This one has whimsy and ambition
Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore has a clever and ambitious premise, and the writing is engaging. The idea of living your life out of chronological order is inventive, and the intersecting storylines at the end are satisfying. The book has a quirky, whimsical feel, and if you enjoy women’s fiction with a twist, it delivers on that.
That said, the story didn’t fully work for me. I struggled with the logic. How can Oona leave notes for herself in years she hasn’t lived, and why is her 19-year-old mind in a 50-year-old body? More than that, I never really understood what Oona wanted or what the story was trying to be. At first, it felt like random, disconnected snapshots of different lives, and some sections dragged or felt a bit boring.
Plus, my library had it under sci-fi. The time traveling is the only sci-fi bit about it.
I do admire and respect Montimore’s skill as a writer. The premise is ambitious, and she pulls off some clever narrative techniques and emotional moments. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the novel. It packs some emotional payoff at the end, but it just wasn’t my jam. It might be yours.
