Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Good Part by Sophie Cousens

5 reviews

bookish_leslie's review against another edition

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Spice: 2🌶️
Romantic tension, under clothes groping, sex scenes that fade to black before anything explicit happens

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My Thoughts

This book wasn’t at all what I was expecting, but I liked it. The cover design had me expecting a typical romcom, and while there was a romance subplot, this book was no romcom. It was a character-driven story about choices, family, identity, grief, and self discovery; a story about regrets, acceptance, love in all its myriad forms, second chances, and the both/and of life.

I think what I loved most about this book was how thought-provoking it was. What makes us who we are? What truly matters in life? If I could forget the experiences that have led to my grief - would I? Or in doing so would I lose parts of myself I’d want to keep? What matters more - remembering or living? What are my current choices saying about what my future will be like? What bright spots in my life might I be overlooking amongst the grievances? What role does the philosophy of “fake it until you make it” play in personal and professional growth? These are just some of the many things this book prompted me to think about.

But the relationships between the characters really shone for me in this book, too. Sure, the main character, Lucy, acted questionably and immaturely at times, but I think her reactions to what happened to her were very real too. I especially loved her interactions with 7-year-old Felix, but it was heartwarming to see her grow into her relationships with Sam and Amy, as well.

Of course, these growing connections made the ending feel more bittersweet. On the one hand, I was happy that Lucy got the opportunity to go back and live everything over again first hand, but I also felt so invested in her future timeline family and in her feelings of belonging and capability. I was sad to say goodbye to them, especially with no guarantee that she’d ever even meet Sam or have Felix, Amy, and even Chloe. And while the epilogue hinted that she did indeed meet Sam, I do wish we’d seen her actually meet him, so their happily ever after together was more assured.

This probably isn’t the book for you if you’re a plot-based reader, as it was largely character driven, but I do think it would be a good fit for people who like a bit of depth to their stories, philosophizing about life, or who are feeling nostalgic for old 90s movies like 13 Going on 30 (although in this case it was 26 going on 42).

Content Warnings

miiikaaaylaaa's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Quick, easy, and lighthearted. The main character, Lucy, was unproblematic but also a little flat. A lot of the details seemed to me to be added purely for the “shock” of time travel. Though it wasn’t “dark”, it seemed to be a little unnecessary. Felix (Future Lucy’s son) was adorable, comedic relief but all of the secondary characters were very secondary and underdeveloped. Not at all bad, an easy way to knock a book out though I did find it to drag a tad and myself unmotivated to keep reading at some points. My biggest qualm was that she jumped forward in to the future. As a personal preference, I do not love SciFi so the futuristic details were annoying to me. I personally would have preferred the novel to be set 16 years in the past and she jumped forward to today. Again - not negating the quality of the book, just a personal preference. Overall a good book, but did not leave me with any desire to read her others.

Content Warnings

lololovesthings's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

4.5 stars!

I simply adored "The Good Part" by Sophie Cousens. I think this is my favorite book by her. It's like an even more magical "13 Going on 30" with a British sense of humor. This book tickled me from start to finish. I was invested in the life of Lucy, who is a down-on-her-luck late 20-something who hasn't quite found her place in the world yet. She wishes on a wishing machine and wakes up the next morning with a doting musician husband, two wonderful kids, and a rock-solid career that she loves... but is she happier in the future than she was in the past? Skipping out on over a decade of time means Lucy must now come to terms with being a parent, being stretched thin at work and losing sight of what really matters at her job, having an aging body, and not necessarily being as solid in her marriage as she thought she might be when she was a youthful 26-year-old. In cutting to "the good part" of her life, Lucy has to realize that her actions in trying to find happiness and solidity also come with a heavy price. I think Sophie Cousens is very good at creating these little worlds her readers can relish in while also teaching them a life lesson on the way. I was along for the ride every step of the journey. This is a delightful, hilarious, heartbreaking, deceptively heavy book that is one heck of a pleasant surprise. I laughed, I cried, and I hugged my dogs and my husband when it was over. I loved Lucy, I loved Sam (her husband), I loved her interactions with her friends and coworkers, I loved every part of this book. So good! Please read it!

Thank you to NetGalley, Sophie Cousens, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

Content Warnings

pagesand_polish's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

jillwedemeier's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Have you ever just wished you could skip to the good part? In this emotional, funny, and lighthearted novel, one woman gets the opportunity to do just that.

The Good Part is the story of Lucy Young, a 26-year-old junior TV researcher who lives in London with her three flatmates. Lucy is single, broke, and her career seems to be going nowhere. She is tired of fetching coffees for senior TV producers, disastrous dates, and flatmates who never buy toilet paper. After another terrible date, Lucy finds herself in a downpour with no money for transportation and seeks shelter in a tiny shop. There, she stumbles upon a wishing machine. Sliding her last coin into the slot, Lucy closes her eyes and wishes to skip to the good part of her life. When she wakes up the next morning, she is 42 years old, a wife, a mother, and a high-powered TV producer. As she embraces her new life and relationships, Lucy will have to ask herself: Can she go back, and if so, does she want to?

🥲 I am not well. This book was ✨perfection✨ and I am so sad it is over. I absolutely devoured this book, reading it in one sitting. Lucy’s story will have you laughing out loud on one page and wiping away tears on the next. While this is a book about time travel, it is so much more than that. I loved every single minute of it.

The dedication reads, “To my twenty-six-year-old self. Hang in there, hun.” Same, girl. Same. ❤️

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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