A review by bookish_leslie
The Good Part by Sophie Cousens

  • 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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