Okay, so, Oona Out of Order was absolutely NOT what I was expecting. And, honestly? I'm here for it. Completely.


Oona Out of Order 
by Margarita Montimore 

A remarkably inventive novel that explores what it means to live a life fully in the moment, even if those moments are out of order.

It’s New Year’s Eve 1982, and Oona Lockhart has her whole life before her. At the stroke of midnight she will turn nineteen, and the year ahead promises to be one of consequence. Should she go to London to study economics, or remain at home in Brooklyn to pursue her passion for music and be with her boyfriend? As the countdown to the New Year begins, Oona faints and awakens thirty-two years in the future in her fifty-one-year-old body. Greeted by a friendly stranger in a beautiful house she’s told is her own, Oona learns that with each passing year she will leap to another age at random. And so begins Oona Out of Order...

Hopping through decades, pop culture fads, and much-needed stock tips, Oona is still a young woman on the inside but ever changing on the outside. Who will she be next year? Philanthropist? Club Kid? World traveler? Wife to a man she’s never met? Surprising, magical, and heart-wrenching, Margarita Montimore has crafted an unforgettable story about the burdens of time, the endurance of love, and the power of family.


If you were to ask me, five hours before reading Oona Out of Order, what I expected from this novel I would have been heartily wrong. Because, despite reading the synopsis about a dozen times, and finding myself thoroughly intrigued, nothing was able to prepare me for this book. Nothing. For something to surprise me, it takes a lot, but Margarita Montimore was quick to knock me off my feet in the best of ways.

And when I say that Montimore was able to knock me off my feet, I mean that quite sincerely. I'm smitten. Not only does this novel tug at your heartstrings, it leaves your mind whirling around itself in contemplation and understanding. Like, dang, this book was good. The characters were so easy to get lost in; the storylines compelling, occasionally angsty and wholly unexpected.

Not only does the timeline and paranormal aspect of Oona Out of Order twist itself into the back of your mind, there's something about it that makes it so fast paced and unbelievably addictive. This novel is somehow both purely escapism and highly thoughtful in its honesty. Montimore truly outdid herself. 

Vivid and imaginative, Oona Out of Order felt electric from the very start. Readers will likely insert comparisons to both The Time Traveler's Wife and Landline and even the film 13 Going on 30 every time it is mentioned, but make no mistake: this is an entirely different story. Still, I promise you that Oona Out of Order will hook you in a similar fashion. Although it ties into the similarities of the other stories, something about Oona Out of Order felt fresh and unlike anything I've read recently.

Ultimately, this story was thoroughly enjoyable. And my only complaint about Oona Out of Order is the simplicity it takes in its world-building. While I didn't necessarily long to figure out the cause of everything in Oona's powers/ability, it still would have been nice to fill in the blanks a bit more heavily.