Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

No Spoiler Book Review & Giveaway!

The aptly named Oona Out of Order is about a woman who is living her life out of order. One day she is 19, the next she is 51. She jumps through time on her birthday every year and spends 365 days as an older or younger version of herself. She is often surrounded by people she doesn’t know, in a time she doesn’t understand, in a body she barely recognizes.

The story starts in 1982 and spans 35 years. One year she is ordering an Uber from her IPhone, the next she is posing for a Polaroid. One year she’s going to a funeral, the next she is making the most of every moment with that person.

Montimore illustrates the difficulties of life out of order, but also acknowledges that there would be benefits. Oona has advance knowledge of the stock market, which provides her with a more than comfortable lifestyle. She is often devastated by events and circumstances, but finds she gets second chances. Just like every life, there is good and bad.
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Oona Out of Order was our May 2020 Book Club selection. It was the first book that I suggested for book club so I was super nervous. There is a lot of drugs and sex in this book and I was convinced the ladies would hate it. Luckily, I was proven wrong. We had a good turn-out on Zoom and everyone raved about this book. I am rating this book four stars, but I think everyone else would rate it five stars. They loved it!

Oona Out of Order is speculative fiction. There is a form of time travel, but it is unexplained, so I wouldn’t classify it as Science-Fiction. The time travel is more of a device used to pose big questions about psychology and life in general. It’s not like an actual device, like on a spaceship or something. 

This is a great option if you love to ponder the BIG questions! How would you feel if you lived your life out of order? What are some of the benefits of leaping through time? What would you have to give up to protect those you love? Add this book to your to-be-read list for the next time you want to think about how crazy life can be!

You may also enjoy this No Spoiler Book Review of Sudden Appearance of Hope.

GIVEAWAY!!!! I would like to share my hardback copy of Oona Out of Order with one of my friends! If you are interested in receiving my copy, fill out the below form and comment OONA. Sorry this is just for US residents. By signing up you agree to receive the occasional newsletter or marketing material from Bossy Librarian. I promise not to spam you to death! Winner will be notified in 30 days!
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Goodreads Summary

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.
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