First off, Daisy Edgar-Jones being one of the narrators is one of the best 'castings' ever! This book was a feel-good, find your happiness, don't be afraid of adventures book. In an unlikely switch, these two characters, at different stages of their lives, swap living situations and, of course, find their mojo, happiness, what's important to them. The intricate lives of each character individually and their relationship with one another is something that everyone can relate to. This book resonated with me on so many levels and has made me question my own path, making sure that each day is filled with something that brings joy to me and not everything is out of necessity.

This is the second book by Beth O'Leary that I've read and I look forward to seeing what else she produces. Also, if she has any other books besides the two I've read, I will definitely be picking them up. I hope this book becomes a film (with Daisy playing the same character)!

I was provided with the audiobook by the publisher via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

The story takes the reader through a series of events that happen when a grandmother and her granddaughter switch their lives. This is a very character driven story that takes us through the grief, the confusion and the courage it takes to deal when life gives you a hard blow. Eileen Cotton is a lovable character and was my favorite in the story.

The audiobook is narrated by Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones. They did a splendid job in portraying the character's emotions accurately. But, this in itself felt as a drawback for me as I'm a fast reader. Those who enjoy audiobooks would definitely like this one. It's just not for me.

As for the plot, it was engaging, fun, sweet, and a heart-warming story with witty humor. The initial few chapters were a bit of a drag but the story picks the pace afterwards. Enjoyed getting to know Eileen, Leena, Marian, Arnold, Betsy, Bee, Fitz and the reclusive Letitia. I would definitely recommend it to readers who want a quick, fun read.

My first NetGalley audiobook! And it was such a joy. I tend to find Women's Fiction to be quite hit or miss, as without a romance or mystery or overall purpose (other than finding oneself) to fuel the story, some can be rather boring. However, I LOVED this story. Lena (granddaughter) and Eileen (grandmother) decide to switch lives for a few months, with Lena taking over her grandmother's house and projects (like the May Day festival and neighborhood watch) in a quite part of England, and Eileen trying out online dating in London.

The book alternates perspectives, switching between Lena and Eileen, and each uses a different narrator in the audiobook, which I love. Having two separate narrators really makes the story come alive and immerse the listener better in the worlds of each character. I originally found the grandmother's voice slightly grating, but it grew on me over time. Lena's narrator seemed slightly, well, weak, for the supposed high-powered, no-nonsense businesswoman she was supposed to be in London. However, neither of these casting choices hindered the wonderful telling of the story. Each narrator was a wonderful actress and conveyed the emotion splendidly. I will say that there were quite a few phone calls in the book, and the person on the other end of the line was sometimes so quiet it was hard to hear. But I loved the effect of making them sound like they were actually on the phone.

As far as plot goes, this book was a pure joy. There were tangible goals (overcome the grief of a relative's passing, successfully celebrate May Day, find a boyfriend) and a set timeline for the life swap that gave this story a purpose. Of course, there were tidbits of romance, which I loved. The supporting cast of characters--Lena's friends, coworkers, and roommates in London and Eileen's nosy neighbors in Hamley--really gave this book life, and I loved seeing how they handled Lena and Eileen's "life swap" (or switch, rather). The bit about trading phones and computers was absolutely absurd--who in their right mind would do that--but after the initial happening, I got over it. I would definitely recommend this book (and audiobook).

Thank you to NetGalley for this free audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I don't usually swear, but I can't help myself. This book was fecking brilliant!! I have never wanted to listen to an audiobook more than watch Netflix, and yet this week, I found myself doing just that! The narrators were sensational, and the comedy made me miss being in Britain! Ah, good ole British humor for the win! I laughed out loud so many times that people started looking at me quizzically. I still chuckle every time I think of Letitia and those tea leaves. HEHE

The Switch centers on a grandmother/granddaughter duo, Eileen and Leena, who both need a change. In the cusps of grief and forced to take a two month holiday, Leena has no idea how to cope without having work to occupy her mind; meanwhile, a few hundred miles away, Eileen longs for adventure and romance outside her small town in Yorkshire. During a visit with her grandma, Leena suggests that the two switch places, taking on the responsibilities and life of the other. Fascinated by the idea, Eileen agrees and wastes no time making a list.

Not long after arriving into her new life in London, Eileen is quickly swept away by a torrid love affair with an actor she meets online. She also begins planning how to better the lives of Leena's friends and neighbors. Leena, on the other hand, is doing her best to keep her mind occupied on her grandmother's duties while trying to be civil with her mother, whom she hasn't had a proper conversation with since her sister's passing.

This witty, romantic, emotional, hysterical, heart-warming novel will take you by complete surprise. Everything about it will pull you in deeper, consuming your thoughts until you're unable to stop listening. I thought it would be strange to read about a seventy-nine-year-old having a romantic relationship, but it was fabulous! I've never been more investing in an audiobook like this one. If it's not the humor that will get you, it's the author's incredible ability to wrap loss and heartbreak into an endearing story about the love of family.

After listening to The Switch, I have officially added Beth O'Leary's other novels to my list! Honestly, if I didn't have deadlines on other audiobooks, I'd already have restarted this one! Sensational!

Do you like feel-good type books?

If so, the Switch is the book for you! Check out our blog for a more in-depth and spoiler-free review. Link in bio.

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Beth O'Leary has a very gentle writing style making her books so easy to read. One of the many things I loved about this book is that romance was not the only theme. There are also themes of forgiveness, grieving, infidelity, domestic abuse, and moving on woven throughout the book and that added so much depth to the book.

The Switch is such a sweet and charming book. You come to love the main characters as well as their friends and family and want to read more about all of them. Overall, a warm and uplifting book that has solidified my decision to buy every book by @betholearyauthor.

(Also, many thanks to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for providing me with an audiobook in exchange for an honest review).

Fantastic dual narrative from Beth O’Leary, author of The Flatshare. Lena Cotton is grappling with her grief over her sister’s death from cancer and finds that pushing through at her job isn’t working anymore. When she’s forced into a two-month leave after blowing a big presentation, she switches places with the grandmother she’s named after, Eileen. Eileen’s looking for love after divorce and thinks she’ll have better luck in London. They both learn about themselves by stepping into each other’s lives, and bring something new to the communities they become a part of. Some parts were predictable but the journey was fun, nevertheless. I loved them both, but especially the older Eileen.

Flatshare was such a cute, heartwarming story that when I had the opportunity to listen to this audiobook for free on Netgalley, I decided to read this book, even if the synopsis didn’t sound so interesting. Anyway, in romantic novels, the plot is rarely mattered…
But in the end, I felt that it was a pity to read it. It wasn’t a bad book, but it neither was a good one, too. Because it was an audiobook, I wasn't so bored, I always did something while I listened to it. The synopsis wasn’t exciting, but in the end, its whole story was nothing special, too. The story gave me nothing, and even the end was predictable ... Maybe if I would be 80, I could earn some courage, but I am just 25… I have to admit I was disturbed by Eileen’s perspective. I don’t like to read from the perspective of older people because they’re simply far away from me, I can’t understand their problems. Going to London at the age of 80 and setting up clubs because of her boredom, just can’t interest me. Everyone does what they want with their lives, only I don't care about these things ...
But Leena’s perspective was also so boring so it couldn’t save the book either.
The narration was okay. Both perspectives had separate narrators, neither of them was outstanding. In audiobooks, I’m used to narrators changing their voices for different characters, and here I don’t think it happened. I never knew, our character with whom was talking to, and I was so confused, and after I finished the book, I was thinking about it, and I didn’t think the narrators changed their voices. But I may be wrong. But the phone calls were very annoying. They added those phoning effects, and I could barely understand what they were trying to say.
The book was not terrible, it was ok, but I’m not sure I’ll think about it anymore.

Hungarian version:

A Flatshare (Ágybérlő) olyan aranyos, szívmelengető történet volt, hogy amikor lehetőségem adódott a Netgalley-n ingyen meghallgatni ezt a hangoskönyvet, úgy döntöttem, belevágok ebbe a könyvbe is, még ha a fülszöveg nem is fogott meg annyira. Amúgy is egy romantikus történetnek ritkán a jó alapsztori a lényege…
De végül kár volt belekezdeni, mert most úgy érzem, hogy jó pár órát elvett az életemből a könyv, amikor olyan könyvet is olvashattam volna, ami érdekel. Ne értsétek úgy, hogy rossz könyv volt, hanem hogy semmilyen nem volt. Ha nem hangoskönyv lett volna, szétuntam volna az agyam, de így, míg más dolgokat csináltam, elment. Már a fülszöveg sem volt izgalmas, de végül a teljes sztori sem lett. Semmit nem adott a történet, és még a vége is kiszámítható volt... Talán, ha 80 éves lennék, lehet bátorságot adna, de így 25 évesen? És itt érkeztem el ahhoz a ponthoz, hogy bevalljam, engem zavart Eileen szemszöge. Alapból nem szeretek öregebbek szemszögéből olvasni, mert egyszerűen távol állnak tőlem, nem tudom megérteni a problémáikat. Az, hogy 80 évesen elmegy Londonba bepasizni és unalmában klubokat alapít, egyszerűen nem tud érdekelni. Mindenki csinálja, amit szeretne az életével, csak engem ezek a dolgok nem érdekelnek... Majd ötven év múlva lehet másképp lesz...
De Leena szemszöge is olyan unalmas volt, így ez sem tudta megmenteni a könyvet.
A narráció okés volt. Mindkét nézőpontnak volt külön narrátora, egyiket sem éreztem kiemelkedőnek. Hangoskönyveknél megszoktam, hogy a narrátorok egy-egy karakternél elváltoztatják a hangjukat, és itt nem hiszem, hogy ez megtörtént. Sosem tudtam, hogy ki beszél vele, és össze voltam zavarodva, és miután befejeztem, akkor jutott eszembe, hogy szerintem ez itt nem volt. De lehet, hogy tévedek. De, ami biztos volt, és rettentően idegesített, az a telefonálás volt. Berakták azt a telefonálás effektet, lehalkították a beszédet, és alig tudtam kiérteni, hogy mit akar mondani.
A könyv egy „egynek elment” olvasmány volt, de hogy gondolni sem fogok többet rá, az is biztos.

I didn’t think it was possible to love this book as much as I loved The Flatshare, but I ended up loving it even more. O’Leary’s characters are so charming you can’t help but fall in love. She creates people that you wish you knew in real life. They’re well-rounded, complex and completely lovable. Eileen Cotton and her granddaughter are 100% goals. Each time I’ve finished an O’Leary book I’ve wished I could start it all over again because I loved it so much. Also, I’m super picky about narrators but these narrators were completely perfect! The audio production made the book even more enjoyable. Go do yourself a favor and get a copy of this book!

The Switch was adorable and fun and important story! I didn't enjoy it right from the beginning tho, and listening to the audiobook had me distracted a lot. But it was so good. I loved Eileen's and Leena's narrators and their voices! It was so fresh and heart-warming and full of realistic thoughts + emotions. Eileen was so fun, I swear. Full of pump and energy at 79, she was a highlight of this story, no doubt. Lenna was much more practical and worrisome, but you can see how she grows thought-out the story. All of the characters have phenomenal character growths, and that is something really wonderful!

This is more of a family story that is equal parts fun and sad. It is a story of finding yourself and accepting your mistakes, your whole self and giving yourself time to heal. It was so wholesome and had a nice realistic portrayal of everything. I liked the romance too, it was lightweight and fun and just heartwarming.

The Switch is a beautiful book and has a lovely ending. The writing is exquisite, and I like how the author throws in important themes of self-acceptance, infidelity etc along. It is lovely and I really enjoyed listening to it!!

***Unfortunately I could not listen to the audiobook. I thought it would work, but because I live in Germany, the app doesn't work. I'm sorry!***

Oh how I loved this audiobook! Meet Leena and her newly single grandmother Eileen. Leena must take a 2- month sabbatical from work in London, and decides to switch places with her grandmother up in her Yorkshire village so that grandma Eileen can actually enjoy London and meeting people like she wanted to do when she was younger.

It is heartwarming and charming and not very often do we get to have an older heroine of the story. The story alternates between Leena in village life helping with her grandmother’s community, and the next chapter with Eileen and Leena’s friends in London. This works great in the audiobook, particularly with two different narrators. Loved them both- and always enjoy a British accent!

This is the antidote to quarantine blues or a reading slump. It is about hope, and how we deal with grief and loss, and find love and ourselves again, no matter our age. It’s never too late to change!

Absolutely loved the flat share but this one didn’t do it for me. I didn’t care for the characters.

The narrator was great!

First audiobook on NetGalley! Thank you to Beth O’Leary, Macmillan Audio, Flatiron Books, and NetGalley for the review copy.

I’ll start off by saying I’m a total idiot and, from the synopsis, thought the titular switch was an ACTUAL body swap a la Freaky Friday. Imagine my surprise when the character simply decide to step into each other’s roles living in the other’s home, but importantly, keeping their own bodies! While the story was different than expected, I really enjoyed it! The author writes her characters and their grief so realistically - I felt it myself when listening along. The ending is predictable on just about all levels and lacked nuance, but I’m never upset to read a happily ever after.

Moving to narration - it was excellent! The two main characters are voiced by different narrators. The narrator of the granddaughter parts is good, but the grandmother narrator really stole the show for me. I could just picture my grandma speaking the way Eileen does - hesitant, a little shaky, but when resolute, fierce. Her intonations and pauses are exactly where my grandma would put them when she speaks. Absolutely spot on!

This is the story of Eileen who is 79 and single with no prospects nearby and her granddaughter Leena who flubs a major work presentation. Eileen and Leena switch homes and life roles for 2 months. Humorous and also serious simultaneously. Eileen tries online dating. Leena tries to keep up with all the tasks her grandmother usually does. A great story about family dynamics, mending broken hearts and finding where you really belong.
I listened to the audio version of this book and loved both narrators. They had the perfect voices for the two women characters.

Thank you to netgalley, Macmillan Audio and Beth O'Leary for the chance to listen to this book and give my honest review.

In case you hadn’t heard the news, Netgalley now has audiobooks! I was really excited to find Beth O’Leary’s new book available for download and got to listening right away.

First things first, I loved both Eileen and Leena. I could totally relate to Leena’s struggles with a stressful job and a long-distance relationship. I also loved Eileen and I think she’d be such a great grandma to have! Just like with The Flatshare, O’Leary touches on some deeper topics than just swapping lives. Leena’s dealing with grief and there’s a lot of commentary on mental health and healthy relationships.

I really liked both Eileen and Leena’s romances in this book. Both characters ended up with such sweet romances with such great people. I think this book had a great message about finding love and happiness and not just sticking with the same thing (or the same person) because it’s what’s comfortable.

As for the audio, both of the narrators did a great job. I will say that I listened at 1.75x speed, though, because they spoke so slowly! But sped up, it was really easy to listen to this book.

Overall, I’m giving this four stars because although I enjoyed it, I never really had trouble setting it down.

<b>Eileen is sick of being 79.
Leena's tired of life in her twenties.
Maybe it's time they swapped places...</b>

Is coming-of-old the new coming-of-age? I hope so! After reading the delightful The Love Story of Missy Carmichael, I was thrilled to dive into The Switch. I was lucky enough to listen to the audiobook via the newly-launched NetGalley Shelf app.

Leena is a 20-something who is sent on a two-month holiday at work after blowing a major presentation at her high-profile London job. Eileen Cotton is her 79-year-old year old grandmother. She's been recently left by her husband of several decades for a much younger woman. She’s willing to give love another shot, but the options are limited in her small village.

Both women are still deeply grieving the loss of Leena's sister from the year before. They agree to "switch lives" for two months. Eileen will live in Leena’s London flat with her two roommates (well, “flatmates” I suppose) and try out online dating. Leena will stay in quaint village where Eileen lives. What could possibly go wrong 😉?

I LOVED the dynamic between Leena and Eileen. My own grandmother passed away a year ago, but we’d had the same type of close relationship this duo has. They are both witty women who are easy to love. I laughed out loud several times. Like actual peals of laughter. Eileen is truly a hoot. She makes the book for me. It’s very cute and will give you all the warm and fuzzies a good rom-com should.

NARRATION: I love listening to audiobooks set in London. I’ve been reading the Harry Potter series aloud to my kids and trying my best to be authentic with accents. I’m from West Virginia. Spoiler alert: I’m terrible at it. I also find myself trying to silently read in an accent for a book that’s set outside the U.S. For me, it’s just way more authentic to listen to a native narrate books.

Daisy Edgar-Jones narrates Leena’s role. She stars in the Hulu adaptation of Normal People. She has a lovely voice. I loved the raw emotion she brought to Leena, especially when she’s remembering her last days with her sister. I also loved her interactions with Eileen and the easygoing nature of all their conversations.
Alison Steadman narrated Eileen’s character. She was absolutely perfect! I genuinely felt like she was going through Eileen’s transformation firsthand. I could picture facial expressions, gestures, the tiniest of nuances. She truly brought Eileen to life through my headphones!

I absolutely loved this book and will recommend it everyone! I loved the plot, the characters, and settings. I will continue to read whatever awesomeness O'Leary writes, her books are pure gold.

I read and loved Beth O'Leary's The Flatshare last year, so I couldn't wait to get my hands on this story.

This is the story of Leena and her grandmother Eileen. Leena is deeply burned out and is required to take two-months off work when she blows a major presentation and Eileen is newly single and looking for both some fun and companionship in her life.

To help each other, they decide to switch homes for a while so Eileen can live in the bustling, urban London and Leena can relax in the quiet life of Eileen's little neighborhood.

What I loved most about this book is how lovely both of the women were and how they each found ways to bloom where they were. Even though things don't go as planned, of course, and they learn so much about themselves and what they really want, of course. And they get to see that the people they think they understood, maybe they didn't understand as well as they thought. Even with all that, most of the moments of this story and happy, hopeful, and show you how strong both Eileen and Leena are.

How they have each other and other community to help and support them. And how they show up for the people around them, too. O'Leary knows how to create characters that stay with you.

This lovely book was made only more lovely by the narration of Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones who play their parts beautifully and really make these characters come alive.

with gratitude to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the story of 2 women – Eileen & her granddaughter Lena.
The book starts with Lena struggling with a panic attack & this affecting an important presentation at work. I didn’t think this was very realistic & as a consequence I struggled to get into the story but once I got past the first chapter, I really liked this book.
Burnt out from work, Lena is given a 2 months sabbatical from work and she goes to stay with her grandmother in a small village in Yorkshire. Eileen is 79 & since her husband left her, she has decided that life is too short for loneliness so she has decided to try & find a new man, but there are very few options in the locality.
After a short time together, Lena is desperate to return to her life in London but Eileen knows that she must relax & feels that Yorkshire is the place to do that. They then decide that they will swap lives - Eileen will go to London and have the adventure she was forced to abandon as a young woman when she became pregnant with Lena’s mother. She will learn about dating apps & maybe find the love she craves whilst imparting wisdom in her straight-talking way. Meanwhile Lena will take over Eileen’s commitments in Yorkshire – she will look after the cottage, and take over Eileen’s place on the Neighbourhood Watch group and on the MayDay fair committee.As both women start to understand each other’s world, they learn more about themselves as well as starting to impact the people around them. I love Eileen’s non-nonsense way of speaking, and the way she imparts wisdom whilst Lena makes an impact on her new community in rather different ways – by losing a neighbour’s dog, burning the chocolate brownies she intended as a peace offering & leaving the handbrake off the car so that it runs into the hedge.
We soon find that Lena’s sister died a year ago from cancer, and that throwing herself into work was her way of coping. The book sensitively deals with several difficult topics, including cancer, grief, infidelity, abusive relationships & prejudices against people of different generations by mixing delightful observations & insights with moments of humour and

The story is narrated by 2 fairly well known actors: Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones. Their voices were perfect – Lena was young, dynamic and refined. Eileen was older but full of character, she perhaps lacked a slight “Yorkshire accent” but the voice fit the character perfectly & I felt that I could picture both characters easily. The quality of the narration is great – it’s not somebody just reading a book like so many audiobooks can be, it’s acted really well. I liked the way that the chapters switched between Lena’s story & Eileen’s story – it was easy to follow throughout. Each chapter had just one actor - the actors voiced the other characters too with slight intonations in their voices. These were also easy to follow as there was only 2 or 3 people per “scene” and there was sufficient differentiation between them.
The ending is not unexpected, but it is quite nice that it doesn’t end quite when you expect it to. Overall it was a heartwarming story with excellent narration.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this audiobook free from the publisher via NetGalley. Whilst thanks go to the publisher & author for the opportunity to read it, all opinions are my own.

The Switch is a humorous romantic story where Leena and her grandma switch lives to experience a little adventure in their lives. Both women need a change. Leena moves into her grandmother's house in Yorkshire and grandma ventures to London to find a new man. This charming story warms your heart as a group of misfit characters figure out what it important in life and their true feelings about themselves; to figure out what they need to be truly happy. I would also say that this one isn't a high romance book, so if you are looking for something with more "love" this one probably isn't for ya.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance audiobook.