Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

Book Review

I always love an opportunity to throw on a good wig 😂. Click through to the second photo to see my adorable little helper.

On the surface, this is a light and sweet book about one woman’s misadventures living her life out of order. At its core, this is a story about embracing the present moment and living life to the fullest even when you know nothing lasts forever.

The book begins in 1982 on the eve of Oona’s 19th birthday. At the stroke of midnight (which also happens to be New Years Day), Oona is inexplicably transported through time and space into the body of her 51-year-old self in 2015. Upon awakening in an extravagant home, Oona is greeted by an eccentric assistant who explains the nature of her condition. Beginning on her 19th birthday, every year Oona turns another year older, she randomly leaps to a different year and age. While on the inside she continues to age chronologically, on the outside, she lives each year of her life out of order.

Throughout the course of the book, we see Oona go from a teenager in love to a fabulously wealthy middle-aged woman, to a hard-partying twenty-something and beyond. As Oona struggles to adapt to her unconventional reality, she is forced to find the joy in living moment to moment.

I could have read another 100 pages of Oona’s story… I especially would have loved to read about the alluded-to year she spends as a pop star in Europe. I sincerely hope this book is adapted for television, as it would make a tremendous series.

My only complaint with the story was the fact that Oona more or less just accepted the reality of her condition (although reluctantly), rather than search for a why or how. I realize that diving into the science of the space-time continuum and time travel is a complicated topic, but the sci-fi nerd in me would have loved at least a few pages dedicated to her exploring medical and or scientific answers. Nevertheless, this was a highly enjoyable read that I couldn’t put down.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5