Oona out of Order
Summary of Oona Out of Order
Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore is about 19-year-old, I mean 51-year-old, oops, I mean 20-something-year-old—oh, never mind—Oona Lockhart. On the eve of her nineteenth birthday, which also happens to be new years eve, Oona thinks her biggest problem is whether she should pursue her academic interests away from home or pursue her love of music with her boyfriend at home. Little does she know, she’s about to be hurtled thirty-two years into the future. She continues to spontaneously travel to different parts of her life every year on her birthday. With no way of telling her future (or past?) self what is going on, antics and heartbreak ensue.
Genre of Oona Out of Order
Oona Out of Order is science fiction aimed at a female audience. It’s also contemporary fiction, a particularly clever take on the age-swap trope. Montimore also blends in elements of romance and family drama.
Our Review of Oona Out of Order
Oona Out of Order is an excellent book for three reasons:
There is an existential crisis. I don’t know about you, but my life feels like one existential crisis after another, so I’m a sucker for these kinds of books. This aspect of the book makes it surprisingly relatable given that Oona’s time hopping is not something most people, okay, any people do. It would be so much more fun if we could though, wouldn’t it? However, I doubt Oona would agree with me on this point.
The time hopping makes you want to keep reading. As readers we have slightly more information than Oona does, but we’re also more or less piecing together her life with her, which makes Oona Out of Order a gripping book.
The emotional toll of time hopping got me emotionally invested in Oona enough that even if I didn’t have my own reasons for getting tied up in the book, Oona is a character worth reading about. Overall, Oona Out of Order is fun, interesting, and just dramatic enough to be both engrossing and light.
Read Oona Out of Order If
Oona Out of Order might be the best book to read if you’re feeling lost in life. As Oona makes peace with her impossible situation, you might be able to do the same. Oona out of Order also touches on a point made by Eighteenth-century Scottish poet Robert Burns (the “Auld Lang Syne” guy). In “To a Mouse,” Burns writes,
But Mousie, thou art no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!
Still, thou art blest, compar’d wi’ me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But Och! I backward cast my e’e,
On prospects drear!
An’ forward tho’ I canna see,
I guess an’ fear!
Yup, this is where that “best-laid plans” saying comes from, and it’s true! The best-laid plans of mice and men often do go awry. And though we can conceive of the future, we spend our time guessing and worrying about it! Perhaps Oona Out of Order is more meaty than I previously gave it credit for. We’re all time hoppers, if only in our own minds.
If You Loved Oona Out of Order, You’ll Also Like…
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gale Honeyman
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
