An absolutely delightful, feel good, laugh out-loud book. I adored the story of the Eileen Cottons and want to be Eileen Sr. when I grow up! The comparison of two characters in vastly different stages of womanhood was refreshing and heartwarming. I loved how much zest for life Eileen had in her 70s and what a good role model she was for Lena. This book was a mixture of sweet and sassy and there were some scenes that were hilariously crude. After a string of serial killer books this was just the light reading I needed, without being too cheesy. The narrators were fantastic. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an ARC of this audiobook.

This was my first book by Beth O’Leary and I quite enjoyed it. Kind of gave me the Freaky Friday vibes without them actually switching bodies. But this was cute and had some comical moments as well as the journey of finding yourself and love.

I loved how there were two different narrators with alternating POVs. It was so great to see women at two very different ages taking journeys to find themselves and the love they are looking for. Finding their purpose and mending relationships.

Definitely a quick, light read and the audiobook was very enjoyable.

The Switch by @betholearyauthor was such a delightful read! I listened to the audiobook via @netgalley.⠀
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Eileen, 79, and her 20-something granddaughter, Leena, both need a sabbatical from their lives. Thus, they decide to switch homes and responsibilities for 2 months. The dual POVs were so good! I loved how the chicklit clichés were turned on their head, especially by presenting the predominant romance drama through Eileen's storyline. Both women felt authentic and relatable. In particular, I thought it was beautiful how Eileen transforms the world around her by just being herself. She really felt like the shining light of the book.⠀
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I flew through it so quickly, needing *just one more* chapter to see what happened next 👩👵. I previously read The Flatshare, but found that I enjoyed this one more 😊.⠀
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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was super excited to read this one as I have enjoyed the author’s previous book and it absolutely did not disappoint me.

Leena lost her sister and her entire family is dealing with the loss in their own ways so far unsuccessfully. When Leena is given a forced vacation at work, she and her grandma. Eileen and Leena decide to swap their lives and houses for two months so that Eileen can experience some spontaneity in life. I so wished it was a Freaky Friday kind of plot and thankfully it is completely different from it. Leena experiences a small town life and Eileen experience’s life in London and some freaky online dating too.

I enjoyed listening to this audiobook so much and Leena’s voice is AMAZING! I loved all the characters and how all of them make each other’s lives so much better. It was so endearing and heartwarming to read this book. It deals with grieving on loss so beautifully. The way Leena experiences small town life and the various neighbours was adorable. Some of the relationships she forms and eventually clears up her mind is so sweet. How Eileen takes off with her London life and online dating is so refreshing. There is this simmering chemistry between Leena and Jackson the entire book that was sweet yet annoying as they never act on it.

It is a happy story with importance on relationships, cute moments and drama within the neighbourhood!

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me a copy The Switch!

This was a darling story of two Eileen Cottons.... grandmother and granddaughter. The two women swap locations and lives for a couple months while the younger takes a mental break after not dealing with the death of her sister.

Themes of mental health, love, community, and self worth made this story relatable.

I really enjoyed this sweet book. Leena and her grandmother Eileen swap homes for a two-month sabbatical. Eileen will move to London to look for love. Leena will move to Yorkshire to reconnect with her mother and have a break from the city. I listened to this one and I love how they switched narration for each character. It was a great audiobook. I looked forward to all of Eileen’s chapters as she made me laugh out loud. Thank you to NEt Galley and MacMillion Audio for my advanced copy. Highly recommend this one if you loved the Me before You books.

A heartwarming story about friendship, family, second chances at love and how to survive after losing someone very important in your love. Three women, grandmother, mother and daughter trying to go on with the epic lives after the death of Karla, Leena’s sister. Leena and her grandmother decide to switch their lives for two months. Eileen is going to live in London and experience the big city and Leena is going to live in the small town and try to reconnect with her mother. A wonderful live and love . The audiobook is great with the two narrators impersonating Leena and Eileen.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of “The Switch” by Beth O’Leary. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

My first NetGalley audiobook! My one concern was that I couldn’t seem to listen to the book on any speed faster than the regular speed without the sound becoming garbled. Not sure if that’s an issue with the NetGalley shelf app as I’ve never had an issue listening to audiobooks at faster speeds on other apps. I’ve been approved for two audiobooks so far and they both seem to have this issue so I’m not sure what’s going on there.

Earlier this year, I read Beth O’Leary’s “The Flatshare” and really enjoyed it. “The Switch” brings even more charm than “The Flatshare” but also doesn’t hold back on the emotional beats.

The audiobook narrators were fantastic! There were two and they really brought the charm, humor, and heart through their respective POVs of Leena and Eileen.

There are so many characters in the story but I somehow didn’t have any issue keeping them straight. I think the audiobook might have helped with that as the narrators were good about creating distinct voices for all the different characters. I was very impressed.

In the story, Leena (29) and her grandmother “swap lives” with Leena going to live in her grandmother’s small village and Eileen (79) going to London to start dating again. I found both perspectives engaging and each drew me in and held my attention in different ways. I did find it odd the characters kept saying they “swapped lives.” Yes Leena took up her grandmother’s responsibilities in the village, but Eileen was living her own life in London although she was living in Leena’s flat while doing so.

I really could have done without the Ethan subplot. It ruined my ability to root for Leena’s crush in the village as she had a boyfriend back in London (even though he was a jerk). I think I would have loved the romance if Ethan hadn’t been a factor.

Content warnings for panic attacks, cancer death, and an abusive relationship.

4/5 stars

I loved our older protagonist, Eileen! I will say that the younger Leena did not have a good narrator, as the voice was very lispy and high pitched, so it gave me a headache. I believe this affected my enjoyment of her storyline immensely.

Such a cute story!
Leena is a workaholic that has a panic attack at work and is given a two month holiday. Eileen, Leena’s grandmother is a 79 year old facing her golden years alone after her husband left her. What a perfect time to switch lives, per say, for healing and restoration.
I loved listening to this story, it felt as though I was sitting beside the author as she was recounting personal events. It also made me miss my own grandmother so much but to also take a look at her life and how strong she was facing hard times in her life.
Wonderful book.

The Switch is about a grandmother and granddaughter who need a break from being themselves so they switch lives. Leena lives in the city and overworked. Eileen lives in the country and is in search of an adventure. These characters felt so real, which is something I’ve come to love about Beth O’Leary’s writing. The story is told in alternating chapters from the two MCs POV. The audiobook was fantastic at distinguishing each character. This story focuses on these women and the romance aspect is secondary, which is fine with me. The Switch did a good job of balancing the light-hearted and funny moments with the hard-hitting and sad. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this author. TW: panic attack, grief, loss of a loved one, cancer, depression.
*Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for those ARC in exchange for honest review.

I enjoyed this audio book much more than I enjoyed reading it previously - the narrator gave interesting and more intelligent voices to the protagonists than I had visualised from the prose. I connected far more to Leena and her grandmother, Eileen. Leena, who, having been told to take a break from her high powered job in London, asks Eileen to 'swap lives' - Eileen to temporarily live in London whilst Leena takes over her grandmother's life in her Yorkshire village. Both women learn much more about each other and also about themselves.
A good listen with a satisfactory ending.

I had recently read Beth's debut novel, The Flat Share and loved it, so I was anticipating The Switch. I liked the fact that the tone and subject matter was very different. I loved the idea of the granddaughter and grandmother swapping lives. The hero and the anti-hero were very well drawn and I could completely imagine both the village in the Yorkshire Dales and the minutiae of everyday life there and the anonymity of London. I loved the idea of Eileen building a little oasis in Central London and forcing certain Londoners to embrace camaraderie. I enjoyed the various love stories, past and present, and liked that the author introduced some serious themes: scamming the elderly, the difficulties of parenting after divorce, depression, loss and anxiety. Arnold was one of my favourites, but I loved how no-nonsense Eileen was, and I was rooting for Betsy all the way. Glad Lena got the ending she deserved on all fronts of her life. Am eagerly anticipating Miss O'Leary's next release

This book had so many elements in it (grief, finding yourself, romance, humor, etc.) but instead of feeling like a congested mess O’Leary tacked them with grace and wit. Even when it dealt with serious topics the story still managed to feel light - which was exactly what I hoped for when I started this book.
There was never a dull moment while listening to this audiobook because there were so many plot points to pay attention to and the two actresses did a great job voicing the two main characters - Eileen and Leena, Listening to it felt like listening to a play in the best way.
I also really love the sense of community in this book. Everyone in London and Leena’s small hometown made the story feel fleshed out. I really enjoyed reading about how Eileen and Leena took their knowledge from life in a small hometown/big city to their switch and helped improve their new surroundings.
My only critique is that at about 50% through the book some plot points felt too coincidental/unrealistic and a bit rushed - specifically when it came to the romance subplot for both Leena and Eileen.
Overall, I still enjoyed it and will definitely read more from this author.
*This is a review for a book I received through NetGalley*

Beth O’Leary’s The Switch is the perfect amount of quirky, heartwarming, and entertaining. Eileen and Leena are both great, well developed characters! The narration really brought everything to life. Thank you so much for access to this audio!

Thank you to the publisher for the early audiobook.

So, I actually ended up listening to this via ALC from Libro.fm. The quality of sound when I listened via the NetGalley app was not good. It sounded like it didn’t go through the final pass on sound mixing or something.

But onto the story. It was so lovely. Leena and Eileen decide to switch lives for a few months. Leena moves into her grandmother, Eileen’s, house and will look after everyone in the small town. Eileen moves into Leena’s London apartment and to casually date and try on city living.

I loved how this story unfolded. Both Eileen and Leena discover things about themselves and how they’re living their lives. They are also both able to use this time to address their grief.

The cast of characters surrounding Eileen and Leena are fun and such important parts of their lives.

This is such a fun, wholesome story. Definitely recommend it.

While this was a cute little story, it also dealt with real and tough life situations, including death and panic attacks. Each of the characters relationships with each other was believable and complicated in their own way. Ethan reminded me of Warner from Legally Blonde, while Lena and Jackson's relationship reminded me a lot of Anna and Kristoff from Frozen. I loved that it was narrated by two different people; they were each able to capture their character perfectly.

I loved this book. It was enchanting and charming at the same time. How can you not love a spunky grandmother who is e-dating? This book follows two main characters who switch (hence name of the book) their homes for a couple of months. In this switch, both characters learn a lot and there’s a growth from new experiences. The story line was clean cut in that situations were not dragged out. As a reader, you know there’s a problem and there’s a solution and we move on. I don’t like books were there’s a problem and the reader is lead from one solution to another and the plot is twisted just because and you are just worn out. This is not one of those books. Don’t get me wrong. There is tension throughout the book and it is slowly resolved, but I loved how the author resolved this story. Also, it was a great quarantine read. I loved the break from serious books. This book brought a smile to my face and I hope it will you also.

The Switch by Beth O'Leary is so cute, and just the light-hearted book I needed between heavier, social justice related books (my norm these days).⠀
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The plot is nothing majorly new, with a huge nod at "The Holiday." But it was sweet, and tender, and unique in its own charming way. And filled with British humor - of which I'm a BIG fan.

If you're feeling weighed down at times by this world like me, give this one a listen - the narrators are FANTASTIC and really bring the story to life! I'm really loving audiobooks these days!

This audiobook was absolutely delightful. The narrators were such a delight to listen to. The story was endearing, refreshing, and sweet. The characters were likable and I enjoyed every minute. I haven't read Beth O"Leary's The Flatshare but I am adding that to my audio TBR as soon as I can!