“Even though I haven’t been able to change my fate, I’ll always wonder if it’s possible. If I’ve already done it without seeing evidence of it yet.”
Oona Lockhart travels in time every New Year’s Day, which is her birthday. When the book begins, she is 19, and it is 1982-83. In the next segment, it is 2015. Kenzie, Oona’s personal assistant, has to bring her up to date on culture since 1983. The rest of the chapters are other years of her life, not in any particular order. It becomes evident that Oona makes good decisions about the stock market since she has already lived in the future. So, she is close to a billionaire. Oona is a lifelong music enthusiast and meets her soulmate while taking guitar lessons when she is 40. However, she realizes that she was married. Oona’s out of order events provide some hilarity and satisfying plot points.
Montimore’s idea to have Oona piece the parts of her life together is a praiseworthy and commendable concept. It made for an interesting story and led me to think about messing around with fate. I guess the reader is supposed to realize that it is impossible to interfere with fate since Oona is never capable of changing the future even if she knows it. Perhaps the theme is that we all have to learn life’s lessons and live through the peaks and valleys of our destiny. Another strong theme is relationships. It becomes increasingly apparent throughout the novel that Oona’s mother is important in her life. Although she and her mother have had their differences, the value of her mother’s influence and love is emphasized and treasured in different ways during each stage. Another commentary about relationships is made through Oona’s memories about her first love and the friends she had in her youth.
Overall, I found his book to be entertaining and a welcome “easy read.”
