ARC Review for Switched by Sarah Ready

Thank you, NetGalley, the author, and the publisher, for giving me the opportunity to read and review this awesome book! It’s one of my favorite reads of 2024.

We’re introduced to Serena, a Japanese-American physicist that lives and works in Geneva. She’s intelligent, nerdy (in a Big Bang Theory kind of way) and flirty. Her apartment and work spaces are messy, but it’s okay because she sees the order in the chaos. Work is the love of her life and she doesn’t ever want to be tied down in a relationship.

Serena’s meet cute with Henry (unlike Serena he is clean and organized and he loves to drink hot tea) took place at a local bar and they ended up sleeping together. They both felt an immediate SPARK, but Serena shot down the feelings not only because she didn’t want to be monogamous but also because she found out he was going to be her colleague/boss. The story picks up 1.5 years later and that’s when the switch happens.

This book was hilarious and quirky, I laughed out loud several times! The banter between Serena and Henry was funny and seeing them learn and react about their traded bodies was even funnier. I enjoyed how they were able to have a better understanding of each other through this bizarre experience.

I thought it was so cool that Serena was half Asian and I would have LOVED to see a little bit more details added about Serena’s Japanese heritage, even if it was just a greeting between herself and her father.

I’d rate the spice .75 - 1 Star.

Switched is part of a 3 Book Series (you can read them standalone) and I’m excited to go read the 1st and the 3rd!

At the start of this book I thought 'oh no' because I was greatly annoyed by the constant explanations of basic things, the obnoxious 4th wall jokes, and the fact that she's a scientist who doesn't know how to actually make a graph/diagram/list... But then the story developed and I found myself wanting to see how everything played out. This Freaky Friday twist had sweet, dark, and genuine moments that have you hoping this will work out for the characters. The family scenes are lovely, and I liked how Serena and Henry both got to learn and grow from this unwanted cosmic accident

Switched follows the story of two souls, Serena and Henry, who find themselves in the wrong body after an electrical storm. Both of them will have to go on about living in the body of the other, having their tastes, and their memories but their own conscience.
Together, they go through a self-discovery journey that allows to know more of the other person and, most importantly, themselves.
However, time is not on their side. They have to switch back as soon as possible, or their lives might be in danger.

I had never read a book with this premise -soul exchange- before, and I found it incredibly funny. It gave room to such funny, awkward, and adorable scenarios that I had never thought of. Serena and Henry mix as well as oil and water, although that is precisely what makes them work so well together, even if it takes them a while to find that out. I loved the chemistry and literal sparks between them, their banter, and the dynamic they fall into.

It was also my first book by Sarah Ready and I loved her style. I think it was fresh, easy, and fast to read, full of the sarcasm I love. She has created two very interesting characters whose journey is incredible to follow.

However, I have to say I found it confusing at times. The whole story is narrated by Serena, but as she was on Henry’s body, I found myself having to re-read some scenes to actually comprehend who was ‘he’ and who was ‘she’. Also, there were some times when the scientific jargon was too dense for me and I felt like information got lost.

Overall, it was an enjoyable and entertainment book and it made me want to read more of Sarah Ready!

<b>Actual Rating: 3.5⭐</b>

Switched is 2nd book in Ghosted series and can be enjoy totally as a standalone even though, there are characters that made an appearance from the previous book like Jillian and Daniel.

This story has an interesting idea plot with the body switching, second chance, fake dating trope and also the little fun footnotes that make for a different reading experience.

Serena and Henry are total opposites, there’s no doubt once they switched bodies and began to crave things they didn’t really like but have to.
It took quite a while for me to warm up to Serena but not to Henry cause
he's such a sweetheart. I really like his way of trying to change Serena’s view of love and marriage throughout the story not just through words, but also through his actions.

However, there are a couple things that made me didn’t fully enjoy this story.
There’s Serena’s monologue that sometimes would ‘talk to the readers’ which I find really awkward in the middle of a spicy scene and pull me out of the story…

I also struggled a little bit at the beginning because of how quickly the fell in love with each other felt unrealistic and the sudden time jump to a year and a half later felt a bit odd. Thankfully, I found the 2nd part of the book after they switched bodies more entertaining and enjoyable.

Overall, this is a pretty good fast-paced romcom with a satisfying ending for all the characters. I still enjoy my time reading this and I’m looking forward to read the next book in this series called Fated!

I received an advanced review copy for free through Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Huge thank you to the author and publisher!

Switched is the kind of goofy, sweet story that makes romance such a fun genre. A one night stand, rival co-workers, body-switching story that anyone can enjoy that also has plenty of heart.

This was my first ARC and I couldn't have started with a better read.

Firstly, I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for this book for allowing me the opportunity to read one of Sarah Ready's books. I know this is book 2 in it's series, however it is very much a standalone and so easy to submerge yourself in the world.

From the first couple pages, I knew the author's writing was going to be for me. It was quirky, smart, real and so funny. I found myself laughing out loud and kicking my feet in the air through out. The author gave her MC, Serena, such a likable quality and she felt very much real and relatable. I especially enjoyed the footnotes, yes - FOOTNOTES, in the story. They added to the fun and uniqueness of this story and it's plot.

The plot? The plot is what originally intrigued me about this story. I was curious as to how the author would be able to pull of this body/gender switch and in my opinion, it was done very well. The way the characters dealt with such a change for the start, throughout, felt very realistic. Almost like, if this had happened to me I would have reacted similar if not the same as Serena. There were some occasions where it was hard to keep track of who was thinking what, in who's body, but I was able to quickly figure it out.

My only critique is I think the the story could have benefitted from Henry's perspective sooner in the story. It was nice to get a glimpse of his perspective towards the end but I think if his POV was shown earlier it would have given a little more depth to the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

Switched is like a freaky friday body switch romcom. I love the premise but didn’t like the main character.

I have never read a Sarah Ready book before but after reading this I am convinced that I should read others. I really enjoyed this story.

Serena is an independent, smart, American physicist living in Geneva. She meets, and has an instant connection to, Henry. They have a wonderful night together but then Serena realizes her feelings are strong and she is convinced she can only have one love in her life: physics. She refuses to lose herself to love of a man. Even worse, she realizes Henry will be her new boss. She tells Henry this was just a bit of fun and the two go on living in neutral indifference for two years. Then one night, they somehow switch bodies. They vow to work together and stay together until they can figure out how to switch back. This leads to meeting each other's families, experiencing each other's feelings and memories, and a deeper understanding of each other.

I thought this book was original and I enjoyed the humor infused into the two characters and their lives. I liked how kind and understanding the male character was, and how committed the female character was to maintaining her life and passions outside of a relationship. This was the second in a series and I will definitely go back and read the first one now.

Thanks for the arc !!
Here are some key points that I liked and didnt like :

--> I LOVE the writing. The style was so me, like idk how to define it was like so fun. The comedic parts made me laugh which almost never happens. Although I have to admit sometimes it focused too much on the background. It also feels like the characters are talking to the reader and also its written in very easy manner.
--> Spaghetti rain?? T_T it did make me laugh but it seemed kinda childish 😭
--> Watching them understand each other was so cute <3
--> The switching thing did seem awkward at some points like them kissing T_T

<b>Advanced Reader Copy given through NetGalley and W. W. Crown in exchange for an honest review. </b>

So this story is about what happens when two people meet and have a one night stand only to find out that they are going to be coworkers. OK, that was actually an oversimplification of the book. This also is about two people who are complete opposites in every single way, except for their shared love of science. And this is also about what happens when we introduce a freaky Friday type situation through a particle collider mishap. and now your two very opposite personalities have to live in each other’s bodies and figure out how to get back to their own and of course there’s romance.

Now listen, I tried very hard to give this book a fair chance. I’m an academic myself and though I never was that interested in physics, I am appreciative of those who are great at physics. As a former STEM girlie, I love seeing women in STEM and I especially love reading romances set in STEM and/or academic settings. That being said, I feel like it’s really hard to nail a novel like this. there’s a lot of info dumping that you need to do as an author because most of your readers will be unfamiliar with the concepts and topics that are mentioned in the your book but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to write your novel as though you are writing a scientific paper. One of the things that I found annoying was the footnotes. Now, if these were footnotes about just general discoveries and other scientific things relevant to the story, I would get it because those are the kinds of footnotes you can also skip if you don’t care about their contents. You also would not lose anything of substance or miss relevant information to the plot if you skip those footnotes. Also footnotes are just footnotes. They are not always read even in academic papers. Here however, the footnotes are Serena’s little thoughts and ramblings, which I guess are a little more relevant so you feel like you have to read them all. and since I found Serena to be an extremely annoying character kind of like the female Sheldon, but without his idiosyncrasies (not to say that she doesn’t have her own, but she is not so clueless and bad at social interactions as he is), thus I found it aggravating to be in her head. homegirl also loves to give us lists and charts and diagrams please I’m not in school make it stop. honestly Serena if I had to take a test on what this book was about, I would probably fail.

One of the first things that Serena does in the story is give us a list of impossible things that she made possible I guess as a quick way for us to get the rundown on her. This is essentially just a timeline of events that she thinks were very pivotal in her life. In 2018 she says that she received a double PhD in physics and computer science at the ripe old age of only 22. This just irked me for some reason I guess it’s because this sets the book of a tone that Serena thinks that she is probably one of the smartest people that she knows and so she has a bit of a superiority complex as we are getting introduced to her. However, I can’t stand reading about cocky conceited characters. I just feel like they are very unreliable to me and that they are all so very unlikable. I feel like this would be less of a concern to me if the book was in constantly breaking the fourth wall, but since Serena would be addressing us the audience, I had less patience to deal with it.

I get it Serena you are obsessed with science you are a scientist, but when you go so far as far as to use scientific euphemisms to describe just about everything everything it gets really old really fast and sometimes it even induces secondhand embarrassment. The best comparison I can think of for how it made me feel is well, do you remember in like high school when a guy would write you poetry or songs to show how much he liked you? And you would be really appreciative of it. But then, five years later you’re going through your things at your parents house because you’re trying to get rid of things and downsize and you find the pages upon pages of poetry he had written for you that you had saved. You then read these poems for the first time in years and you struck by how cringe it is. that is what it feels like to read Serena‘s thoughts.

<b>example one: </b>
<i>My blood pounds in my ears, my heart thuds wildly against my chest. I’m out of breath, dizzy. My skin tingles, my body thrums with a harmony I recognize. Any physicist would recognize it.
In Supersymmetry every particle has a pair, a match. It’s eloquent, really. </i>

<b>example two: </b>
<i>The problem is, after a while I’d give in. That’s my fear. The magnetic pull toward him is too strong. He’s that seven-ton superconducting magnet and I don’t know if I can resist him.</i>

Once, Serena is in Henry’s body, maybe it’s because I’ve gotten a little more used to her personality but by then it becomes a little more bearable. Is it still embarrassing sometimes? Excruciatingly so. Is it also funny. <b>Yes. </b>Because she’s in Henry’s body everything that she saying should come out with a British accent logically. But because she’s so afraid of people noticing that weirdly the one thing that didn’t transfer over is their accents she starts using more British vernacular and you can tell that she is putting on like a really cringe stereotypical British accent, which is kind of really funny but also such a plot hole.

Listen, if you like the Ali Hazelwood School of STEM Romances and you also like a little dash of the impossible, you will probably like this. Am I someone who likes that whole tiny itty, bitty lady scientist and big giant masculine scientist who gets to be in charge? No I don’t, because why are they never equals. If you like Hot-Mess-Express-Little-Miss-Sunshine girlies who fall in love with Mr. Logical-Reasonable-Straightlaced-Grumpy-Bore, you will like this. Personally, me on the other hand, I need to see tropes flipped to 180° if it’s going to be something that is so common and overused.

2.5 ⭐️ but I’m rounding down cuz ain’t no way every nerd in physics is into the same things as Sheldon and it seemed like a lot of borrowing of his interests, although not necessarily his personality and mannerisms.

I'm sure that there are people who will like this book. I am not one of them despite loving the first book in the series. Switched felt forced. The science was at least researched but was laid out too heavily in the first quarter of the book, in between truly unnecessary smut. My overall feeling about this book is ick. Insta love but also slow burn but only because of narcissistic voyeurism? It's just bad.

Not really my cup of tea for sure. I felt the FMC switching back and forth between 3rd-4th person kind of annoying. She also talked a lot about sex and that just isn’t my kind of thing I enjoy a MC focusing on for so long.

It can be funny but I just would say it’s for a select group of people to think so and I am not one of them.

I recommend Switched by Sarah Ready. The characters will engage you from the first page. I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and the publisher. This is my honest and personal review. Happy Reading!

This was a perfect 2nd book for the Ghosted series. I was so excited to continue the series and it didn’t disappoint. I received this as an ARC copy from NetGalley and first read the first book of the series, Ghosted. This can be read as a standalone, but I am happy I went back to read it in order.

Serena Otaki is a nerdy loving physicist working for CERNA in Geneva. She meets Henry randomly in a bar and they were perfect for each other. Serena’s insecurities about love and marriage cause problems especially when she isn’t honest with what was happening. An electrical storm happens while they are working together and BOOM, they have switched bodies.

Watching them slowly understand memories was adorable. With just seeing Serena’s perspective it made me feel bad for her because of all the doubts and worries she casts while in Henry’s body. I did think it was a bit weird they continued to grow closer while in each other’s bodies, but I enjoyed the thoroughness Sarah went through with her writing.

I am excited to continue the series and am ready to continue reading Sarah’s books outside of this series.

Fun, slightly-deeper read that asks the question: do you have to give up yourself to be in love? Love-phobic fmc, hooks up and then (in emotional self-defense) brutally dumps mmc who turns out to be her straight-laced new boss. Set amongst the backdrop of the CERN in Switzerland, and I like that both characters are intellectual. Gets a bit whackadoodle about 40% in, but in a good way. Suspend disbelief and stick with the story, you'll be glad you did. I liked the premise and how the author handled Serena's processing of her feelings for Henry and reconciling them with her tightly-held beliefs about love and identity. Heavy initial clinical focus on science, to the point of being a bit much, but it feels intentional as that was also Serena's mindset at the beginning of the book (less emotional and more clinically-detached). The unique writing style in the beginning took some adjusting but I liked it, I just needed to slow my reading down to process the prose in order to more fully enjoy it. This was a good one; new-to-me author and the second in a series. I hadn't read the first book but I didn't feel lost; I'm going back to read that one since I enjoyed this one so much. Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this story in exchange for my honest review! I gave it 4 stars but it was closer to 4.5.

So, this was my first book from NetGalley and honestly, I'm not mad. I went in a little hesitant, just because I didn't know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. This reads like Emily Henry and Ali Hazelwood had a baby. The scientific/women in STEM way that Hazelwood writes with a spunky and quick-witted female lead mixed with Henry's poetic descriptions of the world around her tied this book together for me. Ready wrote family connections and family dynamics well, which is something I feel is lost a lot in books these days. You can tell she knows how to write sibling interactions that's not totally cringey and awkward. Grief and coping were also covered in a way that I could relate to and really connected with.

I didn't love how often she broke the fourth wall. That wasn't my favorite. I'm not one to care what POV a book is written in, but breaking the fourth wall, especially in an intimate moment like she did had me cringing really bad.

All in all, three stars. I'm curious about how her other books read, especially since this was a second in the series.

Thank you NetGalley and author Sarah Ready for the copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

"For Serena Otaki, free-spirited Californian, life is simple. She loves smashing atoms at The Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, Switzerland. She loves Star Trek, spicy tofu, and her cat, Captain Purrk. She loves her messy (slob-fest) apartment, her chaotic brand of organizing, and staying permanently, happily unattached.

Life is perfect. She has one true love—physics.

Loving a man isn’t in her future.

For Henry Joules, uptight Brit, life is simple. He loves making analog black holes, drinking piping hot tea, and organizing his pencil tray. He loves his family, red meat, and obsessively cleaning his spotless apartment.

Life is perfect. He has many loves—physics, family, friends. He can’t wait to find the woman of his dreams.

Love and marriage are in his future.

One perfect night Serena and Henry meet. Sparks fly, particles collide, the universe comes to a halt, and…

It was a mistake.

They’re too different.

It won’t work.

Love isn’t in their future.

Until an electric storm causes an unexpected event at the particle collider and suddenly—they’ve switched.

Serena is in Henry’s body.

Henry is in Serena’s body.

And both life and love are suddenly very, very complicated."

I was drawn to it based on the description. And it did not disappoint. This is a fun and entertaining read.

It's not love at first sight. It's not friendship-to-love. It's not hate to love. Its not blind love. Its love built from understanding.

4 stars! ⭐

This book was like something I have never read before...and I loved every second of this!

My thoughts:

I couldn't out this book down, and this book transported me to this world. The vibes were super cozy, with the setting being in Scotland, and the whole premise is just unique.

Basically, it's a version of Freaky Friday.

And lorddd, do I love Henry.

It was also fascinating seeing the diagrams and charts that Serena made.

I just love everything about this book, however, there were a few things I disliked.

What I liked:

• Henry. Of course, sweet, sweet Henry. My baby.
🥲And the fact that he's British. 🤭
•The atmosphere was so cozy
•I loved all the side characters. Vinny? I can't.
🤣
•This book is hilarious. You have no goddamn idea how many times I laughed my ass off
•Henry and Serena's chemistry
•Henry and Serena's irresistible urge to drink fifty cups of tea and coffee every day
•This book is written very well, and I read through it smoothly
•I really enjoyed seeing ghosting represented in a book, because it has happened to me many times, and this is my first time seeing the aftermath of being ghosted in a book before, and it made me so emotional. But I loved it.
•This book has so many good things I can name, but I very much mostly like the message this book gives. That you don't need to fear love, because you already love something with you're whole heart. Love doesn't have to devour you. You can love multiple things

My dislikes:

•Serena. No, not Serena, her personality. Nah, it's just Serena. Now, hear me out. I do not by any means hate this character, I liked her pretty well, however, this girl would constantly talk about how she is so attractive and that all the men want to be with her. Once the switch happened, the way I felt about her in the beginning changed. I just didn't feel like she had much personality, but at the same time, she is literally married to her job, doesn't do relationships, and gets trapped in someone else's body. That would make sense why there isn't much personality really there. BUT GIRLIE REDEEMED HERSELF.
•I disliked all the constant science talk. Yes, I get it is her job, but I was just so confused and in random points in the book, it would go on and on
•Lorna. Say no more.
•Something that weirded me out was these two kissing themselves, basically in love with themselves and to me it felt weird. I understand they had to go into each other's bodies, and there were only a few scenes like this.

Overall, this was one of my favorite reads so far this year, and I can't wait to read more from this author, and finally read the other two books in this series.

But one more thing: PRAISE FOR HENRY MY KING. ✨🥲

This was my first read by Sarah ready and I can definitely say that it won't be the last!!
After a one night stand, Henry and Serena had totally opposite reactions to their affair. To Henry it was love at first sight. To serena was a disaster waiting to happen.
They are quite opposites when it comes to love. Henry gives in to it. Serena is complettly affraid of falling and losing herself in the process.
It all complicates when, with a bit of magic (and physics) they swap into each others bodies and are forced to live the other's lifes.
They learn to live life with a new perspective, and realise that maybe their previous view on life had something missing.
Henry was such a sweet guy! I ended up wanting to hug him trough all the book. Serena's character grew a lot through the book.
This story made me laugh, made me cry and think a lot about perspectives. Maybe sometimes we really need to be in each other's places to better understand one another and to mainly better understand ourselves.

After reading Ghosted, I thought I would prefer Serena's story. I was excited that it featured a unique take on STEM by making it paranormal. However, Serena was the cause of most of my disdain for this story. I hated her. She constantly discusses how pretty she is. It was exhausting.

For the rest of it, I found it extremely repetitive, as though the author could not trust me to remember things that occurred a few pages back. On top of all of that, I never felt the couple's chemistry.

At this point, I think that Sarah Ready is not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and W.W. Crown for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.