"The Good Part" by Sophie Cousens is Pure PERFECTION!! I loved every minute reading this book. I love the characters from Lucy, Sam, Felix, Zoya, even Leonard who saves plants. If you have ever wanted to skip to the "good part" of life or wondered how your future self turned out this book is a MUST READ!!! That is what happens to Lucy when she wishes to skip to the good part of her life. Once there she is shocked but realizes her future self did good!! This book is about enjoying every little step along the road of life you may have ups and downs but sometimes the messy parts you want to skip in life turn out to be the best and most memorable parts!! Hope everyone can enjoy at least one Happy Pocket Day in their lifetime and smile:)

THANK YOU TO THE AUTHOR, PUBLISHER AND NETGALLEY for the ebook in exchange for an Honest review!!

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This was such a cute read! It reminded me a lot of 13 going on 30 which is a movie I loved growing up. I loved that there were so many different relationships that the author explored from Lucy’s friends, to coworkers, to family. I especially loved her time with Felix!

When I requested this book, I wasn’t expecting something that would be really thought-provoking, but that is surprisingly what I got from it.

Lucy is basically at what feels like rock bottom to her in her life at 26. After a particularly horrible night, she finds herself in front of a wishing machine and wishes to skip to the good part of her life. She wakes up 16 years in her future with no recollection of the husband and kids who are there with her. What follows are Lucy’s attempts to figure out how to navigate this life she knows nothing about and how to go back where she came from—and if she even wants to go back.

I’ve read a few time jump/time slip books lately, and I’m finding that I really like the concept because every author seems to have their own unique spin on it. It’s something they can play around with and create their own rules for. That said, there were times that Lucy’s days spent in her future dragged for me. I didn’t feel like she was connecting to her life, so I couldn’t connect to it either. Things greatly improved as she started to try harder, and Felix was a highlight of a character for me. When it came to her choice at the end, I was torn. Without spoilers, if not for one key part of how one of her side effects of the time jump was going, I would’ve been 100% on board with the choice. As it was, I found myself wanting her to make a different choice. In the end though, I was eventually on board.

This book took me for a ride! While this book was not for me, I do think many readers will enjoy it. I started it and was frustrated by how arrogant and seemingly unaware of how life works Lucy was. I did not relate to her, despite very much resonating with the idea that we would all sometimes love to skip to “the good part.” After taking a break from reading, I returned to Lucy’s world and took stock. There is marked character development that happens. She settles into this “good part” and the emotions feel deep and true. And then, right at the end, she ruined it. I would have picked a different ending, one where Lucy reconciles her of the past and her of the new present with each other.

Thank you NetGalley for providing an ARC of this story!

Cousens (as always) did a very good job developing the characters in this story. It makes the reader feel for them in a way that feels personal.

The ending was extremely surprising! I think it will catch most readers by surprise and keep them asking questions until the very last page.

I recommend this book to everyone, especially if you know and like Sophie Cousens’ previous books.

In The Good Part, Sophie Cousens experiments with something I think we have all thought about: if you had the ability to fast-forward through the messy, uncertain, and often complicated parts of life and land at the good part, would you do it? Even if it meant you lose out on truly experiencing the journey that brought you there?

Twenty-six-year-old Lucy is sick of dating apps, being underutilized at work, and living in a flat filled with roommates and leaky ceilings. On a particularly mind-numbing night, Lucy makes a wish: to skip to the good part. What she didn’t expect was for that wish to come true.

The life Lucy wakes up to is the life she has always wanted: husband, children, gorgeous home, stellar career. But is it really hers? Is part of “the good part” the experience of creating it?

As always, Sophie Cousens delivers her message with humor and humanity. Readers will find themselves weighing the pros and cons of such a leap in time and Lucy’s voice will speak to the twenty-something that still exists somewhere inside all of us.

Thank you to @netgalley , @sophie_cousens , and @putnambooks for an advanced copy of The Good Part in exchange for an honest review.

This delightful blend of women's fiction and fantasy, infused with enchanting romance vibes, may just be Sophie Cousens' most hilarious, entertaining, and heartwarming work yet. It will remind you of Sophie Kinsella's "Remember Me".

Imagine yourself in your mid-twenties, struggling with finances, despising your living situation with three roommates (who bring their eccentric one-night stands and save bones in the bathtub to make homemade bone broth). Meanwhile, your best friends are moving forward in their relationships and high-paying jobs, leaving you stuck in a job you despise, earning significantly less. That's exactly how Lucy Young feels as she experiences the worst night of her life—running away from an app-date gone wrong, walking home in the rain with no phone, no direction, and dissolving ballet shoes.

Amidst her frustration, she stumbles upon a peculiar newsagent store and its intriguing ATM machine known as the "wishing machine." This magical contraption allows you to voice your desires using a coin. In her desperation, Lucy wishes to skip to the good parts of her life, to escape the rut she's stuck in.

To her astonishment, her wish is granted. The next morning, she wakes up in a different room, lying beside a handsome man in his early forties who happens to be wearing a wedding band. Did she have a drunken one-night stand with a married man she can't remember? As she gazes into the mirror, she lets out a scream—she has Jennifer Aniston's hair, and she's aged! She even has a Cesarean scar. The same man hurriedly leaves their home, leaving Lucy with an 18-month-old toddler and a 7-year-old boy named Felix, who believes she's an impostor—an alien who replaced his mother. To make matters worse, a photo on the wall confirms her worst nightmare: her wish has propelled her 16 years into the future, where she's married with two kids and a successful career, but devoid of any memories of how she got there.

Will Lucy regain her lost memories? Is she suffering from a brain condition? Or is she trapped in a parallel universe with no way back to her own timeline? Will she continue living as an impostor in her own life, missing out on the significant years that shaped her into who she was? Dive into this captivating story to uncover the answers.

I can't recall how many times I burst into laughter while reading this book. Little Felix, the boy who tries to help the imposter mother find her way back to her original timeline, quickly became my favorite character.

The love story between Sam and Lucy, told in reverse, is also a highlight of the book.

After the stressful week I had, this book was exactly what I needed. I wholeheartedly recommend it to you, with a warning that your stomach might hurt from excessive laughter.

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam/G.P. Putnam's Sons for providing me with a digital reviewer copy of this amazing book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

So I have mixed feelings about this book. I absolutely flew through it and loved every minute of the story.....until the end. In my opinion, the end of the book (without giving away spoilers), was terrible. It honestly completely ruined the whole book for me even after I had enjoyed it so much. That's why I'm taking off 1-star from the review. But a great concept for the storyline - I would have just ended it differently.

This Time Next Year and The Good Part are now tied for my favorite Sophie Cousens book. I could not put The Good Part down! While the story was similar to plots of 13 Going on 30, 17 Again, and Freaky Friday, Sophie managed to create her own stellar rom-com with a touch magical realism. The Good Part intrigued me from the beginning. Being in my 20s, I could relate to Lucy and her desire to skip forward to when her life got good.
This book had amazing characters (my favorite was the 7 year old!), witty humor, and a lot of heart. The ending was perfect and actually made me cry! I was very pleased with how Sophie wrapped everything up and closed the book feeling content but also sad that Lucy’s story was over. This is one to read and reread.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the ARC!

I really enjoyed The Good Part by Sophie Cousens.

Twenty six year old Lucy feeling like her life is hard and going nowhere wishes that she could just "get to the good part" and is given the opportunity to do just that. The only catch? She has no recollection of how she got there!

The book explores her coming to terms with this, her ready made family and if she could, would she go back and live the years in between.

I was kind of surprised by the ending, and that's a good thing. The book made me think about what I would do and I was kind of surprised at my own answer to that.

Reading this book was the perfect summer read. It was easy, fun, and had likeable characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Cousens has become an automatic read for me. I was very excited to start the story and quickly found myself immersed, but around the 45%-80% I found the story start to lose my interest. I think I didn’t feel the authors voice in this one, nor the connection between Lucy and her husband. The ending was wonderful and brought me back. It was good, not my favorite of hers though.

My first Sophie Cousens book did not disappoint! I loved the premise this book starts with. When faced with the choice, would you skip to the good part? I enjoyed the flow of the book and main character was funny and likable. In the vein of the movies Big, 13 going on 30 and Freaky Friday were all a similar feeling. Did the ending make me a little sad and overall made the book a little less enjoyable, yes? But was it still worth it for the journey, yes! :)

4.5 stars. I loved everything about the book except for the ending. It wasn't bad, but it left me a bit disappointed.

So the premise of this is what actually influenced me to read it. It was giving big meets freaky Friday with an overall impression of 13 going on 30.

Lucy is a woman in her mid 20s, she’s broke, she’s tired of feeling stuck, she wants love from the right person and she doesn’t know what she wants nor where she’s going in life. One day she’s presented the opportunity with a wishing machine to travel into the future so she could finally get to the good part in her life. But is it everything she might’ve wanted or is it not?

At some point in our lives, we question whether we’re actually living life as we should or could there be more and is it what’s best for us. Can we somehow skip to the good part or should life take its course and let it come to us? seeing that portrayed was a plus as it felt so real. Lucy the FMC felt in some ways relatable in her pursuit with her dreams and self-discovery.

I pretty much enjoyed each character and that’s unusual. Although I did have some issues with it such as the direction it took towards the end — this was an otherwise enjoyable and lighthearted book.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this arc!

I loved this book from the start because I am a lover of books set in London. I also liked seeing how Lucy deals with her different roommates and co-workers. I got a little Taylor Jenkins Reid vibe with Maybe In Another life, and a little Bridget Jones Diary vibe. If you like books about young women in a big city struggling with the early time of establishing yourself at work, trying to make a career, and at the same time figuring out personal relationships, you will love this!
Thank you to NetGalley for the advance digital copy.

I LOVED this book! I was hesitant at first because time travel isn't exactly my favorite thing to read or watch, but the author made it to enjoyable. I literally read this book in one day because I could not put it down.

Plot: 26 year old Lucy is struggling. She is tired, broke, and not where she thought she would be in her career at 26. She stumbles upon a wishing machine and wishes to skip to the good part of her life. She wakes up the next morning where she is 40, married, and has two children.

The plot has a lot of cute heartwarming moments. I definitely recommend reading!

I loved this book! It is my new favorite Sophie Cousens.

I thought the whole premise of the book was engaging and fun to read. It did not feel over done or silly. It made me reflect on my life. I loved the humor, especially from her son Felix. Hands down the best character. Lots of engaging themes around motherhood, marriage, work, aging, etc... Loved it,

I was a little bummed by the ending. It wrapped up very quickly and not the way I thought it was going to. I could understand why the narrator was torn between the decision, but I don't think there was enough buildup/support/inner dialogue to justify her making the decision to go back in time.
4.5/5

The Good Part is a fun, jump-to-the-future book about 26 year old Lucy Young who makes a wish on a wishing machine and it transported through time to “the good part” she’s been waiting for. Now 42 years old, married and a mother of two, Lucy has to decide if she wants to stay in this life she’s always wanted or go back to live the past 16 years she missed.

I have really enjoyed the last three Sophie Cousens books I’ve read, The Good Part included. She is a solid writer, with light hearted content that keeps you entertained. I definitely recommend this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the advanced reading copy of this lovely book in exchange for my honest review.

Felt SO repetitive. Like a 13 going on 30 retelling, just was unoriginal. Was annoyed by the main character almost immediately. She felt very self absorbed and unhappy. Really disappointed in this book since I’ve loved others by Cousins

Hey fellow bookworms! The Good Part (like the AJR song) is an absolutely captivating story of dreams and self-discovery that I couldn’t get enough of! It’s a solid 4.5 out of 5 and highly recommend it if you're looking for a heartwarming and thought-provoking read.

Lucy Young, the main character, is so relatable and lovable. You'll find yourself cheering her on as she embarks on her quest for happiness. The author's descriptive writing will transport you to a world full of wonder and endless possibilities. Plus, the book touches on important themes like appreciating the present and embracing life's journey, which will stay with you even after you've finished reading.

The author's writing style effortlessly combines humor and introspection, making it a joy to read. The characters are well-developed and their relationships add depth and emotion to the story.

Join Lucy on her journey of self-discovery and be reminded of the magic in every step of your own journey. Don't miss out on The Good Part - coming to bookstores near you November 2023!

Thank you NetGally for allowing me to read the eARC!