The Good Part by Sophie Cousens is an interesting novel. I can’t remember that last time I’ve loved the introduction of a book as much as I loved this one! This book is a thought provoking look at what parts of our life really mean, at the transition to middle age. I really enjoyed this book and think readers of women’s fiction will enjoy it as well. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

Here's the thing. Usually not a huge fan of time travel books, but this one THIS ONE is so good. The concept of time travel is used as a plot device to ask the question, "What if you were given everything you ever wanted, would you be happy."

I haven't read all of Cousens backlist yet, but I have to believe this is one of her best. It's done so well. You love all the characters and are rooting for so many things to happen.

Highly recommend!

3.5!! Ha! After writing this and then reading the acknowledgements, I found Cousens found inspiration from Big, 13 Going on 30, and Freaky Friday.

The scene when she sees herself older is big Jamie Lee Curtis in Freaky Friday vibes “oh, I’m like the crypt keeper!” And then the scene of her figuring out where she works is very 13 going on 30. The whole set up is Big with Tom Hanks.

That said… the plot was unoriginal and very basic, with no real ups and downs. I still really enjoyed the writing, tempo, characters (confused about Felix’s wisdom beyond his age—LOVE Sam), banter, and life Cousens created for Lucy… but I am someone who LOVES to know every detail about the comings and goings of a family like theirs. So I’m probably the target audience. With no high stakes, I can see this boring readers, but I found it “believable” (as can be for this genre) and endearing.

I totally see where she was going with “value every day” and “it’s all the good part”… but that’s a cross-stitch, not a novel.

Hear me say, Sophie Cousens is an automatic-read author for me. This one just may or may not be up your alley.

<i>Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!</i>

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. I mostly enjoyed the read, it's a time travel/13 going on 30 vibe about a 20-something woman who's broke and tired of the daily grind wishing she could skip ahead to the good part of her life. She gets what she wishes for, but she realizes that now she's missed out on the journey of life. Definitely some good messages throughout. There were some heavy topics that I thought added good depth to the story. Felix was probably my favorite character. I found Lucy to be a tad unlikeable. I personally did not feel the "chemistry" with her husband, so the romance side of the plot didn't really do it for me. Unlike 13 going on 30, many people are made aware of future-Lucy's "memory problem" and honestly it's a little concerning how everyone treated it as a minor inconvenience. It took away from the magic. The anxiety of the time travel concept really got to me and made it hard to pick up this book, I wish there had been more fun to be had, it felt like pure anxiety nightmare fuel.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for allowing me to voluntarily read and review an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

In this Big meets 13 going on 30 retelling, Lucy is tired of dating, tired of putting in grunt work at her job, and the financial stress of being 26. When she stumbles upon an old fashion "wishing machine", she puts in her coins and wishes that she could skip to the good part.

Imagine her surprise when she wakes up in bed with a strange man. She is 16 years older, has a husband, and 2 children. As Lucy navigates her new world, she must decide whether she wants to stay in the "good part" or go back to her original life to experience all of the ups and downs of the journey there.

I really loved this book. Sophie Cousins has an incredible knack for sucking you into a story that is both funny, romantic, and emotional. Her books all have a sort of magical quality to them.

I would give this 4.5 stars overall!

I absolutely adored this book!! I will say I am not a fan of magical/fantasy elements, but Sophie Cousens did it so so well! I think a lot of moms of littles would enjoy this book because as much as you know it’s the “good part” there’s always parts you miss about your early adult years.

Thank you NetGalley and Sophie Cousens. I couldn’t put this book down. The characters and premise are something I think everyone wonders. What if you were given a wishing machine? How would you spend it? I laughed and I cried.

Love: It was so beautiful!
Humor: OMG yes. The deep moments were deep but the funny ones were hilarious!

Tears ran down my face I was laughing so hard within the first 50 pages. Talk about instantly hooked! I was so excited to laugh my way through this book and have a good time.
I always do this - always - but somehow I read reviews somewhere and to some extent, add the book to my TBR, start reading, and immediately find myself thinking "OmGgGgG this was not what I was eXpEcTiNgGgGgG!"
How did I have NO idea this was a Freaky Friday type trope?! HOW! Well it is and I'm over here screaming at Lucy to make sure Amy doesn't fall down the stairs and she definitely should NOT be taking the tags off the purple suit and NO she CANNOT kiss hot Callum!

The Good Part was such a fun and warm read.
Getting to see Lucy fall in love all over again was wonderful. Her imposter syndrome and jealousy at herself made my chest feel tight because I could somehow feel that hurt.
My heart broke a little for Sam while he carried the weight of the all the bad and feeling guilty for being excited at Lucy's new lightness and also being afraid that he'd lost his wife... while having his wife. Those moments were tricky and I cried a little.
🧡 Felix is everything and has a great Alien radar.
🧡 Mr. Finkley needed more chapters and I' love to befriend him.
🧡 This book should come with croissants.
---
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!
---
Spice: None. No spice or smut here. Read the book anyway!

I am NOT someone who enjoys magical/fantasy elements in books - I am too much of a realist, so I am glad I went into this blind, because had I read the description, I wouldn't have picked it up. I am so glad I went in blind because I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!

This was a quintessential British chick-lit and I need more of this style writing in my life. The quick pace, the banter, the genuine feelings this book made me feel!!

I need more from Sophie Cousens STAT!

🅶🅴🅽🆁🅴—𝑅𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 / 𝑀𝒶𝑔𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁 𝑅𝑒𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓈𝓂
🗓ℙ𝕦𝕓 𝔻𝕒𝕥𝕖—ℕ𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝟟, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟛

“𝓗𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓮𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓼𝓴𝓲𝓹 𝓽𝓸 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓖𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓟𝓪𝓻𝓽?”

✂️ P L O T L I N E
Lucy Young is a tired and poor 26 year old who is just ready to get to the “good part” of her life. After an awful date, she stumbles upon a wishing machine and wishes for this exact thing. She wakes up 16 years in the future and has no memories of the previous 16 years. She now has a perfect family, an amazing wardrobe , and high-powered job. Has she really skipped in to the future, or has she just forgotten a huge chunk of her life? As she begins to embrace her new life, she has to ask herself: if she could go back, would she want to?

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
A pure delight to read! This is my first book by Sophie Cousens and I enjoyed it so much. The characters were perfection. They were authentic and lovable and I loved all their quirks. I adored the son Felix and the husband Sam so much. It was such a nostalgic read and really a great reminder to try to enjoy the small and big moments of our life and to slow down and live one day at a time. I feel like many of the themes in the book have been done before in other books and movies, but I didn’t mind at all. I love a good mix of magical realism and romance. It might be one of my favorite genres to read. There are some serious topics in this book so make sure you ask or check out trigger warnings if needed. I didn’t include them in my review because I don’t want to spoil anything!

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
💫Romance reads with serious topics ❤️
💫Time travel🕰️
💫Magical realism🪄
💫Self discovery 💡
💫Wishes coming true 🧞‍♀️
💫13 going on 30 movie 🍿

🕰️𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾🕰️
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

💕Q U O T E: “𝐼 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉’𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒶 𝒷𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓈, 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒾𝓃𝓃𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝑒𝒾𝓇𝒹𝑜 𝓉𝑜.”

🙏 Thank you NetGalley, Putnam Books, and Sophie Cousens for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts 💕

13 Going On 30 is one of my favorite movies, so when I saw this partly inspired by it I knew it would be a must-read.

Lucy is 26 and her life is basically in stall mode. She’s in a dead end job with little hope of advancing and pays poorly. She is also stuck sharing an apartment with three other people. Her other friends are flourishing, and there’s no romantic attachment on the horizon for her either.

On a low night, she encounters an old woman with a wishing machine. Lucy wishes to get to the good part of her life, and her wish is granted. She wakes up and is sixteen years further into her life….oh my!

I loved reading Lucy navigate this new life of hers and trying to connect with her loved ones that she had just met while also trying to get back to her old life.

Shout out to NetGalley for this lovely ARC.

In The Good Part, by Sophie Cousens, Lucy is a 26-year-old TV runner in a rundown flat share who is in despair about her living situation, her job, and the state of her love life.

Without enough money even to catch the train home, Lucy ends up walking back home after an evening out with her friends and gets caught in the rain. When she ducks into a newsstand to wait out the storm, she finds an old-fashioned wishing machine and makes the wish to “skip to the good part” of her life, the part where everything is sorted out.

Poof. Lucy wakes up the next morning as a fortysomething-year-old wife, mother, and executive. She has a beautiful life, everything she hoped her life would become, but she can’t remember how any of it came to be. Has she really skipped ahead or has she lost her memory?

This coming-of-age tale has everything. Romance, magical realism, and a protagonist you will root for the entire way. In the vein of Big, 13 Going on 30, and The Family Man, The Good Part will leave you feeling warm and happily satisfied.

Thank you to Sophie Cousens, Penguin Group Putnam, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

I loved loved loved this book. It felt like a mash-up of Big and 13 Going on 30 with lovable characters and witty banter. I cannot recommend this book enough. You will not regret snuggling up to this book.

I received an ARC from Netgalley.

The chilly drip from Lucy’s bedroom ceiling wakes her each morning, a job with a London television production company where she receives no recognition and little pay. Lucy is exhausted from chasing adulthood only to find her bank account empty and the last croissant long gone. Late one evening after a rough day at work and an even worse hook up, Lucy stumbles into a small shop to get out of the rain. An older Scottish woman offers her a turn in the wishing booth, a machine tucked away in the back corner. With little to lose, she humors the woman by accepting. As Lucy closes her eyes there is nothing she wants more out of life than to get to the “good part.” The next day she wakes in a strange bed with a man she does not know. Realizing she drank quite a bit the previous night she hobbles to the bathroom to snap out of this dreamlike state. When Lucy glances in the mirror she is petrified. Lucy is an older version of herself, 42 to be exact. This is her gorgeous house, and very handsome husband. She is the mother to Felix aged 7 and little toddler Amy. She is even the boss at work! Go Lucy! But she cannot recall how she got here. This may be the “good” part, even the best part but Lucy has lost 16 years of her life and is terrified they are gone forever. This beautiful, entertaining romance includes so many life lessons. When things gets hectic it is hard to live in the moment and not rush or wish away everyday stress. It is hard to remember that the days are long but the years are short - and it all goes much too fast.

I really enjoyed this one! I loved the nostalgia of so many of our favorite early 2000s movies. There was something holding it back from me for being a 5 star read, but it also might’ve just been wrong book at the wrong time.

The Good Part was the absolute cutest story. This book was so relatable. I think everyone can think of a time in their lives when they just wanted to skip to the good part. There are entire TikTok trends about it! Lucy’s story made me laugh and cry and I could not wait to see how it all turned out. I especially loved the ending. It was just perfect!

Really really didn’t love this. I felt like the main character was a huge whiner and I just couldn’t connect with any part of the book in any way.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
“Be careful what you wish for, life is never quite sorted whatever stage you’re at.”
I love this book. I love everything Sophie Cousens writes. Read this you will love it.

This book was a great read. From start to finish it flowed so well and wasn’t slow at all. From Lucy’s 26 year old life to her 42 year old life I found myself relating at many stages. The familial relationships in this book were truly beautiful - so raw and real and heartfelt. Many times I found myself going back and forth between if this was real or if she did have amnesia and that is always nice for the reader to never fully know until the end. Throughout the whole book I felt areas I could relate or I would question in my own life “would I do anything different if I could.” This was truly a remarkable book!

Who hasn’t thought about how cool it would be to just skip ahead in life, fast forward through some of the rough patches and stop right at the sweet part? In this charming new novel, Sophie Cousens topples that topic in her own fanciful way, and I was happy to be a passenger on that adventure.

I had some skepticism this book was for me in the first few chapters, where there are a few cringe moments that had me doubting I could like our main character Lucy, but I really do by the end of the book. We get to see her evolution from 26 year old young woman just trying to figure out her path to 42 year old amnesiac who learn how to get comfortable in her own skin, even if she doesn’t remember all the events that brought her to that moment.

I loved the supporting cast in this book, the loving husband, the best friends, the crazy but adorable kids. I love that SC didn’t make Lucy’s path perfect in the present or the future because it made me really question whether she should try to stay in her future self or go back.

I wish I could say that the choice Lucy makes at the end is the one that I wanted her to make, but it wasn’t. I can’t say I wasn’t bummed about it, but I guess what makes this such a great book is that while I didn’t get what I wanted, I think the ending that was written was also perfect, probably the way it should have been. The fact that one of my biggest issues is that I wish I could see more of Lucy’s story speaks to how much I really enjoyed this one and why I would have no issues recommending it to others. 4.5 stars/5

**A big thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the advanced copy of this book in exhange for my honest review. I really enjoyed this opportunity.**