Reader, this book was not for me.

I can see so many, really strong reviews for this book, and I am pretty confused. I am not sure what they are seeing in this story that I am not. I had a really hard time following the storyline, I even took notes about the different siblings and different generations. it has a sort of a dream like quality and the pacing may have had something to do with why I couldn’t follow it.

I’m also really amazed that this is classified as young adult? I cannot imagine a 12-year-old reading this and understanding it, let alone it being appropriate for kids.

It is possible I am not smart enough for this one.

4.5
I love this story!
A contemporary character driven family’s story set in Northern California wine country.
Theo Fall, a winemaker…left his pregnant wife and two young sons 12 yrs ago … the three kids Wynton, Miles, and Dizzy are scarred from the loss…he was a great father and they do not know why he abruptly left.
Cassidy… a rainbow haired teenage girl, lives with her mother Marigold in an old camper trailer where they live off the grid full time moving from place to place.
Marigold comes to town on a couple occasions at crossroads in the Fall children’s lives, and with her, the Fall children and she herself discover the truth of Theo’s disappearance and Marigold’s connection to they themselves.
I am not one who necessarily likes any magical realism in the books I read but it is masterfully incorporated in this story.
This is a beautiful story .. filled with passion, loss, humor, tenderness… a sublime read!

I also loved this author’s book I’ll Give You The Sun written about a decade ago. When I saw she had a new book available, I was so excited!
This is categorized as YA, but to me it certainly didn’t feel like that sort of story.


Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC!
Also thank you Jandy Nelson for the journey I took with the Fall family this week!

Available September 24

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for providing me with an ARC of When The World Tips Over! Wow, I think this may be one of the only times I’ve been left speechless by a book. I read Nelson’s I’ll Give You The Sun years and years ago, long enough that I don’t remember all the details but do remember the way it made me feel. This newest work is just as special and as fulfilling as ever. It took me a bit to really settle into the story and get to know the characters, but once I was in, I was IN. It is crazy to me just how real these characters felt to me, as if I could run into them tomorrow. The way that Nelson can weave lives together and craft such delicate yet complex relationships is something I will likely never understand but endlessly appreciate. I haven’t gotten around to reading One Hundred Years of Solitude yet, but this is what I would imagine it to be like. I could continue to fawn over this book, but I’d really recommend that you read and see it for yourself. Get your hands on a copy and dive in!

This book! You know those books that you can’t wait to finish, but also want to savor? So you read it quickly and then read it again? That’s this one.

A family drama that spans multiple generations, centering on the young siblings: Wynton (19), Miles (17), and Dizzy (12), as they navigate family dynamics, love, friendship, loss, and more. This is an aboslutely brilliant, beautiful, and heartfelt look into their relationship with each other and their parents, and how our past can shape our present. There’s a touch of the fantastic (ghosts? An angel? You’ll see!), and so much heart to this one.

If you’ve read and enjoyed “I’ll give you the sun,” pick this up. I can’t stop thinking about it, and I know I’ll come back to it over and over.

This is a "love story within a love story within a love story". It is a vividly woven fairy-tale. It is a multigenerational story of family, grief, love and forgiveness and I absolutely loved it. I read it a couple of weeks ago and I can't stop thinking about it.

"𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴. 𝘙𝘪𝘱 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘴. 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘚𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘫𝘶𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤. 𝘒𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶—𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦-𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦—𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯."

The prose was transcendent and I found myself highlighting passage after passage. The characters were easy to love and easier to root for. The novel unfolds with stories within stories at a pace that is complex yet perfect. It's brimming with heart & humor, music & magic.

FEELING COMPS:
The One and a Million Boy
I'll Give You the Sun
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
Sea of Tranquility

"𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘵𝘶𝘣 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵."

I have enjoyed all 3 of Jandy Nelson's novels and will begrudgingly wait another 10 years for her next novel if it's as amazing as this. Thank you @netgalley and @dialbooks for the early copy.

--

This has been a long time coming. I'm so thrilled that I was able to get a digital review copy from NetGalley. When the World Tips Over is so good!

4.5 stars rounded up

Jandy Nelson has my heart ugh

Is it magical or does she just write the most expressive world blowing words ever?

The beginning took me a little to warm up to but I was flying through the end just waiting to get to the heart of the Fall family. I loved all the interwoven storylines and the genuine heartwarming coming of age story that every character experiences. This one will make you feel all the happy YA feels!!!!

I'll give you the Sun is one of my favorites reads from Jandy Nelson. I was so excited to read this ARC. When the World Tips Over was a great portrayal of a family dealing with tragedy. All of the characters felt incredibly fleshed out and I loved the dynamic of siblings all dealing with the aftermath of their dad's disappearance. The pacing was a bit slow for me and at times I felt a bit confused. I loved how Caasidy was able to be a part of all of their lives and the ending felt very cohesive. Jandy proves to be an incredible story teller and I'll always be excited to read whatever she writes.

3 1/2 stars

I enjoyed Jandy Nelson's I'll Give You The Sun several years ago, so I was excited to read something new from her. When the World Tips Over is the story of the Fall family - not just the current Fall siblings, Dizzy, Miles and Wynton, but also the Fall family through multiple generations and how trauma and decisions can leave echoes through time. Family secrets and dysfunction, secrets, misunderstandings and love are all at the heart of this novel.

I admit I had a difficult time getting started on this book because I wasn't particularly interested in viewing the world through 12-year-old Dizzy's perspective. Dizzy is immature for her age and the beginning felt so unnecessarily cruel. Fortunately things turned around quickly and within a few chapters I was fully invested in the Fall siblings and curious about what could possibly tie them to Cassidy and others in the book.

Nelson is a beautiful writer and truly paints a picture with her words. I do think that sometimes she gets a little too lyrical with her prose, but it fit better with some characters in this novel than others. I also found some of the family ties confusing and while I realize that was intentional, thank goodness for the family tree at the end of the book because I had lost the thread of who was who by then. A family tree earlier in the novel would be very helpful (to be fair, I think there WAS one, but I'll be darned if I can find it by "leafing" through the digital version).

The story is told through multiple narrators and points of view as well as notes, letters, diary entries, transcripts and other correspondence. I thought the variety of story-telling techniques was interesting and really worked when a different perspective helped move the story along.

Once again, Nelson has a fascinating, inclusive cast of characters. The LGBTQ+ characters are no doubt going to get this book on the radar of our modern-day book banning brigade and that would be a shame because I think the portrayal in this book of all the realities and differences among the characters was beautifully written; no matter how you identify yourself, you are likely to find a character to relate to.

This book does have a slow pace, which I can tell by how long it took me to read it. The slow pacing does not mean it's boring, by any stretch, but it did allow me to feel like I spent plenty of time getting to know the characters so that I could truly enjoy the book's ending.

Thank you to the Penguin Group, Dial Books, NetGalley and Jandy Nelson for the advanced reader copy. This book will be published on September 24, 2024
(Review posted to Goodreads, will add to blog at the publication date)

Told in multiple voices, we follow the past and current lives of Wynton, Miles, and Dizzy - three kids who live in Paradise Valley, CA with their restaurant owning mom and of Cassidy, a girl who arrives in town and both clarifies and upends their lives as she begins to make sense of her own.
With phrases like: “Are stories prayers? Mirrors? Storms? Or maybe they’re homes”, Nelson’s writing is amazing. And, if you’re like me, you will be pulled into this story and not be satisfied until you have finished it. And then you’ll be sorry it was over.

"Desiderium, n. An ardent desire for something lost."

This novel is bizarre and beautiful.

Its slow pace gives it a dreamlike quality, and the characters drift through magical realism.

But each of the characters feels very real. Dizzy grabbed my heart and didn't let go. Miles is broken, and a healer, and wholly breakable. Wynton's connection to the past and future makes him part of both - and somehow neither.

Each of the siblings feel very much like Neverland's Lost Boys. In fact, the entire book feels like a Peter Pan fever dream. (Nightmare?)

I'm obviously explaining it all wrong.

I loved this novel.

"Reading about these woo-woo things made Dizzy's soul buzz and Dizzy wanted a buzzy soul. A buzzy everything."

When the World Tips Over by Jandy Nelson is charming, emotional and nothing short of magical. This is one of the most unusual books I have read in a very long time and I found myself falling in love with almost every single character over the course of the book though Dizzy has a very special place in my heart.
This book tells the story of the Fall siblings who live in California with their chef mother and are still reeling from their father leaving years ago, before the youngest sibling Dizzy was even born. Each of the siblings carry the scars of that abandonment in their own ways, from the eldest , 19 year old Wynton, the so called bad boy of the family who dreams of becoming a professional musician, to Perfect Miles, the golden boy who does his best to be good at everything, the one that nobody needs to worry about , though in fact they really really should, and of course Dizzy, now twelve who misses the father she never new and seemingly sees spirits. In fact each of the siblings have some unusual abilities, like Miles' ability to converse with dogs, and each of them are hiding secrets, some bigger than others. When a mysterious rainbow haired girl shows up in their home town she will have a huge impact on each of them in different ways and will play a role in healing the many wounds that have cursed the family for generations.
This is a book with more than a hint of magical realism, something that I often struggle with in books, but actually really loved here. I loved the whimsy of having a talking dog character, it made for a nice juxtaposition with all of the very real traumas and issues the family was dealing with. The book is long at over five hundred pages but the story is complex and in fact is told over the course of several generations , so it never felt like it was too slow or bogged down. As I said earlier this is very much a character driven book, and as a reader I found myself caring about these fictional characters in a way that rarely happens.
An exceptional book from an exceptional writer.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

This was a fantastic read. I wasn’t sure what I was getting into with this one. I haven’t encountered this author before, but this was wonderful. There are parts of this book that cover extremely heavy topics. These topics are navigated in such a fantastic way. Cue a dog that you can talk to in your thoughts, or a rainbow haired angel, or a story full of fantasy and magic. Pick this one up. You won’t regret it.

I have mixed feelings about this. While I enjoyed the plot and the intriguing magical abilities of each of the children, the book focused a bit too much on sexual content. YA books are aimed at children as young as 12, and I didn't think this was appropriate for 12 year-olds.

“I do believe now that when the world tips over, joy spills out with all the sorrow. But you have to look for it.”*

What happened to Theo Fall? After his mysterious disappearance years ago, his family slowly seems to be falling apart. A wife who leaves a plate for him every night at her restaurant. Wynton, an extraordinary violinist, who plays with as much passion as he lives his life, on a path of self destruction. Perfect Miles, who is slowly breaking down inside hiding who he really is. And Dizzy, trying to find her way into teen hood while navigating losing her best friend.

A few chance encounters with a mysterious rainbow-haired girl who has what seems like a dictionary of words tattooed on her start to change the way the Falls see their world. But who is she? Is she an angel, an Energy Being? Or just a not-so-average girl who in short periods of time comes to mean so much to this family? And how does her involvement help put their world back together when it seems like it is ending when tragedy strikes?

I can’t tell you how much I love this book. It alternates points of view between characters and between time, weaving the stories into one final conclusion. I love the coming of age aspect, exploration of budding sexuality (and changes), the love stories… but especially about how a broken family can come together despite challenges they face.

*Quote based on uncorrected proof

Recommended if you like: YA, coming of age stories, magical realism, lgbt+

This book will easily be in my top ten of the year, I loved it SOOOO much. These are characters you just want to hold & give big hugs too - they'll stick with me forever. Such a great story.

Three siblings living in Northern California wine country each encounter a mysterious rainbow-haired girl who changes their lives as they navigate love, loss, and a touch of magic.

The author masterfully balances humor and authenticity in portraying the sibling relationships and complicated family lore. The Fall siblings each bring their own quirks and charm—Dizzy sees ghosts, Miles communicates with dogs, and Wynton has otherworldly musical talent.

These characters are far from one-dimensional, with each having qualities that make them both relatable and easy to root for. Miles' search for identity was especially heart wrenching and sweet.

This is a delightful read that celebrates the bonds of family and the magic that can be found in everyday life.

Jandy Nelson’s “When the World Tips Over” is a story that intertwines the lives of three siblings with a mysterious rainbow-haired girl. Each sibling possesses a unique gift, adding layers to this intriguing story. The novel is set in an atmospheric, otherworldly realm with softened edges, creating a dreamlike quality that envelops the reader.
The writing is full of quirky, beautiful words that paint vivid pictures and evoke strong emotions. This book is an excellent choice for adults looking to explore Young Adult books, as it avoids the typical teen angst and school drama.

There is no possible way to sing enough praises for this book. It is pure perfection—storytelling at its finest.

This is a character driven novel, and the character development is exceptional. The characters are diverse. They are raw and real. They are rich and unique—absolutely vibrant. And what this novel does, that I haven't seen any other book do with nearly as much success, is capture the magic in the mundane. I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but you will understand after you've read this book. Never have I seen real life depicted so magically.

There is also a lot of great subtext in this book. This is one of those books that begs to be scrutinized and studied (maybe on a second reading, because the first reading should be purely for the pleasure of it). Themes of family and family trauma, love—both familial and romantic, mistakes and forgiveness, and metamorphic self-discovery. There's even an underlying nod to the transformative power of literature and storytelling.

This book feels like magic—words and language that transcend the mundane, dancing across the page in a jubilant celebration of life. Hands down, this is one of the best books I have ever read.

YA is such a tricky category, containing a multitude of ages, stages, and genres. When I read the blurb for When the World Tips Over, I imagined a story written for younger readers -- so it took me a while to readjust my expectations. (I would maybe classify this as "new adult," but maybe that's just because I was ultra-naive when I was Dizzy's age...and Miles', too, probably.)

Jandy Nelson is an extraordinary writer, building entire worlds and creating authentic voices for a variety of characters. (And the magic realism was incredible!) This story really does span generations and continents, culminating in one gorgeous moment at the end where everything comes together.

Trigger warnings for parental neglect, abandonment, SA, underage drinking, drug use, and several other mature themes.