The Good Part by Sophie Cousens

 

4.5 *

Possible spoilers

*
*
*

One of the things I like about the time travel trope is the various ways authors manipulate it. Will choices the character makes rewrite history? Will travel back and forth through time land you in the same place and time when you return? Will you remember your past or future life after you move between times? In The Good Part, Cousen’s female lead, Lucy Young, is a 26-year-old living in a cramped and damp flatshare in south London who has been struggling to gain a foothold in the competitive television industry all while watching her 3 best friends find success. In addition to her frustrating employment, she’s fed up with the dreadful dating scene and dealing with thoughtless roommates. So, after one especially difficult day when she wakes up to water dripping from the upstairs flat, is relegated to gopher duty by her boss despite her new promotion, gets into an argument with her best friend, and then encounters a flasher, she enters a shop to escape the rain and finds a vintage wishing machine. Her wish? To skip over all the messy, dissatisfying bits of her life so she can just get to the “good part.” Of course, it’s another case of being careful what you wish for.

When she wakes up the next morning in an unfamiliar bed with a gorgeous man who seems to know her, she has no idea how she got there. All of a sudden, she’s 16 years older with two kids and no memories of the time she’s missed. Her precocious son, 7-year-old Felix, thinks she’s an alien and encourages her to find the portal so she can leave and he can get his real mummy back. Her wonderful, loving husband Sam thinks she had temporary amnesia and makes it his mission to fill in her lost memories (both good and bad) and, in the process, she easily understands what made her fall in love with him in the first place. She also realizes that she’s become a very successful producer, but without her memory, doesn’t feel equipped to navigate the demands of the job.

So, if there is a chance to find the portal that will transport her back in time, will she take it and risk losing the family she’s come to love or will she give up trying to get those sixteen lost years back?

Cousens writes lovely stories with likable, fallible characters. This is one of her best. I found this story totally captivating and fell a little bit in love with Sam and the kids. I was going to give it 5* but I didn’t like the choice the FMC made in the end. Like her, as a reader, I’m hopeful it will all work out in the end, but I guess I’m just more risk-averse. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from G.P. Putnam’s Sons through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.