“I think you should know,' he says. 'I like you. Like I shouldn't. That sort of like.”
Lena has a busy life and stressful job in London. She is still reeling from the loss of her sister. As a result if her unprocessed grief she isn't performing at work as well as she knows she should. After her work forces her to go on a month long sabbatical she goes to visit her grandmother Eileen out in the country. Eileen is a 79 year old woman who wants to find someone to spend the rest of her life with, but the over familiar faces in her small town don't seem very promising. After little to no consideration, Lena proposes that she and her grandmother swap lives for a month.
This felt like the movie The Holiday, but with a little grandmother instead of a depressed middle aged woman. I really enjoyed Eileen's character. I loved watching the contrast between her practicality and the impracticality of her dreams. I wish this book had been more about her than Lena. Her character was more compelling and in some ways even more relatable for me? Am I just a 79 year old woman trapped in a tired 29 year old body??? DON'T ANSWER THAT!
Lena's personality felt a little less thought through. After finishing The Switch I felt like I knew next to nothing about who she was as a person. Her type A attributes and refusal to process grief seemed the most central parts of her characterization but they did a better job keeping me out rather than keeping me connected to her story and emotional journey. I was left wondering if she even grew at all? Lena disappointed on the character front, but I felt the fun story and Eileen's character helped me enjoy this novel more than I would have otherwise!
I listened to this on audiobook and I adored the narration! I am always looking for narration that adds to the experience of the story and I really felt like the audiobook did this well! So if you are an audiobook fan, check this out!
⭐⭐⭐/5 Stars
Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Publishing for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!
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