The Good Part presents a beautifully written narrative filled with relatable characters and an engaging plot that captivates readers from the start. The author skillfully weaves a tale with romantic elements, promising an exploration of love within the storyline. However, readers may find themselves let down by the scarcity of romance in the overall narrative. Despite this slight disappointment, the strength of the writing and the depth of the characters provide a compelling and enjoyable read, making The Good Part a worthwhile literary journey even for those seeking a more pronounced romantic focus.

This book was a pleasant surprise. I loved the time travel element where the main character Lucy is transported 16 years into the future. I thought moments of this book were hilarious especially her son Felix who honestly believed she was an alien and wanted to send her back to the planet she came from. The romance between Lucy and her husband Sam was so sweet. He was very patient with trying to help her remember the life she has suddenly forgotten and getting moments of how they met. I also thought this story touched on a lot of important life lessons. We need to live in the moment and not take anyone or situation for granted. There needs to be an appreciation for the stage you are currently in with your life because that will help guide you in the future and we need to not be ashamed of our mistakes because those will show us what not to do in the future. This was a very heart warming story that I would highly recommend.

Sophie Cousens does it again. Honestly, I’ve loved all of her books & this was no exception. I’ll say that this book is not *really* romance, though it has romantic elements (it’s also closed door, so if you’re in it for the smut, this ain’t it).

Lucy is down on her luck. Her bedroom in her apartment is nearly caving in, she can’t find a guy to date that isn’t totally weird, her besties are moving onward & upward, and she’s feeling totally stuck. She just wishes she could skip to *the good part*.

This story was so well-done. It could’ve been really cheesy but it absolutely did not feel that way. Sam was an immaculate MMC…he seriously could not have been any better 😍. Lucy was so relatable to my 20-something self, in fact, I’m positive I made the exact same wish dozens of times (birthdays, train tracks, fountains 🤣). And although the ending made me incredibly sad, I still felt like she made the right choice.

📖 𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 📖
📕 𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐄: The Good Part
📝 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑: Sophie Cousens
🗓️ 𝐏𝐔𝐁 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄: November 7, 2023
🪄 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄: Magical Realism
📚 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐓: eBook
✨ 𝐌𝐘 𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5/5)

"𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆, 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆"
I truly loved this book. It’s beautifully written with lovely, relatable characters and an intriguing plot. It took me a minute to really get into it (maybe 15% in) but from the moment I was hooked, I was fully engaged— one of those books you keep thinking about in between sittings. I loved the main character Lucy along with all her friends and her family. The son, Felix, was one of the absolute best characters and I loved getting to know him… smart, witty, an absolute hoot! I personally enjoy Magical Realism when it’s an expertly crafted story, like this one! You can swipe to see the synopsis or maybe just skip it and go in without knowing too much about it. The early reviews for this one are strong, so just put a little trust in your fellow readers and dive right in!

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚:
🎥 13 Going on 30
😂 Kids with good wit
🔮 Magical Realism
🥰 Endearing characters
🤔 Wondering “what if”

𝙈𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙢 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨:
* In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
* The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie by Rachel Linden
* The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
* One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest review.

This one gives freaky Friday and 13 going on 30 and I loved it. I loved our protagonist and her genuine want to skip to the “good part” I think it’s a beautiful story of just enjoying life for what it is with all the good and bad

Lucy is sick of just getting by, she wants to progress in her career, and be in a relationship with a guy who is not a complete weirdo. After a disastrous night out she stumbles upon an interesting woman and her wishing machine. Lucy makes a wish, but she soon realizes that skipping to the good part is not all it's cracked up to be. If you are a fan of 13 goin on 30 you will love this cute light read!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, while the plot was a little predictable, I loved the characters. They all seemed relatable, and I liked how not everything was peachy on the other side. Definitely recommend!

I love Sophie Cousens delightful contemporary romances. She takes an innovative direction with The Good Part. Well written and evenly paced.. Memorable characters. An engaging and enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam, and Sophie Cousens for an eARC of The Good Part in exchange for an honest review. 

The Good Part answers the question “What if you could just skip to the good part of your life?”

The book did a good job of setting up realistic and lovable characters. The dialogue felt natural and flowed well. The storyline was easy to follow, witty, and structured in a well-rounded way.

I would give this book 4 stars because it fulfilled what I wanted it to, but it wasn’t life-changing for me.

At twenty-six years old, Lucy Young is tired of the status quo after string of bad dates and working at a job she doesn’t like. Until she stumbles upon a shop with a wishing machine where she wishes to skip to the good part. She wakes up the next day in a completely new life filled with a husband, kids and a successful job. So did Lucy skip right to the good part? And if she could go back, would she want to?

Thanks to Putnam Books and NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Sophie Cousens’ last novel so was really excited to get my hands on an advanced copy of this one. I would describe this book as a super sweet rom-com disguised as magical realism. There are lots of lovable characters in this story including but Lucy’s young son, Felix, who is definitely a scene stealer.

If you, like me, loved Emma Straub’s ‘This Time Tomorrow’ you’ll really enjoy this one as it has a very similar premise. I’ve found magical realism books to be the perfect escape and really… don’t we all just want to skip to the good part? 😉

I don’t always love time travel books, but this one was really solid. The plot was interesting and the time travel component wasn’t too overwrought. The characters were all really well developed and relatable and the pacing and writing were tight. There were a couple times when I didn’t totally understand the main character’s motivations or the decisions she made, and that frustrated me a bit, but it was a quick and very enjoyable read.

A delightful story from start to finish! Sophie Cousens possesses an endearing author voice. I just love the way she conveys her characters' point-of-view to readers. I'm instantly swept up in their fictional lives, and she always crafts something that makes me feel tremendous amounts of empathy for the protagonist.
Prior to this year, magical realism isn't something I would've gravitated toward, but I must say I'm becoming a huge fan! The characters, their relationships, and the humorous interactions make for a satisfying read. Lucy's willingness to embrace motherhood (and Felix's tentative acceptance of her strengths and her flaws) is a poignant subplot. As a romance reader, I especially enjoyed the love story between Sam and Lucy.
If you like movies such as Thirteen Going on 30, or you recently read Amy Lea's Woke Up Like This, then you'll adore reading The Good Part. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions shared here are my own.

The Good Part by Sophie Cousens is a fun book to read. Lucy is a young woman who is struggling in life. She is barely making ends meet and feels stuck in every aspect of life. She finds herself wishing she could jump ahead to the good part of her life. The part where she finally has everything figured out, is secure in her career and with the man of her dreams. She is given an opportunity to make this wish come true, the problem is that she then finds that she has missed 16 years of her life and can't remember getting to the good part. Is it still good if you don't know what's happening?? As Lucy struggles to reconcile her life and fill in the missing parts, she learns some great life lessons along the way.
I love her family, she has everything it seems. This kind of a story has been done many times before but it is always fun to imagine what if. I think this is a great book to read to have a laugh and not take life too seriously.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This started out as a fairly average read. It was enjoyable. I liked it, but I wasn’t loving it. I won’t lie there was a part that made me cringe. I shook my head a couple of times and wondered about our main character, Lucy. Then something magic happened. Lucy started to grow. She started to figure things out, and I became enamored with this story.

Towards the end I was practically yelling (in my head, of course) at Lucy to make the decision I wanted. Did she? No, and I wouldn’t change one thing.

The message in this book resounded with me. I’ve always wanted a glimpse at the future so a book like this speaks to my heart. I went in blind, but came out seeing the magic.

This book contains scattered strong profanity and some fade to black love scenes.

Starting in on the book, I was wondering when we'd get to the good part but as we neared the end of -- when I was eagerly waiting how the book would conclude -- just like our heroine, I learned we can't rush to it because you need to live it.

This sweet, tender book had me in tears (her relationship with her son) and envy (I want what she's having!). While I usually find movies like 13 Going on 30 that inspired this book boring and typical, this was a nice and fun spin on the classic trope.

Lucy Young has had it – with her job, her dating life and her living arrangements. On her way home, after a night out, she happens to make a wish on a wishing machine – that she could just skip to the good part. She goes to bed and thinks nothing of it until she wakes up 16 years later, married and with children. She has no memory of what has happened in the in between time of those last 16 years.

Struggling to understand, Lucy desperately wants to go back. But being 16 years in the future comes with more responsibilities. As she tries to navigate this new time, she wants to know about all the things she missed. That maybe perhaps she didn’t really want to miss all the good things and bad things. As time continues forward, Lucy’s window to going back in her own time starts to dwindle.

Which will Lucy choose? Go back and take all the bad that goes with the good? Or stay in the future?

I loved watching Lucy grown and self-actualize that you can’t always get right to the good parts, you need to have the messy too. That it’s all a part of growing and growing up. You should definitely one-click this now – you won’t be disappointed.

My first book by Sophie Cousens, and it will not be my last!
This book made me laugh and cry multiple times towards the end...I rarely cry with books, and this one wrecked my mama heart. I felt so connected to Lucy and fell in love with all the people in her life along with her. I absolutely loved this thought-provoking read that I think anyone would love, but especially if you are a millennial, you truly appreciate this gem.

At the start of this novel, Lucy is 26 years old, with career struggles, almost no money, and a somewhat gross apartment she shares with three roommates. After a rough day and night, she find herself in a store with a “wishing machine” and makes a wish that she could skip through this time in her life and instead be in the good part of her life. And next thing she knows, she wakes up and she’s 42 - married, with kids, and a high powered job and nice house - but no memories of how she got there. Did she really get there by wishing or is she suffering from amnesia? And how is she going to fake her way through this life, or can she go back? Well, you’ll have to read it to find out.

This book was such a delight to read - like a combination of the movies 13 Going on 30 and Big, and Liane Moriarty’s book What Alice Forgot. Early on, I thought it was just sort of standard British chick lit, but once Lucy was her in her 42 year old life, the book really became great - funny and sad and poignant and thought provoking about the way life changes. I cried multiple times!

Somehow this is the first book I read by Sophie Cousens, but now I look forward to going back and catching up on her previous 3 books.

4.25 stars

The book was super comforting and fun to read, it was a great book to accompany the fall spirit! I really loved the. plot development in this book, and I felt like although I knew the tropes that were used and the characters pretty well, that the book still surprised and delighted me.

The Good Part, the newest release from Sophie Cousens, is a cute book that reminds me of the movie, 13 Going On 30, where the main character fast forwards to the “good part” of her life. What I really appreciated about this book is that the author reminds the reader that to make it to the good part of life, you have to live through the trials and tribulations to learn from your mistakes and gain knowledge from the events that occurred to make you the person you are during the best time of your life. I think the author did a good job building her characters and made you want to connect with them on a deeper level. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

4.5
13 going on 30? Freaky Friday? Is that you??
Beautiful woman's fiction/Fantasy/romance 90s movie vibes all thrown into one. This was a slow read for me because honestly it made me stop and think so much. How something like this would affect my life. How beautiful it was for her to re-fall in love. A cute story that brought up a lot of memories as well as made ya think.

Thank you for this ARC