Meet Lucy, a 26-year-old woman who feels exhausted by her string of terrible dates, her leaky flat, and her stagnant television career. After a particularly disastrous date, she seeks refuge from the rain in an open shop, where she finds a wishing machine. Unfortunately, Lucy is so broke that she can't even afford to make a wish. However, the shopkeeper generously offers her the money, and Lucy makes a wish to fast-forward to the good part of her life.

The next morning, Lucy awakens to find herself in an entirely different life. She's now in her 40s, living in a beautiful home, in bed with a good-looking man, wearing a wedding ring, and being called "mum" by children she doesn't recognize. It becomes evident that she has made significant strides in her career as well. The twist lies in the fact that Lucy doesn't remember how she ended up in this new reality; her last memory is of using the wishing machine. Her family believes she has amnesia, while her son thinks she might be an alien.

As Lucy navigates this strange new existence, she begins to develop genuine affection for the people now in her life. However, she grapples with the dilemma of whether to find a way back to her old life and face all its challenges, including the hardships she wanted to skip. And if she could go back, would she?

"The Good Part" presents readers with an engaging exploration of choices, consequences, and the value of life's ups and downs. Lucy's journey invites us to ponder whether the allure of a seemingly perfect life is worth sacrificing the experiences that shape and define us as individuals.

I really liked this novel and the perspective the author gives on the importance of the hard parts. Lucy's friend group was very special and I loved their bond. And her son was both awesome and hilarious!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked it. The story didn’t go exactly as expected which made it fun and the ending was enjoyable even though it was basically what I expected

Another delightful book from Sophie Cousens. Each of her books has been fun to read and this one is no different though it takes on a different type of story than others that I have read. If you enjoy 13 Going on 30 or Big, this is similar wishing for a better future and regretting choices made along the way to get to "The Good Part" and missing out on so much life. It's one of those books that while mostly fairly light in theme gives a little pause to think about how you're living your own life and making sure you're doing it in the most fulfilling way.

This book was so cute! 13 going on 30 vibes, and done well.
My favorite characters were actually the two kids, lol. They were adorable and so well written.
Lucy has a lot to overcome when she wakes up as a 40-something year old, but she manages it messily but well.
The choice she has to make at the end is a difficult one, but I was very happy with the ending.
As always, Sophie Cousens knocked this one out of the park.

What if you’re in your 20s. Your work, living situation and love life are all in the toilet. But what if you get the chance to make a wish. To jump forward in time. To get to the good part of your life? Lucy makes a wish on an old arcade machine on one of the lowest points of her life and wakes up to a brand new life. Her life, sixteen years in the future to be exact.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for my honest review. I initially fell in love with Sophie Cousens work after reading Before I Do. I am a big fan of these type of stories where one wakes up in the body of your future self. Here we got an amazing story of someone navigating a life they’ve never lived. Learning to love a family with missing all the big steps in between. It’s a story of learning that sometimes we have to live through the hard parts to the good part.

I loved the ending to the story and I couldn’t have imagined it ending any other way.

Thank you Penguin Group Putnam, Sophie Cousens and Netgalley for an ARC!

Not gonna lie, it took me a bit to get into this book but once I did I didn’t want to put it down. Lucy struggling through being a broke 26 year old woman who just wants to get to the part of her life where she’s not struggling anymore is relatable as hell. The journey being just as important as the destination is the main theme of this book and it was amazing.

If Sophie Cousens writes it, I will read it. The Good Part is another fantastic book that I would recommend to everyone.

Lucy is 26 years old and tired - tired of not being taken seriously at work, tired of going on dates she knows won’t go anywhere, and tired of living in a damp room in a flat share. When she stumbles upon a wishing machine on a particularly bad night, she wishes to skip to the good part of her life. When she wakes up the next morning, Lucy is 42 years old, working at her dream job, married with two kids, and living in a beautiful house. But she doesn’t remember anything about the last 16 years, and while this life seems to be amazing, she’s not sure she’s okay with missing out on the journey she took to get there.

I loved this story. As someone who is smack in the middle of the 16-year chunk of time Lucy skips, I can see the appeal of jumping to the good part… but I can’t imagine missing this beautiful messy middle. As with every one of her books, Sophie Cousens made me laugh and made me feel, and it’s why I will continue to read everything she writes.

4.5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a digital review copy of Sophie Cousens' book The Good Part. This is my first Sophie Cousens read, and I really enjoyed it!

The synopsis reminded me of 13 Going on 30, one of my favorite films. Lucy, a 26 year old who's broke, overlooked and unappreciated at her job, and lives in a crowded dump of an apartment, comes across a wishing machine and wishes to fast forward to the "good part" of her life.

I loved this premise. The idea of fate, and the profound story of a couple who puts in the love, respect, and work into developing, strengthening, reaffirming their relationship and family every day. I haven't read many stories following a relationship many years after the meet cute :) and I hope to read these kinds of stories more!

The Good Part is an eccentric book that will remind you of all of your favorite 80s, 90s, and 00s body swapping and time traveling/jumping movies! When Lucy Young wishes on a wishing machine (on Baskins Road, shoutout to Big!💖) to be in the good part of her life, the next morning she wakes up 16 years later. A lot of events happen in this book but one of my FAVORITE things is that Sophie Cousen's wrote this book SO well that I had NO idea if Lucy had actually time jumped or if, 16 years in the future, she had an accident and lost her memory! I love when a book makes me begin to doubt how I felt in the beginning because I was SURE Lucy had time jumped but when she started to doubt, so did I!

I also don't read many contemporary romance books that revolve around an established couple and I think that this book kind of presents the best of both worlds! 42 year old Lucy has a husband, Sam, while 26 year-old Lucy doesn't even have a boyfriend. We get to see Lucy try to date in her twenties BUT we also see her fall in love and date her husband, while he's her husband, which I felt was SUCH a cute idea! This book was so cute and really had, not just an adorable plot line, but a great reminder to not wish your life away to the good part.💛

I absolutely adore this author’s other stories but I unfortunately struggled to connect with this plot line. Thank you for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Oh I loved this book ♥️ the story captured my attention the entire read and I was constantly wondering how it would end when I wasn’t reading it. I’m a little caught off guard by the ending, I feel like it could have used a little more closure for Sam and Felix and would have loved it to end by her meeting him again maybe? Overall, absolutely adored it.

I absolutely loved this story! Lucy is such a relatable character to me-- a woman also in her 20's who often daydreams about what it would be like to skip to the "good part" of life. I completely fell in love with Lucy's future family. Her husband, Sam, was such a dreamboat of a guy. He was so kind and compassionate to Lucy, especially considering he doesn't really know what's going on with her. And her children, especially Felix, just stole my heart. I wanted a happy ending for them, just as much as Lucy.
I loved the messages this story shares-- there is no part of life that is all good, there are ups and downs to everything and living life, going forward, loving fully is all we can do; marriages, parenting, and adulthood is hard no matter how "put together" or "successful" you are but having that foundational love means everything (Sam showed this soooo well). For a time jump story, it felt so realistic to me. I loved all the characters so much; I cried and laughed sooo much the entire time reading (which was in like one day, I was so hooked); I loved the ending, it felt so full-circle, knowing how Sam & Lucy's story will start.
I wished there had been an epilogue or something to show what her life is like in her 40's having lived it all, especially Felix's thoughts/perspective. I can see little 7 year old Felix waking up one morning and realizing his "real" mom is back and not knowing what that means lol.
Overall, I absolutely loved this story!!! I can't wait to buy when it comes out. Thank you for the ARC!!!!

4.5/5 - I really really enjoyed this "13 Going on 30" - esqe book! Lucy is a broke, tired, and unlucky 26 year old living in London, continually chasing a promotion and prince charming. After a series of unfortunate events, Lucy ends up in a convenience store at 1am wishing she could skip to the "good part" of her life on a retro wishing machine. The next morning, she wakes up as a successful and beautiful 42 year old with a handsome husband, kids, and dream job - except she doesn't remember any of the last 16 years. As perfect as her new life seems, was it really worth skipping 16 years of her life to get here?

This book was so endearing and funny, I even teared up a little at the end. The sleeper star was her sassy and smart 10 year old son, Felix. I loved the author's take on figuring out Lucy's new job and family and how she interacts with old friends. Although it is so reminiscent of "13 Going on 30", the book still feels fresh and unqiue.

Loved this and the idea of not skipping the messy bits of life to get to the “good” ones. Because the messy bits are what make the good parts great.

For all my friends who adore the movie '13 Going on 30,' this book is a must-read. Lucy, stuck in a dead-end job, struggling to pay rent in a leaky apartment, and feeling hopeless, makes a wish on a magical machine to skip to the good part of her life. And suddenly, she wakes up there: married, with two kids, and a high-powered executive at a TV station. She seems to have it all—money, a successful career, and a loving partner. But as Lucy grapples with missing out on the experiences that led her there, she begins to question whether she wants to stay in the present, in the good part, or go back and embrace the love, heartbreak, and happiness of sixteen years of memories.

What I absolutely adored about this book is how the author treats Lucy's jump in time as amnesia rather than dismissing it as silly. I love that Lucy maintains her youthful spirit in her older body, bringing a spark of life to her husband, children, and job. Honestly, Sophie Cousens' books are always a delight, and this one has become my current favorite of hers. It truly is that good.

I particularly appreciated how mature Lucy's son was portrayed. Not all kids are clueless; they often understand and feel more than they realize. It was wonderful to witness Lucy's growth in her role as a mother, showcasing both the messy and joyful aspects of parenthood.

Life is messy, but when it comes down to it, I want to experience every bit of the mess, the fun, and everything in between, so that when I look back in sixteen years and think, 'This is the good part,' I'll remember how we got there.

Wow! The rollercoaster of emotions I went through while reading this book amazes me. It was very 13 going on 30 but more emotional and I definitely enjoyed that a lot about this book. I loved Felix. He’s such an amazing child and I’m so happy Lucy got to meet him. It really tore my heart how Lucy just went through all the pain for the first time while Sam had relive everything yet he always was there with her. He understood her even though to someone else it might sound crazy what Lucy was going through. It hurt when Sam realized she was going back. I wish we could have gotten a glimpse into Lucy seeing Sam for the first time again in the last chapter.

Book : The Good Part
Author : Sophie Cousens
Pub Date : 07 Nov 2023

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, & the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Do you love:

- Sweet Romances
- Falling in love again
- Time travel

Then this book is just for you.

I loved this book so much! I went into it and didn’t come back out until I was done. One sitting. This book was adorable, fun, sweet and absolutely adorable. Who wouldn’t want to go to the ‘good part’ of their lives—I know that I definitely would!

The MC Lucy does just this and it reminds you of 13 going on 30. She gets to navigate this new sped up life where she has it all, a husband, children and a great job. We watch her decide what is more important to her we feel all the feels with this character and her story along the way.

I loved the way this book flows, the character development and the ending! I want to read this book again for the first time. So much fun. There was just a dusting of spice in the book to give the warm fuzzy feelings but not make it overwhelming and keeping it sweet. I will absolutely be looking out for more books by Sophie in the future.

4.5 ⭐
The premise of The Good Part -- a young person magically jumping ahead in time and inhabiting the body of their older self -- is not new, and it's definitely one of the more fun tropes out there. I love the mental exercise I get out of reading variations of this trope, imagining how my life could have been different, whether it would have been better or worse, etc. This one was extra fun because the MC isn't a kid when she time-jumps into her 41-year-old self, but she's at that 20-something stage when you're technically and adult but still pretty terrible at adulting. Honestly, if my 26-year-old self was implanted into my now 38-year-old body, I can imagine I'd have a lot of the same emotions as Lucy, so I found her very relatable and real. I'm not sure how realistic it is that her life would have turned out so magazine-worthy perfect, but I guess that happens for enough people so it's at least plausible.

This isn't my first Sophie Cousens book (I loved This Time Next Year), and her writing style is so well-paced and fun, I feel like I get sucked into her storytelling really easily and it's hard to make myself stop reading. Lucy was funny, imperfect (but not in that annoying FMC "I'm so quirky/clumsy/messy" way), and so genuine; I didn't feel like there was anything missing in that character or that there was anything I'd change. It's possible that the other characters could have been a bit more developed to add some depth to the story. But I'm happy if I close a book and my first reaction is "Oh that was so cute, I loved that!" and I got that with this one. Take that for what you will.

Overall, this was pretty solid for such a quick read. The story is easy to fall into and it held my interest until the end. It's not necessarily anything new or unique, but it's done really well.

The Good Part was such a fun book! I absolutely flew through the ebook. The premise is 13 Going On 30 except in this case, it's 26 going on 40. Lucy's having a bad day/week/month when she finds a wishing machine and asks to skip to the good part. The next morning, she wakes up in an unfamiliar bed and an unfamiliar body.

It was the characters that made this so compulsively readable--I loved everyone and couldn't decide what ending I was rooting for. I especially loved Felix and Mr. Finkley!

I'm not usually one for highlighting quotes, but there were two that I couldn't help but highlight because they made me cackle. I also cried at the end--it's a certainly a sign of a good book that can make you do both. This book was funny and heartfelt and an absolute joy to read. It has jumped to the top of my Sophie Cousens ranking!