The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart by Margarita Montimore is a captivating novel that explores the themes of identity, fate, and love through the lens of a woman who lives her life out of order. Oona wakes up every New Year's Eve in a different year of her life, never knowing what awaits her. She must navigate the challenges of each decade, from the 1980s to the 2020s, while trying to make sense of her own destiny. The book is a clever and original blend of science fiction, romance, and humour, with a touch of nostalgia and pop culture references.

The book is a fun and emotional read that will make you laugh, cry, and wonder what you would do if you were in Oona's shoes.

"The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart" by Margarita Montimore is a delightful and thought-provoking novel that explores the nature of time and the choices we make in life. Montimore's writing is engaging, with a compelling premise that keeps the reader hooked from beginning to end. The characters are well-drawn and relatable, with Oona being a particularly compelling protagonist. While the story can be a bit predictable at times, Montimore manages to keep things fresh with her inventive narrative structure. Overall, "The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart" is a satisfying and enjoyable read that is well worth checking out.

I really enjoy stories about time travel but I didn’t enjoy this. Oona seemed selfish and foolish. I found it impossible to really root for her. Possibly the disjointed narrative made it difficult for her to have a fully fleshed out character. The early accidental infidelity with nice Crosby really annoyed me and I ended up just turning pages because the book irritated me so much. On to the next! Interesting concept but alas not for me.

I absolutely loved this book, and already miss Oona now that I have finished it.
We follow Oona as she maneuvers through her life, waking up each chronological year in a different year of her life.
Yes, it does take some effort to get your head around but I urge you to go with it.
Oona herself and the cast of supporting characters are beautifully developed, I loved each and everyone of them.
Also I loved that we had a look at logistically what Oona needs to do to live her life out of order, her money worries, her love life, where does she live, how does she keep up to date with what is going on?

A brilliant mind and time bending read.

This wasn't a bad book by any stretch, but I found myself not really enjoying it and ended up DNFing this one. I think it was a case of me not being in the right mood for reading this and anytime I went back to continue reading, I just couldn't get into it.

I will probably try again at some point as I loved the concept of the book and it wasn't badly written, but it just isn't for me at this time.

Unfortunately I was unable to get in to this story and had to put it down, however, I'm sure it is a highly loved book and appreciated by the right readers.

On New Year's Eve 1982, Oona Lockhart is at a party counting down to the New Year and her birthday the next day.
But when the clock strikes twelve, Oona is no longer at the party with her boyfriend and friends - instead Oona is somehow in the future in a version of her body that is fifty-one-years-old.
A stranger is with Oona and she discovers that she will live her life out of order - one year she could be in her twenties and the next year in her forties.
Young on the inside but decades older on the outside, Oona struggles to accept her unpredictable and unstable life.
Will Oona try to change her timeline with what she learns throughout the years?
Can she be happy knowing what is to come?

When I heard about this book it was the time travel aspect that intrigued me, and while I didn't end up loving this, I did enjoy it.
Oona was a relatable protagonist and it was interesting to see how she reacted to the situations she was put in. I thought that Oona coped rather well all things considered.
Kenzie was a character I really liked and I also liked Oona's mum.
The plot was enjoyable and held my attention, but I wasn't gripped and did find myself starting to lose interest a little at the end, so I was happy with the length of the book. There was a plot twist that I didn't guess and I did find the different leaps interesting. However, because each chapter was a year in Oona's life it sometimes felt like Oona didn't really do much and we were told what she did instead. I can understand why this was the case though, as a year is a long time.
The writing style was easy to follow and I read the book pretty quickly.
I am a bit disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more, and I'm not sure it quite reached its potential for me, but it was still an enjoyable read.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.

Really enjoyable take on the time travel genre - well written and executed. A bit slow in places, but otherwise a good page turner.

4.5 stars.
First of all, I will start by saying that the concept of this book was so unlike anything that I had ever read before and had me totally immersed as a result.
I completely understand why many have compared parts of this to the movie 13 Going On 30, as even though Oona goes from being 18 to her fifties at stages throughout, mentally and internally she is still in her late teens/early twenties.
I really enjoyed each and every one of the jumps, with each one adding something to the story.
I also didn't expect the twist regarding Kenzie, which again only added to the story and Oona's arc.
The only reason that I can't give it 5 stars is because I didn't always agree with Oona's choices or how she acted, which at times lessened how relatable she felt to me personally.
However, saying that I did really enjoy this and I would actually love to see a follow up with more years and jumps showcased.
And despite it being a light and easy read, I wasn't expecting to find myself feeling an urge to live life to the fullest and truly appreciate each and every year that you are given. But that's exactly what happened.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’ll admit I was drawn to this purely from seeing it about on social media . I didn’t know what to expect t as time travel is not really my thing but I love anything set in nyc and after reading the synopsis I thought it had a bit of a 13 going on 30 feel to it .
I actually quite. I enjoyed the book , it was easy to read , fun yet poignant at the same time and i didn’t find it confusing to read like some books that flip between time often are . If you’re after an easy read then I’d definitely recommend this.

I loved this original story about a woman who time travels within hee own life story. Funny at times, moving in others, a great read.

As someone who has loved time travel fiction since I first read Time and Again (one of the best time travel novel ever written) by the incomparable Jack Finney at the age of ten years old, as soon as I heard about The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart I knew this was a book I had to read. And wow, it did not disappoint! I loved everything about this clever, complex and superbly plotted story and did not want it to end.

The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart by Margarita Montimore is a witty, sharp and thought provoking read with a refreshingly different take on time travel that works incredibly well. A bit like the TV show Quantum Leap, which had the main character leap into the bodies of people throughout history, this story has Oona leaping into her own life, beginning on her nineteenth birthday. At the stroke of midnight, Oona finds herself torn away from everything (and everyone) she knows and transported thirty two years into the future, where she wakes up in the body of her fifty one year old self. There she meets a friendly stranger, who tells her that every year on her birthday she will enter a different year of her adult life at random.

What follows is a fascinating tale that sees Oona learning to navigate her new life, trying to remain as ‘spoiler free’ as possible, so she doesn’t disrupt her own timeline more than she needs to. With pop culture references throughout, The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart is a fun but poignant read that highlights the importance of family and what it truly means to live in an ever changing world. As the story progresses Oona must learn to accept her fate, going through the ups and downs of life we all have to face – only in the wrong order. Her relationship with her mother, one of the only people to know the truth about her life, is a tempestuous one to say the least, but is an aspect of the book I found the most intriguing.

Can Oona come to terms with her fate? And will she be able to live a meaningful life in the topsy turvy world she’s been catapulted into?

Margarita Montimore has written a book that is a worthy addition to the time travel genre and one that I know I will go back to time and time again.

Highly recommended.

When there is so much to say for Margarita Montimore’s awe-inspiring debut The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart, starting at the beginning seems like a horrendously boring place to start. For those unfamiliar with this nostalgia filled title, Oona Lockhart is a young woman that, on the eve of her 20th birthday, is fated to live her life in a mismatched order. Every New year she is catapulted to both a body and an era that is out of sync with her inner self. Subverting the boundaries of both genre and linear storytelling, plot-twists await for anyone smart enough to peak its pages.

In narrating the incredibly complicated life of Oona Lockhart, Montimore takes the rom-com melodrama of 13 Going on 30 and blends it with the 80s aesthetics of Back to the Future. In fact, anyone in my presence whilst reading this book will have experienced secondhand the rollercoaster that it took me on. Not unlike the incredulous life it intends to dissect, it’s topsy turvy narrative ensured that I was never quite certain about what lay ahead. The magic of this is that readers find themselves reflected in Oona’s haphazard journey. They will fall in love with her beau’s, they will be saddened by her losses and they will be completely gobsmacked by her too-late discoveries.

Unfortunately, in narrating the incredibly complicated life of Oona Lockhart, Montimore also makes things a bit, well, complicated. Although the plot twists and non-linearity are both dealt with a great deal of skill and precision. There were times when my brain was working overtime just to make sense of it all. In fact, there are so many time slips (not necessarily a criticism) that are all interconnected that I felt like I was mentally taking notes on how all the plot holes were being filled. Parallel to this, is the whiplash I occasionally felt from Oona jumping from one year to the next. I think it worked well on the whole but that’s not to say that I didn’t find some aspects of her character development confusing. Rather than seeing Oona grow naturally through a traditional story arc, this chopping and changing naturally makes for a jigsaw assembly of character progression. In the end, I had to somewhat suspend my disbelief and take the book as it is…a fun sci-fi that celebrates its own implausibility.

Given the turmoil that seems to have kicked off 2020, I think we could all do with some lighthearted literature. Channeling book club romance and 80s sci-fi, this book will have you mulling over all of the “what ifs” and “should have dones” of your lives. Yet, somehow still leave you with an overwhelming excitement for what’s still to come.

I love the structure of this book, a really new twist on the non-linear storytelling. Heartbreaking and insightful and compelling, I really enjoyed it.

Believe it or not, I am not a big fan of time travel when it comes to books. Years ago, I watched my share of time travel films: Back to the future; Kate and Leopold; Big; Freaky Friday. I remain lukewarm about the theme and have never before now picked up any time travel books. The 2003 Time Traveler’s Wife which was so hyped at the time bypassed me.

The idea of suddenly finding myself knowing what happens to me in the future, or revisiting past memories that hold a special place in my heart just doesn’t appeal to me. Not even to read about in fiction. The reality is, even the thought of time travel feels scary. I much prefer living life in order and not knowing what awaits me.

In fact, at the moment, living through the surreal Covid 19 situation, I focus only on each single day, avoiding worried thoughts about the future which seems so uncertain.

So I came to The rearranged life of Oona Lockhart by Margarita Montimore with some misgivings.
I was pleasantly surprised. This is a (mostly) fun, lighthearted, breezy novel. It can be read quickly and offers some laughs but also some darker, sadder moments. The plot carries the reader along and you want to know what happens next.

It’s the story of Oona Lockhart, a 19 year old New Yorker, happy in her relationship with Dale, member of a rock band, having fun with her friends and boyfriend at a New Year’s Eve party.
When the clock strikes midnight, Oona finds herself in a foreign body, and in an unfamiliar place. She is now 51 years old, living in a Brooklyn brownstone.

The novel unfolds over a few years, stopping at important junctures of Oona’s life. I enjoyed Oona’s attempts at handling time travel and learning how to live her life out of order. What at first seems impossible to her, gradually becomes something she can learn how to navigate.

I loved this and have been recommending it to everyone. Sparkles with wit, and has a big heart. You'll love it.

I was immediately drawn to the concept of The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart -- it seemed like it had everything I wanted. Time travel! Brooklyn! Women-led fiction! The 80’s! Unfortunately, this one didn’t quite hit the mark for me, but I think that’s because of my own expectations going into it and confusion as to what genre it sits in.

As this book is published by Gollancz, an exclusively sci-fi and fantasy publisher, I thought that the science fiction elements would be much stronger. If nothing else, the hook is time travel! I love time travel fiction and the amazing and complex ways that authors work with an impossible concept. However, Oona Lockhart didn’t quite give me what I wanted in that respect. The time travelling seemed negligible to the plot -- it only served to give a fresh twist on the story. I had hoped to see more of Oona trying to manipulate her future in order to change her past, however this didn’t really come into play in any significant way. She’s mostly focused on fumbling her way through the present, and I found that I just wasn’t too interested in her troubles or journey to self-discovery. She’s not a character I could relate to and I just didn’t particularly care for her story. I confess I ended up skimming the last 100 pages or so just to see what would happen, and it is clear that this just wasn’t a book for me.

The one thing that really did strike me was the way that music is threaded through the narrative as something that grounds Oona in her own life. At 18 she’s a member of a band. In her 40’s and 50’s she’s learning to play the guitar. Every jump she makes in her life, she is relieved to find that she still has an extensive music collection and it’s a pleasure to catch up on what she missed. For me, this was easily the best aspect of the book and I loved the way the author worked it into the story.

I think The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart would appeal much more to women's fiction readers than science fiction lovers like myself. A story about a woman’s unique journey through life, it’s an interesting read but didn’t give me what I wanted.

2.5 out of 5 stars

A really fun time travel novel that had me hooked straight away and could also definitely spawn some sequels! Would recommend to readers who enjoyed The Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle or The Time Traveler's Wife.

The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart
A fun read with an intriguing concept.
The book follows Oona Lockhart whose life doesn’t follow a normal timeline. Every year on her birthday her life leaps, sometimes forwards and sometimes backwards, to a different year in her life. Oona has no idea what year will come next and she only gets told minor details of what has happened before so she is constantly trying to piece together details about her life from different timelines.
At times the story can feel a little repetitive as we see Oona adjust to each new year she is placed however the setting in each year is different enough to provide plenty interest. I loved the backdrop of the different time periods she found herself in particularly nineties New York when Oona spends a year partying.
I thought the book improved in the second half although I did think the ending was rushed. I would love for the story to continue and to explore more of Oona’s leaps and find out more detail about the other characters she meets especially as some storylines in the book felt unfinished.
This book would make a great choice for a reading group, there’s so much to discuss, not just the interesting characters and story but the overall concept and how you would deal with it in your own life.
Thank you to Netgalley and Orion for the copy.

The rearranged life of Oona Lockhart
by Margarita Montimore

Oona with her boyfriend Dale and her friends celebrating her 19th birthday unbeknown to her life for her was never going to be as she imagined it.

Beautiful story although It took a little getting inti but the story was so well written covering so many of life’s emotions. It was living you life like a jigsaw. It is gripping and the story will reel you in. Was a very impressive compulsive read . Well done Margarita . I look forward to seeing what your future books may hold.