The switch by Beth O’Leary : Book Review

Title              : The Switch

Author          : Beth O’Leary

Format          : Audio Book

Narrated by : British Actors – Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones

Duration       : 10 hours 11 mins

I received the copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review by Netgalley and MacMillian Audio. Thank you Netgalley and MacMillian Audio!!

BLURB

When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen’s house for some long-overdue rest.

Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She’d like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn’t offer many eligible gentlemen.

So they decide to try a two-month swap.

Eileen will live in London and look for love. She’ll take Leena’s flat, and learn all about casual dating, swiping right, and city neighbors. Meanwhile Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire: Eileen’s sweet cottage and garden, her idyllic, quiet village, and her little neighborhood projects.

But stepping into one another’s shoes proves more difficult than either of them expected. Will swapping lives help Eileen and Leena find themselves…and maybe even find true love? In Beth O’Leary’s The Switch, it’s never too late to change everything….or to find yourself.

REVIEW

The Switch is the story of a Grandmother (Eileen Cotton) and Granddaughter (Leena Cotton) who swap their lives for the betterment of their inner-selves. The story is narrated from the perspective of both of them, which highlights the events of their life and how this swap helps them. It’s a lighthearted and a feel good book without much complexities of the toxic world outside. The writing style of the author was very glossy and smooth. And the way Daisy Edgar-Jones and Alison Steadman narrated the story was really amazing and almost felt like a soothing song filled with full of life and excitement. Their voice and their way of narration will make the listeners fall in love with the book even more. Alison and Daisy are as much a reason for the success of this audiobook apart from the author’s writing skill. 

The plot-line was something really exciting and new. The plot itself deserves a great amount of appreciation. This book weighs more importance on the value of family and friendship. How both the characters Eileen (Grandmother) and Leena (Granddaughter) try to fit themselves into their new lives was really interesting. The chemistry between Eileen and Leena’s friends was refreshing and adorable. Their friendship proves age is just a number when it comes to friendship. The character of Eileen was swaggy and funny. She was so full of life and light, she is somebody whose presence would immediately brighten up anybody’s day. The way she help Leena’s friends unknowingly to bring up the best in them and how she  changes the entire aura of their apartment building in London was so good read. And with Leena Cotton, her bond with their neighbor Arnold was peculiar and sweet. Leena’s crush Jackson, the only young person in the vicinity, his presence was heart-throbbing but the readers cannot expert a lot of romantic sequences between them, well that was kind of disappointing. The life at the Yorkshire Village was amusing, this place can cleanse anybody who had been affected by the city life. It’s such a nice place to take a break. 

There were plenty of supporting characters in the book, each and every character helped the lead characters in every possible way to sustain their lives at a new place at the most. Without the help of these characters the leads wouldn’t have managed to have started a new adventure in their lives. 

On the whole the story was funny and breezy. But it felt somewhat incomplete, in the aspect of the experiencing the emotional side of the characters. It was a good story with minimum emotional touch to it. And especially Leena’s life at the Yorkshire village could have been much more detailed. These are the only minus points of the book. Other than that the book felt really amazing to read.

MY VIEW

So first of all, this is my first ever audio book, I have always had some kind of reservations against audio books until recently. Because I’m a bad listener and I tend to get distracted easily but when Netgalley first announced they are going to add audio books, I was really excited about the idea and I wanted to give it a try. Initially it was quite difficult but within few minutes I got used to the audiobook. And I should say I absolutely loved the experience I gained with this audio book and the new Netgalley app. I might start listening to more audio books henceforth, lets hope!!

I loved this book, especially for Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones, I love both their voice and the way they spoke was really amazing. If not for the book, you should definitely listen to it for their voices. I would recommend this book to Rom-Com, Chicklit, feel good book lovers. You guys would definitely like it.

My rating for this book would be 3 out of 5 stars

I hope you will enjoy reading this book!!

Click here to buy the audiobook

Happy Reading Folks!!!

~Meenu