I enjoyed this book a lot. I loved the journeys each main character goes on and the changes they both experience. I think the way this book addresses grief was very realistic. The secondary characters were captivating and adorable. I really liked the romances even if they were a bit rushed. I think Beth O'Leary was very ambitious, each character had a completely separate plot and romantic subplot and, because of that, the stories weren't as flesh out as they could have been, still, both plots were engaging and cute.

This is such a sweet story of a grandmother (age 79) and granddaughter age 28) swapping residences (and cellphones!) for a couple months.

I got this audiobook on netgalley a week before it was published (US audio pub date August 18, 2020), and as is going to be the case, I guess, it was glitchy AF, turning off in the middle of sentences and pausing for so long between some chapters that I had to unlock my phone before it started playing again. Regardless, the narrators were fantastic, two women who played the parts of Leena and Eileen.

I have not read anything by this author before. Since this book is a romance, I was expecting it to be predictable, which is was, and charming, which it was. It's an easy read. I would call it a story of three generations but the mom's story or character was not developed or necessary to further the stories of Leena and Eileen. There are a lot of characters, which can be a little confusing for me in an audiobook, but they were mostly fun additions to the story.

This is a fun story which deals lightly with grief and depression. I loved that it addresses the older generation looking for love and growth as much as the younger generation. I learned that the British call dessert pudding and I just want to know, do they not have actual pudding, like chocolate pudding or butterscotch pudding? That's confusing, but no reason to skip this book!

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½⭐️ (4.5 stars)

“That’s what Eileens do. They look after each other.”

This is the first book I’ve read (i.e. listened to) by Beth O’Leary, and I have to say, I get The Hype. If O’Leary’s first novel is anything like The Switch, I’m sure it is phenomenal and more than worthy of the all the attention it’s been receiving from the bookish community.

The Switch is the story of Eileen Cotton, a newly-single grandmother just shy of 80, and her overworked 20-something granddaughter, Leena (Eileen) Cotton. When she’s ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after having a panic attack in the middle of a big presentation at work, Leena is in need of an escape from her busy life in the city. And after her ex-husband leaves her for another woman, Eileen Cotton finds herself wanting to get back out there and date again, but doesn’t seem to have many options in her small, out-of-the-way village.

The solution they decide on is to swap places; overachieving Leena trading in the boardrooms and business meetings of London life for Yorkshire’s Neighbourhood Watch and May Day festivities, while cooped-up Eileen tries her luck with love in the big city.

I absolutely ADORED this book! Its story manages to feel simultaneously like a classic tale and an innovative realistic and relatable retelling of a Freaky Friday-like situation in the best possible way.

The supporting cast is all well developed and unique, the leads refreshingly real. Both Eileen and Leena felt like women I could easily see myself meeting in real life; their struggles and triumphs completely believable and easy to empathize with.

Overall, this book was the perfect feel-good story I was desperately in need of. With the global climate the way it is right now, the simple pleasure of being able to escape into a good book cannot be emphasized enough, and I feel like The Switch is the ideal choice for someone looking for exactly that.

As a burned-out 20-something myself, I found Leena’s struggles to manage her work, her personal life, and her future ambitions extremely relatable, and heartbreakingly realistic. And as a reader, I found Eileen’s perspective especially refreshing to hear about. I miss my fabulous older female leads akin to Jessica Fletcher’s character from Murder She Wrote. I think it’s definitely a reflection on our society today that fewer and fewer popular books feature strong, older female leads; something I would love to see change in the future.

The Switch is the perfect demonstration of how an optimistic and heartfelt older woman can make the perfect main character, and be more than a one-dimensional write-off. I loved Eileen Cotton; I sincerely wish I could have her as a confidant in my life!

Audiobook Experience

If you know me, you know I’m a HUGE audiobook fan, so it may not come as a surprise to any of you, but I absolutely loved this audiobook! The two narrators, one for Leena’s chapters and the other for Eileen’s, are incredibly talented and brought so much life to the story they were reading. If you’re looking for your next audiobook to listen to, I can’t recommend highly enough The Switch by Beth O’Leary.

Leena Cotton succumbs to a panic attack in the middle of a presentation to a client at work. Not something the old Leena would do. But for the past year, the old Leena has slowly disappeared. When her boss orders her to take a two-month holiday, Leena grudgingly complies.

Eileen Cotton, Leena’s 79-year-old newly single grandmother, has problems of her own. Her husband left her over a year ago, and Eileen doesn’t think she’s too old to love again. But the possible pool of suitors in her tiny village doesn’t look promising.

When Leena heads north to visit her grandma, the two decide they each need a change of pace. Leena needs to escape everything to do with her job, and Eileen needs to find a bigger dating pool. They do the logical thing—agree to switch lives and locations for two months.

Eileen leaves Leena with a list of her normal village responsibilities (how hard could it be to fill the shoes of an almost octogenarian?). Leena turns her trendy flat and quirky flatmates over to Eileen (what kind of trouble could an elderly lady encounter in London?).

As the two women make their way in each other’s territory, they find joy and healing in the least expected places.

Beautifully narrated by Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones, listeners will enjoy the comic scenes of this fast-paced story about finding oneself—no matter one’s age. While not the normal genre I listen to, I loved the narrators and the subject matter. While seemingly lighthearted, the author weaves a more serious strain on how we deal with grief into the pages of the story. Recommended for a mature audience (Leena uses the f-word frequently, and PG-13-bedroom scenes), but definitely worth the listen.

A delightful, light hearted book. It was cute, and the storyline was lighthearted and fun. The characaters fit togetherh nicely!

"The Switch" was an absolute delight! It's a lighthearted and fluffy read, while still dealing realistically with the complexities of grief and grieving, as well as strong multi-generational women. The book follows Leena and Eileen Cotton, a granddaughter/grandmother duo as they switch lives for two months in what at first is a bid for an adventure, but eventually turns out to be an effort to rediscover themselves and heal after a family tragedy. Eileen is looking for love in London as she takes over Leena's flat, phone and computer. I loved that this book unabashedly reminds the reader that "old" people can still have vibrant love lives and seek romantic connection and companionship. Leena, on the other hand, inherits all her grandmother's projects in her country village and is confronted with the loss that she has been running from for the past year. Neither woman is a simpering, love-struck heroine, but bold, smart, realistic and multi-faceted women.
The two narrators on this audiobook were fantastic at capturing the essence of the two women, and I enjoyed the more performative format, where phone calls were genuinely pulled out to sound as is coming in from over the phone, and small conversational color (sniffing, tsk-ing, laughing, etc.) were genuinely produced rather than read! It was a lovely experience.

I am sad I didn’t love this. I was looking forward to a cute story about a woman and her grandmother swapping lives for the summer and what I got was underdeveloped characters and a plot that didn’t really go anywhere. I can appreciate the themes of grief and coping after the loss of a loved one, but even those elements couldn’t hold my interest. I found myself putting this book down several times and not really wanting to pick it back up. And I absolutely hated the fact that Leena was willing to believe a man over her grandmothers word. She flat out called her grandma a liar without even hearing her out. It was ridiculous and honestly made me dislike the character.

Thank you for letting me read and review this book. Unfortunately this book was not for me. I think I have a case of pandemic reading.

After reading and loving “The Flatshare“ last year, I was excited to get my hands on this book. Sadly it was a complete letdown.
While the concept of the plot sounded very intriguing and creative, ”The Switch“ failed to hold my attention because it was so incredibly slow. It took me a few weeks to finish this book because I couldn‘t care about the plot or the characters at all. They both lacked depth.
Another factor as to why I didn’t love this book were the romances. They weren’t interesting and the couples didn’t have the spark they should’ve had.
Overall this book had a great premise, but failed to deliver.

As for the audiobook narration: it was well done, but definitely not outstanding.

I loved this new story from Beth O'Leary!!! I enjoyed her other one, The Flatshare, however, this was nice to listen to on audiobook. This was a cute and fun story of Leena and Eileen, it was hard not to love 79 y/o Eileen and her many quirks!!!

I loved reading this book and have to admit the audiobook was just as good. I really enjoyed hearing the characters being brought to life by the narrators. It is such a fun story and they definitely embraced that.

3.5 stars rounded up

Leena, a natural overachiever, is forced to take a two month sabbatical at work after blowing a big presentation. Still reeling from the loss of her sister, Leena is looking for something to distract her.

Her grandmother, Eileen, is newly single and trying out the dating app world. Unfortunately, in her tiny Yorkshire village, there aren't many eligible bachelors. Leena then gets the idea to switch homes with her grandma: Eileen can live in London and look for love and Leena can take care of all of her grandmothers projects in her small town. What she doesn't expect is for the townspeople to be so hard to win over, to struggle with her long distance relationship, and to be smitten with the charming and cute teacher who lives next door...

This was a really sweet story; the narrating was great and felt so real! I felt the narrators embraced Leena and Eileen so well and really made them come to life. Ultimately, this is a really sweet story about navigating love, loss, forgiveness, and the importance of family. I was hoping that this one would pull me in quicker at the beginning; it took a little while for me to get into it. Once about halfway through I found myself completely rooting for Leena and Eileen and felt like I was transported to London and Yorkshire!

This book was absolutely wonderful! I loved the narration, particularly that done by Daisy Edgar Jones. I loved The Switch by Beth O'Leary last year, and was very excited for this one. It gave me similar vibes to The Holiday and felt so cozy and inviting. I loved both the characters of Leena and Eileen and their relationship. Recommend!

This was cute! Quirky, funny, yet emotional. I thought the concept was interesting and clever and the author does a good job at balancing the serious topics with light-hearted ones. I loved the audiobook version and would recommend if you were looking for something easy and cute to listen to.

The Switch is Beth O'Leary's second novel and I have been looking forward to this after enjoying her debut novel The Flatshare. The Switch is about Leena and her grandmother Eileen who, after Leena is ordered to take a two month sabbatical from work decide to do a house swap. Leena moves to Eileen's rural Yorkshire village and Eileen moves into Leena's London flat.

I loved the audio version of this book. Both narrators were excellent- particularly Alison Steadman who really brings Eileen to life.. The narrators fitted the characters perfectly and really engaged me with the text. I love audiobooks with multiple narrators as I really think it brings the story to life. The story and narration worked perfectly together.

The Switch is a warm and uplifting book that looks at grief and loneliness and emphasises the importance of community and not judging others. It is a feel good listen that I found perfect for these difficult times.

A recommended listen.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital audiobook.

This is such a wholesome book! Loved every bit of it. This book is a journey of two characters, healing, understanding themselves, finding who they are and everything good and wonderful. Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with this book. Loved the audiobook took! Would defo check out Beth O'Leary's other work and will follow the authors work!

This novel was the perfect little audio escape for me before school starts. It starts off with the protagonist Leena needing a break from her workaholic life and her grandmother Eileen needing an escape from her provincial life after her cheating husband leaves her for a younger woman. They decide to switch lives. Leena goes to live in her grandma's cottage with her noisy neighbor Arthur. Eileen goes to live in Leena's flat and instantly becomes the life of the building: helping Leena's flatmates and all the other residents.
This was a cute and heartwarming story. Even though it was predictable for most of the story, it was comical and adorable. It kept making me laugh. Eileen's dating adventures into the virtual world was the humorous touch that I needed with all the stress in my life.
This novel had the perfect balance between real world issues and idyllic happiness. The ending was a little too perfect for me, but sometimes we need a little too perfect ending,

The Switch is a great follow-up to The Flatshare. Sometimes the next book will flounder, but this does not disappoint! I definitely get similar vibes to JoJo Moyes.
Leena has run herself into the ground. When her job forces her to take a two month leave, she visits her grandmother, Eileen. Together, they decide to swap homes and responsibilities.
Leena is relatable and well-intentioned. But Eileen stole the show. This is my second book (the other was Always the Last to Know by Kristan Higgins) this year that the mature woman personified has stolen my heart and captured my attention.
I have the book and was also able to listen to the audio. The narrators exactly exude the characters Beth wrote. Their tone and timing is fabulous. The only thing I don't love in the narration is how the person on the other side of a phone call sounds like their in a tunnel far away. It makes it a little difficult to understand them clearly.
I look forward to Beth's next book. She's definitely an author I'll be watching for upcoming releases.
Thank you Flatiron Books for the arc and also to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook. All thoughts in this review are my own.

Loved this audiobook! Gave it a 5 star review on Goodeads

I got this as an audiobook through Net Galley @netgalley. I absolutely loved this book . . .it is fresh, light, humorous and just delightful. The book deals with some “heavy” themes in a very believable and light manner. There is terrible grief, which almost makes you cry but it dealt with in such a “healthy” way that you know they will survive it. I thought the book took some very serious and tough topics and explored them with intelligence and emotion.
I will recommend this book to my 92 year old mother . . .she’ll love it!! . . . And I will recommend it to my book club too

Great job Beth O’Leary!

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of the audibook via NetGalley.

This was a fun read that took the quiet grandma from the cozy small town and the busy granddaughter from the big city and switched places. I loved the alternating POV so that you got to see each's adventures. The grandma has some interesting adventures in online dating. The granddaughter takes over the village duties of the grandmother by driving around residents and organizing bingo nights. Beth O'Leary's books are wholesome and I look forward to more.