If you liked Big and 13 going on 30, this is a must-read. So charming, and genuinely laugh out loud funny. There are some sad bits that may make your cry but overall this book will make your heart grow a couple of sizes

One of my favorite books of 2023!

"And I know I am so lucky to be here, and that every breath I take is the good part."

Thank you, NetGalley & Putnam books for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this NetGalley ARC because I've loved most of Sophie Cousens' novels, although not all. This one did not fall into my list of favorites. The premise was interesting: woman in her late 20s trying to move ahead in her career with a disappointing love life and yucky roommate situation comes across a wishing machine and makes a wish to jump ahead to the best part of her life. She wakes up with a lovely home, super hot husband who adores her, cute albeit messy kids, powerful job - and also no memories of the years alone the way including some devastating tragedies. How she stumbles through day to day life of mothering, work deadlines, and crushing on her husband was cute but a bit chaotic for me. And at the end, she has to make a choice and let me just say it wasn't the direction I wanted to see the novel go so it left me feeling unsatisfied.

I LOVED the premise of this novel because we all just want to skip to the good part of life, right?!

During a crazy rainstorm, Lucy stumbles onto a wishing well and wishes to grow up. She wakes up next morning as a 42 year old mom with a high powered career.

Super cute story and I found myself smiling throughout! Definitely pick this one up!

The Good Part had everything I look for in a story. I laughed out loud, I teared up (so many times!), I found myself trying to help Lucy make decisions. Every single character was lovable, and that is so hard to do. I was rooting for them all and at times I found myself conflicted because their goals were at odds. This was my first Sophie Cousens story and I’m itching for more.

3.5 rounded up. Thank you NetGalley and penguin group for providing me with an ARC of this book. I've read a lot of Sophie Cousens books and have loved them all! Though this one was good it was not my favorite of hers. The plot of the book was very similar to 13 going on 30 which I loved but for me it seemed to drag a little at some parts in the middle. The beginning was great and the book had a lot of funny comments trickled throughout. The ending was decent but I wanted even just a few paragraphs more to tie it together a little bit. The characters were great and I loved that she still fell in love with her husband again despite not remembering him. Yay for pocket day! Still a solid book and depending on the reader I could see it being a 5 star read.

I'm going to keep it real with you: the first time I read a Sophie Cousens' book (This Time Next Year), it didn't blow me away. I didn't let that shy me away from giving Just Haven't Met You Yet and Before I Do a go - and both were solid, entertaining reads that left me smiling. I expected to enjoy The Good Part, but didn't expect to be blown away. Well...I was pleasantly surprised with just how much I loved The Good Part and its characters. In fact, it is a top read of 2023 for me!

When Lucy Young wishes to skip to the good part of her life, she doesn't expect to actually fast forward when she does. The resulting shock of waking up the next day transported to the future and finding herself a wife, mother, and executive throws her for a loop. While her life appears to be a dream come true, she finds herself completely and totally out of place. How can embrace her handsome husband when she doesn't even know how they met? Wait, she has two kids with schedules to juggle? And what even is this big pitch she is leading up at work?!

One of my favorite parts of this book was that one of her major sources of support in her journey to figure out just who she is and how she got to this place is her young son. His creative spirit and questioning attitude leave him the most open to understanding that his mom isn't just having memory loss: she really, truly might not be the mom he knows and loves.

On top of that, Cousens cleverly brings so many aspects of this story full circle. Little details mentioned in the beginning of the book reappear at the end. Characters introduced who seem like they might be glossed over become integral to the outcome of Lucy's story. And as Cousens deftly ties up lose ends and brings Lucy to a point where she can see settling in to this future version of herself, I could relate deeply to the emotional question that Lucy has to answer: should she? Or does she need to find a way back to her life pre-skip and live out the moments she is starting to slowly remember?

I absolutely loved The Good Part and will be recommending it to friends - right after I reread it so that I can savor it one more time.

THE GOOD PART by Sophie Cousens
Release date: 11•7•23
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Can we skip to the good part? Haven’t we all asked ourselves this at one point or another? In this novel, the main character does just that.

Lucy Young is a 26 year old junior tv researcher living in London with three roommates. She is broke, single, and her career is seemingly going nowhere fast. After a bad day at the office in her new role and on another even worse date, Lucy finds herself in the middle of a rainstorm with no money. She seeks shelter in a nearby shop and stumbles upon a wishing machine. She makes a wish and nothing happens…until the next morning where she finds herself 42 years old, a wife, mother to two small children and in a high-power tv producer role with an entire team depending on her. As she fumbles her way through her new life, desperate to get back to her old life, she finds herself asking if she really wants to.

This was a lighthearted read with Freaky Friday and 13 going on 30 vibes.
This book was emotional at times, portraying real-life challenges and loss, but was a fun time travel novel that had me reflecting on my own journey through life. I was slightly disappointed in the end by which path she chose, but still a good read overall.

This was my first book from Sophie Cousens, and it won't be my last! I just adored every part of this book! The premise is one I've thought about before and have always wanted to read and the book completely lived up to what I wanted it to be. Every character was so lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey the MC went on. Just a wonderful read all around!

The Good Part was heart warming and wholesome. The main character Lucy was extremely relatable. Like I could have been reading a story about my own life. I'm usually not a huge fan of the whole time travel trope, but I genuinely loved this one! It was so well done. I devoured this one, it's so so good!

Thanks to Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for a digital ARC.

The Good Part was a perfect book. It starts off slow paced introducing Lucy and her roommates in her London flat but immediately picks up. After feeling overworked and underpaid at her job and feeling unfilled with life, Lucy has a bad night and ends up making a desperate wish which comes true. Lucy time travels 16yrs into the future smack dab into "the good part" of her life. We meet Lucy's children, husband and new coworkers and follow up with her friends from her "old life" in the past. All around, this book is emotional, funny, and really makes you think about all you take for granted.

Like most of Sophie Cousens books, this one was so much fun and hooked me from the straight away. I was wondering which option our main character was going to pick: stay or go back. I really enjoyed how the story progressed and really appreciated how she learned what was important and not to skip ahead in life as nothing is for certain. I will always read and recommend Sophie Cousens books as they are always ones I look forward to picking back up again and they make my heart happy! Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Good Part was absolutely delightful. Lucy is 26 and unhappy with her apartment, job and love life. One night, she makes a wish on a wishing machine to skip to the “good part” of her life. She wakes up 16 years later with a dreamy husband, two adorable kids and a successful TV production company. But she doesn’t remember how she got there and is a stranger in her own life.

This book was sweet, heartwarming and just so lovely. I couldn’t put it down and highly recommend if you’re looking for a thoughtful, joyful read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam, Sophie Cousens, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A 26-going-on-40 magical realism story is exactly what I needed and I didn’t even know it. Lucy is stuck in what seems like a hopeless cycle when it comes to her love life, her career, and her living situation. She makes a wish to skip to the good part of her life that alters reality (literally).

This is my first Sophie Cousens book and I must say I am SO satisfied. The beginning didn’t lure me in as much as I wanted it to but this book had me emotional. When we got to the ‘good part’ I was all in. I was crying, I was hanging onto every word and detail. I felt everything Lucy was feeling and I didn’t want to leave the good part when it was time to make a decision. I love Sam and Lucy’s relationship, it was so nuanced. Though Lucy didn’t remember, their love was easy, being loved by him was easy. Their relationship made me happy, made me cry, made me sad, made me hopeful…it made me feel. I love Lucy’s character development from the beginning to the end. Also, Lucy is so relatable. Like when she compares her life to Sophie’s Choice though she’s never actually seen it—just knows people make that connection when there’s an impossible decision to be made, like girl you are so! real!

I fell in love with other characters as well like Felix, Sam, Faye, Roisin, and Zoya (who I somehow got attached to even though I spent such little time with her in the beginning). I almost wished for more Felix and Lucy moments—which I read Cousens did have ready but ’spared us’—Sophie, I would read it ALL. I cared about a human heart school project as if my life depended on it. I LOVED Mr. Finkley. LEONARD HAS MY HEART <3 I was so invested in this story and these characters. The writing was great, the plot was impeccable, the pacing was perfect, and everything delivered. Something that was unexpected but later I enjoyed was the scanning palms and futuristic technology. It added an element of fun to think ~that~ is what the future looks like.

The ending was stirring, I was emotional once again, I was hopeful and happy. One thing this book did excellently was make me feel all these emotions. This is a book you can reread and still feel everything again. I loved this book and would completely and utterly recommend!

Four stars for this fun read by a great author! I liked the time shifting and the chance to do over. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Great main character!

I’ve now read all of Cousens’ books and can officially say - she never disappoints! The Good Part had me hooked from the dedication. This was such a thought provoking read…if you could skip ahead to see how your life is going to turn out, would you? What if you get there and decide you want to stay? What if you go back, and risk your chance of things turning out the same way? This was my second favorite book of hers and couldn’t recommend it enough. Definitely check it out this fall!

This book!!!! Lucy, at age 26, is struggling. Between her career, living situation, 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.
This book was so amazing. Maybe it’s the mom in me, who in my 20s was struggling with my own sense of self and wanting to be where I am in my life now? I don’t know, but this book was so thought provoking, emotional and grabbed me from the beginning. I cried, l laughed, I felt gratitude and I felt present in the moment. One book I will definitely think about for awhile to come.

I love sophie cousens books. I love her writing and the characters she creates. She automatic buy for me. 26 going on 40 count me in . She wakes up in a different life thsn she has and she got to figure out does she want to go back to her old life abd can she go back to her old life. This made me laugh a lot.

With immaculate 13 going on 30 vibes, this story truly had it ALL. The dialogue, the plot, the pacing, the characters, everything was just flawless. I’m usually not into magical realism but in this case I couldn’t get enough. It was so interesting how Cousens slowly made the reader feel okay with Lucy being in “the good part” and it really felt like I was right there with Lucy trying to understand what had happened and what she was going to do.

The entire story warmed my heart, filled with the most precious moments of dialogue and the ending was just PURE PERFECTION. I reread the last chapter a few times over because it was so satisfying in the best way possible. I cannot get over how much I loved this book, I already want to reread it.

There is just something special about reading a Sophie Cousens book! This book was filled with all the good parts (and then some)!

Lucy Young is just trying to survive: her less than stellar job (that she hopes will be so much more); her soggy bed (just ask her upstairs neighbor); and her nonexistent love life. After the world’s worst day (and in a desperate attempt to shake things up), Lucy makes a wish on a wishing machine. Soon, she finds herself thrust into a new life that is exactly as she imagined, with the “perfect” job, husband, children, and home. But is perfect really what she wanted? Or did she skip too far ahead to get to “the good part”?

I fell in love with Lucy’s character and her growth while reading this book (and often wishing my life was also sorted). This book gave me all the 13 Going on 30 vibes and I loved it. And the life lessons that Sophie infuses in her books were spot on (and really made me reflect on my own life). I thoroughly enjoyed this book and know that you will, too.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Putnam/Penguin Random House for the arc!