BOOK REVIEW: The Switch

The Switch by Beth O’Leary
Publication Date: August 18, 2020 (US date), but it is already out in the UK

TW: death of family member (off page, but discussed), abusive relationship (not of main characters), panic attack, anxiety

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary was one of my top reads of last year (and maybe one of my top books of all time?). I fell in love with it and now that I am thinking about it, want to reread it (again). You can read all my thoughts in my full review, here.

Thus, I was hyped when The Switch was announced AND THEN I was lucky enough to win a Goodreads giveaway for an ARC of The Switch which almost made me pass out. Also, apparently it is going to be turned into a movie?

The Switch followed Eileen Cotton & her granddaughter Eileen “Leena” Cotton. Eileen lives in a small town in Yorkshire while Leena lives in London. Both of them are struggling after the death of Leena’s sister, Carla. Leena is overworking herself and Eileen is lonely. After a panic attack at work, leads to a two-month sabbatical from work, Leena suggests to her grandma that they switch lives. Eileen will live in Leena’s flat and Leena will live in Eileen’s cottage and take over Eileen’s neighborhood responsibilities.

When I first read the synopsis, I thought they switched bodies too (a la Freaky Friday) although I have no idea why. But thankfully that was not the case.

WHAT I LOVED: 

• Both Leena and Eileen were such fun characters
  • I loved both of their POVs equally
  • I have not read the POV of an elderly person in awhile and it was honestly a lot of fun
• The side characters were also fun 
  • I loved how Leena’s friend are totally fine that Eileen moves in and are super supportive of her
    • I am not sure if I would be down to have an 80 year old roommate, but maybe I should be more openminded!!
  • Leena’s best friend also had a cute plot line with both Leena and Eileen
• Randomly there were TWO Shrek references which were hilarious to me
• I am a sucker for small towns in novels and this one is so cute
  • We love an eclectic group of people in a small town
• Both of the romances were so soft and cute
  • I love the banter of both couples
• Eileen online dating was hilarious

WHAT I DID NOT LOVE: 

• It took me about 50 pages to get into the story. But once they swapped lives we were rolling.
• I wish we got a bit more of both the women. Since this novel has POVs from both of them their individual arcs felt a bit short to me.
  • I especially would have liked to see more of the romances since they were both slow burns and we did not get a ton of like legit romance scenes.
    • But, I mean I get it. This point of this novel is not the romance, but rather these two women figuring out how to fix their lives.
    • That being said I would have still liked a bit more romance and for them to both develop a bit earlier in the book.

Overall, this novel reminds me of Sophie Kinsella’s books; a woman who is struggling goes through some trials and tribulations, is awkward, but picks up a man along the way. This is not a diss! I love Sophie Kinsella’s books. I did like The Flatshare more in that it is one of my all-time faves, but I really enjoyed my time reading this one.

4/5 stars

xoxo, Tree

*Thanks to Goodreads & the publisher for an ARC copy, all thoughts are my own*