Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart

Truly enthralling concept and execution. I feel like it's a really good exploration of what it means to be kind to yourself in all iterations, past, present, and future. Knocking off a quarter star because the author does the thing where she only describes a character's race if they are nonwhite, which is annoying.

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lisakate1126's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I absolutely LOVED this book! I love the premise (different from any book I’ve read before), and it was a great story all around. I wish the book could have gone on and on so we can see more of Oona’s life! Would read more of this author.

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imogenthemog's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

3.25

While the book is thoroughly enjoyable, with good character development, twists and turns, and settings that are easy to visualise, there are issues. Some may find the actions and thoughts of the main character, Oona, quite frustrating. Also, some of the pacing is a bit off, too long focussed on one topic and not enough time focussed on another, for example.

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becca_thegrimreader's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book has been on my to-read list for over a year, and I was really looking forward to finally reading it. Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me. There were many things I enjoyed, but overall there was very little that kept my interest.

Now, that already sounds very negative so I’m going to try and add some positivity into this review. The premise for this book is intriguing and showed a lot of promise. Oona is celebrating New Year’s Eve and her birthday with her boyfriend and friends. At the stroke of midnight, she is transported to another year of her life yet hasn’t aged internally. She finds out that every year at the stroke of midnight she will wake up in another year of her life, transporting her back and forth in time. Interesting, no? Now, where this fails is that it grows very tiresome. Oona repeatedly makes terrible decisions, and though she is warned by herself from the previous year, she still goes ahead with them. Then as the book progresses there are combining plot points and cliches that just seemed over the top and unbelievable. (Cos time-travel is totally believable?)

Then we move on to our characters. Oona isn’t a likeable person, she comes across as very selfish and self-pitying. We keep hearing about the wise older version of Oona throughout the book, yet we never get to meet her. Any friends that she makes along the way are brief as hanging on to them while jumping through time would be impossible. Yet having said that, Oona has multiple relationships and never with nice men. The only two characters I did like were Madeline and Kenzie, who Oona did not appreciate at all and it infuriated me how badly she treated Madeline. If I’m being totally honest there were a lot of things Oona did in this book that made my blood boil.

I hate giving negative reviews, but there was a lot to be said after reading this book. It was one that I think could have been executed a little better. There were some lovely moments, but they did not make up for the many glaring issues the book had.

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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a really challenging read if I'm being perfectly honest. Not because it's confusing or anything like that, but because it makes you think about life differently.

I knew from the moment I began the story that I would at least be fascinated by it if nothing else. The concept is really creative and complex, but not in a way that makes your head hurt, just in a way that gives it depth.

Oona goes through a lot. It was hard to read about the different experiences she had throughout her life and it made me really emotional on several occasions. Her mom was honestly my favorite character. I have so much respect for her!

It's certainly not a "light read" even if it looks like it might be. It's challenging, but you will walk away from it with a new outlook on life, that's for sure.

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kathleenivy's review

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hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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