date: November 7th, 2023

Blurb: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/112976344-the-good-part?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=PbEl2zn3r6&rank=1

🛑Read on with caution; review may contain spoilers🛑

I was drawn by the blurb for this book, which has some 13 going on 30 vibes, but I found the main character Lucy quite unlikeable. For someone who went from 26 years old to her forties, I still kind of expected some sort of maturity. I mean, she’s an adult but the way she was reacting to things in her new life was quite immature for a 26-year-old living in a forty-something body. Yes, her new life and the sudden change were shocking, but she skipped all the bad parts and relevant experiences in her life. She had no chemistry with her husband since the current version of herself hasn’t made any connection with him, and she knows nothing about her current job since she lacked the experience. I struggled reading this and the only character that kept me going was Felix, by far the best character here.

This was quite a letdown for me as I loved Cousen’s previous books.

Absolutely adored this book! Funny, sweet, heartfelt… reminiscent of 13 going on 30, but with its own spin. I loved the vulnerability of the main character throughout her journey. The author made me laugh out loud with her portrayal of the confusion of waking up in a future life… I loved it!

<i>I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

This book is very reminiscent of the movies that inspired it (<i>Big</i>, <i>13 Going On 30</i>, etc) but it has its own flair, its own voice. It's very grounded in reality -- though Lucy's future is something to behold! -- with the only bits of magical realism being the machine she uses to make her wish. It's the right balance of whimsy and maybe-this-could-really-happen.

I liked this book, a lot. So many people can relate to Lucy. I know I can! She's a perfectly flawed character. Her group of friends is wonderfully dynamic and diverse. Sam is *chef's kiss* And Felix is absolutely darling.

Everything Lucy gets up to, both as a 26-year-old and as a 42-year-old, is charming and resonant and gross and true. You feel for her and you feel alongside her. I can honestly say I had no idea how this story would end and I loved that!

The reason I didn't rate this 5 stars is because there's some pretty heavy off-screen content that is discussed. I wasn't expecting it. I suppose that's my bad because that's life but the cover and synopsis made me think this would be fairly light-hearted. It isn't so consider yourself warned.

All in all, I will be recommending this book to most of my friends.

I just didn't click with this, unfortunately. I love Sophie Cousens, but I just couldn't get into this one. It's not the book, it's definitely me.

I absolutely loved this book! I enjoyed the time jump plot, romance, and falling in love all over again. Have you ever seen the movies “13 Going On 30” or “The Family Man? This book reminded me of those movies, but even if you’ve never seen either one, you should still read this book.

Lucy is going through a rough spot in life. Water is dripping onto her bed from the ceiling, her friend/roommate is moving out, and she’s in a dead-end job; you get the picture. What if she could move forward to get to “the good part” of her life? What would her future look like? This book takes us there, along with Lucy, to find out whether or not her future life is all that she wants it to be.

I have read a few previous books by this author, and I have to say this one is my favorite because I liked the topic. I sometimes wonder “what if” regarding my decisions and actions in life. I also liked how Lucy’s character developed and realized she had to take control.

While this is a great contemporary romance, it was a little deeper than that, with a nice helping of fantasy and magic thrown in.

Instagram post will go live on 10/23/2023 @read.rest.recharge
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5921706345 (review is live)
StoryGraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/9d549481-91e0-48a5-b01d-2d086b1a905f

I love these "wake up in your body, but with an alternative life" stories and this one did not disappoint. It is funny and poignant and a great way to reflect on what we wish for...and what happens if we get it!

There are few things more comforting to me than a Sophie Cousens book, so I was very excited to read The Good Part. It follows Lucy, a 20-something who is quite literally going through it. Her life is a mess, and all she wants is to get to the good part where everything works out for her. Since most of the plot happens when she gets her wish, it's easy to understand why she would want that life, even though choosing that life and skipping forward in time comes with consequences.

As someone who constantly flips back and forth between being terrified of time passing but also wanting to get to the better parts of life without the struggle, I immediately fell for this book. I understood why Lucy would want that future life, but I also understood why living through the struggle might be worth it too. This conflict and having to choose between either skipping 16 years of your life and just living through the good parts, or living through those 16 years and experiencing the pain that comes along with it, was something that really sold the book for me and made me more invested in Lucy's story.

Overall, I really loved this and I was once again not let down by Sophie Cousens. Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the eARC!

The Good Part by Sophie Cousens is the story 9f Lucy, a woman in her mid twenties who is tired of the grind, the living with roommates in a nasty flat, living paycheck to paycheck and just life as it is. She stumbled into a shop with a wishing machine and wishes she would get to the Good Part of her life, and wakes up the next morning next to a handsome man, with wonderful children, and in her mid forties with no idea how she got there. Be careful what you wish for! Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.