I’m usually quite picky when it comes to time travel, but I thought this was incredibly straightforward! I felt the shock was a bit too focused on but overall was good!

I loved this book! I think this is Sophie Cousens at her best. The story reminded me of Big and 13 Going on 30 with a touch of Freaky Friday. I loved watching Lucy try to figure out her new world when she wishes to get to “the good part” of her life. It was fun watching her navigate marriage, motherhood, and her big time job as a TV producer. I thought the side characters were all great; Felix especially was my favorite!

I also just really loved the message of this book, about trying to savor every season of life even if you don’t have everything you’ve always wanted yet. I thought that was a beautiful message and I loved watching Lucy discover that for herself throughout.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC of this book!

This book was so good and gave me all the Big and 13 Going on 30 vibes!! Lucy is in her mid 20’s and fed up with so many things happening in her life. And like many of us when in our mid 20’s, we wish we could skip ahead to “the good part”. So when she happens upon a wishing machine she does just that! Waking up to a life 16 years later, she has to figure out how to navigate this new life with a husband and kids.

Such fun and quirky banter and just the right amount of sweetness. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this adorable boom in exchange for my honest review!

The Good Part by Sophie Cousens
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Lucy Young is twenty-six and struggling. She’s sick of being the errand person at work even after she receives a promotion. Her apartment situation is less than ideal. Her dating life is a joke. Everything is just in shambles and she’s so tired of waiting for things to turn a corner. One evening she stumbles on a shop with a wishing machine. What if it could really change her luck? She drops a coin in and…
The next morning Lucy wakes up to a polished room, a handsome man next to her in bed and a reflection with wrinkles she doesn’t remember being there. She realizes her wish must’ve come true and she fast forwarded to the good part and she’s around forty. None of this sounds bad until she realizes she can’t remember the missing years. She can’t contribute at work. She doesn’t remember falling in love with her husband. It’s all a blur and starts to interfere with everything. Maybe if she could just find the machine and make a wish to go back it would all be better? Can she go back? Does she even want to? Would you if you had just gotten to the good part of life?
I loved this book! I feel like as an adult sometimes we just keep going through the motions waiting for life to get good and don’t realize it’s pretty good right now! This was a good reminder for me. I really enjoyed the characters in this book and the banter. Definitely push this to the top of your TBR list!

One day you are 20 something living in a crappy, cramped and leaky flat, but feel you are living life with friends, work and nights out! After a particularly weird horrible “date” Lucy wishes to skip to the good part of her life. Lucy wakes up next to a complete hottie, beautiful home, 2 kids and the high power job of her dreams. But,is it a dream or a nightmare?
She wonders is it the best of times or the worst of times, will everything play out the same or are our paths predestined. Would she be happier living life or staying in this life?
Awesome characters, great conflicts with work and family. Would you jump or go through all the good and bad life throws your way?
Great story, page turner and worth the read! Definitely pulls at your heart!
I received a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions in this review are my own.
Thanks @PutnamBooks

Who doesn't love a time jump book? I know I do. It's such a fascinating concept. Would you jump ahead to "The Good Part" of your life if you could? Have a glimpse into your future successful self while you are floundering in your 20's? I have read quite a few books like this now, and while I love reading this trope, I don't think I would want to know what happens.

I loved seeing Lucy grow into her future self. It was hilarious to see how not prepared she was for motherhood, being a wife, and a boss at the internal age of 26. The growth of her character while she was living her future self's life was beautiful. Her interactions with her kids, especially Felix, made me cackle as a mother. There were some amazing interactions with them that were so heartfelt and true to life. Her relationship with her husband Sam was adorable as well. She woke up having no idea who he was and he dealt with the whole situation in a way we would all hope our significant others would.

I really recommend picking this book up. It's not a typical romcom...in fact, I'd probably say it's not really a romcom at all. More of a finding yourself, strong friendship/relationships centered, with some romance sprinkled in. It was a beautiful book and I really hope to see it as a movie one day.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advance copy of this title. I was a bit skeptical going in, expecting the same "go back in time so I can appreciate my life" trope. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the story. So many of us want to skip ahead to the good part of our life - not realizing the things we will miss if we do.

What I loved the most about this book is that the good part was the good part. I loved this story about waking up in an alternate universe to see what could have been and what you could possibly have. Sometimes you realize what you have is not as bad as you think.
This book gives you all the good feels.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for the ARC in exchange for an honest review and PRH AUdio for the ALC

The writing was snappy and had me laughing out loud but unfortunately this is a DNF for the significant fatphobia that is pervasive in the first couple chapters I coudln't keep reading. A great premise and I wish I could have continued the narrator was doing a great job but it made it difficult to keep enjoying the book.

This was different from your normal romance book but it was such a great concept. Lucy wishes she could skip to the good part of her life and when her wish comes true she doesn’t remember a huge chunk of her life including a husband and kids. It’s an enjoyable quick read if you are looking for something outside the standard romance.

So, you're just going to leave me here as a completely SOBBING MESS, Sophie Cousens??? With an OPEN ENDING LIKE THAT???

No, but really though, it's always the books I least expect that make me. cry the most. I was holding it together until ~a certain reveal~ and then the last 5-10% of the book hit and I was a mess. Sophie, you owe me a box of tissues! As for the ending--I'm possibly a tad greedy for more of the story, so I wish it had ended at a different spot, but I digress! I do like how ~invisible string theory~ it is.

The beginning of the story didn't completely hook me, but I stayed for Sophie's writing style, which is ever so fascinating and punchy and hilarious. By the 30-35% mark, I fell in love with Lucy, Sam, Faye, Roisin, Zoya, absolutely everyone, and I just had to keep reading. I mean, can we talk about how INCREDIBLE of a husband Sam is?? He's not without his faults, of course, but he always apologized if he said something wrong, or if he was too affectionate with Lucy before she was ready to get to know him again. He was so patient and kind to her; I just loved watching as they fell in love again <3 And I love Sam as a whole!!! Where can I find someone like him??? I need to find a man with "written by a woman" vibes.

I also adored Lucy's relationship with Felix and Amy. The parenting bit may not have come naturally to her at first, but she found creative ways to adapt and be more involved with them--more so Felix because he was older--and it became almost second nature. How pure and wonderful is it to have faults, make missteps, not remember the past 16 years of your life due to a wish you made at, who knew, a real wishing machine, and to still be cuddled and smiled at like you hung the moon by your kids? Her bond with Felix toward the end is actually what made me bawl my eyes out.

Watching as Lucy stumbled through her "new" life, making mistakes be it in her career, childcare, and her marriage was so human and refreshing. Even though she reached "the good part" of her life, the part where she's supposed to have everything together and handled, she doesn't. At all. It just proves there is no part of life either lived or skipped through by way of a wishing machine that is perfect and mess-free. Life is good AND bad, Don't wish time away because the future might sound easier! And hey, sometimes you have to wade through some sewage (*cough* men named Dale *cough*) to get to your husband!

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for this eARC!! <3

"𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩... 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵..."

I'm not a megafan of time travel plot lines but I do feel like it was done right in this case. There was a scene toward the beginning when Lucy forgets she's married and drunkenly tries to make out with her (much) younger assistant that made me feel really awkward, but the story is all uphill from there and I ended up really enjoying it!

Lucy Young is 26 years old, broke, unlucky in love, and not progressing in her career as fast as she'd planned. One night after yet another horrible date, Lucy gets caught in a storm while walking home and takes shelter in a tiny shop. In this shop she finds a mysterious wishing machine and wishes to skip to the good part of her life. The next morning she wakes up next to her husband and is a mother to two kids she has no memory of. Will Lucy settle into the "good part" of her life or find out the hard way you should be careful what you wish for?

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲:
✨ time travel plots
✨ magical realism + sprinkle of romance
✨ films like Big and 13 Going on 30
✨ London setting
✨ feel-good, wholesome stories
•
Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for providing me a digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

"The Good Part" is a captivating blend of whimsy and depth, offering a delightful journey through time and reality. The dialogue is exceptionally crafted, drawing readers into the lives and conversations of the characters with ease. Speaking of characters, each one is richly developed, Lucy’s journey from unsure 26 year old into an engaged woman with a high powered job overnight is entertaining and also thought provoking.

The incorporation of magical realism adds an enchanting layer to the story, infusing everyday moments with a touch of the extraordinary. Cousens seamlessly weaves elements of the fantastical into the fabric of the narrative.

Overall, "The Good Part" is a gem of a book that will appeal to anyone who enjoys a touch of whimsy and a dash of magic in their reading. Also for anyone in Lucy’s age bracket feeling that familiar feeling of uncertainty and finding your way. I wholeheartedly recommend it to those who appreciate stories that transport them to another time and place, leaving them with a sense of wonder long after the final page is turned.

4 🌟I adored this book! It was funny as well as endearing. It follows a young Lucy in her mid 20s just starting her career in television. She works hard to climb the ladder in her career, barely has money to pay the bills, and keeps getting duds for dates. When her wish to skip to the good part of her life is granted, she realizes skipping forward in life even as good as she has it in the future is anything but perfect when you don’t remember 16 years of life. The story makes you think about how while life might suck sometimes, if you were to skip ahead you would miss so many things that mold you as a person. Good, bad, funny, or sad, life is filled with these moments you don’t want to skip over.

Thank you NetGalley, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, and Penguin Random House LLC for the eARC of The Good Part by Sophie Cousens in exchange for my honest review.

I am not a huge fan of time travel books bjt enjoyed this one. It was pretty predictable but I was able to read quickly and I enjoyed the witty plot.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy to honestly review.

This was a really sweet, sentimental story. I really enjoyed it. A playful concept with fun characters and easy conflict. The message of not just skipping ahead to the good part but living through it all was really well done. Overall highly enjoyable!

Sophie Cousens does it again! The Good Part was another can't-put-down book with memorable (and completely lovable) characters, plenty feel-good energy, and many LOL moments. Life can be hard, especially when you are young trying to find your place in the world. What if you could just jump to the "good part" when things settle down and feel more stable? Cousens latest book explores this theme in a fantastic story. Lucy was such a fun protagonist, and I loved how she brought her 26 year old energy to the life of a 40-something. While mostly a light read, the characters do bring up some heavier topics. There might be a trigger for some readers, but overall this was a wonderful book.

I’ve read other by Cousins before and I really enjoyed it but this book fell flat for me and I can’t pinpoint why? I think that others will really like it but this wasn’t meant for me.

So many people can relate to Lucy feeling totally lost and at a point in her 20's that she couldn't wait to just get to "the good part" already when everything is settled..career, family..etc.

And I'm a sucker for time travel so when she found the wishing machine and ended up 16 years ahead with a handsome husband and two adorable children, that were the best little side characters, I was all in. I could just eat little 7year old Felix up!! He quickly became my favorite!

Read if You Like:
Magical Realism/Time Travel
Loveable Characters/Mature MC's
LOL Moments
The Movies Freaky Friday or 13 Going on 30

Sweet, light-hearted, funny and reflective!!

I had read this one right after reading the heaviness of The Women by Kristin Hannah and it was the perfect heartwarming pallet cleanser. I loved it.

Exhausted, broke, and boyfriendless, Lucy wishes she could skip the hard parts of life to get to the good parts. After making her wish on a corner store machine, Lucy wakes up sixteen years in the future. As she learns to be her 42 year old self, Lucy must also decide how she feels about skipping straight to the good part.

For anyone who has wished they could skip the hardships of their early twenties to know it all works out in the end. A heartwarming story of love as a friend, a spouse, a daughter, and a parent. A must read for anyone looking for a feel good story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC in exchange for a fair review.