Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Good Part by Sophie Cousens

19 reviews

meridith_bex's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death and Grief

schweibertsm's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I wasn't sure if I'd like this book. Early on there were parts that absolutely made me cringe, but Sophie Cousens nails what it's like to be a working mom. I've never felt more seen then the scene with Baby Amy being sick. By the end of this story you are rooting for Lucy and her family and the life she wants. How many times have we all wished our lives away? But life is found in the small moments and the mundane.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Vomit, Grief, and Pregnancy

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). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Dementia

Minor: Infidelity and Sexual content

acalla7's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

3.75

Ahh just what I needed, a cute little romcom that is easy to read and leaves you thinking. This book reminds me of movies from the 90’s early 00’s which I loved. Feel good, re-watchable, comfort movies. 🥰 To name a few that this reminded me of- 13 going on 30, Freaky Friday, and Click. A fun time indeed!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death and Grief

peanutporridge's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

This book was honestly like a hug from an old friend! I laughed out loud several times and had a few tears in my eyes towards the end.
I really appreciated the simple, yet profound message of this book which is to live in the here and now to the fullest that you can.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death and Grief

spellbindingtomes's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩...𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥.

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬:
26 year old, Lucy Young, is tired of her mundane life. One day she stumbles upon a wishing machine and wishes to skip to the good part of her life. The next day, she wakes up to find herself in her forties with a handsome husband, a high-level job, and two children. Unsure if it's real or if she's skipped a chunk of her life, Lucy must decide if she wants to go back to her past or embrace her new reality.
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Skipping to "the good part" sounds great, but in actuality I think it would be pretty scary waking up one day to an entire life you have no memories of making. 

Sophie's writing had me completely invested in Lucy's predicament. I understood her struggles adjusting to her future life — suddenly becoming a wife and a parent to two kids, learning about how her old relationships and friendships held up through the years. On top of all that, the daunting possibility that maybe the wishing machine wasn't real to begin with and instead she might have memory problems. I was getting so anxious and overwhelmed for her!

But what balances this terrifying situation are the side characters, especially Sam and Felix. Sam was incredibly supportive and understanding with Lucy and Felix was so sweet, trying his best to help Lucy out so he can get his 'mom' back. 

𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 — 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦?

Though this took me a while to get into, once I was one-third of the way through, I was completely hooked! At first, Lucy wasn't super likeable but her character growth was well done that by the end I was rooting for her. I wanted her to be happy whether that was going back to the past or staying in the future. 

Read if you like:
📺 13 going on 30 movie
⏳time travel
📺 magical realism 
⏳ self-discovery 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Grief

mrsvroreads's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Grief, and Medical trauma

samlyn90's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Dementia, and Grief

annaforthebooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Grief

ladyflash's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

3.5

If secondhand embarrassment is not your thing you're going to hate the first third of this book, but then I promise it gets better, but it was very close to being a DNF for me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Grief

Moderate: Death