Wow! This book has all the feels: fantasy and magic; comedy; an exquisite love story that made me a little jealous; and emotional moments that brought a tear to my eye. This has to be one of the best books I read this year. Imagine if Big and 13 Going on 30 had a love child in the form of a book. The Good Part would be that book. It’s a romantic comedy with elements of magic and fantasy.

Sophie Cousens’s writing is spot on and I found myself laughing out loud to Lucy’s narrative. The relationship between Lucy and Sam was wonderful. He’s definitely a book husband that I wish I could have. I found myself falling in love with his character as I progressed through the story. Their romance was something that I thought about away from the book, and I think that’s a marker of a good romance if you’re thinking about the characters away from the story. While I didn’t want the book to end, the ending was perfect.

The Good Part is a reminder that to get to the great sections of life, we have to live in the moment, regardless of how nasty or awful, or even messy it might be.

Who hasn't wished to travel to a point in their lives when things could be easier? I know that the older I get the more I wish I could go back and change things...

Lucy Young is 26 and feels as though she is stuck in a rut that she can't get out of. She lives in a flatshare with her best friend Zoya and a few people who don't seem to care about the other residents (bones in the bath because they're making bone broth?). And her upstairs neighbour is continually flooding his bathroom, which then drips into her room. And as for her career in TV? Well, she got a promotion but that doesn't mean she's not still the tea girl.

After a particularly bad night during which she argues with Zoya, gets a little too drunk and then finds herself on a disaster date with a very odd man...she comes across a wishing machine and wishes to be in a place where everything is sorted out, she's happy and settled and she's reached 'The Good Part'.

Be careful what you wish for, that's all I can say. When she wakes the next morning she is in bed with a man she doesn't know has two children and a sparkling career...but remembers none of it...and all good things come with a few hidden horrors, as she soon discovers.

This book made me sad and happy in equal parts. Through her experience, Lucy realises that skipping to the good part comes with many disadvantages, one of which is that she doesn't remember how she got there. And that's half the fun. Meeting and falling in love with her husband, Sam. Growing closer to her friends, spending time with her parents...and as for her children, she builds a bond, but it doesn't feel the same.

In a way, this is a tale that drums home (not too loudly) that experiences are earned, and along the way you learn a lot.

I really enjoyed this story, though as someone who has never been that keen on time travel as a concept used in novels, I was a bit dubious at first.

I read through this at a relative rate of knots and enjoyed every moment. A great book for those who enjoyed Groundhog Day, and Sliding Doors (there is something about her realisations as she looks at what she missed out on that made me think of this 'two path' story.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I enjoyed reading this book.

Lucy is 26, but not enjoying the job she’s doing or her life.

In a newsagents she finds a wishing machine, and so she makes a wish, for her life to go to the 'the good part' where everything is so much better than it is now.

When she wakes up in the morning, her life has gone forward 16 years, but she’s not sure what’s happened or how.

Now, it’s her decision, stay where she is, now aged 40 with things how she wanted them to be or, go back, to when she was 26 and live that life.

I recommend this book.

The good part is just magic. Once i got into this book I couldn't put it down. So warm and it was fantastic to be transported to another world. Highly recommend.

This is a really good feel good book. That will put a big smile on everyones faces. It's really easy to read and very enjoyable.

I thought this was a wonderful rom-com. All that is required from you, as a reader, if you are to truly enjoy it, is to have the ability to suspend disbelief a little over some timey-wimey magical 'stuff'.

Essentially, this is a book in the vein of fantastical (but contemporary) films like Big or Freaky Friday.

It begins when Lucy is 26 and miserable, fed up of her flatshare and having no money. It transforms when Lucy wishes to skip to the 'Good Part' of her life and magically wakes up in the middle of it. Then we have the journey of finding out where she is, who she is and what she's missed. I loved it.

Along the way you explore that cliche of whether it's the hard times that make us. Do we need to fully experience our grief in order to fully appreciate what's around us today? It's going to stay with me for a while.

The Good Part would make a lovely film - but it's a great read in the meantime.

This was my first ever ARC which is so exciting! Thank you to Hodder Books, Net Galley & Sophie Cousens for sending an early copy in return for my honest review.

This book follows Lucy, a 26 year old who feels like her life isn’t going anywhere. After a particularly bad night, she stumbles upon a ‘wishing machine’ and wishes that she could skip to the good part of her life…

I normally don’t love ‘magical realism’ in books or any type of time travel as it’s obviously not very realistic but this book really surprised me! This might sound stupid but as far as magical realism books go, this was probably the most realistic one I’ve read - I feel like the characters all reacted how you would if something like this happened in real life…

The characters were all FAB - her friendships felt so real and also made me very emotional (no spoilers 🤐). My favourite character (other than Sam 🥰) was Felix! I don’t usually care about kids in books but he was actually adorable and so funny, I loved him 😂

I really enjoyed the relationship between Lucy & Sam, it was really cute and different to anything I’d read before! I loved sam!!!! 😍

The ending was SO good! Lucy has to make a choice whether to stay in her ‘perfect’ life or go back to how it was before and the whole time I was trying to think what I would do…

Overall, I was really pleasantly surprised with this one and I’m SO glad I have a couple of other books by Sophie Cousens on my shelves so i can read them too! If you’re a romance lover - definitely give this one a go! ❤️

Lucy makes a wish on an old wishing machine she finds in a corner shop late one rainy night, to skip to the good part. She wakes up the next morning 16yrs in her future in a beautiful home, next to a gorgeous man and two children ready to start the day with their mummy. Trouble is, she has no recollection of the last 16yrs and can't remember her children or her husband.

Over the next few weeks she lives her future life, falls in love with her husband all over again while rediscovering her children and herself to an extent. Lucy is able to use the person she was in the past and apply that to the person she is now so instead of being a tired, over-worked mum, she's able to step back and make time to have fun - with her kids and her husband.

Slowly her memories start to come back to her but then she finds the wishing machine again so now she must make a choice - stay in the future and let her memories come back, or go back to the past and hope the future pans out the same way. Nothing is guaranteed in life.

I absolutely loved this book! I think it was an amazing journey of self-discovery and also a lesson in not taking things for granted. Once you've been in a long-term relationship and you have kids and a full time job, it can be hard to remember who you used to be and sometimes we all need to make time to remember who we once were. Let some of that fun and spontaneity back in for a few moments to make life enjoyable again. I really connected with Lucy as a character and she's inspired me to bring some of that fun into my life and relationship.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder Books for this advanced copy of “The Good Part” by Sophie Cousens.

I LOVED this romance that had a fresh take on films like “Big” and “13 Going on 30”. This is definitely my favourite Sophie Cousens book and I’ve read them all.

This book had me laughing out loud and sobbing. The ending definitely had me weeping. Sophie Cousens cleverly plays with your emotions. And just like Lucy, the central character, you never know whether what is happening is normal or if there is some fantastical element.

Sam was the most gorgeous golden retriever MMC. And I adored Lucy. The children were gorgeous. Especially Felix. I could imagine my seven-year-old son reacting like Felix.

The central question at the heart of the book was brilliantly and beautifully handled. Is it your memories and experiences that make you the person you are today? Even if those experiences involve happiness and joy and sadness and heartbreak?

I read this book in a day and I keep on thinking about. It completely transported me to the world of Lucy and Sam. Just a perfect book.

Well I really enjoyed this one. I loved the idea behind the book of just skipping to the good part. And felix well he just made the story for me. It really is the case of be careful what you wish for.

First book I’ve read by Cousen. I am looking forward to more

Wonderful! The start of this book just made me think of the movie Big! I love the premise of the book.

As always Sophie’s books are just so easy to read. You fall straight into the story and feel like you know the main character already.

This book is both laugh out loud funny and heartbreakingly poignant. I love the scrapes Lucy finds herself in, both aged 26 and 40!

The story really makes you think about the choices you would make, if you found yourself in Lucy’s shoes, as well as what makes you you!

Brilliantly told, this book will have you laughing throughout.

I loved this book! Sophie has done it again with another great story.
Lucy is mid twenties and fed up. She wants to skip to the good part of her life, where her life is finally sorted. But will it be all she imagines?! Highly recommend!

4.75 ⭐️

I really enjoyed this Big/13 going on 30/ I was I was older trope inspired story. I think it resonates with a lot of millennials who have definitely wished their lives away at some point.

I felt there were some beautiful displays of emotions in this book and it was so relatable in so many ways.

But. The ending just did not do it for me. It wasn't what I wanted and it didn't feel completely right. Yes it's open to interpretation somewhat so you could make up your own mind about what happens but for me it seemed a bit like a betrayal and for that I have to knock it down a smidge but it was an otherwise brilliant read

Not much can make me smile at the moment but this book did so, again and again…it is witty and warm, comforting and romantic, sweet without being saccharine and full of hope, life and love. My first by Sophie Cousens but definitely not my last.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, so much so that I read it in 2 sittings. This was my first book by Sophie Cousens and I loved her writing style. It was such a lovely and heartwarming read. I know how it feels to want to skip to "the good part" in life but the journey is half of the fun, and I really loved the message this book portrayed. I'd gladly read book after book of Lucy's stories. I'm not sure I would've made the same choices as Lucy did but I enjoyed how the ending was set up to give hope to the reader.

This is my first Sophie Cousens book and it did not disappoint. This book made me laugh out loud but it also made me cry my eyes out.
This book is based on a girl names Lucy who’s 26 and is for better words stuck in a rut in life, she’s not going anywhere in her job, she’s constantly on bad dates and she wants to just skip all of this and get to the good part where her life is all in order and she is with the love of her life. As the saying goes you should be careful what you wish for as you just might get it.
This book is 13 going on 30, meets freaky Friday. I’ve not read a book like this before and I absolutely loved it. I actually couldn’t put it down and read it all within the space of 24hrs. I cannot waive to delve into some of Sophie’s other works.

I devoured this book in 24 hours. It was the perfect weekend entertainment which was a complete delight to read and the perfect mix of women’s fiction, the possibility of time travel, making a wish and having it granted.

As a 20 something living in a grubby flat share and being at the bottom of the career pile is not all it’s cracked up to be. Lucy loves her friends but yet another flood from Mr Finkley’s bath in the upstairs flat and finding bones in the bathtub and no loo roll seems to be the last straw. Penniless before payday and resorting to eating pastries from the bin at work Lucy stumbles into an old shop where she finds a wizened old lady and a wishing machine.

When Lucy awakes she is in an unfamiliar bed with a man she doesn’t know and more alarmingly with two small children who she discovers are her own . Fast forward 16 years and Lucy is a wife and mother, also has a successful tv career but can’t remember how she got there.

Filled with humour, sadness and brilliant writing this is an absolute joy of a book which I can’t recommend highly enough. The characters are likeable and funny and those we see in both timelines of Lucy’s story show the lives they have led as the reader, along with Lucy, learn about her life.

Many thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

When we are introduced to her at the start of the story Lucy is still trying to figure out the whole adulting thing and make progress in her dream career whilst watching her friends move forward/be successful. After a particularly sucky day the idea of skipping to the good parts of her life/ story seems like a great idea in theory but in practice ends up being chaotic and head spinny. I lead a bit annoyed with Lucy when she landed in the good part of her story because some of her actions felt way too immature/ selfish considering she was 26 but as the story went on I felt the character turned it around and reminded me why I was rooting for her at the start. The best parts of the story for me were her interactions with Sam, Felix and Amy. I liked how Lucy found her place that unit and eventually fell for each of them. Her attempts to juggle her work life and home life when she had no idea of how she became this version of herself were funny, touching, a little heartbreaking and made for enjoyable read.

As for the ending. I expected it but I’m not sure if it was the right one/ the choice I would have made. . I am glad SC gave us a little bit more at the end that makes me hopeful. Not my favourite from this author but still an overall enjoyable read. 3.5 ⭐️

The storyline was going great.... until she wished her life away and didn't know her partner and kids. At that point it lost me as I just can't read this kind of stuff. The characters were great though sorry I couldn't finish

This was absolutely delightful. A love story not only about a partner, but about adulthood and family as a whole too. It was magical from start to finish, asking key questions about our journey through our twenties and beyond - what makes us happy; when do we "arrive"; what does "the good part" look like and how do I get there? I really think this is Sophie Cousens' best one yet. Highly recommended!