The Switch - Beth O'Leary || Book Review

Just Fifs 14:12

'Leena is too young to feel stuck. Eileen is too old to start over. It's time for The Switch... A life swap seems the perfect solution. But with a rabble of unruly OAPs to contend with, as well as the distractingly handsome local schoolteacher, Leena learns that switching lives isn't straightforward. In London, Eileen is a huge hit with her new neighbours, and with the online dating scene. But is her perfect match nearer to home than she first thought?'

I was so excited for this book, and thankfully it did not disappoint. I loved seeing the story unfold from two very different points - 30-something year old Leena, a savvy businesswoman living in London, and her 79 year-old grandmother Eileen, who lives in a little village where everybody knows everybody's business, or do they?

I was a huge fan of Beth's other book, 'The Flatshare,' so to discover that this book possessed the same charm and wonderful story telling as the first, well it just made reading a privilege and not a chore. Do you ever feel like reading can get boring sometimes, but then a book comes along to enlighten your reading bug all over again? This was one of those books for me. Beth's writing is so relatable, and yet still that bit fictitious that you wish the character was you. Does any of that make sense?

I loved the idea of this story - not feeling like you're doing enough in your own life and figuring it out by living the life of another. Stories like this really get to me because I'm a 25 year old single woman, stuck in a cycle of unemployment and still living with her parents, feeling hopeless and useless most days (but don't worry, I promise I am ok!!). Reading through Leena's point of view made me see that I need to do something different to discover just exactly what it is I am looking for in my life.