I will never, EVER stop raving about this book. This is one of the best, if not the best YA book that I have ever read. Jandy Nelson is a absolute genius and her writing is phenomenal. I have not stopped thinking about this book since I finished it. Oh, and the ending made me cry and that is very rare for me. I was not just crying because of how it ended, but I was sad because it was over.

I don't want to give too much away because I think it's best to go into this book without knowing a lot about it, so here we go. This story revolves around the three Fall siblings who live in Northern California wine country (very East of Eden vibes). The Fall siblings live with their single mother, as their father mysteriously disappeared years ago after he seemingly rose from the dead (you must read it to find out more!!). Each sibling has a little bit of magic in their own ways, and they all stumble across a girl who seems even more magical then they are. As the siblings each become drawn to the girl, they discover more about her broken background and the broken and tragic history of the Fall family.

This book has everything I want in a story: love, drama, mystery, magic, and heartbreak. These characters have left their mark on me and I can't wait to fall back into this world when I reread it in the future. This book truly made my world tip over.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is one of those YA books that solidifies that YA books are just fiction books primarily about teens. This is a complex read. A magical realism, multi-generational, intense, mystery, love story, coming of age journey. I didn’t love it as much as I remember loving her prior two novels, but I respect her talent so much, and the way she constructs sentences, chapters, books, & stories is amazing. 3.5 ⭐️


Thanks to Penguin Group, Dial Books, and NetGalley for the ARC.

I have seriously gone back and forth on my feelings for this book which I would expect no less from a Jandy Nelson title. I love how she manages to pull every emotion and feeling from me when I am immersed in her books. The problem for me with this one are the magical realism aspects. I have always always struggled to get engaged when that is part of a story and it certainly is here in abundance. That said, I just can't seem to be disappointed with this story because if you push some of those aspects aside you still have a story of family, found family, love and hate, filled to the brim with relatable situations and emotions.

I will forever read anything and everything Jandy Nelson writes and I will happily do it even if tears are streaming down my face. She tackles the tough emotions and struggles of growing up and finding who you are and where you belong.

Thank you for the early copy for review.

A really interesting story about 5 generations of a family and who is related to who (or not). The story really holds your interest as you try to figure out the dynamics of the family and what happened in each generation that greatly affects people several generations later. The family tree in the front and back of this book really helps to understand who goes where.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. You have made my 14 year old heart incredibly happy. I will wait for however long Jandy Nelson needs to write a masterpiece. When the World Tips Over is lyrical, and heart wrenching, and drenched in all the types of sunshine you can imagine from the full-bodied sun of a long summer's day to the watery and thin sun you may see when you look out your window in December. Nelson writes the story of the Fall family with care and heart, capturing the voices of each sibling (and Cassidy as narrator and connector) with clarity and strength. At a time where young adult novels tend to skew towards older teenagers, this novel is perfect for anyone who is starting to dip their toes into the young adult genre. While there is discussion of heavier themes like parental abandonment, parental abuse, and homophobia, they are discussed in a way which is appropriate for the readers who may pick this story up. People may pretend that children are not exposed to more "adult" topics but that is far from the truth. Kudos to Nelson for writing a story which tackles mature topics with grace and ease and discusses them with a young adult audience in mind. I hope the teenagers of today enjoy this story, as well as Nelson's others, the way I did.

I’m sure there are some quirky tween girls out there that will eat this shit up. The first chapter or two revealed that one sibling could see ghosts and another was a dog-whisperer… And that kind of non-sensical whimsy was present throughout the remaining 500+ pages. I liked Nelson’s I’ll Give You the Sun and would pick up something else by her in a heartbeat… But this was just weird. Odd plot choices (who doesn’t love when an author repeatedly reminds you a relationship isn’t incestuous, lol) and riddled with magical elements/curse lore that I just didn’t care about.

The easiest 5 stars I have given in a long time. A stunning story that stopped me in my tracks so very many times. It was the kind of book you want to immediately start back at page one after finishing.

Loved this one! Great and fun read. Highly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for my ARC.

I was SO excited to receive an ARC for this book because I'll Give You The Sun is one of my favorite novels of all time, no matter how old I get. I was worried, however, that this book would be too similar to IGYTS based on the summary - and I fear I was right. Nelson clearly enjoys writing about sibling relationships, but I saw too much of a crossover from her previous book to really enjoy this one. I'm going to stick with three stars because her prose continues to be beautiful and the characters are refreshingly unique, but I was really hoping this one would be better.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am a fan of the author’s previous work and was thrilled to receive this ARC. It took me a bit of time to get into the flow of the story- alternating between “real life” and the fairytale. Ultimately I found it to be a heartwarming and through provoking read. The family dynamics were unique and I like the way it characters ended up being connected to one another. I thought I had things figured out but I didn’t foresee all the twists and turns.

I'm happy to say that, even though years have passed, Jandy Nelson continues to be one of my favorite authors, and this novel is proof of that.

When the World Tips Over has all the elements we love in a Jandy Nelson's story: family bonds, family trauma, friendships, romance and well-developed, flawed characters that we love and can't stop rooting for. I finished the novel absolutely in love with the Fall family in all of their generations, and I wish just I could jump into the story and hug all of them.

I love how the author developed each character, their struggles and how they're very distinct from each other. I specially love how Jandy Nelson talks about sibling relationship - be it the ones full of love and companionship, or the others full of envy, rivalry and remorse. The sibling bond between Dizzy, Wynton and Miles and Alonso and Sebastian's love story were my favorite parts of the book. I also love the magical realism elements and their simbolisms.

However, this book is by no means perfect. In truth, there are a lot of things that could've been better. First: it could be at least 50 pages short. Cassidy's chapters are way too long, and the author goes so deep in every single detail of her past that it's beyond necessary. We got the point, she had an awful childhood and a bad mom, we don't need to see pages after pages of that to understand it.

Mile's chapters annoyed me as well. If I was going through all of his issues, including a brother in a coma, I wouldn't be thinking about sex or kissing boys 24/7. I know he's a teenager, but it seemed kinda unrealistic to me that someone would be thinking about boys all the time in a situation like that.

I wish we had less chapters of Miles' POV and more of Dizzy's and Wynton's. The author dedicated so much time to Miles that Wynton ended up not having as much development and depth/nuance as his brother. Dizzy is fascinating, and because of that, I wish we had spent more time with her as well. Both of them had potential to be bigger in this story.

And last of all: there is just too many plot lines in this novel. I mean, each of the 3 siblings were going through very different personal issues, their mom had her own problems as well (past and present), there's the mysterous rainbow-haired girl who pops up in their lives out of nowhere, the "mystery of the missing father" plot, and not to mention the family curse. And everytime a character was introduced, we had to know all about their story of life since they were born. Was it really necessary, though? It overwhelmed me, and I'm gonna say it again: the author could have shortened it and cut some stories off.

I had high hopes for this book as I have heard nothing but good things about the author; however, I was a bit disappointed. The book is quite a bit longer than I feel it needed to be, and I was thrown off by the different points-of-view. Not the perspectives but the changing of first, second, and third POVs given the different characters' stories. I needed a bit of consistency.

I would definitely read another work by the author, but this one just wasn't for me.

Although it started off slow, the payoff was beautiful. When the World Tips Over weaves in and out of multiple narrative points of view, spanning several generations. Jandy Nelson has a poets voice and a true gift for weaving narrative prose. Each of the characters is dealing with something deep, troubling, and profound, and they each do so in their own way. A masterclass in voice.

The book deals with concepts surrounding the following: LGBTQ; identity; sex/love/romance; parental trauma; generational traumas; abandonment; a search for self; music.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read and review an early copy of this book! All opinions are completely my own. I will be posting my review on Amazon, B&N, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok closer to publication. My Goodreads review has already been posted.

Review:

When I heard that Jandy Nelson was finally releasing another book, I jumped at the chance to read it early.

I'll Give You the Sun was one of my favorite standout books from 2015. It was an intimate and colorful insight into the lives of twins as their relationship fractured, and the road they took to finding each other again. As a twin myself, that book spoke volumes to me, and I loved the queer rep and lyrical writing style.

In When the World Tips Over, there's that same blend of lyrical writing and family relationships. We follow the Fall family, and a Cain & Abel curse that plagues each new generation of brothers. This book feels like not only an ode to complicated families, but also to storytelling, and the way that family histories are shaped and passed down like myth. The way Jandy Nelson layers and breadcrumbs the different stories throughout the novel - given to us from various POVs - is nothing short of masterful. This novel is told through so many lenses and literary devices that I felt as if I were reading a hidden fable. I would even describe this book as contemporary fantasy. The town has magical properties and some of our main characters can see ghosts, talk to dogs, and float into the sky.

For each sibling we follow, there's romance, questions of identity, and an exploration into the ways we can misperceive others. I think this book would have really spoken to me in high school. As it was, I still enjoyed this as an adult and would argue that Jandy Nelson writes in a way that YA contemporary needs.

This one is for the lost teen (past or present), the artist, and the unseen.

Triggers: Sexual assault, neglect, drug/alcohol usage and abuse

I can't even put into words how excited I was to receive this book as an arc in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley! Jandy Nelson's "I'll Give You the Sun" is one of my all-time favorites and will always hold a special place in my heart.

"When the World Tips Over" did not give me the same butterflies in my stomach and stars in my eyes as Nelson's previous books, but here are a few things that I enjoyed while reading:

- representation! gay and bisexual characters
- a long timeline of family history explained -- there's always a crooked branch on the family tree :)
- dynamic characters who think and feel deeply
- beautiful writing and swoon-worthy quotes from Jandy Nelson

However, my lower rating stems from these things that seemed to overtake my overall enjoyment of the book:

- it became very confusing - it was hard to tell what was actually happening versus what the characters were imagining. A sort of weird fantasy
element came into play, but it didn't blend well with the story.
- the pace was super slow and didn't really pick up cadence in any of the chapters. It took me way longer to finish this book than it normally does.
- I understand the need for character development, but some of it was nonsensical. The nicknames for the characters and their weird hobbies just
didn't make much sense to the story.

With all this being said, I still consider Jandy Nelson an automatic author. I will read anything she writes :)

A moving story, a little long at times but heartfelt. Secrets. feeling alone and different with more in common than they realize and more in common with everyone who carries their heart on the inside. I think my students will relate and find heart and hope in this book

Frankly, I do think people who loved I'll Give You the Sun will enjoy Jandy Nelson's newest, especially because they're very similar in tone and themes and characterizations (a bit too similar in some aspects for me). There were a lot of moments in this book that I really liked, but sadly it didn't work for me as a whole.

I just think it was much too long for the story we ultimately got. Admittedly, this is partially because I'm not much of a story-in-a-story person, so I found a good chunk of the book to be useless even if it did all tie together at the end (and I mean the very end). There were four POVs, but they weren't balanced at all. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, but again this book was so long that I thought a lot could've been cut or at least shortened. Honestly, to me, this story was juggling too much, with the multiple POVs, the stories, the letters, the emails, and so on, so it ultimately didn't work for me but might work for you, etc.

Thanks for the review copy. I liked Dizzy the best. I liked Miles the least. This felt more like a YA book than adult, though.

When the World Tips Over by Janey Nelson immerses you in the stories of the Falls’ kids, Dizzy, Miles, and Wynton with alternating point of view (POV) chapters. Cassidy, a rainbow haired girl or angel, has a wild story to tell of her own which intersects with the Falls’ clan. It’s hard to put into words what the book is, it’s more about how it makes you feel fully what each character is experiencing.

I recommend this book for young adults and adults. The story is intricately woven from various POVs, it’s worth the effort to get to know all of the characters and how they fit in the story. There’s drama, family secrets and a curse, love lost, love found, traumatic events, and above all, people finding where they belong.

Thank you Penguin Group Young Readers and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

Set in a town that sometimes disappears from maps, a family is slowly uncovering their old secrets. The book has multiple povs that are distinctly unique, along with newspaper articles, journal entries, letters that were never sent, and recipes.

Each of the characters in the book has something about them that makes them so interesting:
Winston is looking for the father who left them years ago, going to where he thinks he will be able to hear his dad’s trumpet again.
Miles looks like the all-around Perfect kid, but he just decided to run away from his life looking for something that can make him feel alive again. He can talk to dogs, loves to read, and is secretly part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Dizzy has synesthesia, sees ghosts, believes in angels, and probably received unrestricted internet access way too early. She is the embodiment of childish joy, curious, and trusts people others give up on.
This might seem like too much unimportant info about these characters, but I am not sure I can put into words just how wonderful they are - from the first chapter, I could just feel that this book would take me out of a reading slump. The book wasn’t just character-driven, but for me, they definitely carried the story. I also loved how they stressed the importance of friends and family, not just romantic love! These people made a place for themselves in the universe, and it was so much fun to be part of that journey.

I absolutely LOVED the underlying narrative with the romance book they all secretly read :’) A small little connection between characters who thought they were alone in the world. Even the side characters reek from loneliness: the baker mom who leaves a meal for the guy who left her years ago; the uncle who is known as drunk; and the entire backstory of Cassidy who collected bugs when she was young because her mom didn’t let her meet people (that entire plotline still HUNTS me, omg I don’t know if I will ever recover from her story).

Jandy Nelson has such a whimsical and wonderful writing style - her books feel like art pieces. I was never fully sure if the magic in the book is real or if these characters just cope in weird ways, which was a really cool part of the narrative.

Each of the main characters had such a unique personality that you could distinguish from their different povs. It was actually so cool to see the difference between what others thought about them vs their own thoughts. In the beginning, Dizzy describes Miles as this untouchable, perfect person (to the point that I thought there's no way I could connect with his character). But the moment you switch to his pov, you can see that he's just a mess. The author makes all of them feel like /real/ people, and you can't help but root for them.

The ending was a little bit too slow and repetitive for me, but the author is just so talented - I eat up her books every time. To write this review, I reread all of my highlights, and I WISH I could add all of them to this review - this book and these characters made me so happy to be alive?? They are so optimistic despite everything and make even the most mundane parts of life feel so important.