After her boss sends 29-year-old Leena off on a mandatory leave of abscence from her high-stress job, she suggest switching lives for two months with her 79-year old grandmother, Eileen. Leena will move to her grandmother’s house in the country and take on all her responsibilities in town and Eileen will move into Leena’s London flat (roommates and all) to get the adventure she missed out on when she was younger.

A story of loss, love, starting over, and finding yourself; this was a heart-warming read! The story alternates between Leena and Eileen’s perspectives and the audio alternates narrators- which really added to the story for me.

The story was cute, but this narration was really challenging for me. I really wanted to get into the story, but it honestly was hard with the audiobook. I am an avid listener, so it really takes a lot for me to be turned off by the narration. I did think the story was darling, though, so I don't want to blame the story for its poor story teller, but this was just really hard for me to get into! I want to try again, maybe with the physical copy, and see if that goes over better.

This was definitely more of a women's fiction title than pure romance, so definitely go into this one knowing it's a bit different from The Flatshare. But still sweet, and well written.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy listen.

I wanted to read this one because it gave me vibes of the movies The Holiday and it didn’t disappoint. A 79 year old grandmother, interested in online dating, swaps her countryside house for her workaholic granddaughter’s apartment in London. I really appreciated how O’Leary addressed topics such as grief and aging in a honest, insightful way. It was an enjoyable experience on audiobook with the British accents and easy to track the changing POV. One downside was that I struggled at times to keep all the minor characters storylines straight. It took me awhile to feel engaged in the book since it felt a little slow at first. Overall it was a charming book.

I really enjoyed this audio. I loved the variety of voices and how they got into their character and really brought the story to life. The book itself was very enjoyable and a funny, feel good read. Would definitely recommend.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I loved the journeys each main character goes on and the changes they both experience. I think the way this book addresses grief was very realistic. The secondary characters were captivating and adorable. I really liked the romances even if they were a bit rushed. I think Beth O'Leary was very ambitious, each character had a completely separate plot and romantic subplot and, because of that, the stories weren't as flesh out as they could have been, still, both plots were engaging and cute.

This is such a sweet story of a grandmother (age 79) and granddaughter age 28) swapping residences (and cellphones!) for a couple months.

I got this audiobook on netgalley a week before it was published (US audio pub date August 18, 2020), and as is going to be the case, I guess, it was glitchy AF, turning off in the middle of sentences and pausing for so long between some chapters that I had to unlock my phone before it started playing again. Regardless, the narrators were fantastic, two women who played the parts of Leena and Eileen.

I have not read anything by this author before. Since this book is a romance, I was expecting it to be predictable, which is was, and charming, which it was. It's an easy read. I would call it a story of three generations but the mom's story or character was not developed or necessary to further the stories of Leena and Eileen. There are a lot of characters, which can be a little confusing for me in an audiobook, but they were mostly fun additions to the story.

This is a fun story which deals lightly with grief and depression. I loved that it addresses the older generation looking for love and growth as much as the younger generation. I learned that the British call dessert pudding and I just want to know, do they not have actual pudding, like chocolate pudding or butterscotch pudding? That's confusing, but no reason to skip this book!

From the wiriter of The Flat Share comes another bundle of loveliness, The Switch.

Twenty something Leena is living and working in London and struggling to come to terms with the death of her sister. Her grandmother Eileen is having her own struggles in Yorkshire after her husband left her and the loss of her grandaughter, Regular contact brings about the idea to swap homes, they both need a new perspective and to get away from their lives.

This book brings wonderful characters, fun, feisty, warm and loving. It is pacey and hard to put down. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to Beth O'Leary's next offering!

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½⭐️ (4.5 stars)

“That’s what Eileens do. They look after each other.”

This is the first book I’ve read (i.e. listened to) by Beth O’Leary, and I have to say, I get The Hype. If O’Leary’s first novel is anything like The Switch, I’m sure it is phenomenal and more than worthy of the all the attention it’s been receiving from the bookish community.

The Switch is the story of Eileen Cotton, a newly-single grandmother just shy of 80, and her overworked 20-something granddaughter, Leena (Eileen) Cotton. When she’s ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after having a panic attack in the middle of a big presentation at work, Leena is in need of an escape from her busy life in the city. And after her ex-husband leaves her for another woman, Eileen Cotton finds herself wanting to get back out there and date again, but doesn’t seem to have many options in her small, out-of-the-way village.

The solution they decide on is to swap places; overachieving Leena trading in the boardrooms and business meetings of London life for Yorkshire’s Neighbourhood Watch and May Day festivities, while cooped-up Eileen tries her luck with love in the big city.

I absolutely ADORED this book! Its story manages to feel simultaneously like a classic tale and an innovative realistic and relatable retelling of a Freaky Friday-like situation in the best possible way.

The supporting cast is all well developed and unique, the leads refreshingly real. Both Eileen and Leena felt like women I could easily see myself meeting in real life; their struggles and triumphs completely believable and easy to empathize with.

Overall, this book was the perfect feel-good story I was desperately in need of. With the global climate the way it is right now, the simple pleasure of being able to escape into a good book cannot be emphasized enough, and I feel like The Switch is the ideal choice for someone looking for exactly that.

As a burned-out 20-something myself, I found Leena’s struggles to manage her work, her personal life, and her future ambitions extremely relatable, and heartbreakingly realistic. And as a reader, I found Eileen’s perspective especially refreshing to hear about. I miss my fabulous older female leads akin to Jessica Fletcher’s character from Murder She Wrote. I think it’s definitely a reflection on our society today that fewer and fewer popular books feature strong, older female leads; something I would love to see change in the future.

The Switch is the perfect demonstration of how an optimistic and heartfelt older woman can make the perfect main character, and be more than a one-dimensional write-off. I loved Eileen Cotton; I sincerely wish I could have her as a confidant in my life!

Audiobook Experience

If you know me, you know I’m a HUGE audiobook fan, so it may not come as a surprise to any of you, but I absolutely loved this audiobook! The two narrators, one for Leena’s chapters and the other for Eileen’s, are incredibly talented and brought so much life to the story they were reading. If you’re looking for your next audiobook to listen to, I can’t recommend highly enough The Switch by Beth O’Leary.

Leena Cotton succumbs to a panic attack in the middle of a presentation to a client at work. Not something the old Leena would do. But for the past year, the old Leena has slowly disappeared. When her boss orders her to take a two-month holiday, Leena grudgingly complies.

Eileen Cotton, Leena’s 79-year-old newly single grandmother, has problems of her own. Her husband left her over a year ago, and Eileen doesn’t think she’s too old to love again. But the possible pool of suitors in her tiny village doesn’t look promising.

When Leena heads north to visit her grandma, the two decide they each need a change of pace. Leena needs to escape everything to do with her job, and Eileen needs to find a bigger dating pool. They do the logical thing—agree to switch lives and locations for two months.

Eileen leaves Leena with a list of her normal village responsibilities (how hard could it be to fill the shoes of an almost octogenarian?). Leena turns her trendy flat and quirky flatmates over to Eileen (what kind of trouble could an elderly lady encounter in London?).

As the two women make their way in each other’s territory, they find joy and healing in the least expected places.

Beautifully narrated by Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones, listeners will enjoy the comic scenes of this fast-paced story about finding oneself—no matter one’s age. While not the normal genre I listen to, I loved the narrators and the subject matter. While seemingly lighthearted, the author weaves a more serious strain on how we deal with grief into the pages of the story. Recommended for a mature audience (Leena uses the f-word frequently, and PG-13-bedroom scenes), but definitely worth the listen.

A delightful, light hearted book. It was cute, and the storyline was lighthearted and fun. The characaters fit togetherh nicely!

"The Switch" was an absolute delight! It's a lighthearted and fluffy read, while still dealing realistically with the complexities of grief and grieving, as well as strong multi-generational women. The book follows Leena and Eileen Cotton, a granddaughter/grandmother duo as they switch lives for two months in what at first is a bid for an adventure, but eventually turns out to be an effort to rediscover themselves and heal after a family tragedy. Eileen is looking for love in London as she takes over Leena's flat, phone and computer. I loved that this book unabashedly reminds the reader that "old" people can still have vibrant love lives and seek romantic connection and companionship. Leena, on the other hand, inherits all her grandmother's projects in her country village and is confronted with the loss that she has been running from for the past year. Neither woman is a simpering, love-struck heroine, but bold, smart, realistic and multi-faceted women.
The two narrators on this audiobook were fantastic at capturing the essence of the two women, and I enjoyed the more performative format, where phone calls were genuinely pulled out to sound as is coming in from over the phone, and small conversational color (sniffing, tsk-ing, laughing, etc.) were genuinely produced rather than read! It was a lovely experience.

Warmest novel I've read in quite some time. A take on THE HOLIDAY with more believable happenings. Genuinely kind-hearted story where you cheer on both protagonists and their real-life struggles. I thought it may be weird to read about a near-octogenarian, but Eileen's story was endearing and sweet. Her granddaughter's coming to terms with the death of her sister and estrangement of her mother was relatable in the best, and worst, ways! I'll be buying it to give as a gift when it hits shelves!

I am sad I didn’t love this. I was looking forward to a cute story about a woman and her grandmother swapping lives for the summer and what I got was underdeveloped characters and a plot that didn’t really go anywhere. I can appreciate the themes of grief and coping after the loss of a loved one, but even those elements couldn’t hold my interest. I found myself putting this book down several times and not really wanting to pick it back up. And I absolutely hated the fact that Leena was willing to believe a man over her grandmothers word. She flat out called her grandma a liar without even hearing her out. It was ridiculous and honestly made me dislike the character.

Thank you for letting me read and review this book. Unfortunately this book was not for me. I think I have a case of pandemic reading.

After reading and loving “The Flatshare“ last year, I was excited to get my hands on this book. Sadly it was a complete letdown.
While the concept of the plot sounded very intriguing and creative, ”The Switch“ failed to hold my attention because it was so incredibly slow. It took me a few weeks to finish this book because I couldn‘t care about the plot or the characters at all. They both lacked depth.
Another factor as to why I didn’t love this book were the romances. They weren’t interesting and the couples didn’t have the spark they should’ve had.
Overall this book had a great premise, but failed to deliver.

As for the audiobook narration: it was well done, but definitely not outstanding.

I loved this new story from Beth O'Leary!!! I enjoyed her other one, The Flatshare, however, this was nice to listen to on audiobook. This was a cute and fun story of Leena and Eileen, it was hard not to love 79 y/o Eileen and her many quirks!!!

I loved reading this book and have to admit the audiobook was just as good. I really enjoyed hearing the characters being brought to life by the narrators. It is such a fun story and they definitely embraced that.

3.5 stars rounded up

Leena, a natural overachiever, is forced to take a two month sabbatical at work after blowing a big presentation. Still reeling from the loss of her sister, Leena is looking for something to distract her.

Her grandmother, Eileen, is newly single and trying out the dating app world. Unfortunately, in her tiny Yorkshire village, there aren't many eligible bachelors. Leena then gets the idea to switch homes with her grandma: Eileen can live in London and look for love and Leena can take care of all of her grandmothers projects in her small town. What she doesn't expect is for the townspeople to be so hard to win over, to struggle with her long distance relationship, and to be smitten with the charming and cute teacher who lives next door...

This was a really sweet story; the narrating was great and felt so real! I felt the narrators embraced Leena and Eileen so well and really made them come to life. Ultimately, this is a really sweet story about navigating love, loss, forgiveness, and the importance of family. I was hoping that this one would pull me in quicker at the beginning; it took a little while for me to get into it. Once about halfway through I found myself completely rooting for Leena and Eileen and felt like I was transported to London and Yorkshire!

This book was absolutely wonderful! I loved the narration, particularly that done by Daisy Edgar Jones. I loved The Switch by Beth O'Leary last year, and was very excited for this one. It gave me similar vibes to The Holiday and felt so cozy and inviting. I loved both the characters of Leena and Eileen and their relationship. Recommend!