Thanks to NetGalley for an Advanced Listening Copy of The Switch!

First, I loved the audiobook of this.  So well done!  However, I did not love this book as much as I loved The Flatshare but that really doesn't even matter.  The Switch was a story about a grandchild and grandmother switching lives for a few months.  Moving from corporate life to the small town, and from the charming small town life to the big city (at age 79!).  I LOVED Eileen (grandma) and her whole 'finding herself' story line was just perfect.  I didn't care as much for Leena's (grandchild) story.  I think if we could have left out her having a boyfriend in the beginning of this book altogether maybe I'd feel differently.  This book is NOT a romance.  While it had romantic elements it was much more a story about overcoming the difficulties associated with grief, family relationships and just finding out what you want out of life.  I really recommend this book as long as you go into it knowing it's not your usual Rom-Com!

I think I'll be reading anything Beth O'Leary releases.  Her characters are so fun to learn about and experience!

This was a very sweet book that showed that you sometimes need a change of scenery to get perspective on your life and the changes you may need to do. And sometimes the answer is right under your nose.
I wouldn't necessarily categorise this book as a romance, it's more of a contemporary read with elements of romance. The main story is focused on finding oneself and finding the way back together as a family after a tragedy hits. It's also about friendship and the importance of a community.

We follow two people, Leena and her grandmother Eileen. When Leena has to take two months off of work, she suggests to her grandmother, who's recently been left by her husband, that they should swap lives and switch houses. Leena will be staying in her grandmother's house, taking her place in the town's Neighbourhood Watch Committee and organising the May Day festival, while Eileen will stay in the London-flat and enjoy what London has to offer, maybe even finding love.

This is a slow-paced book and as I said in the beginning, not a lot of romance, but it's a very sweet read and I definitely enjoyed it. The characters felt very real and I loved that both Leena and Eileen took the chance and made some serious changes to their lives.

This book was utterly delightful! All of the characters and surroundings came to life so vividly for me, and the narration was exceptional!

I grabbed this audio to try it out, and I'm not much of an audio book person so I just couldn't get into this one. I like the characters and sound of it so far in terms of story, so I may try to read the ebook some time, but the audio just isn't for me.

Fast paced book and I really enjoyed it. Good story line and I think people are gonna love it. I would definitely read again and recommend

Another delightful read from Beth O’Leary! I love how she gives you a warm, fuzzy, easy-to-read story that has some depth to them. She addresses hard topics with such ease, and her characters are so real, yet endearing. Eileen was an absolute delight, and I hope we see her randomly enter a future story or two. O’Leary has such a magnificent style. It’s easy to sit down and get lost, and not emerge until the entire book is complete.  I listened to this book, and while most of the audio was great, I had the same problem with this book as I had with The Flatshare. When characters were speaking over the phone, they sound less clear and “farther away”. While this is a cute production effect, it falls flat for me. If you speed up the narration, at all, it makes it very difficult to understand. Otherwise, the audiobook was great, and I’d definitely recommend this book to a friend.

I have heard amazing things about Beth O´leary so when I saw an ARC of this book on NetGalley I knew I had to read it right away. 

The Switch follows Leena, who is tired of life in her twenties and Eileen who is sick of being 79. So when the opportunity presents itself Leena and Eileen decide to swap places.

I really loves this book, for a while it had the potential of being a new favorite read and although it ended up being a 4 star read I was still very happy to read it.

My favorite thing about this book are the characters, the author has a way of writing characters that they feel completely real and true to life. My favorite character is Eileen by far, she cracked me up every single chapter and I just wanted to know more about her life and her view on things. (she reminded me a lot about my grandmother so that was fun too). 

Leena is definitely an unlikable character at first and I had a really hard time trying to connect with her, however it was nice to see her grow by the end of the book. All of the other characters aren’t as flushed out as Leena and Eileen but I was still able to care for them as the story went along. 

My only minor complaint about this book was the romance. This is not a romance book, there is romance in some parts of it, but it is definitely not the main aspect of it. And even though I was glad that the main focus of the book was the personal growth and self-discovery of the two main characters I still wish that the romance aspect of the book was more developed because in the end I felt that some things were left unsaid.

Overall this book was delightful and extremely enjoyable. I was not disappointed by the author and I will for sure check out her other works. This book is emotional, lighthearted while at the same time dealing with serious topics and an overall pleasant experience. 

Thanks so much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for allowing me read and review this book.

I was surprised by how cute this was! Its's beautifully done and so funny.I was super attached to the characters and couldn't help flying through the novel. It discusses tough topics in a great way while maintaining a lightheartedness of the overarching plot.

This audiobook was absolutely amazing! It's not your typical romance read because we get to see the older generations struggles. I think sometimes we tend to forget certain age groups when we think about new book ideas but Beth OLeary did it perfectly! i loved the characters so much and the way the all played out flowed so utterly well! this was my first book of hers, but i will definitely be adding future ones to my tbr

This is the kind of book that makes me wish I could give ten stars. I loved Beth O'Leary's book The Flatshare, but this book goes beyond love for me. I feel like it was written for me. It is, in my estimation, the perfect book. It's loving and optimistic and thoughtful, it marvelously highlights the fun of both city and country living, it has fun romances for people of all ages, and it really just hammers home how beautiful human kindness can be. It doesn't hurt that it highlights the love between grandmother and granddaughter. Those kind of relationships are so special, and I feel like we almost never hear about them in books (...or TV or movies!). 

Beth O'Leary, I can't wait to see what you do next! (Write a sequel?)

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is an adorable story about family and friendship, whose characters will definitely warm your heart. It is, in a way, a narrative of overcoming the loss of a loved one. The family we are following is a member short and trying to overcome the emptiness and separation that the terrible situation created. Yes, it is a romance, but also so much more!

I found it really interesting to see the actual switch between grandmother and granddaughter and how it affected them positively. Sometimes all we need is a bit of a change of pace and scenary. Their growth as characters was palpable and so heartwarming to witness!

A tale of union, self-love, and strong relationships, with some sprinkles of humour throughout the narrative. It is thus a super quick read and a perfect book for those cold days when you just want to curl up with a blanket and a cup of tea!

Leena Cotton lives in the city and her grandmother Eileen Cotton lives in the village. After having a panic attack at work, Leena’s manager directs her to take two months leave. Newly single and about to turn eighty, Eileen would like a second chance at love. But her tiny Yorkshire village doesn't offer many eligible gentlemen. So... Leena suggests that they swap lives for 2 months.

This author is amazing. I absolutely loved this book. This is the first book I read of this author and I will be reading The Flatshare which is her debut very soon.

I loved how the older generation was represented in the story and how Leena was very close to her grandmother. Eileen is a badass grandmother and anyone would love her. She manages to do things that leave us speechless.

The characters were awesome and I ended up wishing they were my friends. They made me laugh and cry. I loved the way each character had a different problem in their life and taught us how to solve it.

Thank you to MacMillan audio and Net Galley for a copy of this audiobook for my honest review. 

The Switch was as charming as it comes. I loved the grandmother/granddaughter relationship between Eileen and Leena.  Eileen’s narration was particularly lovely and had me missing my own grandmothers.

This was one of my favourite books of 2020.
It had me continually laughing out loud and then teary-eyed in the more poignant scenes.
I adored Eileen. She was feisty and full of life. I wasn't too sure about reading about the sexcapades of a 79-year-old but that aspect of the storyline was handled very lightly. I loved her interactions with her neighbour on the dating website. I found that completely hilarious. 
I felt for Leena as she struggled with the death of her sister and the deterioration of her relationship with her mother. Stepping into her grandmother's shoes as she completed the tasks Eileen normally would have done was a real treat to watch. The dog walking episode calls to mind as being particularly comical.
As the story developed and relationships were formed and restored I was left with a warm glow and a smile on my face.

For a heartwarming, feel-good way to begin the new year, I couldn't recommend a nicer way than picking up The Switch.

The Switch is available in all formats but I listened to the audiobook and it was performed brilliantly by the narrators.

narration: This was almost my first audiobook. But it was the first one that had two people telling it!
It was strange at first, and felt like I'm listening to a radioplay. It was very fast for me at first (English is my second language) but in the end I was able to listen to it at a normal space (before that it was on 0,75x speed).
The voices fitted the charachters well, but sometimes it was hard to tell if they are thinking something in their head, or saying that thing out loud.

The chapters were short (8-10 minutes), and it was really captiviting.

Lots of people said that they don't like reading old people POVs, but I do, so this book was perfect for me!

 Leena Cotton and her grandmother, Eileen, decides to change places. Leena moves to her grandmothers house in a small town while Eileen goes to London (to find love at the age of 80) for two months!

I loved both of the charachters so much. Leena was a bit stupid with Ethan, that part was strange. Sometimes her parts was a little bit boring for me. I enjoyed her grandmothers part much more. Eileen is such a fun woman, and I hope I'll be this cheerful and clever when I'm older.

The charachter development was very good. There was one thing I missed so much is the mother reacton to (it would be spoiler, but if you read the book, you know what is it.

I recommend this to anyone who
- likes books with two POV's and two narraterors as well. 
- likes a good chick lit
- liked any books from Beth O'Leary
- liked those movies where two families changed homes :DD

When an author I admire praised The Switch by Beth O'Leary as one of her favorite reads from 2020, I decided to give it my attention. 

The structure offers chapters that alternate between our two protagonists, the retired Eileen and her granddaughter Leena. Both have stagnated and are unhappy, processing their grief over the loss of a dear family member. They realize they could both use a change of scenery, so they swap homes for a couple months. Eileen is given the opportunity to live in London, something she had planned to do a lifetime ago but sacrificed for the life (and love) she chose. Leena is struggling in her work and finds herself at an impasse as she ignores the tension between herself and her mother, so retreating to her grandmother's village to fulfill her obligations gives her welcome respite.

I was engaged and entertained from the start, and I found more depth there than I'd assumed based on the cover.  I have experienced the loss of a sibling (and, later, a child), and I felt the varied responses to grief felt relatable and genuine, and the narrators are perfectly cast. 

The surrounding characters and the various antics might feel somewhat ridiculous and exaggerated at times, but it was a pleasant escape in a year that certainly calls for finding ways to discover pleasure and make do.

(I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)

I have no words. This is such a wonderful book. It's the first book I'm reading by Beth O'Leary and it was simply magnificent. I totally emphathise with the main characters (grandma and granddaughter); their lives totally changed and they found themselves. Regarding the audio bit, it was very well recorded, I couldn't ask for better people to record it. Rating: 4/5 stars.

I found The Switch to be a lighthearted story and liked it well enough, but didn't love it.
I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed the story more if I had read it rather than listen to it on audio. The breathiness really bothered me while listening to it, and I found Leena's voice grating whenever she was on the phone with Eileen. Speaking of Eileen, she was my favourite character and was the highlight of The Switch.

This book is so good 
I loved both Eileen and  her story line her part was so cute 
Leena was a nice heroine as well but less shaped 
This author has talent she masters this storyline like a pro and do not fell down 
I loved this story and the mourning and grief for Carla death was touched with delicate and feathery touch
Well done 
5 stars  
#TheSwitch #NetGalley

Eileen is a sweet Grandmother who is 79. Recently left by her husband after the loss of her Granddaughter. She loves her small town life but secretly wants more. She want's to find love again but at 79 her choices are limited. Leena lives a high stress life in London. After a panic attack at work her boss puts her on a two month sabbatical. Unable to contemplate life without work she visits her Grandmother. The small town life her Grandmother lives is appealing and the two decide to switch. 

Leena stays behind in her small town and takes on her Grandmothers responsibilities. After a few mishaps with getting settled. She ends up helping run the May Day festival and coming to care about everyone in the town. Eileen takes some time to getting used to the busy life of London, she tries meeting men and finds one who she really likes. After meeting a homebody neighbor she decides to do what she can to help other older people like her in London. 

This was a sweet story about love and acceptance. I really enjoyed the listen. The dual narrators both had such nice voice and kept me entertained. Their accents were slightly different which was refreshing and made them sound like two very distinct voices. The story was easy to get lost in.