Review | Oona Out of Order

Title: Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

Date Published: February 25th, 2020

Dates Read: July 24-25th, 2021

Current Goodreads Rating: 3.86/5

If you've been here since the beginning of The Literary Something, then you'll know one of my favorite books of all time is Audrey Niffeneger's The Time Traveler's Wife. There was something about the out of order timelines and how that influenced main character Henry's character growth that I just loved. I haven't read it in several years (side note: maybe I should?), but I still find myself thinking about the unique story and Niffeneger's beloved characters.

Oona was another book that was recommended to me via Book Squad and I was immediately sold by the first sentence on the summary. Oona's non-sequential life brought me back to the first time I read The Time Traveler's Wife and I had no doubt that this book would be just as interesting and just as long-lasting - a book I would be thinking about for years to come.

Oona author Margarita Montimore

Ok, so what happens? December 31, 1982 - Oona is minutes away from turning 19 and the world is her oyster. Life is perfection at this snapshot in time. Not only is she deeply in love with her boyfriend, Dale, but she and their rock band may be going on tour and she may also have the opportunity to travel around Europe. If 1982 is any indication, 1983 may be one for the record books.

Except once the clock hits midnight Oona isn't in 1982 and she's not 19. Instead it's 2015 and she's a 19 year old trapped in her 50 year old body. While her friends continued their slow trudge through time marching single file, Oona jumps forwards and backwards in time. Chronicling the first seven years of her jumps, Oona Out of Order isn't about the how or even the why, but a unique story of growth.

Ok, so what did I think? Like I said, unique coming of age stories will always have a soft spot in my heart. Oona is no exception. I read this book at a particularly difficult time in my life where I honestly felt a little out of control most of the time. Oona was literally always out of control hopping from one year to another without any context as to the people around her or the circumstances that brought her to where she woke up. Looking back on the story it was kind of uplifting how Oona managed to pick herself up every January 1st and continue on into the unknown.

The relationships in this story were absolutely fascinating. For one, it's difficult to keep friendships going when on December 31st you remember your best friends and January 1st you have no idea who these strangers are around you. Throughout the book Oona's biggest concern is getting back to 1982/3 and back to the supposed love of her life, Dale, but I honestly saw the most important relationships was the relationship with her mom that is interlaced throughout the story and a man name Kenzie she meets for the first time after her first jump. It's been a difficult time in my life recently and my relationship with my mom has really helped me in the truly dark moments so seeing a similar relationship (though admittedly mine has much less time jumping) play out in Oona Out of Order really spoke to me on a personal level. I don't cry very often in general, but also rarely does a book move me to tears. However, I have to admit the last chapter with Oona and her mother had me particularly distraught.

Many of the reviews on Goodreads complain about how whiny and insufferable Oona is throughout the book and maybe that's true, but if you were a 19 year old with the whole world ahead of you wouldn't you also be a little crazy when all of a sudden you're stuck in the 50 year old version of yourself? Oona definitely makes some questionable decisions (like sleeping with a stranger while her very sweet boyfriend is anxiously looking for her or staying with a man who is obviously cheating on her), but in an attempt to put myself in her shoes I think I'd probably make some reckless decisions too. I don't know how I'd handle waking up with the soul of a 19 year old in the aching body of a 50 year old. If I were to wake up in a younger body the next year I would probably try to live up my youth as much as possible too.

Honestly I would love to see more books in the Oona Universe (Oonaverse?) simply because this idea of jumping out of order fascinates me. In Time Traveler's Wife we get to see Henry's entire life jumping in and out of order from his first jump to his last, but in Oona we only get a small seven year snapshot of her life. What happens when Oona is in her 60s and jumps to her 21st year? What about when she dies? Does she jump back into the correct timeline to die at the ripe age of 120? I need to know!

Long Story Short:

• What would you do if you woke up one day in a body decades older than your soul?

• Man, I wish I could play the stock market like Oona does. I'd be set for the rest of my out of order life

• Give your mom a hug everyone.

My Rating: 5/5