Sophie Cousens is no stranger to heartstring-tugging fiction, making her name with emotionally intelligent romantic comedies like This Time Next Year and Just Haven’t Met You Yet. With The Good Part, she departs slightly from the romcom formula, instead crafting a whimsical but poignant tale that sits squarely in the realm of women’s fiction. At the heart of this story lies a deeply relatable question: What if you could fast-forward through all the messiness and uncertainty of your twenties and wake up in the “good part” of your life?
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Summary
Lucy Young is 26 and exhausted by the grind of trying to make something of herself in London. Her career as a junior TV runner is going nowhere, her dating life is a disaster, and her flatmates are allergic to toilet paper replenishment. On one especially rainy, soul-sapping night, Lucy ducks into a mysterious shop and finds a curious vending machine that promises to grant a wish. She uses her last coin to plead, “Please let me skip to the good part of my life.”
The next morning, Lucy wakes up in a sleek home with a handsome husband, two adorable children, and a high-powered job. But she’s also 42—and has no memory of the intervening years. What follows is a crash course in motherhood, marriage, and middle age, as Lucy grapples with the reality of a life she asked for but didn’t actually live.
The review
Not your typical romcom
Although it features a few romantic beats, The Good Part is not a romance at heart—and certainly not a steamy one. It’s best described as a speculative coming-of-age tale, more aligned with 13 Going on 30 or Freaky Friday than a love story. The book uses its time-jump premise to explore identity, ambition, and the bittersweet nature of growing up. Cousens smartly leans into the chaos and comedy of being plopped into a “perfect” life with none of the preparation that should precede it.
There’s real fun in watching Lucy stumble through high-stakes work meetings, PTA obligations, and the terrifyingly mundane rituals of adult domesticity. But Cousens doesn’t stop at surface-level gags—she uses Lucy’s bewilderment to comment on how women measure success, ageing, and happiness.
A quarter-life crisis in fast forward
Lucy’s journey is a mirror to many Millennials and Gen Z readers navigating a culture that sells the fantasy of “having it all” but rarely provides a roadmap. Her desperation to skip the struggle feels instantly relatable—who hasn’t wished to close their eyes and wake up with the job, the partner, and the mortgage already in place?
However, Cousens doesn’t let Lucy off the hook. What begins as wish fulfilment quickly becomes a cautionary tale. As Lucy tries to reverse-engineer the life she supposedly built, she’s confronted with the truth that the “good part” only feels good because of the living, failing, and growing that comes before it. In skipping the struggle, she’s lost the very things that make life meaningful: experience, connection, and hard-won joy.
Instagram | @sophie_cousens
A flawed but sincere protagonist
Lucy’s voice is sharply funny and often painfully self-aware—but it may not land for everyone. Some readers found her reactions to ageing and parenthood shallow, even offensive. There’s certainly a heavy-handed horror at being 42, as Lucy laments sagging skin and suburban sameness in a way that borders on ageist. For readers in that stage of life, Lucy’s distaste may be alienating.
Yet to others, her discomfort reads as a natural (if immature) response from someone who has fast-forwarded two decades without warning. The character arc is about growth—and Cousens gently nudges Lucy toward deeper understanding, even if she doesn’t get all the way there by the final page.
Fast-paced, heartfelt, and a little rushed
One of the biggest criticisms of The Good Part is that it ends too quickly. The setup is strong and the emotional resonance deepens as the story progresses, but the novel seems to sprint toward resolution just when the most interesting questions emerge. Lucy’s relationship with her husband, for example, is ripe for exploration but remains largely superficial. Similarly, her adjustment to motherhood—while full of comic beats—could benefit from more nuance.
Still, Cousens strikes a winning balance between humour and heart. The scenes with Lucy’s children are laugh-out-loud funny and surprisingly moving, and Cousens never loses sight of the novel’s emotional core: that life’s meaning is found not in outcomes, but in the messy, mundane middle.
Final thoughts
The Good Part is a delightful, emotional ride that trades high drama for quiet revelations. It may not resonate with readers looking for a straightforward romance or those sensitive to portrayals of ageing, but for anyone who’s ever felt lost in their twenties (or thirties), this book hits home. With charm, wit, and a little bit of magic, Sophie Cousens reminds us that the “good part” of life isn’t a destination—it’s the journey itself.
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Featured Image: Instagram | @sophie_cousens
