This was such a fun concept and I was interested in seeing where Lucy’s story was going next. I am normally not a fan of time travel type books but this was so well written and done. Lucy wasn’t my favorite character but I enjoyed following her journey. Such a fun, quick, and heartwarming read.

It was an ok read. I had a hard time relating to Lucy, she wasn't very likeable at all. Some of her behavior in the story really grated on my nerves (no spoilers).
Sam was the absolute best! I really loved his character.
I didn't like the ending or the epilogue, at all (I don't write spoiler reviews). The story held my attention, despite me not liking Lucy very much, which says a lot. The writing was great. I just couldn't get past my dislike of Lucy and the ending.

Sophie Cousens has become one of my favorite rom-com authors, and The Good Part did not disappoint. In this novel, 26-year-old Lucy has a particularly rough night and wishes to skip to the good part of her life. The following day, she wakes up as 42-year-old Lucy and can't remember anything that has happened in the last sixteen years. She begins to discover what has happened, how her relationships have changed, how she's changed, and what she's accomplished. She then has to decide if she wants to stay and only have the memories of her life or to go back in time to experience everything.

I loved this novel! The time travel element worked for me, and I loved being alongside Lucy as she discovered what her life looked like and judged it through 26-year-old eyes. It had me thinking about what I would do in her situation.

This book is warm, funny, full of delightful British charm, and overall solidified Cousens as one of my favorite rom-com authors. I highly recommend this one to fans of The Seven Year Slip and The Authenticity Project.

This was like romance, women’s fiction, and magical realism all rolled into one.

I love a good time travel/memory loss plot like no other. This book totally reminded me of 13 Going On 30, Freaky Friday and a few other faves I had growing up. This has a distinct 90s/early 2000s charm about it, and I am so glad the author addressed this in her author’s note because I was hoping she would acknowledge these vibes.

This was thought provoking, life affirming, heart warming, and heart breaking. I was imagining myself in the main character’s shoes, and I LOVE when books make me reflect on life to such an extent.

As someone who has always daydreamed about “getting to the good part” of life, this was an absolute home run for me.

The writing was wonderful, the plot was perfectly done, and this made me laugh and smile until my cheeks hurt. There’s nothing better than a book that will grip you from the first page and then have you feeling an array of emotions throughout.

This was hilarious, emotional, and the romance was just the cherry on top. The ending was also perfect. I have zero complaints.

Thank you NetGalley, Sophie Cousens, and Putnam Books for this ARC! This publishes tomorrow on 11/7/23! 🎉

I generally like Sophie Cousens. Absolutely loved Haven't Met You Yet, and really enjoyed This Time Next Year as well. Normally, I cannot stand time travel in any books. I really just can't stand it no matter what, but in this book, it felt better executed. I liked Lucy the main character, and I really liked that we got to know her life with Sam and the children. It was fun to see her grapple with missing all the different choices that she had made along the way.

It had set rules, and the whole book (or the vast majority of it since that's what she spent in the future) felt more like a dream, and I understand her invoking the movie The Family Man. However, it never really felt like she was going to stay in the future and not get her memories back, so the stakes were a little low, but I did generally enjoy this. I loved the relationship with Felix, and I really enjoyed her realizing that life is never really figured out, and that it's all just chaos staked on top of chaos and even though you spend all your time saying "Well, this week I'm busy, but next week will be better." It never really calms down.

I have some questions. If all Lucy was going to do was try to live her life the exact same way, and she was going to get all of her memories back anyway, then why would she want to go back and experience it again? If she wasn't going to get all her memories back, or if there was something that she really wanted to change I would get it, but not only does she not remember her time with Sam, Felix, and Amy, but she also doesn't seem to be too bothered about everything else.

I was really confused in regard to the fallout with Emily, and I was not a fan of the weird epilogue where we see her on her way to meet Sam. I wanted it to be longer. I wanted to see the whole evening from her point of view. Or not at all. Either see the whole meeting of Sam and Lucy, and maybe something changes! Maybe it's not the way we hear him explain it because the future isn't set in stone and things can change. Maybe there is a real reason that she doesn't just stay in the future. I wanted more of a resolution to that. I just can't reconcile going back to being 26 of she was going to do everything over again.

One final point before we go back to no spoilers. It's so annoying in movies and books when a character has to come up with a brilliant idea, and then the idea sucks and everyone acts like it's amazing. I really appreciated that for the pitch off, it felt like the ideas were fully fleshed out, and I could totally see either of them becoming shows. Really appreciated that.

Definitely not my favorite Sophie Cousens book, but it was fun to read and for someone who doesn't mind time travel this would be a great read. Overall the 3/5 comes from the following:

-1 star for Time travel. I literally hate it so much and I was so disappointed when I realized that's what this was.

-1 star for the confusion about Lucy's decision at the end.

Thank you NetGalley & Sophie Cousens for an eARC of The Good Part!

“But maybe there aren’t any shortcuts in life. Maybe you have to live it all, because it makes you who you are.”

This was my first Sophie Cousens book & I thoroughly enjoyed it. I felt all of the emotions throughout the story; it made me both laugh out loud & shed tears! I loved the message the book got across, that you have to experience all of life, not just the “good parts.”

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

DNF at 22%

I'm sorry, but I wasn't feeling this one. It definitely had its moments of comedy in the beginning, but I wasn't connecting to the FMC at all, and I just wasn't liking her personality.

I started forcing myself to pick this back up and honestly I just wasn't feeling anything when I read this, so I must move on :(

It took me long time to get into this book. Once I did, I enjoyed it for the most part. Sam and the kids were a highlight. Lucy got on my nerves a bit and I’m not sure I ever really liked her. The rest of what I’d want to say is spoiler-y and I don’t do spoiler reviews, so I’ll just leave it at that. I liked this book and would recommend it, but it’s definitely not on my list of favorites. I was actually hoping for a bit more romance. I feel like it kind of took a back burner to Lucy’s inner monologue and ended up being very surface level.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Lucy Young is a twenty-six-year-old runner working for a television network and is unsatisfied with her state of affairs. She was supposed to be promoted to a junior researcher position, and while she has the title, she is still doing the job responsibilities of a runner. She also can't seem to get out of the run-down flat she lives in and ends up on dates with icky men.

Lucy ends up in a convenience store after a bad date with no money for the bus and tries her luck on a wishing machine. She wishes to skip to the good part of her life where it's all supposed to make sense. Well, she gets what she wishes for and ends up sixteen years later, where she has a husband, children, a successful career, and what seems like everything. However, she can't remember anything about what happened to her between twenty-six and forty-two. Lucy has to figure out whether she wants to go back to sixteen years ago or stay in the moment sixteen years later.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was so invested in Lucy's journey from beginning to end. I thought Lucy was incredibly relatable, especially when we are in our twenties and thirties. It's that in-between that we don't know what we want to do with our lives, and the fact that we don't have what we think we should have makes it harder. Frankly, at any age, We all don't know where our lives are meant to go. At times, it can feel so difficult at the moment that you just want to skip to the part where it's not so hard. News flash: we all have something going on. It's just a matter of how we deal with it.

I appreciated that the author's message in the story was to enjoy the present. There is always a lesson to be learned from most things in our lives, even if we don't see it at the time. Things will work out the way that they are supposed to. These aren't necessarily novel concepts and this has been adapted into many different stories. However, how Sophie Cousens depicted this in the story was just a chef's kiss. I know the author based this story on movies like "Freaky Friday" and "13 Going on 30", but I would love to see this book adapted into a movie.

In addition, I really enjoyed how the author painted the picture of what society would look like sixteen years later. Of course, in 2023, AI is becoming more prominent, and in this new society, it's more present in their lives. At least robots didn't (entirely) take over the world.

Please go pick this book up when it is released. It's a smart, enjoyable, and intelligent read about going through life and looking for the lessons in our everyday lives. This is easily one of my favorites of 2023.

I loved this book so much! Sophie Cousens's last book, Before I Do, was one of my favorite books of 2022 and this is easily one of my favorites of 2023.

Lucy feels lost at 26 and not sure where her life is headed. On a whim she makes a wish to get to the good part of her life, and wakes up transported 16 years in the future, As she figures out how to adapt to this new-to-her life, she has quite a steep learning curve.

One of my favorite parts of this book is the relationship between Lucy at Felix, her 7 year old son. Felix is such a charming character, so endearing and funny. I loved every bit of Lucy trying to figure out parenting while being an instamom to Felix and Amy. Having been through the one-year old phase fairly recently, I loved all the parts with Amy as well.

Sam was such a dreamy love interest and I loved the uniqueness of watching their current relationship develop while hearing about their history.

I read quite a lot of rom coms and this one was definitely very refreshing and unique. I am a Sophie Cousens fan for life now, and cannot wait to read what she writes in the future! I highly recommend this book and I'm sure everyone will fall in love with the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

Thank you @putnambooks @prhaudio for a copy of this book. If you love 13 Going on 30, this book is for you. Lucy is at cross roads with her life at 26 with a stalled career and wished to skip to the good part of her life. She wakes up to being 42, married to Sam with 2 children. She just navigate through her new life and figure things out. There'a so many funny moments from learning new technology to getting to know her family. Sam is such a sweet heart and understanding with the situation and I love how Lucy falls for her husband again. Her son Felix was so precious and added so much heart to the story. The narrator did such a great job bringing all the characters to life.

“maybe there aren’t any shortcuts in life. Maybe you have to live it all, because it makes you who you are.”

The Good part started out kind of boring for me but once Lucy has her night out and ends up at the Newsagent the story starts to take off. I did find Lucy to be somewhat of an annoying and immature character. The drama around things in the story like changing Amy’s diaper was very annoying.

While reading I started to fall in love with Sam, Felix, and Amy. There were moments that were hilarious and then a few that were quite sad. Felix was my favorite of them all and surprisingly

I did think she would of made a different choice at the end and that being said without spoiling too much I am someone who needs closure in a story and while we see the “path” we don’t know if it is the exact same and now I just need to know 🤣 I surprisingly feel a little sad after reading this.

Overall it is a story that will make you look at life and contemplate what you would do if you were in Lucy’s shoes. I would recommend this book it was different enough from other storylines that it was interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. Sophie Cousens did it again. While I considered her past novels romances/romcoms mixed with women’s fiction, this was a straight up women’s fiction that was wildly relatable while being simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking. Time travel is not my thing and needs to be done very carefully. This is the second time travel book I’ve read that I thoroughly enjoyed. This one is it for me - one of my favorite reads of the year.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

"Skipping to the Good Part" is a delightful and thought-provoking tale that explores the intricacies of life, love, and the longing for a better future. Lucy Young, a relatable and endearing protagonist, is portrayed as a young woman yearning for a break from the monotony of her everyday existence. After a chance encounter with a mysterious wishing machine, Lucy's life takes an unexpected turn, catapulting her into a seemingly perfect future that challenges her perceptions of happiness and fulfillment.

The novel skillfully captures Lucy's initial disbelief and subsequent exhilaration as she navigates her transformed reality, complete with a loving partner, fulfilling career, and a picturesque family. Through Lucy's introspective journey, the author prompts readers to reflect on the nature of desire and the elusive quest for a fulfilling life. The exploration of the complexities of Lucy's emotional turmoil and her evolving relationships is portrayed with depth and authenticity, drawing readers into her world with empathy and understanding.

The narrative is imbued with a delightful blend of humor, romance, and introspection, creating a compelling and engaging storyline that resonates with readers on a personal level. The author's witty prose and keen observations of human behavior add a layer of relatability to the narrative, making Lucy's experiences feel genuine and heartfelt.

While the premise of the story is engaging and the character development is commendable, there are instances where the pacing feels slightly uneven, causing certain plot points to lose their impact. However, this minor flaw does not detract from the overall charm and appeal of the narrative, which remains captivating and uplifting throughout.

In "Skipping to the Good Part," the author offers a refreshing take on the age-old adage of 'the grass is always greener on the other side.' Through Lucy's journey, readers are encouraged to contemplate the significance of appreciating life's simple joys and embracing the journey, rather than fixating on an idealized version of the future. With its engaging storytelling and relatable characters, "Skipping to the Good Part" is a heartwarming read that reminds us of the importance of cherishing the present moment and finding contentment within ourselves.

This story very obviously draws inspiration from film classics "Big" and "13 and Going on 30", and the result is a satisfying contemporary take on "be careful what you wish for."

At age 26, Lucy's life is not going too well. When she drunkenly makes a wish to skip to the good part of her life, she wakes up the next day to find that she is 16 years older, married to a handsome man, with 2 kids and a dream job. As she starts living this "good part" of her life, she quickly realizes that maybe skipping the last decade and a half is not she wants after all.

In the end, I liked Lucy's story. There are some sweet moments, as well as heartbreaking ones, as she navigates a stage of life that she is initially not prepared for. I loved seeing her fall back in love with her husband and become comfortable with motherhood. and her mature age.

I will admit, though, that sometimes the story was hard to read. Lucy's initial reaction to waking up as a 42-year old working mother rubbed me the wrong way... and I think that was probably the point. It's more of a case of "it's me, not the book" because as a 41-year old working mother myself, I found myself frustrated with Lucy's slow progress and acceptance. Also, anytime children are involved in a narrative, I get a little oversensitive about how things are handled, so again, probably "it's me, not the book."

Overall, I think this is an enjoyable read. There are some great life lesson messages, and the magical realism makes it feel whimsical, even while the story itself handles some hard topics with heart.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Romance with Magical Realism
Age Level: Adult
Content: mild language, closed-door/fade-to-black

Twenty-something Lucy finds her wish granted when she wakes up find herself 16 years in her own future. This book had major “13 going on 30” vibes which my millennial heart adored! The story felt a little slow in the middle of the book but was otherwise engaging as were all of the characters. This one is definitely worth the read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC of this fun read!

Thank you Putnam publishing and PRH audio for review copies of Sophie Cousens' new book The Good Part. I have to say I am a fan of this author, what seems like a romance story is so much more, a story of self growth, self discovery and insights that resonate with me. I love the idea of wanting to get to the good part and then having to understand that the good part might be the journey itself, not just the "end" and the "good part"... because the end is always somehow still part of a bigger journey anyway isn't it?

This is a win for me (and the audio narration was great!) and I am sure it will click for fans of the author, fans of Sophia Kinsella (and particularly her recent book The Burnout) and fans of authors like Jennifer Weiner.

Wonderful read, great for the introspective time of year (winter, Jan) and great a for book club discussions.

4.5⭐️ Twenty-six year old Lucy is down on her luck and tired from life. When she stumbles upon a wishing machine while seeking shelter from a rainstorm, Lucy decides to give it a shot and wishes for what she wants most - to skip to the good part. When she wakes up the next morning, she is 14 years in the future in the middle of a completely different life. But is it the one she wants? And is she willing to give up those pivotal years along the way?

Sophie Cousens never disappoints and she has written yet another winner with The Good Part. A wonderful blend of women’s fiction, magical realism and romance, this is the perfect book for when you need an escape from the scary of the world, and want to immerse yourself in a feel-good book full of heart. With characters you can’t help but love, including the funniest little kiddos who steal the show at times, and a plot that although not unique, is a whole lot of fun, you can’t help but enjoy this charming story perfect for this time of year.

ʀ ᴇ ᴀ ᴅ ɪ ғ ʏ ᴏ ᴜ ʟ ɪ ᴋ ᴇ :
•magical realism
•time travel
•romcoms with heart
•women’s fiction
•13 going on 30

Thank you {partners} Putnam Books and PRH Audio for my gifted copies.

There are so many things I like about this book. It’s really funny & well-written. I’m big into imagining what would happen in alternate timelines, & the “what ifs” of different choices, so it’s right up my alley.
My mind was trying to puzzle things out right along with Lucy. Her frustrations, anxiety, sorrow, & joys are so relatable. I laughed out loud, smiled frequently, & got misty a couple of times while reading.
Can’t blame Lucy for wanting to wish the bad stuff away & hit the fast forward button. Who doesn’t want to know that things will turn out okay when going through the muck of life?
Lucy is a likable character, but so are her friends, Sam, & the kids. Felix is a hoot. I wish I could hear what that clever kid does with his life in the future. I also enjoyed the guess of a glimpse into future technology worked into the story. I knew how I wanted the story to end, but couldn’t guess what it would take to get there. I think it wraps up perfectly. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy.

I’m a big fan of Sophie Cousen’s books. They could easily sway cheesy but they don’t, and just have a great balance of a love story with some angst and happy ending. A quick read worth checking out - new this week!