NATIONAL BESTSELLER A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK AMAZON EDITORS’ 20 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR PICK “With its countless epiphanies and surprises, Oona proves difficult to put down.” –USA Today “By turns tragic and triumphant, heartbreakingly poignant and joyful, this is ultimately an uplifting and redemptive read.” –The Guardian A remarkably inventive novel that explores what it means … Guardian
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.
more
Margarita Montimore has written a dazzling novel. This madcap opera, the story of Oona Lockhart’s life told in full with scope and breadth in and out of sequence but never out of tune, is the perfect read for this moment. Modern, emotional, funny, ferocious, and spun with enough light and magic to fire up the Vegas strip, Oona Out of Order lands like a meteor.
Can I give this a ten star? One of my favorite books I’ve read in the last two years. Or maybe more. I loved this time travel trip. Dealing with your life as a 51 year old when you’re just 19? What happened to my friends, my love, my plans for the future? The author deals with the switch overs from year to year effectively by giving us her inside and outside age. And Kensey? Wow.
I love thinking about redos but worry about the effect of knowing too much. And what other things would I change. This book will haunt me for a long time. In a really good way.
I wanted to love this book. The blurb jumped out at me. Sadly, Oona made me nuts. Her jumps had little explanation and she always went against her notes.
It was terribly convenient that she was rich, like super rich. It was explained however.
There was a storyline that was dropped later in the book that made everything spin out of control for me and another that was dropped way early in the book that actually squashed all hopes of the ending I had hoped for.
Oona out of order was so much fun to read. I love time travel books, I’m discovering, more and more, and this one had all the elements you might look for. The unexpectedness, the learning of the new surroundings, the “how the heck did this happen” stuff and thinking about what all might go into that. How Oona starts writing herself letters, and how she starts realizing what she can and can’t do to change what’s already been done. There’s always that philosophical question of – how would this really work? This book is no different, and it’s fun to see how this comes together.
Everyone around Oona is living her life in order, but she is not. On her 19th birthday, which happens to be New Year’s Day, she “jumps” from midnight of turning 19 to midnight of turning 51. We get to spend the next several years and next several “jumps” with her as she learns who she is, what choices she must have made to get there, and what surprises have happened and are yet to be revealed along the way.
There’s joy, there’s heartbreak, and there are twists I didn’t see coming that, for me, took the whole book from already great to O.M.G. It has these gasp moments that make the book seem so much bigger, or maybe that was the feeling in my chest at the realizations! It hit me in the feels, and I can see myself going back to read this book again to see if there might have been things I missed along the way not realizing they were going to play a role or foreshadow something later in the book.
The sum of it, definitely read this one! See if you love it as much as I did!!
I absolutely loved the idea of this story where Oona finds herself in a new year of her life on every New Year’s Day. She could be forty or twenty-one. Because she jumps around so much she tries to leave herself letters but it doesn’t always work out. She finds joy and hardship and learns to appreciate every moment of living even though it’s out of order. This is a terrific time-travel book full of surprises that will keep you reading late into the night.
This book was very well written. Although there were times that I didn’t like Oona, most of the time I was rooting for things to work out for her. It was interesting how Oona would navigate her life and the people around her especially at the beginning of each new year. I like how her Mom was there throughout the book and knew the situation, so could help her to adapt to some things. There were some surprises that I didn’t see coming. Overall this was a good story that kept my interest so well that I read it in one day.
3.5 Rounded to 3
I was seriously torn with this one as far as how to rate it. It starts off so strong and I was invested in the story, the situation, and the characters. I LOVE books where time travel is the main premise.
As I kept reading, I laughed, I hurt, I felt bad for Oona and was riding the crazy train right along with her. I do love the underlying message I felt throughout. It’s ok to make mistakes..feel them, live them…OWN them. Take the good with the bad and make the best out of rough situations but most importantly…LIVE
BUT … the way this one ends and how it just drops off where it did left me extremely frustrated. There is so much buildup around Oona’s “affliction” that I actually expected more and I felt let down which just ruined it … for me.
For those that have this on their list I would say go read it! It may hit you in the right spot and you may love it to pieces. That’s what’s great about our reading community and why books are just so special. What doesn’t work for one will undoubtedly work for another.
I really did not have an ending. It just stopped!
This is a very clever idea that just didn’t work for me. I wasn’t able to connect to any of the characters–they were too whiny. The plot was frustrating too. Oona seems to remember all sorts of silly pop culture references that she accidentally drops in the wrong time period, but then is unable to remember any of the super-important details of her own life. Other readers seem to like the story. It was just not for me, I guess.
Loved this creative and original story. Even without the fantastic, mind-bending time jumping, Oona would be a joyful read because the characters are loads of fun and deeply nuanced.
As a writer, I’m amazed at the inventiveness of Margarita’s structure.
Normally, “time travel” wouldn’t appeal to me. But this literary device allows the author to fill every page with the intrigue of “what-if” questions, and focus on the most emotional aspects (spoiler alert: marriage, divorce, birth and death).
An incredible feat of beautiful writing, imaginative details, and for me personally, the joy of reliving the 1990’s NYC club scene.
Loved this so hard. Will be recommending to all my cool friends. Thank you, Ms. Montimore!
Nothing about this book really wowed me
I loved this world building. Brilliant book. One of those you think, I wish I’d written that! Can’t wait to see what she writes next.
Captivating, surprising, and touching. I’ve read it twice and loved it both times. It has an original plot, which is a relief from all of the predictable books out there.
The premise–main character time travels to a different year of her life every New Year’s Eve at midnight–is fun and well executed. A great book for a weekend escape without leaving your couch.
Thought-provoking novel along the lines of “if I only knew now what I know then” with a great ending. Entertaining and engrossing read.
I loved the concept of this book- imagine what it would be like to live the years of your life out of order. What would you learn? What would you warn yourself about or would you? How different would your perspective be as a 40 something year old woman as opposed to a woman in her 20s. I had such hope that these things would be explored in depth but, unfortunately, they were not. None of the years were narrated by an older women in a younger body. What a missed opportunity! In my opinion, the story was poorly executed.
Original story, provoking thought while entertaining & light
Fun, fun with a time travel twist.
A whimsical, beautiful, bittersweet look at a life lived out of order. I absolutely loved it!