This type of plot has been done quite a bit, but I adored Sophie Cousens take on it! Lucy is at her wits end at the bottom of the ladder of her dream job. She is barely making ends meet, her living situation is awful and her best friend/roomate is about to move out leaving her feeling like her life is in shambles. After a rough night she ends up in a convenience store at a wishing machine. She wishes that she could just wake up and be at the good part of her life. The machine says wish granted and she leaves. The next morning she wakes up in a strange house with a man and children. Her life has fast forward 16 years to the actual good part!

Felix is absolutely hilarious, he is very mature for his age and knows a lot a fun life facts. Sam is so patient and truly loves Lucy to her core even when she can't remember the details they make up their relationship and life together.

Thank you so much PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons, Sophie Cousens & NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Wow okay, a lot to unpack here but I also am too tired to write a giant review. Let’s just talk about the ending. I really enjoyed this book and ended up being a bit disappointed in what Lucy chose to do in the end. Although everything did seem to work out, ultimately, it made me a bit sad!! This book ended up being unexpected and it gave me 13 Going on 30 vibes, but it was a really good read. There are some things mentioned that can be a trigger for some people, so if you choose to read this book, please keep that in mind. This review is also all over the place, but I’m on an airplane as I’m writing this lol.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of Sophie Cousens’ new book!

𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗜𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘
—fast reads
—time travel / a bit of fantasy
—chick lit

Sophie Cousens is a must read author for me, and The Good Part became my favorite.

Lucy, 26, broke, and unhappy, wishes that she can skip to the "good part" of her life. Wish granted, she wakes up successful, married, and with 2 kids - but no recollection of the last 16 years that brought her to this point.

This novel was thought provoking and emotional. Felix is a true treasure to the novel. It introduces a new perspective that I don't typically find from a fiction novel. It leaves me wondering "what would I do if I was in Lucy's shoes?". Do you want to risk missing the good and bad to get to the good?

Highly recommend The Good Part, out 6 November 2023.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Everyone can understand wanting to skip the bad and rush to the part we want... but its the living in-between that we enjoy looking back. Sophie does a great job balancing the different plot points and the characters were just, well Lucy and Sam were so well written and relatable that I couldn't put the story down.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and publishers for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

If you're a fan of heartfelt rom-coms with fantasy elements (specifically, time travel), look no further than Sophie Cousens's latest novel, The Good Part. Cousens manages to perfectly balance the past and the present, the emotional with the fun, creating a book that is grounded enough to be relatable, but with a high concept that you're invited into the questions it poses. If you could skip past the tough times, to 'the good part', would you? And if you did, what would you do if you were in Lucy's shoes?
I was a bit disappointed in the decision Lucy makes in the end, but I was pleased that it came as an unexpected choice on the author's behalf, and I thought that it did come together for a pleasing result in the final chapter.

I received an ARC copy of this book and loved it. A reminder of how we always want to skip to the good part and miss out. It was a good read and very enjoyable.

Sophie Cousens did it again! "The Good Part" is sweet and human. Fans will love this book and new readers will too.

Thank you for the ARC! I was so excited to pick this up. I am including my positive public review below. Overall, loved this story. Cousens blends magic and fiction so well. Many of us can relate to wanting to fast-forward to “the good part”, and seeing how Lucy navigated this strange situation was fun and heartwarming. I loved that the lesson at the end was that nothing is ever truly perfect, and that Lucy trusted/took the chance to go back to her life and live it to the fullest instead of staying in “the good part”

I did leave 3 criticisms that do not change my great opinion of the book, but figured I’d mention it:

1. The name of the nanny/help being Maria. This seemed a bit stereotypical to me, as a Latina. I would love to see name diversity in other characters instead.

2. Felix was so adorable and so funny, but sometimes his behavior was too mature for his age. Some of the conversations between him and his mom seemed a bit unbelievable. I work with kids so while I know how smart they are, the maturity level required for those types of long conversations wasn’t quite there for such a young kid.

3. At the end, when Lucy overhears some young women talking about going out that night, one of them mentions she wants to stay home and rest. Lucy thinks something along the lines of “they don’t know how tired really feels - try being a mom and only sleeping 4 hours, etc etc”. Of course, in the book, it was written far more eloquently, but the sentiment of judgement and reduction of their exhaustion were still apparent. Maybe this wasn’t the intention, but often, people in their 20s hear how easy their lives are because they don’t have kids/are too young to be tired, but with this book being about how nothing is ever truly easy and how we should appreciate each stage as it is, seemed to miss the mark on that part.

Overall, absolutely loved the book and would be honored at the continued opportunity to reas Cousen’s work.

Thank you again.

Time travel/time “wonky” books are not typically my favorite, but I enjoined this thought provoking one from Sophie Cousens.

In a very relatable way Lucy wishes her life would skip to “the good part”, the good job, man, life. And her wish is granted. She’s suddenly a wife, a mom, and a career woman. It’s everything she wanted, but she has no memory of the last 16 years.

This of course is a challenge. Through humor and love Lucy has to adapt and figure out what she really wants in life. Did missing out on the bad actually mean she missed out on the good? Would you go back to move forward? All these questions are asked of Lucy and the reader.

I thought this book was cute. I thought the love story between Lucy and Sam was charming and magical and I really loved Lucy and her kid’s relationship as well. This book left me with lingering thoughts and wanting more.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC.

This novel has some fantasy time travel, the main character wants to jump to "the good part" of her life, and that's not really my thing. But once she jumps ahead in her life, and you get past her not recognizing her children or knowing how to drive her car, it's a lot of fun and there are some realistic feelings about falling in love all over again and appreciating what you have. I appreciate those messages, and liked Lucy, the main character a whole lot more by the end of the story.

This book was written by Sophie Cousens who wrote a delightful and entertaining story of one woman’s journey to the future to see and live her life during the “Good Part” of her life. Although the story started a little slow it quickly shifts into high gear. She awakes too find she is married to a very attractive man, has two children and owns and runs a television production company a dream of hers. Yet she forgets the last sixteen years. Her husband and children are strangers to her. The future has more technological advances that causes her discomfort. She tries at first to fit into her future life but isn’t very successful at it. Over two weeks she falls in love with the stranger who is her husband, learns to love and cherish her children. And saves her company from total destruction. Yet during this time she searches for the wishing machine that sent her to the future hoping to return to her past life. But does Lucy succeed in her quest. Who wouldn’t want a glimpse at their future lives. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and encourage others to mark their calendar for November to read this delightful book.

So I gave The Good Part 4 stars because it left me wanting to read more! I was actually pretty surprised that Lucy decided to go back, I thought she loved her new life but I can see how she’d want to go back anyway. I loved reading the dialogue between Lucy and her husband Sam and little felix gave the book such comic relief. The ending wasn’t what I expected but overall it was a great book!

So cute! The book read of the summer! I love how it was a contemporary romance and incorporated alot of humor!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this early read opportunity. I’ve read all of Sophie Cousens books and this one sure didn’t disappoint. Lucy is 26 and feels like she just wants to hurry up and get the “good parts” of life. She’s tired of her living situation, job-where she got a promotion in name only, and her meeting duds on the dating apps. She makes a wish and ends up 16 years in the future with a husband, 2 kids, and a dream job. She has a lot of thinking to do to decide if she likes her life and is ok on missing out on 16 years or if she wants to return to being 26. I loved the relationship she establishes with her kids and husband. I couldn’t love this book any more than I do. I literally finished in less than a day!

Thank you Sophie Cousens for writing this beautiful book and to Netgalley and Putnam Books for the ARC.

This was such a wonderful feel good book that makes you question all the “what-if” moments, appreciate all the stages of life, and truly value the rollercoaster that is life. I will be recommending this book to everyone! 🥹🩷

This story follows Lucy, a dissatisfied 26-year-old who longs for a different future. One day, she magically leaps 16 years ahead after making a wish on a fortune teller machine.

I loved this book! There were some slow parts but overall it gave me strong 13-going-on-30 vibes and it was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The characters were likable and the plot was engaging.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I absolutely adored this book. It’s thoughtful, funny, insightful and heartwarming all at once. Our heroine, Lucy, and the other characters are all relatable and real. I can’t wait to see what Sophie Cousens has in store for us next.

In Sophie Cousens latest novel you follow Lucy Young a young woman fed up with all of life’s trials truly wishing to get to the good part. Lucy after experiencing a terrible night stumbles into a store and makes a wish to just as the title implied get to the good part. The next morning she awakes and is there. Sleeping beside a gorgeous man and waking up to two beautiful children she at first is in complete denial. Her husband and closest friends think she’s lost memories and only her son is in on the secret that she is not his mom but a former version of who his mom was. Slowly she begins to fall in love with the good part of her life and just as she has she is faced with the decision to go back and live life to get to this point with no guarantees of things not being altered or staying and gaining all the missing memories. The question really is, is life worth it if not fully lived? A great novel that makes you reflect on the daily things or times less enjoyable.

Lucy at age twenty six is going through a rough patch in her life when comes upon a wishing machine where she wishes to be at “the good part” of her life. The next day she wakes up and is suddenly in her forties, married with kids and a job she could only have dreamed of having. Is this the life she has always wanted or is she missing out on a huge chunk of her life? Will Lucy embrace this new life or wish she could go back to the past?

I absolutely loved the message that this book spread. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the whole time traveling thing but I really enjoyed it!! I found myself reflecting on my own life throughout the book as I followed Lucy throughout her story. I loved the theme that every part of your life is beautiful and can be hard at times, but it’s those experiences that make you who you are. I loved how this book discussed hard experiences that people may go through in real life and it made the book feel so real. There is some romance in it but I would definitely classify it more as women’s fiction. The characters were all so likable and I enjoyed seeing all the types of relationships Lucy had including both her personal relationships and her work relationships. I really loved Sophie Cousens writing and would definitely recommend this book!!

I loved this book! I have unintentionally been reading books with a time travel element lately, and this was a great one! Lucy is a twenty-something single woman struggling with work satisfaction, financial issues, dating disappointments, and weird roommates in an apartment that's falling apart. I laughed out loud a ton, especially at the beginning of this book, about the way the author described Lucy's life circumstances. After a particularly disastrous night, Lucy finds a "wishing machine" ("Big" anyone??) and wishes she could skip to the "good part" of her life. The next morning, Lucy wakes up in a strange bed and discovers she has skipped 16 years into the future, where she has a great career, she's happily married and has two kids. Adjusting to this new life is challenging, since she doesn't remember anything that led her to that point in her life. She soon finds out that life isn't always great, and even in the good part of your life, there are still sad and difficult moments. I don't always love how kids are portrayed in books (not usually super interesting) but I really loved Felix and his interactions with his mom. So glad I got to read this book early due to receiving an ARC from Netgalley. It will be released November 7!

#netgalley #thegoodpart #summerreading #summerreads