This story started slow for me..... once I got into it I was in love with it. I loved Eileen and Leena. I miss my Grandma so much and this story made me so jealous for the relationship these two have. I laughed out loud and I also cried. I had so many emotions during this book.

I loved the audio of this book. I enjoyed how the phone calls had a different sound to them.

I am so glad I picked this book to listen and review. The accents were great to hear.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to step out of your life for a while and change places with someone else?

Leena and Eileen do just this, in this sweet and uplifting tale. A swap with a difference as it's grandmother and granddaughter who change places for two months. One is reeling after blowing a big presentation at work, the other is trying to bring her family together, find love and take a break from her own life. What neither Leena nor Eileen appreciate is just how much fun they would have stepping out of their respective comfort zones.

This is a story with heart, which places a spotlight on self discovery, grief and healing, community spirit he the context of the timeless old city versus village life setting. It worked perfectly as an audiobook listen, with different narrators for our two protagonists that brought increased warmth to all the characters, and switched between accents and other characters without interrupting the flow of the story.

I particularly enjoyed the way in which both characters meddle (in a kind-hearted way), in the affairs of others, to spread a little joy but don't notice the meddling that needs to go on in their own lives. It's heartwarming and packs a punch in an unexpected way. I would have liked a bit more on the relationships that emerge but there is still a satisfying conclusion to those story arcs.

Looking forward to more from Beth O'Leary.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio / Flatiron Books for the ARC.

I only read The Flatshare a few months ago, but I liked it so much that I was excited to read this novel as soon as possible, and I thought Beth O’Leary’s writing style was perfect for an audiobook. I listened to The Switch on walks, and found myself extending my route to gear more of the story each time. This story was engaging from the start and well plotted throughout, but it was especially resonant in our current world of anxiety and self isolation. O’Leary writes with candor and insight about grief and loss, giving depth and resonance to a story that could have been cliched and dull in the hands of a less adept writer. This novel, like The Flatshare, is largely character driven, with O’Leary letting readers form their own conclusions about the characters motivations and choices, and the complexity she gives each character elevated this already engaging and charming novel. The narrator was a perfect choice and made listening to this story incredibly enjoyable.

I've seen and read the switching lives trope so many times before so I was expecting just the norm, but this was delightful. I appreciated a 79yo with a sex drive and a 29yo with some depth. This was a good read.

Narration - Both of the narrators' voice acting fit the characters perfectly, and did an excellent job of conveying the personalities of each woman. The flow of the audiobook was easy enough to follow as I worked around the house, but still detailed enough to keep me interested. There were a couple parts that I had to pause and rewind to really listen to the words of a passage, or to the narrator's tone of voice.

Y'all!! I LOVED this book! Overall, I give it five stars and look forward to reading this one again in the future!

I really liked how well developed the rural townspeople and the other secondary characters were. None of the characters felt half-baked. Several of their characteristics or actions reminded me of people I know in real life, making it even easier to empathize with them after a time. By the time I finished the book, it was like saying goodbye to old friends; I didn't want it to end ♥️

You'll Love The Switch If - You enjoy happy endings, liked the movie The Holiday, dream of life in modern England

My Main Takeaway - It's okay if you change over time. You may develop into someone you wouldn't have recognized even just a few months ago. Everyone deserves the space to explore who they are and hopefully laugh at the stumblings along the way. It was about self-discovery and I am so happy that I read it.

Fun Fact - I started this book and immediately felt like I had to call my Grandma ♥️

Cute story overall. I typically enjoy books with multiple perspectives, but this is my first audiobook with this set up and I appreciated that there were two different narrators for Leena and her grandmother, Eileen. The banter between all the characters was quite amusing after the two swapped lives.

My review of the novel:
From the beginning of this book I felt like I had read it before. It has familiar characters and a familiar storyline. The two Eileens, grandmother and granddaughter, both with their own issues, enter a house swap that becomes a kind of life swap. It sounds familiar because it’s been done before
The resonance of similar books made me constantly aware that this was fiction, so I couldn’t engage with the characters. The Switch is a easy, fluffy novel, but don’t expect anything too exciting.


The audio version was well narrated , and the readers brought life to the characters.

This book follows Leena Cotton and her grandmother, Eileen, as they switch houses (and essentially lives) for two months when Leena’s job requires her to take a sabbatical. It switches POV between Leena and Eileen in small town England and London. Exploring grief, love, and family relationships, this novel is quick and enjoyable.

While this was definitely a cute novel, I didn’t love it as much as O’Leary’s The Flatshare. The narrators were great, but I think I would have preferred to read this one.

Thanks to Netgalley for my copy.

When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen's house for some long-overdue rest.

Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She'd like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn't offer many eligible gentlemen.

They decide to trade places and enjoy living each other's lifestyles. This is a fun charming book and the author has found a way to write about such heartbreaking subjects in a sensitive and thoughtful way.

The two narrators Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones are perfect for the characters. I have real problems listening to audiobooks but these two did a magnificent job and captured them perfectly.

this was a nice, sweet endearing read. eileen was a joy of a character and i enjoyed her voice a lot!! i do think this was quite slow, but mostly because it was very character driven and not necessarily plot driven; i really do enjoy beth o'leary's writing, and i absolutely LOVED her debut 'the flatshare'. i didn't enjoy this one as much but i don't know if that's because of the story or because i just wasn't in the mood for such a character focused book.

i definitely preferred the older characters to the younger characters, who at times were quite annoying. if this had solely been a book about eileen i would have eaten it up i think!! she was such a badass character. as it is it was marred a bit by leena who i didn't enjoy as much.

whilst this wasn't as much my cup of tea as the flatshare was, i am definitely interested in reading more of beth o'leary's books!

I listened to The Switch on audio. The British narrator made it a really fun audio book. While the book was quite predicatble, it isn't the type of novel one goes into expecting plot twists and craziness. I liked the writing style, and it moved at a quick pace.

A wholesome and heartwarming story about a granddaughter and grandmother duo that swap lives for two months. The audiobook is narrated by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Alison Steadman and full of the main character's friends which put a smile on my face. Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.

Just finished listening to this gem. Leena goes to visit her grandmother, Eileen, in a tiny Yorkshire village after strongly being encouraged to take a few months off of work. Eileen’s husband just left her and at 79 she’s ready for a second chance at love. That is an opportunity best explored in London so the two decide to switch lives for two months. Eileen is thrown into the world of online dating while Leena takes up her grandma’s busy body role in the small community.
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Charming, funny and a very enjoyable listen. The narrators are so animated and easy to follow as they alternate between Eileen and Leena.

A wonderful story told by two incredible leading ladies. This was made thoroughly enjoyable as being the first audiobook I've listened to, it was really enjoyable to have a different narrator for Lena and Ilene. It made the story much easier to follow and to gather who was who. I would definitely recommend the audiobook and I would so consider reading the book too.

I’ve wanted to pick this up for months after reading The Flat Share earlier this year and absolutely adoring it. I was very lucky to get a copy of the audiobook on NetGalley to review.

This book follows Leena and her grandmother Eileen who decide to swap lived when Leena is sent on a 2 month sabbatical from her job. It’s funny and emotional and the writing is amazing.

Beth O’Leary is an absolutely fantastic author. She is happy to delve into harder topics while still a having a fantastic balance of humour. In this book Leena’s sister Carla died of cancer about a year prior to the setting of the book. It shows how the 3 generations of Cotton women deal with this grief differently and feels like a really raw representation of real life.

At the start of the book Leena has a panic attack at work and the HR department realise she hasn’t taken a holiday since her sisters passing so the send her on a 2 month paid sabbatical, she goes to visit her grandmother and finds out she is trying to get on the dating scene again but there’s no one in the area even remotely interesting so they decide to swap lives so Leena can have a break from her busy city life and Eileen can have her pick of the London men. It’s a fantastic and funny concept and was executed brilliantly.

The audiobook was fantastic, I listened to it in 3x speed while I read along on kindle. I felt they did a great job withe the audiobook and they kept the vibes consistent between this audiobook and The Flat Share. Listening to it really helped me be able to imagine the events unfolding. The combination of the fantastic writing and brilliant voice acting created such a fantastic atmosphere!

I would recommend Beth O’Leary’s writing to absolutely anyone. As someone who’d probably read less than 5 contemporary books before this year I can assure you that O’Leary’s writing can make anyone a contemporary lover!

I don't know why I waited so long to listen/read this book! Funny, witty, and entertaining! I was fortunate enough to have an ebook as well as the audiobook, and I have to admit that I preferred the audiobook - the narrators really gave life to the story that I was unable to do with reading.

This was a different sort of love story - a love between friends with a little romance thrown in maybe...

Either way, I genuinely enjoyed it and can't wait to read more by this author.

Thank you Netgalley and Libro for allowing me to read this and give my opinion.

I absolutely adore British romance and this was no exception!
I was so surprised to find that I actually enjoyed reading more about the older people than the younger people. Usually I don't relate much to adults/elderly characters in books but I loved Eileen, the grandmother in this book. I liked all the different plot lines running through the book and listening to all of the events unfold on audio was so fun! I loved the accent and the narrator's voice was so soothing.
This was such a great British romcom filled with love, laughs and lessons.

DNF - i got pretty bored. The story felt a bit flat, especially as I found it hard to relate to the main character who is getting a paid two month vacation.

This author’s books are super cute. I didn’t love this one as much as her debut but I will definitely keep reading her books in the future.

Review:

I was FINALLY able to get the NetGalley Shelf App to work on my phone for audiobooks (*facepalms*). I was unable to download audiobooks for the last few months so I missed out a lot of great reads but I'm happy it is working for me now.

I was interested in checking out The Switch because I heard so many good things about O'Leary's first novel, The Flatshare. Plus, the plot of swapping lives has always interested me.

I loved the narration of the audiobook and found myself flying through it. I connected with the plot as it explored grief and how people deal with it in different ways. However, it was the romance plot that I did not care for at all. I would have loved it if the romance was thrown out and it only focused on family and grief.

I would have given the first half/middle 5 stars and the ending 2 stars. I felt that the ending and romance was rushed. And I was left a bit unsatisfied with the end.

I still recommend checking out this contemporary novel. It was a good read and I will be checking out more from this author in the future.

Rating:

3.5 Stars Out of 5 Stars