Book Review: "When the World Tips Over" by Jandy Nelson

Ten years ago, I read Jandy Nelson’s I’ll Give You the Sun. It was easily one of the most incredible books I’ve ever read. Four years later, I went back to read her debut, The Sky is Everywhere, and I loved that, too. But for a number of years, there’s been no concrete sign that a third Nelson book would be published.

Color me shocked when last week, I received an email from NetGalley with a “Read Now” opportunity—for Nelson’s new book! I couldn’t get to it fast enough.

Jandy Nelson doesn’t just write books. She creates dazzlingly beautiful, poetic masterpieces of words and images, with sparks of magical realism, which leave you breathless and shaken to your core, your mind spinning. That artistry is once again on display in When the World Tips Over.

This is the story of the Fall family, who live in Northern California wine country. The kids’ father was a winemaker who disappeared one day, leaving his family in disarray. Bernadette, his wife, is a celebrated chef. Their oldest son, Wynton, is a violin virtuoso with a talent for self-destruction. The middle child, Miles, is handsome, kind, smart, athletic, and lonely—and wants to find the perfect guy. And their youngest, Dizzy, thinks she’s ugly but dreams of being a heroine in a romance novel.

The appearance of a beautiful, tattooed young woman with rainbow-colored hair turns the Falls upside down. She changes the lives of all three children, but carries her own pain and sorrows. Is she an angel? A saint? A mirage? Simply ordinary?

This is one of those books where there are a lot of disparate threads that ultimately weave together. It’s a beautiful, emotional read about families, friends, love, hope, and a little bit of magic.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dial Books for the advance copy; the book will publish 9/24.