The Switch by Beth O'Leary

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review.

I am not a big contemporary romance reader but I knew Beth O'Leary was an author I wanted to check out. I've heard nothing but good things about her and those good things are 100% justified. The Switch is the story of Leena, a young workaholic who swaps homes with her grandma Eileen when she is forced to take a break from her job. Meanwhile Eileen goes to live in London as she always wanted to do when she was young. The story is told in dual narrative, as is the audiobook. Leena's plot focuses on her working out what is really good for her, whilst Eileen's is about her relationships, both romantic and platonic.

I really loved how this book was written. There is a lot of humour, all of the characters are fleshed out and interesting, and the plot has a fair amount going on in it. This isn't just a fluffy romance (although the romances in this are very enjoyable and done well) and it has a lot of heart and a lot of good things to say. Like I said, I typically don't read this kind of fiction unless it has some super appealing aspect and I enjoyed every second of this book.

In terms of the audiobook, that is also done very well. There are two different narrators and that meant it was very easy to tell whose plotline we were following which is always appreciated. Both narrators did an excellent job of infusing their characters with personality, and they mostly did different voices for the other characters which was similarly appreciated. There were only two very minor criticisms from me. Firstly, Eileen's narrator does a very grating voice for one side character (Letitia) which made it a little unpleasant to listen to those parts. Secondly, Leena's actress does a voice at one point for a character talking over the phone, then drops that voice for some of the dialogue, then returns to it which was a bit distracting. These really are incredibly minor niggles though and both narrators did a truly amazing job.

Overall, I strongly recommend giving this book a try and the audiobook is a great way to do that. It is a lovely, heartwarming story with enchanting characters and a great sense of humour. The audiobook makes it so easy to follow the story and I found it was perfect to listen to while I was doing other things without feeling like I was missing out on crucial details. If you want a good summer read or just a well-written adult contemporary, you can't go wrong here.

Overall Rating:

.5