Thank you Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for allowing me to review this beautiful story.

The Switch by Beth O'Leary is a charming story about a granddaughter and grandmother who switch places. After the loss of her sister, Leena was having trouble coping. She is put on a two month sabbatical, in which she decides to go visit her grandmother, Eileen. Eileen, who is almost eighty, is feeling very lonely after her husband leaves her. Eileen, decides to look for love in London, while Leena throws herself into her grandmother's responsibilities in her village. They both soon find themselves, healing, and love.

This is a story jumps between the perspectives of grandmother and granddaughter, and has elements of loss, healing, love, family and community. My favorite element was the strong show of community. Eileen brings together the people of Leena's apartment building, and they embrace her and what she is trying to accomplish. Things were a big tougher for Leena, as she had to try and change the minds of the elderly community that were very stuck in their ways. In the end, it showed how tight knit that community was, and how they care for their own.

As I listened to the audio book, I want to add that I really enjoyed the duel narrations of the story. The two narrators did a fantastic job making it feel like I was sitting in a room, while they were telling their story to me.

The one thing that I would say is, the story did seem to go rather slowly at times. In some moments, it would drag on a bit. I also felt like it could have concluded a bit sooner than it did.

All in all, this is was a lovely, sweet, and endearing story that I enjoyed. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys charming, witty, and uplifting stories. I look forward to reading other novels that this author has to offer.

The Switch is Beth O’Leary’s sophomore novel which can oftentimes be a letdown. That is not the case here.

Leena is a twenty-something workaholic in London. After a major flub at work she is forced to take a two month sabbatical to relax and figure out what is going on in her life.

Eileen, Leena’s grandmother and namesake is a 79 year old recent divorcée, living in the northern England countryside. She is looking for a change of scenery and to start dating again.

The two make a plan to switch lives for a while, all the way down to their phones and computers.

This book was adorable and full of grandmotherly spunk. Eileen made me miss my grandma something fierce and wish I could call her up just to chat.

Thank you to Net Galley for giving me the chance to listen to the audio of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

This was such a delightful, heartwarming audiobook with exquisite narration. Imagine The Holiday and Philomena having a movie baby and you get The Switch.

The Book

After the death of her sister, Leena just cannot do life very well, following a panic attack at work during an important presentation she is forcibly encouraged to take a 2 month sabbatical.
Her grandmother, Eileen, is newly single at the ripe old age of nearly 80, with age old London dreams and big hopes to reconcile her greaving family, they decide to swap...London life for a tiny Yorkshire village setting for a whole 2 months.
I enjoyed this book, it is peppered with humour & warm family values, it isn't all sweetness and light dealing with serious ssues such as cancer, depression, infidelity & family feuds which provides a touch of realism giving it relateability to the target audience.
I did find the storyline predictable although I did find it funny in places.. I give the book 3.5/5.

Narration

I love both actresses, Daisy Edgar-Jones is her usual brilliant self and Sue Johnson is warm and funny, however I became distracted by the continual lip smacking due to the microphone being too close. This in all honesty ruined the audio book for me and I did struggle to finish it.

📖 BOOK REVIEW: The Switch by Beth O’Leary is contemporary fiction at its best. It is the personal journeys of Leena (29) and her grandmother Eileen (79) after they switch homes and cities. It touched my love of The Holiday movie and delivered more grit and character growth as we morned the loss of Carla (sister/ grandaughter) and moved through the stages of grief together. The screaming match in the street between daughter and mother was extremely real for me. (Tears are only a small part of grief). My absolute favourite character in years is Eileen Cotton. She had me laughing out loud numerous times. Her wit, humour, and tackle of life is a shining example of what I’d love to be one day. I’d like more books with characters like her.

🎧 AUDIO REVIEW: I listened to the entire story via audiobook on the new Netgalley app. Thank you @netgalley and @querus! Bravo to narrators Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones. They brought the story to life and told the story brilliantly. Neither one overacted their lines which was a relief. The voice tones, expressions, and accents added a layer that I would have missed on the page. This audio had excellent pacing and transitions between the chapters. In addition to the voice change, there was also the name of the character stated each time we hopped heads. I truly appreciated this because I’m always multitasking when listening to audio (not the case when reading) and I need the audio cues to alert me to a new chapter. 5 Stars! More audio like this please!

💫 Loss, Love, Wit, and a big scoop of Charm. This story still makes me smile. Honestly, I still have Eileen Cotton’s voice in my head. I’d love to give her a call and get together for. A cup of tea. I haven’t read The Flat Share but I’m now adding it to my list.

What do you get when a grandmother and her 20-something granddaughter decide to switch places for a couple of months? A fun and charming story alternating between the English countryside and city life in London. I loved this book! A big thank you to @netgalley for the audiobook of The Switch. The narration was excellent and I found grandma Eileen especially endearing! I’m inspired to read The Flatshare from last summer too!

💭 REVIEW TIME 🌟
The Switch by Beth O'Leary

I ADORED THIS AUDIO BOOK!
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Eileen Cotton simply won me over with her quick whit and charm, she's the very best kind of granny. Leena is all of us at one point or another in our lives: a bit lost, looking for "what's next" and wishing life was less complicated. Switching things up a bit will not only allow both ladies to deal with their personal baggage, but allow them to also heal from an unbearable loss that is still affecting their family's happiness.
💚
O'Leary did such an fantastic job at creating characters that bring both laughter and heartache to the story. I found myself cheering on Eileen and Leena, wishing them a happy ending... one they create for themselves outside of family and romance.
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Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for advanced access to this novel on audio.

STAR RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Switch by Beth O'Leary was my first audiobook from Netgalley. The premise for the story sounded intriguing and I was not disappointed. It was narrated by Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones. The chapters alternated between Grandma Eileen, a young, active and feisty seventy-nine year old woman whose home was in Leeds, Yorkshire and her granddaughter, Leena, a twenty something young, ambitious and hard working woman living and working in London. The Switch had all the right elements included to make it a strong 5 star book for me.

Grandma Eileen and Leena had a very close relationship. Leena tried to visit her grandmother as often as she could and they spoke on the phone regularly. Grandma Eileen had had a very hard year. Her husband left her for another woman and she lost her granddaughter, Carla, to cancer. Carla was Leena's sister. Eileen was also trying to help her daughter, Leena and Carla's mother. She was struggling with depression as a result of her daughter Carla's death. Despite all the hardships she had encountered, Eileen had not given up on the possibility of finding love again. The only thing was there were no eligible or suitable men in her age bracket living anywhere near her.

Leena was having a very hard time coping with Carla's death. She had heard about an experimental drug and treatment plan that she wanted Carla to try. Her pleas to not give up and to try this new treatment fell on deaf ears by both her mother and Carla. Since Carla's death, Leena and her mother had become estranged. Leena blamed her mother for not wanting to give Carla every chance she had to live. Carla's death was also affecting Leena's performance at work. After botching up a presentation to one of Leena's firm's big clients, Leena was directed to take a two month paid leave. Given no opportunity to dispute the directive, Leena decided to visit Grandma Eileen.

Grandma Eileen and Leena devised a brilliant plan to help both their situations. They would swap or switch places for two months. Grandma Eileen would live in Leena's flat with Leena's flatmates in London and pursue her quest for romance. She would be exposed to the idea of casual dating, Internet sites for dating, creating a dating profile and chatting on line to several different men simultaneously. Leena, on the other hand would live in Grandma Eileen's house and represent her grandmother in all the neighborhood meetings and projects her grandmother was involved in. Neither Eileen nor Leena knew how hard this switch would prove to be in the beginning. Would it help both of them come to terms with Carla's death and change how it was affecting their everyday lives? Would young at heart Grandma Eileen find love again? Would both Grandma Eileen and Leena discover things about themselves they had not known existed before the switch?

I loved listening to The Switch by Beth O'Leary. It had just enough humor to make me smile and even laugh out loud. It focused a lot on grief and coping with the death of a loved one. There were elements of hope, discovery, love, family, caring for others, sense of community, friendship and new beginnings. I laughed, cried and felt inspired while listening to The Switch. I highly recommend this book.

I received a complimentary audiobook version of The Switch from Macmillan Audio and Flatiron Books through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I enjoyed this book so much! It was a unique twist on the theme of swapping lives and I loved where the author took it. I also loved that one of the main characters is an older woman, since they are seen less in contemporary romantic fiction. The audiobook narrators were wonderful - the voices were exactly what I would want for these characters. I definitely need to add more British audiobooks into my rotation! Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance copy!

Oh gosh where to start with this one. I flat out LOVED this book. I was sad for it to end, I feel like I just left friends behind to move on with my life. I got to listen to the Audio Version of this book and I was enthralled. I could not stop listening. Daisy Edgar Jones and Alison Steadman do an amazing job at narrating for Leena and Eileen.

The story begins with Leena (the younger Cotton) having a nervous breakdown at work following the death of her sister and being forced to take a two month holiday. She ends up on Yorkshire to visit with her grandmother and comes up with a plan for them to switch lives for two months. Grandma Eileen (the elder Cotton) has always wanted to be i London, but put her dreams on hold for her good for nothing ex husband, Wade, and to raise her family. Now she is getting the chance. Leena helps Eileen sign up for online dating and sends her off to London to make her mark. Both women end up making their mark in their new lives and as much as they enrich the lives of those they touch, they gain just as much. There is a cooky list of characters, lots of laughs, and two great adventures to find in this book.

Switch is a wonderful story that follows Leena and her grandmother, Eileen, as they navigate life after it deals them some difficult and tragic circumstances. They swap lives for a few months to give their "new" lives a jump start. I especially loved 79-year-old Eileen. I found myself grinning widely at some of her antics and snorting with laughter at others. Beth O'Leary fabulously portrayed older people as full, valuable members of society and did not shy away from romantic relationships for the senior crowd. Although it took me a bit more time to embrace Leena, she doesn't fall too far from the proverbial tree. Like Eileen, she's a gem. Both women are adept at developing delightful, intergenerational friendships. Leena and Eileen are joined by a wonderful cast of quirky, secondary characters that made me wish they were real. Switch is wonderfully quirky with an undercurrent of emotion.

I listened to the audiobook and highly recommend it. The narrators are fabulous and add value to the story.

Thank you to Netgalley for audio review copy.

I really enjoyed this sweet story. Leena is living in London and after having a panic attack while giving a presentation at work, is told to take two months off. Her grandmother is recently single, and looking for love in her quiet village. They decide to switch places. Absolutely adorable and emotional at times, too.

A note about the audiobook narration- I loved that there were two distinct narrators. It matched the feeling of the book, with one older and one younger voice narrating. In this case, I found that the narration added to the reading experience, so I would highly recommend the audio!

Eileen and Leena are grandmother and granddaugher. Eileen lives in the Yorkshire Dales, Leena in London. Eileen has a busy retirement running the local neighbourhood watch which is just an excuse for people to be nosy. Leena has a busy job with a high powered company.
When Leena messes up a presentation at work she is ordered to take a two month sabbatical to recharge her batteries. Meanwhile, Eileen, is looking for love after her feckless husband has left. Both need a change of scenery and what better way to achieve this but to swap lives?
What follows is hilarious, touching and enlightening. Both women are out of their comfort zones and have to learn how the other lives with very funny results.
I read Beth O'Leary's first book, The Flatshare, and really enjoyed it. When I heard that her new book was going to be available as an audiobook narrated by Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar Jones I knew that I really wanted to listen to it. I wasn't disappointed. The story bowled along with both narrators really enhancing an already brilliant story.
Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of the audiobook in return for a fair review.

I had actually read The Switch already in June, but as I really enjoyed my time with both Eileens the first time around and I kept hearing how wonderful the audiobook was, I just couldn't resist trying this format too. I must say that I think I liked my experience with this story even more the second time around! The audiobook version is indeed marvelous and fits the story very well.

I'm still pretty new with the whole audiobook experience, but I have to say The Switch has only reconfirmed that I have to give this format a chance. I think the audio version only enhanced my experience with this story. This book is narrated by Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones, and both do a fantastic job giving both Eileens a voice. I especially loved the voice of grandma Eileen, as it fitted the image I had of her in my head perfectly. That said, Lena's voice was very suitable too, and I like how both narrators changed their voice slightly whenever other characters are speaking. The pace and flow of the story was spot on, and the different emotions are well portrayed. If you enjoy audiobooks, I would definitely recommend trying the audio experience of The Switch!

As for the story itself... I know that contemporary romance isn't my typical genre, but there are times when I crave a good contemporary and a select few authors can really make me enjoy the genre. I discovered last year that Beth O'Leary is one of them when I read The Flatshare and even the sexy scenes couldn't put me off the rest of that story. I've been eagerly anticipating The Switch after that, especially when I discovered that it involved an older main characters as well as a life swap element. I must say that I had an excellent time with this story, and she is now officially another of my to-go-to authors when I'm in the mood for the genre.

I think I might have enjoyed The Switch even a tiny bit more than her debut, mostly due to the focus on the relationship between the three generations of Cotton women and both Eileens more specifically. Sure, there were a couple of cliches involved. Sure, I saw the love interests coming from far far away. Sure, the story includes both the love triangle and cheating element I'm not a big fan of at all. But somehow, this just didn't matter all that much, as I was having too much fun getting to know both Eileens and their adventures after the swap. This is both a fun and heartfelt story that will make you forget about your own problems for a little while... It's the perfect escape from reality and the main characters will win over your heart in no time at all. If you enjoy the genre, The Switch is a little gem!

The Switch by Beth O'Leary
I listened to this via Netgalley and their new audiobook option (big thanks!) and absolutely adored it.

Leena is on a two month sabbatical from work, and agrees to swap places with her grandmother, Eileen for the duration. This leaves Leena in rural Yorkshire taking over Eileen's neighbourly duties while Eileen heads off to search for adventure and love in bustling London.

LOVED Eileen's character - she's a sassy, no-nonsense woman, and her dating site journey is endearing and hilarious. Truly enjoyed it from the perspective of an older woman. Listen to this one! Narrator is top notch and gives the characters so much personality that you hate to see the story finish.

Thanks to Netgalley for this free audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I completely adored The Flatshare and I couldn't wait to get to this one. It totally lived up to my own personal hype.

I really like Leena and her storyline because the quaint village life is the dream, bur Eileen. Oh Eileen is amazing. She is 79 and going to London to meet a man for a casual fling. Idk. I loved it. Seeing this family (Leena, her mom, and Eileen) heal and grow during this swap was so heartwarming. They are all still dealing with the death of Leena's sister and I loved that the author didn't shy away from all the emotions that come from losing a family member.

There is romance in this book, but it is such a small part of the story. It really focuses on Leena becoming herself again and Eileen finding herself after a messy split with her jerk of an ex.

Overall, I loved this. It was emotional and sweet and heartbreaking and inspiring. It was just so good!

As soon as I read that Alison Steadman was going to be reading one of the parts I knew I would love it, as she's one of my favourite actors. I wasn't disappointed, she was superb at bringing to life Eileen aged 79. As was the actor that read the part of Leena. My only slight disappointment is that when they read the parts of the supporting actors, there was obviously a change in the voice. So when I had gotten used to Eileen's Felix, when Leena spoke of him I thought "that's not Felix!".

As Eileen and Leena swap lives they bring so much to the people that surround them. From the lovely Letitia in London who had been so lonely to the grump Ronald who Leena makes not grumpy at all. The book is told from the alternate points of view of Eileen and Leena. With it being an audio book there was no mistaking which character was reading, but also the name was announced at the beginning of each chapter.

Part way through the book Eileen thinks she needs to go back to Yorkshire and I was beside myself, she couldn't go back, I needed to know what was going to become of her projects and new friends. Unfortunately the eight weeks whizzed by and the time for the swap does come to an end.

I loved how Eileen stands no nonsense, and when one of the 30 somethings is about to send email to someone in the same building, Eileen tells him "there will be none of this email nonsense, face to face it is". I could feel the look of shock on his face as he contemplated actually speaking to someone. Meanwhile Leena in Yorkshire is having to win over the villagers and her project manager skills aren't all that much help.

Behind all of this we learn that Leena's sister Carla passed away. Everyone has been dealing with it in different ways, not entirely successfully. This is the deeper side of the book and it was dealt with so sensitively and the emotion in the actor's voices really brought it to life.

Whilst I am not sure I would re read this book I would love to listen to the audio again. I am already missing Eileen and Leena and their friends so much.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audio book in exchange for an honest review!

The Story: I'm not sure what I expected going into The Switch, but I was really excited to finally read (or listen) to it as I have seen it literally everywhere. I really liked that the switch was with her 79 year old grandmother. I think it was really cute and she clearly was the star of the story!

Basically, Leena takes over her grandma's life/duties and goes to village meetings, and deals with the villages and family drama, while Eileen is in the city living a younger life and talking to men and trying a dating website for the first time. I really liked the dating site aspect of it because it was all new to a 79 year old woman! Learning the new norms of the digital dating world from her perspective was funny. And that certainly did not stop her from living and having fun!

I enjoyed the growing romance with Jackson as her actual BF sucked. It was frustrating how she did not see the issues with him. There is also a lot of family drama. Eileen wants Leena to make amends with her mother and for them to work on their relationship. Leena cannot forgive her for something tragic happening in their past.

I'm not sure if it was too hyped, but I wasn't blown away by this. I liked it and thought it as a cute story, and unique switching lives with your 79 year old grandmother but besides that I felt like there wasn't too much going on, even though there was soo much going on in their switched lives (if that makes any sense lol). It might just be me!

The story sheds an important light on the elderly and retirement communities. A point was made to show how lonely people can feel in their life yet how much the elderly contribute to the community. It speaks to the importance of community and neighbors and looking out for one another

The Audio: The voices for the audio book were actually good and didn't take away from the story. This is a multi POV read and I liked that you could hear the age difference with the voices.

It's definitely a comfort read and I can see it being one of those movies you don't watch too often but it's a feel good so you keep it on your list.

"The Switch" by Beth O'Leary is a story of a grandmother and granddaughter who "switch" lives. Leena is forced to take a sabbatical from her London job and her grandmother Eileen is looking to date again after a late in life divorce. They decide to switch apartments, friends and other obligations to have the different experiences and have a change of pace.

Both of the main characters are well developed and the narration is excellent by the two narrators Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones. The supporting cast of characters are also well developed and are all great additions to the story line. The discoveries about their own lives and what they do to help the people they meet during this time in their lives also adds greatly to the story. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this and had a hard time putting it down!

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this ARC. The receipt of this ARC did not influence my review in any way.

4.25

I really enjoyed this audiobook (A big thank you to Netgalley audio and Flatiron Books for the chance to listen early for an honest review!). Eileen and Leena's narrators really showed the heart behind the characters. I felt every emotion they were going through, as well as the side characters. The family dynamics, the romance(s) and the healing the characters go through was truly heart-warming.