What a delightful take on so many great 80's/90's age swap movies, 13 Going on 30 was at the forefront of my mind while reading.

At a moment of weakness, 26-year-old Lucy stumbles upon a wishing machine and begs to skip to the good part of her life. Lucy wakes up to the life she's always wanted, but is it really a dream come true?

Lucy is such a likable narrator, imperfect and messy but a loving and loyal person. I found myself getting frustrated with parts of her journey, which I think is only natural with a format like this. I thought it might feel trite in the end, but, Sophie Cousens really landed the plane. I found myself blubbering through the last 30 pages or so. In the same way that I cry through the end of It's a Wonderful Life. It's exhilarating to watch Lucy's journey of ultimate gratitude for her life BEFORE the good part. This novel is a really sweet reminder that our lives aren't defined by the destination, whatever that means to us, but by everything in between. Trusting the process or journey is essential to life and if we can enjoy the journey, it will be that much more meaningful.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin/Putnam, and Sophie Cousens for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for some of my honest thoughts!

Sweet, dramatic, realistic, romantic, and cute! Makes you think about not taking things for granted. I loved it!

Sophie Cousens does it again – she’s written a book that I can't help but pick up and then put down then pick it up again a million times because I just don’t want it to end. If you love Big or 13 Going on 30 then you will absolutely LOVE this book. The Good Part tells the story of Lucy, who just wishes to get to the “good part of her life” and wants to skip all the trouble and heartache to get there. Her wish comes true, and flashforward 16 years and she’s now living a life that she knows nothing about.

While reading this book, I just couldn’t help but keep thinking of the number of times I have thought throughout my life “man I wish this was over, so that I could be doing (fill in the blank)…” and kept hearing my own mother’s voice in my head as she would say to me “don’t wish your life away.” This book really drives home the importance of the journey to achieve your goals and dreams and how that journey may not always be smooth sailing, but it’s the memories and the people along the way that you meet that make up all the “good parts.” I hands down LOVED this book and there were some definitely ugly tears at the end, but they were worth it. Getting to watch Lucy fall in love with Sam (hello new book boyfriend/husband) and their children was just *chef’s kiss*. I also loved the relationship between Lucy and Felix, and just watching how she started to navigate a life that was so unfamiliar to her.

Sophie Cousens was already an automatic author for me, but this just really solidifies it. Add The Good Part and really all of her books to your TBR immediately!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided to me through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Sophie Cousens and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

Fans of 13 Going on 30, 17 Again, and Freaky Friday….this one’s for you!

The Good Part follows 26-year-old Lucy who is broke, stressed, tired, and concerned about her career choice. After arguably one of the worst days of her adult life, Lucy finds herself in front of a wishing machine where she wishes to skip to the good part of her life. She wakes up the next morning next to a handsome man, with two kids, and the job of her dreams. But after realizing she’s missed out on 16 years of her life, Lucy regrets her choice and tries to get back, all while learning some valuable lessons along the way.

Lucy’s son, Felix, is laugh-out-loud funny as he tries to find the portal for his “imposter mummy.” I fell in love with her family and truly didn’t know where the story was going to go. I wanted her to stay and continue to get to know her “new” family, but I also wanted her to go back and live those 16 years she missed.

This story brought so many important life lessons and really felt close to home. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said I wish I could just skip ahead in life, now realizing I would’ve lost out on some valuable years!

This is a time leap story and I loved it. I think anyone who loves a happy ending will too.

Twenty-six year old Lucy Young is having a very bad day and is ready to ’skip to the good part’ with a good job, a person to love, and a decent place to live. This reminded me of the movie 13 Going on 30. The Good Part, like that film, is funny and heart-wrenching, and just wonderful. It is now my new favorite Sophie Cousens’ book.

The story starts out with Lucy barely getting by and working at a dead end job as an errand girl for a TV station. She lives in a rundown flat, with inconsiderate flatmates and a forgetful neighbor upstairs who overflows his bathtub and she’s been on so many awful dates she’s losing hope that she will ever find someone to love. She sees her friends meeting their life mates and finding good jobs. They seem to be moving forward with their lives on track while she’s stuck in a rut.

Lucy is walking home from a night out with her girlfriends followed by a terrible app date when she is caught in a downpour. Her debit card is empty, her phone is dead and she’s getting blisters from her shoes, so she ducks into a market to get out of the rain. It’s there that she sees the Wishing Machine and a kind elderly lady who tells her she looks like she could use a wish and gives her the coins for the machine. The next thing she knows, it’s morning and she has woken up in a bed next to a very handsome man in a beautiful home, she has two kids, a successful career and absolutely no memory of the last sixteen years.

There’s a lot of humor as we watch Lucy in her future life. She has to figure out whether it's how to not flinch when she sees her 42 year old self in the mirror or when she’s trying to figure out how to drive her high tech car. In this reality, Lucy also needs to make important decisions at her job as a high powered TV Producer. Cousens handles these scenes with a deft and witty touch.

But there are also some sad moments and while I don’t want to reveal any spoilers I will share you might want to have some tissues close by for those. The mood is lightened by her baby Amy and her seven year old son, Felix who is hilarious, especially when Lucy is trying to help him with his science project. Her husband Sam is really sweet and I loved their relationship. He takes her to a doctor who tells them she has temporary amnesia and Sam is so patient and kind to her. There were a few parts of the story in the future that dragged a little and the story deals with some tough topics but I especially enjoyed the theme of appreciating life’s journey, with its ups and downs. Lucy has to decide whether to stay in the future or go back and I wasn't able to guess which she would choose.

I laughed and I cried as I rooted for Lucy. This is a wonderful story and I recommend it to readers looking for a feel good story with depth and a side of romance.

Twenty-six year old Lucy Young has had enough. She is tired of being broke, being single, and of being at the bottom of the food chain at work. She’s beyond ready to skip to the good part of life. After making a wish on a coin operated wishing machine, she wakes up next to a handsome stranger in a house she’s never seen before. She’s finally got the life she wanted but doesn’t remember the last 16 years of her life. She desperately wants to get back to her real life, but what if she’s stuck forever? Careful what you wish for!

Who among us has wished to skip to the good part? The part feels sorted and you’re not just scraping by on blind hope and girl dinners. Except as Lucy finds out life is never really sorted is it? There’s always something to worry about!

“The Good Part” is exactly what I’ve come to expect from Sophie Cousens after reading three of her books. Charming, heartwarming fun! I love how the the inspiration for this book was watching classic body switch movies like “13 Going on 30” and “Freaky Friday” and wondering is the life jump from young adult to middle age as drastic as from child to grown-up.

Cousens spends just enough time with present day Lucy before the jump for the reader to understand why she’s wishing for the good part while giving Lucy reasons to want to go back. The future is believable and well developed with inflation, delivery robots, cars voiced by Stanley Tucci, embedded payment chips, and Generation Alpha slang that even Gen Z wouldn’t understand. The characters of Mr. Finkley and Future Lucy’s son Felix are some of my favorites I’ve read this year!

This would make an excellent book club read as it naturally leads to good discussion topics. Please check the trigger warnings though! There are some tough things for Future Lucy to come to terms with because that’s life. You gotta take the good with the bad.

I highly recommend “The Good Part”. It has jumped to number one on my Sophie Cousen reads and made her an auto buy for me in the future.

This review will be posted to Instagram @readwithkandp a week prior to release.

The Good Part by Sophie Cousens is out 11/6/2023!

Thanks to the publisher, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, and NetGalley for sending an eARC copy for review. All opinions are my own.

#TheGoodPart #NetGalley

I love all of Sophie Cousens' books and "The Good Part" is no exception! In the story after a series of disasters, Lucy finds herself in front of a wishing machine and wishes to skip to the good part. Lucy wakes up 16 years in the future with a life she doesn't remember- two kids, a husband, and a high profile job. While learning about her new life she discovers that not everything is rosy. There are real challenges in any life and the journey might make them more meaningful. Should Lucy stay or try to go back? Did Lucy even time jump or does she have amnesia?

For me this book had all the feels! I laughed. I cried. I loved it all. All of the side characters are wonderful. Felix was my favorite. There wasn't as much romance as I was expecting. Lucy got herself a real keeper with her swoony husband. At times I found myself annoyed with Lucy's cluelessness, but well worth the journey!

Thank you to Putnam Books and NetGalley for this eARC!

I enjoyed The Good Part, I love how it was a mixture of women's fiction and fantasy with the time traveling into the future. As Lucy is just trying to navigate her young life in this novel Sophie Cousins gives us the most hilarious, heartwarming and entertaining read yet. I also not only found this book to be funny but it was also slighlty relatable and wholesome. Overall an amazing read!

I really like this author and was excited to receive a NetGalley ARC. Thank you NetGalley, Sophie Cousens and G.P.Putnam’s Sons publishing. As I started this book it was sort of like a deja vu reading it and I was worried that I didn’t want to go further. A person who makes a wish and then all of a sudden it’s like the movie 13 going on 30 or Freaky Friday.

This was so much better than I anticipated after reading the first 50 pages. As soon as she gets her wish this book takes off. I absolutely fell in love with all the characters and thoroughly enjoyed the whole rest of the book. It just seemed so true - when you’re in your 20’s you just feel like you want to get to the rest of your life professionally, relationally and financially. Where will I be? Will I find my forever love? Will I get a decent job? Will I ever be able to afford a house? To Travel? Be careful what you wish for.

Slogging through our twenties seems to be a common theme of the human condition. How many times have we all wanted to press the fast forward button to get to the good part? When struggling 26-year-old Lucy Young wishes to “skip to the good part” on an antique wish-granting machine and wakes up in the middle of her golden years, the

This is an incredibly relatable story for any 20-30 something who feels stuck and like they’re ready for something greater. This book felt like a hug and was an enjoyable read

13 going to 30 vibes.
I absolutely loved reading the book so much. It had the right amount of fantasy and romance that kept me glued to the book. I can't wait for it to come out and order a paperback.
I've always wondered how it would feel to "skip to the good part" side of life, and this book took my imagination further. The characters are so well written and you just want to keep reading to see what happens. Lucy's life is so interesting in this book. You get to see her fall in love and learn things about herself that she needs to learn in order to be her best self.
Overall, if ou love a good self-discovery, fantasy book, you will probably love this book. It will suck you right in and won't let you go until you are done with the book.

Lucy Young is twenty six and waiting for her life to get good. She’s not gotten promoted in her career, she’s gone on nothing but bad dates, and her flatmates are not the most reliable set. After a particularly disastrous date, Lucy dips into a shop to seek shelter from a storm and finds herself making a wish to skip to the good part of her life. When she wakes up the next morning having indeed skipped ahead to the good part, she needs to figure out what to do with her fortysomething body, her husband, her two picture perfect kids and her killer career.

This book was truly so funny. I laughed out loud so many times, especially when Lucy first awoke in the good part. Her interactions with her children, especially Felix, were comedic gold. I loved all of the bits around the Portal Quest that Felix devised to help get his Real Mummy back.

Lucy and Sam getting to know each other again was equal parts romantic and heartbreaking. I can’t imagine the toll it would take if your long term spouse suddenly didn’t remember a moment of your life together, and I felt the mixed emotions Sam had about it viscerally.

The ultimate message of the book, of course, is that your life IS the good part, and that if you skip it you miss so much. The ending really got me in the feels, and I couldn’t help but cry as the story wrapped up.

You might like this if you enjoy: 🕰️ time travel/alternate timeline 🪄 magical realism 🍭 13 Going on 30 🎹 Big ❤️‍🩹 falling in love all over again ⭐️ the little moments and the big moments 👦 funny and wise kid characters

Thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin Group Putnam for the advanced copy to read and review. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book! Hilarious, witty, and heartfelt. I found myself laughing out loud at times and also tearing up at others. The author did a wonderful job getting me to feel all the feels of the main character. What a great read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the early review opportunity in exchange for my honest opinion.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5852971594

This was an easy 5 star read! SO heartwarming and funny! This is a book I will reread over and over. Sophie Cousens does it again! ❤️❤️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I liked this - it had just the balance of lightness and depth that I look for in a book. Lots of 13 Going on 30 vibes. I enjoyed this one much more than the author’s last 2 books.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

An enormous thank you to NetGalley, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, and of course, Sophie Cousens for providing me with an eARC of this novel. I am voluntarily leaving a review, all opinions are my own.

Wow. I absolutely ADORED this book. It was so emotionally beautiful, I cried multiple times while reading.

The characters were phenomenal, I loved Lucy and she was so relatable. Who hasn’t had the urge to just skip a chunk of your life or get to a moment where you feel more together in your life?

The journey in this book was wonderful and I loved all of the side characters way too much. Felix, Sam, all of her coworkers. I was so torn through so much of this book.

The ending was even better than I could’ve hoped for, it left me tearing up and so hopeful for Lucy and her life. I adored this book and will forever read anything Cousens comes out with!

Thank you to Penguin Group PUTNAM for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Sophie Cousens has done it again. The magical realism element in this story is absolutely beautiful. In the acknowledgement Sophie mentioned that one of the movies that inspired this book was 13 Going on 30. One of my favorite parts of that movie is how genuine Jenna's emotions feel throughout, and the same is absolutely true for Lucy. Also, this is one of the first books with children that I've read where I LOVE the children. So that's a win! Also, I think I like Sophie's version of the future. I definitely like her version of a love story.

Reading The Good Part is like slipping into a perfectly-prepared bath: every bit as comforting and delightful as you hoped. Actually, it's like slipping into a perfectly-prepared bath and then someone unexpectedly brings you a tray with a great book and your favorite snack.

Having read some of Cousens' other books, I was expecting The Good Part to feature a thoughtful, angsty heroine and a few unlikely coincidences. We get those, but The Good Part feels more substantial than the average rom com. Most of it takes place in the main character, Lucy's, future life as an executive, wife, and mother, and she's dealing with problems beyond the happily-ever-after: maintaining a marriage, balancing work and motherhood, and living a life filled with the joys and sorrows that accrue to us all eventually but that, at 26, she has not anticipated.

And it's so well done! Lucy struggles, but not in a cringe-y way. The plot is wonderfully full, with attention devoted to Lucy's friendships, career, parents, children, and husband - all of which hinges on her personal evolution in a way that kept me really wondering what her happy ending would look like - and the ending itself is satisfying. A delightful read.

cw: child loss (off page)

REVIEW
cw: death, memory loss, grief, anxiety, mention of cheating 
Lucy Young is a struggling junior TV researcher living in a chaotic flatshare and barely able to afford to eat. After a disastrous night out, she makes a wish to skip ahead to the good part: financial and job security and a long-term relationship. When she wakes up, she's skipped ahead sixteen years. 
I really loved this book! It started off a bit like '13 Going On 30', except it was 26 going on 42, and consequently, with much more emotional and physical baggage. The moments straight after she first woke up were absolutely hilarious. I could vividly imagine them like watching a movie. I won't spoil the life she wakes up to, but it was full of amazing characters, so much warmth, but also incredibly hard losses. I laughed and sobbed in equal measure. I really loved Lucy, and her relationships with Felix and Sam were the highlights of this book for me. Felix's astute questions and Sam's gentle, patient, and caregiving were truly wonderful. I also loved Leonard. The final few chapters had me sobbing uncontrollably, both sad and happy tears. Seriously, I needed to rehydrate! I really, really hope someone makes this into a movie because it was such an incredibly poignant but also often hilarious look at life.
A truly magical and inspirational romance.  

Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Heat Rating: 🔥
Emotional Rating: 🙈💓🙄💓😒🙈💓😂🙈💓😂😊😬🤦🏻‍♀️😂💓🥰😂💓💔😢💔💓👏🏻😒😬🙈💓😬💓😍💓💔🙈💓🙈😂🙈😂💓😢💔🙈😢💔😢💓🥰💓😂💓😬😢💓😂🙈🥰💓🤔😊👏🏻🥰💓🥰💓😢💔💓😊🙈💓😭🥰💓🙈😬💓👏🏻💓🥰👏🏻😂🥰😭💓😢💓😭💓👏🏻🥰


*Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to leave an honest review. The Good Part is published on 5th October in the UK*
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