Member Reviews
I received the audio of this book actually, and like I said in that review, i really enjoyed the writing and the banter in this book
3.5 / 5 stars - the timeline confused me at first because it referenced jillian not knowing how to speak to men but then she’s later mentioned and married… and i read the first book so figuring out where this landed on the timeline of the series was odd. regardless, a chunk of this was a fun, light hearted read BUT some of the banter was excessive. not to mention some of the thoughts the fmc had as a male were not just weird but weirdly repetitive and shouldn’t have been. if you like a fun read, with a cool plot, this is for you.
"Switched" by Sarah Ready is an entertaining romance mixed with the unexpected. Serena Otaki, a free-spirited Californian, and Henry Joule, an uptight Brit, find themselves inexplicably swapping bodies after an electric storm at the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, Switzerland.
With the familiar Freaky Friday-esque premise, Ready puts her own spin on the trope. The premise sets the stage for a comedy but also for an exploration of identity, love, and relationships. Serena, who revels in her unattached lifestyle and love for physics, finds herself in Henry's meticulously organized world, while Henry grapples with Serena's carefree attitude and messy apartment. As they navigate each other's lives, comedy ensues and beneath the surface, a deeper connection begins to form.
What makes "Switched" stand out is its clever blending of science fiction with romantic comedy. Sarah Ready skillfully weaves together elements of quantum physics and the supernatural to create a unique and engaging story. The humor is witty, and the chemistry between Serena and Henry leaps off the page.
The result is a heartwarming and thoroughly enjoyable read that will leave readers rooting for Serena and Henry's unconventional romance.
This was surprisingly fun. I don't know if it will be for all romance reader and because of the body and gender switch. I did enjoy how the characters fell in love beyond just simple attraction. Sarah always has a unique story and this was no different!
Sarah Ready's 'Ghosted #2: Switched' delivers a delightful blend of romance and science with a magical twist. Serena, the carefree physicist, and Henry, the meticulous Brit, collide in an unexpected encounter leading to a body-swapping phenomenon.
Ready skillfully navigates their journey as they grapple with swapped lives and unexpected feelings. The narrative sparkles with humor, romance, and the complexities of human connection.
Switched is a captivating addition to the Ghosted series, offering a fresh take on love and identity. Whether you're a science geek or a hopeless romantic, this charming tale is sure to leave you enchanted.
2/5 ⭐️ (dnf'd at 25%)
This story follows Serena and Henry who are scientists that work at CERN. They initially meet at a pub where they hang out without knowing that they work together. But once Serena does, she says they can't date. There's a time jump of a year and a half where it's said that Henry has turned into a nightmare boss. Serena is still hung up on him and briefly mentions that she hasn't gotten laid since him all that time ago. There's an obvious attraction still there between them which you see when she has to go back to the office on a night off and give him some data or something. That's when a storm hits and suddenly she wakes up in his apartment inside of his body.
Now, I like stories that have an extra element to them as well as 'the Big Bang Theory' so I thought I'd like this. No. Everything I loved about the show was nowhere to be seen. It was more science talk than anything else and that really took me out of the novel. I didn't mind physics even in school but it sounded like the FMC was using it to push away people by comparing emotions to some scientific theory or experiment. Even though the author included diagrams and explained them underneath, I was more confused than before which overtook my interest in the actual romance story.
Another reason why I couldn't carry on is because Serena thinks she might be in love with him so soon after first meeting him and I don't enjoy insta-love tropes. It feels like the tension has gone and turns into pining and holding on to something that wasn't there (example: the 'love at first sight' theory she thinks happens with Henry).
I gave this story 2 stars because I think the author is really talented, especially at using creative imagery to make the environment and characters come to life inside your head. Her writing was good but this story wasn't for me unfortunately.
I'll start by saying that I'm not usually a big fan of the instant love/written in the stars love/soulmates love sort of romance novels. They're fine but they are just a little too "pie in the sky" for me to get into them. However, I did enjoy this book quite a bit despite this not being a favorite trope of mine because the whole swapped bodies concept was done well enough in my opinion that it seemed to give some credibility to their love. Some might have found the concept really weird between a couple that had romantic feelings towards each other but I'm so glad that the author explored this concept. I've never seen it before. The author struck a nice balance between a casual voice that contemporary romances such as this have with a more serious reflective feel at times. She did well with creating a lovely sense of place, especially in the parts that take place in the California redwoods. I liked the sprinkles of information about CERN in Geneva and the physics asides she threw in there. This was my first experience with a novel by this author but I will probably pick up a couple of her backlist titles as well.
Thank you to NetGalley and W. W. Crown, and imprint of Swift & Lewis Publishing, LLC for the access to the advanced reading copy of this book.
This book is perfect for fans of Freaky Friday, It’s a Boy Girl Thing, The Change Up (all those movies where the 2 main characters switch bodies), who are also fans of The Big Bang theory. This is the second book in the series. I haven’t read the first one, but I didn’t feel like I was missing anything.
It’s a nice, easy read that feels a bit like a Hallmark movie. The beginning of the book wasn’t great at keeping my attention, but after the body switch happened, it had me hooked. There are a lot of funny moments I enjoyed. I liked the chemistry between Serena and Henry. There was a good balance of romance and humour. The twist towards the end was a nice addition to the story. It brought a fresh take to a popular storyline.
What I didn’t like was the excessive physics references at the beginning of the story. I almost DNF’d the book because of the amount of physics references. (I hated physics in school). For example, when the first intimate scene fades to black, Serena goes off on a tangent about something physics related, and I was wondering what it had to do with the story. I guess it was meant to show that her job is more than a job to her, it’s her passion, but I feel it was overdone. I also didn’t like that Serena spoke directly to the reader at some point. It came out of nowhere and just felt weird.
Overall, it was an enjoyable, but I don’t know that I would read it again. If I do, I’ll definitely skip straight to the body swapping.
I really enjoyed the humor in this book, it had me laughing out loud multiple times. The added drawings and graphs were also excellent. The plot of the story was interesting. I wish we had gotten more background on Henry (why was he a virgin?!) I do need to go back and read the first book in the series.
I am not really sure how i feel about this book, i can feel the potential but i definitely did not realize this was a second book, and was a little clueless. because of that I will rate this book a 2 star out of 5 but once reading the first one i will change the rating on goodreads accordingly thank you.
, the story was nice and interesting. Definitely enjoyed. A mixed of freaky Friday and fun. Very nice second book. Can be read as a stand alone as well. But definitely more enjoyable if you have stared on book 1
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC! I loved seeing the journey of Henry and Serena getting to understand each other. I loved seeing the snippets of their family lives and how they navigated those meetings. The story quickly captivated me.
The inclusion of the footnotes with hyperlinks in the book was something new to me, and I am conflicted on it. On one hand, it was able to provide some more context/explanation to some references/phrasing. On the other, it disrupted the flow of reading for me, and it didn’t help that the numbering restarts at 1 for each chapter (it would take me a second to remember which chapter I was on or deduce which footnote I should be reading. If the numbering didn’t restart each chapter, that might help).
Overall I really enjoyed this read.
Ducky is a chaotic theoretical physicist at CERN, and her only love is physics. The last thing she wants is a man who would force her to reorder her priorities and put him and her future family ahead of her work.
Henry is a neat experimental physicist, and he believes that he has found his one true love. Which happens to be Ducky. He also happens to be her boss.
It seems that there is no future where these two would be together. Until an anomaly at the particle collider has them switch bodies! Then, mayhem ensues!
This is an extremely cute story! From the get-go, you get a feel for Ducky’s chaotic personality, but you cannot begrudge her wanting to fulfill her career goals. But then Henry comes to rescue her from being literally stuck to a bar bench, and it’s clear that they are falling for each other. But then Ducky goes about it in the worst possible way, and now her future boss REALLY doesn’t seem to like her.
When an electric storm happens and they switch bodies, things become extremely ridiculous! It was hilarious how Ducky was trying to navigate in Henry’s body, and I would have loved to get an extra chapter that showed what Henry’s morning had been like in more detail!
Seeing Henry’s family interactions with Ducky in Henry’s body was so endearing. It allowed her to get a better sense of how much she had affected him when he first met her.
The flashbacks that they both got of some of each other’s significant memories were ingenious, and my favorite part is that they didn’t dance around that. When she figured out that she was his first, she brought it up with him, and when he realized that she loved him, he immediately confronted her. Having them communicate well with each other made me root for them even more.
And she was willing to show a vulnerable side of herself by asking him not to leave CERN.
I also loved that Ducky got to resolve her conflicted feelings regarding her mom’s life choices. In an ideal world, her mom would have spoken to her and explained things to her directly. But humans often don’t do what’s best for them. But getting that explanation, even in Henry’s body was very cathartic.
And for two very smart physicists, it took them quite a long time to figure out what they needed to do to switch back.
As I was reading this book, I kept thinking how much I would love to watch a movie of it!
And, since I have missed out on reading Ghosted, I have to go back and find out what Jillian and Daniel’s story is because I am intrigued!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.
I tried to read the ebook and also tried to listen to the audiobook and DNF’ed both mediums.
For the audiobook, I found the narrator extremely annoying and could not tolerate her voice or intonation. It distracted me from the book which made me switch to the ebook.
I read about ~4 chapters of the book and stopped reading. I found the main character annoying and too “quirky”, the constant sex references were cringy and I couldn’t push through to get to the actual plot.
I originally chose the ARC because I was really intrigued by the plot! I think it could’ve been more interesting if it started immediately from the switch and then worked back to their meeting? Otherwise, I just wasn’t very invested.
This book is part of the Ghosted series which I had the pleasure of reading and reviewing for NetGalley last fall. I loved that book and immediately knew I wanted this one so I could be immersed in the world again. This one follows Serena and Henry, two physicists and colleagues who find themselves in a bit of a Freaky Friday situation. They end up having to navigate some pretty serious and heavy situations stuck in each others bodies. The audio was great! Overall, the story was cute!!
4.5 ⭐️
I really loved the story!! This was something new to me and the narration, omg the feel it gave to the story was fabulous!
I think my favourite character out of the two is Ducky. I love her humour and the way she cant keep herself away from relating everything to science. The writing style used is veryyy catch with all the graphs and images and footholds that kept popping around in the story.
The way i related to a lot of the quotes in this book had my heart! And didn’t I already talk about the narration!?? I loveddd the whole audio!
At one point in the end I really thought Henry.. but then the way she was revived 🥹🥹🫶🏻🫶🏻✨✨
I look forward to reading more from Sarah Ready and also listening to more of Kelsey Foster!!(i think she is by far my fav narrator)
Absolutely Recommend!!!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for this book for my honest review.
I really enjoyed Switched! The chemistry and banter was brilliant. A hilarious and sweet rom com!
I just love Sarah Ready’s writing - I really don’t think she can put a foot wrong! Every time I read something new from her, I’m shocked that her books don’t get more attention on bookstagram, etc. This was an adorable and spicy read. Serena and Henry are strangers, but both feel that love at first sight sensation. They have an intense and amazing night together but Serena realises he’s about to be her new boss and panics - she wasn’t looking for love anyway so she breaks his heart. They work together for over a year as distant colleagues but she pines for him and is unable to move on. A freak incident results in them switching bodies (I know - mental, but it works!) and they are forced to spend all their time together and truly get to know each other.
It’s deliciously inevitable, and I loved reading their romantic tension. Both characters are so very likeable but Henry in particular is just too sweet. My heart hurt for him a fair few times. Their connection is so instant and tangible, yet it just gets better as the story goes on. It’s a funny narrative as well! I love that it’s kind of a sequel to Ghosted, as that was such a beautiful love story and those characters are briefly revisited! Can’t wait to read the next in the series. I love that these books require just the right amount of suspended disbelief.
What to expect:
- love at first sight
- enemies to lovers vibes
- forced proximity
- fake dating
- body swapping comedy
- quite spicy
Serena & Henry are polar opposites in every way imaginable. So what happens, when one night during a storm, they switch bodies? Chaos, that's what happens.
Consider me a fan of Sarah Ready after reading this book. I haven't read the first book in the series but still enjoyed it. This was certainly a unique experience, I've never anything similar before. There were so many hilarious (and sometimes, awkward) moments. The time jump made it more realistic.
Henry is a gem who must be protected at all costs. He was the perfect book boyfriend. I could understand Serena's aversion to love and it became too constant but she redeemed herself in the end though. I really wanted more of them when they were in their own bodies.
I alternated between the ebook and the audiobook. The narration by Kelsey Navarro Foster was chef's kiss.
Thank you netgalley for the audio ARC & eARC in exchange for an honest review.
ARC Review for Switched by Sarah Ready
Thank you, NetGalley, the author, and the publisher, for giving me the opportunity to read and review this awesome book! It’s one of my favorite reads of 2024.
We’re introduced to Serena, a Japanese-American physicist that lives and works in Geneva. She’s intelligent, nerdy (in a Big Bang Theory kind of way) and flirty. Her apartment and work spaces are messy, but it’s okay because she sees the order in the chaos. Work is the love of her life and she doesn’t ever want to be tied down in a relationship.
Serena’s meet cute with Henry (unlike Serena he is clean and organized and he loves to drink hot tea) took place at a local bar and they ended up sleeping together. They both felt an immediate SPARK, but Serena shot down the feelings not only because she didn’t want to be monogamous but also because she found out he was going to be her colleague/boss. The story picks up 1.5 years later and that’s when the switch happens.
This book was hilarious and quirky, I laughed out loud several times! The banter between Serena and Henry was funny and seeing them learn and react about their traded bodies was even funnier. I enjoyed how they were able to have a better understanding of each other through this bizarre experience.
I thought it was so cool that Serena was half Asian and I would have LOVED to see a little bit more details added about Serena’s Japanese heritage, even if it was just a greeting between herself and her father.
I’d rate the spice .75 - 1 Star.
Switched is part of a 3 Book Series (you can read them standalone) and I’m excited to go read the 1st and the 3rd!