"I just want to get to the good part of my life."

I've you've ever been young and stuck between where you were and where you feel you should be, or if you ate there now, this book is for you.

Lucy is at a point in her life where her dreams feel so out of reach, even as she is striving toward them. After a particularly bad day, she makes a wish at a pressed penny machine to skip to the 'good part' of her life. The next morning, she wakes up 16 years into the future. It definitely seems like she's arrived at the desired 'good part' but she's missing all the memories of her life in between - the twists and turns that got her to this point.

And speaking of twists and turns, this book had a few. I really thought I knew how the story was going to unfold, and while I guess a few of the plot points, there were a handful that I didn't see coming. I really loved Lucy's journey with Felix but parts of what happened with Sam felt a little off. The order of some of the emotions with Sam seemed jumbled up, so it was Felix that kept me coming back to the book. No spoilers on who is who - you'll just have to read.

I also enjoyed the relationship between Lucy and her best friends. Particularly how when everyone else thought she wasn't quite the same, they all still gelled. Their foundation as friends was forged when they were 16 and it was still as strong when they were 42. I loved seeing such great female friendships on the page.

As Lucy starts adjusting to her life in the 'good part,' she learns that good comes with a little bad. There is heartache, but there is also love and acceptance. There is sadness but there is also joy in the everyday. The climax of the book really stuck with me, and the ending was picture perfect and very, very sweet. Overall, this was a great book with a lot of heart and a great message.

Ooo I’m a sucker for a good time travel book and this one was such a fun ride! I think all the characters reactions and thoughts were incredibly genuine, and a balanced approach to the idea that “the grass is always greener on the other side.“

Oh my goodness. My reader friends know that I don’t like books about amnesia or time travel. I swear they give me anxiety. But my reader friends also know that I love Sophie Cousens. She has written some of my favorite books. So leave it to Sophie to write one about time travel, portals and amnesia that I absolutely LOVED. She proved me wrong. These characters….especially Sam and Felix…are some of my favorites ever. Move this one to the top of your list. It is wonderful. I just reviewed The Good Part by Sophie Cousens. #TheGoodPart #NetGalley

Oh I just loved this one! I fell in love with all the characters and felt just as torn as Lucy. Such a great read and kept me invested the whole time!

Lucy is 26 years old. She feels like her life isn’t going where she wants it to - between living in a run down apartment, her career not progressing, and a series of bad dates, Lucy just wishes she could skip to the good part of her life already. Little does she know, this wish will be granted, and Lucy wakes up a 42 year old woman with no memory of the last 16 years of her life.

Lucy struggles to remember her past and fit into the life the Future Lucy has created. She’s successful and has a beautiful family. But without her memories,she knows she’s missing something. Lucy realizes she wants to live out those years when she thought everything was horrible, and doesn’t want to miss a thing. But is it too late now to go back? And if she does, will she lose what she’s known to be her future?

This had a lot of undertones of 13 going on 30, even some Freaky Friday and In Five Years. It wasn’t necessarily a unique premise, but the story was really enjoyable. I like this type of story because it’s so easy to imagine wishing you could skip over hard times in your life. I loved the characters - Lucy was relatable, Sam seemed like a great husband, her friends were great, and her kids, especially Felix, were so fun. I really enjoyed this!

Thanks to Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for the ARC.
This one was so much fun and hooked me from the start, read it in a day. Lucy is a relatable character, she is 26 and struggling. Between her career, living situation and love life. After a particularly troubling day she comes upon a wishing machine, and wishes to get to the good part of her life. The next morning she wakes up with a husband, kids and a flourishing career. Don't want to spoil the story but it makes you appreciate the little things in life more. This was my first Sophie Cousens story and I’m itching for more.

Lucy's life is falling apart, she's broke, got a promotion, but not the extra money and no one has started treating her like she has said promotion. After a horrible day & a fight with her friends, she comes across a store with a wishing machine and makes a wish to skip to the good part of her life. The next day she wakes up in just that "the good part", but she's not so sure because she doesn't know her husband or her children. As she learns about the things that have happened in those years missing from her memory she has to decide if she wants to stay here in the "good part" or go back and work her way there.
Lucy is dealing with what many of us deal with, feeling down, wanting an instant change, for everything to be easier and life to be "good". But she learns that different parts of life lead up to the "good parts".
This was a good read, I found Lucy to be relatable and real. I liked watching her with her kids and learning how to be their mother and her falling back in love with her husband.
A good book for discussion to think about the question of what is the "good part" of life or does all of it have good parts?

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Read this arc from NetGalley. Enjoyable. I loved Felix - he was probably my favorite character in the whole book.

The beginning of this book made me laugh hysterically. A 26 year old Lucy is broke and trying to navigate life and was "naked manned". She makes a wish to skip to the good part....but can't remember anything from the in-between. The "good part" made me laugh and cry as she tries to fake remembering and cope with news of things she can't remember. Overall 4 stars.

Thank you Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for the ARC!

I'm a big Sophie Cousens fan and I was thrilled that I was given the opportunity to review this ARC! I love a romance with a twist and this one did not disappoint! This book was 13 Going On 30 meets Big, which is a recipe for a fantastic story.

The main character was likable and fun, and watching her discover her new life situation was really exciting. I loved the supporting characters as well (especially her kids!) This was one of those stories where I truly wasn't sure how it was going to end, which is always a way to keep me engaged until the last page. I plan to recommend this book to everyone I know.

Thank you again!

This was a really sweet, wholesome story. While not unique and similar to other time-travel (time skipping?) movies, Lucy was relatable and her future family was so sweet (especially Felix). Her time in the future felt a bit long and probably could have been condensed, but I really liked the ending.

Lucy, unhappy with the struggles in her current life, finds a wishing machine and wishes to go to the "good part" of her life. The next day she wakes up, 16 years older, in her future life. With no memory of the last 16 years, Lucy navigates her new life and learns a little of what she's gone through to get to where she is. Ultimately, Lucy finds the wishing machine again to go back to her "old" life and wakes up with a renewed energy!

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for the ARC!

This book really spoke to me! It's so easy to fantasize about what life will be like when you just have that one thing you desire to the extent that you wish away where you're at now. This book explores what could happen if you really could skip to the good part. With loveable characters, realistic tension, and dry humor, this book will leave you cherishing every day you have!

Lucy is an assistant chasing her dreams in the TV industry, and in a rut in the dating sphere. Another poor date has her out in a storm, and she seeks refuge in a shop with a wishing machine in it - she wishes to move past all of the negative aspects of her life currently and fast forward to the good things. She wakes up the next day around 15 years older, but with a family and a better job. Lucy starts to wonder if she really has skipped head, and if so, would she be able to leave her new life and those in it to return to who she once was? There was nothing plot was that was different from a movie like 13 Going on 30, but it was still a fun read and I enjoyed being on Lucy’s journey as she (re)discovered her husband and children and decided if she wanted to return to the past to actually live her life (and maybe not have her family in the future) or stay rooted in her current life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam. I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Good Parts is a time leap story of a women in her 20’s feeling like her life is array wanting to skip to the “good part”. Her wish comes true as she wakes up in her 40’s with two children and a husband. As a woman in her 20’s I often feel like I will never have my life “sorted” and it makes me feel off kilter. This book felt like an engulfing comfort hug and reassurance that life will work out the way it’s meant to. We have to take the good with the bad and experience everything in between.

4.5 stars, rounded up ⭐️
The Good Part by Sophie Cousens is the perfect mashup of 13 Going on 30 and Freaky Friday, all in one! Lucy is in her 20s and struggling to find happiness in both her personal and professional life. One one particularly bleak night out, she comes across a wishing machine. From there she is transported to "the good part" of her life. Sophie did a great job of keeping Lucy's 26 year old personality intact while she juggles her new 42 year old life.

This book is one of my favorite rom coms in a while, with enough emotion to leave an impact. This releases on November 7th and I'd highly recommend picking it up!

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for the ARC!

I liked this book in principle, and the premise was really interesting. Unfortunately though, it took a while to get going and there wasn't a single character that I liked enough to pull me in. A shame, but not a book I enjoyed.

Thank you to the publisher for providing a review copy

Sophie Cousens' novel, The Good Part, is a bittersweet tale that leaves readers conflicted. While the book has its moments of charm, it ultimately falls short in delivering a truly engaging and original story. With a sense of deja-vu hanging over its pages, the recycled plot fails to ignite the same spark that made other books of similar plot line memorable.

The novel revolves around Lucy, a twenty something woman in search of love and fulfillment. When she unexpectedly wakes up in her 40s after her life skips ahead to the good part. While the premise holds promise, Cousens' execution lacks the necessary finesse to make it truly captivating. The narrative unfolds predictably, leaving readers craving more depth and originality.

Despite the book's shortcomings, Cousens manages to infuse occasional moments of warmth and humor into the story. Her writing style is easy to follow, and she effectively captures the nuances of relationships and the challenges of modern-day romance. However, these sporadic highlights are overshadowed by a sense of familiarity that permeates the plot.

I don't know that I can say any other book made me feel this way; I was simultaneously on the edge of my seat, AND basking in the comforting and cozy vibes. Sophie Cousens just created a new fan!

This book follows Lucy Young, who as a 26 year old, feels like she just wants to skip to "the good part" of life. We follow her on this journey, and watch as her life unfolds before our - and her - very own eyes! She is confronted with lots of twists and turns along the way, some exciting, and some disheartening. In the end, she has a *literally* life-changing decision to make. What will she choose?

When I'm "in the weeds" of life, and feeling like I just want to skip to the good part (is this only me?!) this book reminds us to pay attention to the details and find gratitude in the journey. - What a great mantra to live by!

Haven’t we all wished we could skip the crap and get to the good parts of our lives? In this novel main character Lucy makes this wish to a a cryptic machine in the corner of a shop, and to her shock it is granted.

I thought this novel dealt quite realistically with the challenges and feelings one might have being dropped into a middle aged life from one’s twenties. Lucy struggles to balance motherhood, work, friendship, and marriage while remembering none of the years that have passed.

In the first half of the novel I found things humorous, at times becoming a bit repetitive. The second half however brought it all together. As Lucy searches for a way back to her past, she falls in love with the present. As someone in the messy middle of my 40s, right where Lucy lands, it was really beautiful to see her find the joys of this stage of life and to see it through her eyes. I found the ending incredibly poignant.

As the owner of the wishing machine says, it’s never quite sorted, no matter what stage of life we are in. This is a book that will remind you to embrace where you are right now.

This was such a fun and sweet story! It was sort of an updated “13 going on 30” but more like “25 going on 40”. Sort of a Fantasy Rom Com, but very light fantasy.

Lucy is a 20 something woman who is sharing a flat with little money, a job where she is overlooked and under paid, and no romantic interests who wishes to “skip to the good part”. She wakes up 16 years later rich, married to an amazing man, has 2 kids, and a killer job.

But is skipping those 26 years filled with good and bad memories really what she wants. Eventually she has to decide: does she wants to stay and slowly regain the memories (but never live them) OR go back and not remember the future with no guarantee it will end the way she sees it.

The characters were well developed and likable while still being realistic. Truly delightful!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this ARC