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A review by leahthebooklover
Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore
fast-paced
3.0
I really wanted to like this book. I really expected to like this book. I sorta liked this book. The set up was intriguing - it's about a girl who from her 19th birthday (which happens to be on New Year's Day) onward lives her life out of chronological order. She never knows which year she will "leap" to or what age she will be. She retains her memories from the years she has lived, but they're often out of context so it's almost like having amnesia. Her first leap is from age 19 to age 51, and she has no idea of what has happened to her in the in between years. There is only one constant in her life - her mother, Madeline. From Madeline's (and everyone else's) perspective, Oona ages "normally", at least on the outside. But on the inside, Oona feels her age, mentally, in terms of the number of years she has personally experienced. So when she makes her first leap, she looks 51, and the people around her perceive her that way, but inside she feels like she should have just turned 19, and has only the wisdom of her previous 18 years to guide her. And so it goes. We follow her through 8 leaps, where on the outside she appears anywhere from 19 to 53 years old, but inside, she's lived chronologically less than 30 years. Brilliant premise, right?
Here's the problem, though. Yes, Oona is young. Young people often make poor decisions. But you would think her situation would teach her some caution. Nu-uh. She continually makes rash, self-centered decisions that wreak havoc in her life and the lives of the people around her. She treats her mother, the one person who consistently shows up in every leap and shares the secret of her mixed up reality, like the enemy. She never listens to her. She never listens to anyone, not even herself. The incarnation of herself who lived through the previous calendar year tries to leave notes with advice or at least some slivers of information for her to help her in the year ahead, but Oona either loses the notes or totally disregards them. I have some problems with those notes, and for that matter, with Oona's mother. First, the notes: why does she always wait until the last minute to write to herself? She's caught scrambling about what to say. After her first couple of leaps I would think she would be more intentional about the information she passes on, maybe even say something that is actually helpful. Second: her mother. I don't get the whole "no spoilers" mentality. She could be more helpful, IMHO, but then again, she's dealing with Oona, who is going to do what she wants to do anyway, consequences be damned.
In general, while the concept of this book was compelling, the execution of it was fraught with problems. I kept hoping Oona would wise up, and perhaps in the last minute or so of the book she was beginning to. Hard to say. There were a lot of years we didn't hear anything about, I really hope in those silent years she did (does) redeem herself.
TW: in one of her leaps there is significant drug use. There are a couple of spicy sex scenes.
Here's the problem, though. Yes, Oona is young. Young people often make poor decisions. But you would think her situation would teach her some caution. Nu-uh. She continually makes rash, self-centered decisions that wreak havoc in her life and the lives of the people around her. She treats her mother, the one person who consistently shows up in every leap and shares the secret of her mixed up reality, like the enemy. She never listens to her. She never listens to anyone, not even herself. The incarnation of herself who lived through the previous calendar year tries to leave notes with advice or at least some slivers of information for her to help her in the year ahead, but Oona either loses the notes or totally disregards them. I have some problems with those notes, and for that matter, with Oona's mother. First, the notes: why does she always wait until the last minute to write to herself? She's caught scrambling about what to say. After her first couple of leaps I would think she would be more intentional about the information she passes on, maybe even say something that is actually helpful. Second: her mother. I don't get the whole "no spoilers" mentality. She could be more helpful, IMHO, but then again, she's dealing with Oona, who is going to do what she wants to do anyway, consequences be damned.
In general, while the concept of this book was compelling, the execution of it was fraught with problems. I kept hoping Oona would wise up, and perhaps in the last minute or so of the book she was beginning to. Hard to say. There were a lot of years we didn't hear anything about, I really hope in those silent years she did (does) redeem herself.
TW: in one of her leaps there is significant drug use. There are a couple of spicy sex scenes.
Content Warnings
Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Drug use, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, and Death of parent