Thank you to the publishers for allowing me to read and review a copy of this book.

I enjoyed the beginning of the book and was looking forward to it being a magical read. Unfortunately it missed the mark due to all of the abuse and terrible things the children endured that didn’t feel necessary to the story. I did like how it all connected in the end, so I probably rated it a little higher than actually reflects how much I disliked the book overall.

The Falls family has been in pieces since the patriarch disappeared. Dizzy, Miles, and Wynton, along with their mother, are just trying to make their own way in the world. A rainbow-haired girl shows up, just when each of them need her, but who is she? When tragedy strikes, what will happen to the Fall family?

When the World Tips Over is a slow starter, not really gaining any speed as the book reaches its middle part. The book is too disjointed, with too many main characters with their own storylines. The novel is lengthy and might have been better with at least fifty less pages. Dizzy is the best character in the book, a young girl with so much going on around her, but she just wants someone to pay attention.

Overall, When the World Tips Over was a miss for me. The book just did not capture my interest, which was disappointing as I liked the author's other works. In the end, I think that the author just tried to do too much, to give readers the whole world instead of a snapshot of a family's life. For these reasons, I would be hesitant to recommend the novel to other readers.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy by NetGalley and the publisher. The decision to read and review this novel was entirely my own.

This was my first experience in a Jandy Nelson world, and I loved the whimsy and the uniqueness of the characters. For me, I wasn't in the proper headspace to fully appreciate everything about this novel at the time I read it. I had difficulty keeping the characters straight at first and had to keep going back to figure out who was who. Even still, this was a 4-star read that I expect would have been a 5-star at a different time. I have this flagged for a reread. I plan to delve more into Nelson's backlist!

I am a Jandy Nelson superfan and was so excited about this book, but for whatever reason, I struggled to connect to it. Was it supposed to be middle grade? I see that some Goodreads reviewers are shelving it as that and I agree. Could also be that I am not generally a fan of magical realism OR long family sagas. So I will leave this to her other superfans and patiently wait for her next book...
The Goodreads reviews are strong so clearly it's a case of me, not the book and I am hoping that everyone else loves it..

The PERFECT magical-realism family drama! This writing holds so much emotion with each page, an amazing journey to be had by anyone who has ever had their own family woes or identity crisis. So many twists and turns with an unlikely friendship/found family plot line.

One of my longer reads this year, but each page felt so delicate to my heart. This was one of my first family sagas, and the magical realism additions made it so fun.

There were pieces of the story that I hoped tied together more smoothly, but the story in its entirety has a satisfying ending.

Years ago I picked up a Jandy Nelson book and it killed me. This author knows how to write a family drama, artistic, loving, losing story and every time it rips my heart out and stomps on it. This book was devastating and gorgeous and lovely.

Jandy Nelson is a MASTER. Incredible. So worth the wait. I highlighted so many lines. This is a class in human experience, and I will think about these characters for a long time to come.

2.5 stars!!!

I can't help but feel like I would've enjoyed this book soooo much more if it came out when I was a teenager. I've been patiently waiting for Jandy Nelson to release a new book since I read I'll Give You the Sun nearly 10 years ago, but I think that all that hype made this fall super flat for me. My biggest complaint is that this book is just so long and I don't think it needed to be. There was a lot of filler, but none of it felt like it was super important to the story, it was just the characters existing. I did enjoy the family dynamics and it was interesting to hear the story from multiple points of view and I had a good time connecting the dots every time we got a bit more information. I do feel like I'm in the minority for this, everyone else seems to have loved it! Teenage me would've liked it more.

Gorgeous. Soon it will be out in my country,really heartwrenching even tough full of hope. Love that. The pace of the story is kinda slow,but the characthers development make it all worth it. Thank you net galley !

I ended up listening to this book. It is very long, but beautifully written. Part fiction,, part fairytale I enjoyed this story about family and finding oneself. Be prepared to suspend disbelief.

This was a bit of a slow start for me, and it took a long time to win me over. However no one writes like Jandy Nelson does and regardless of the start, this was wonderful. Extremely character driven and really immerses you. Thank you for the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

4.5 ⭐️

When the World Tips Over is an epic story of a group of siblings. It follows their lives, their loves, their losses, as they grow and grieve and become. Full of complexity, and a touch of magic, it’s a lovely tale that, while lengthy, seems over too soon.

Thank you Jandy Nelson, Dial Books, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

Solid 4.5

A bit of a slow start, but the rest of the story was so grand, it didn't matter. The siblings are a kick and the ending came way too soon, but was a great conclustion.

This was a story that was a slow start for me, but as I started getting hooked by Dizzy, Miles, and Wynton, I didn't want to put it down. Sandro was also awesome, and I loved that some people could talk to him, which made him more of an integral part of the story than an observer. The amount of magical realism was just enough to make it fun.

This was family drama and mystery, and the fallout that happens when a man abandons his family. While the explanation of his abandonment sort of made sense, I was with the kids and their reaction when they discovered the truth--a sense of betrayal being one of the main emotions.

I found each of the characters to be interesting for different reasons, and this included Cassidy. As I mentioned above, it started out slowly, and I got a bit muddled in the middle, but by the halfway point, I was completely hooked and probably read most of the second half in just over a day. I have not read Jandy's first two books, but after reading this, I look forward to reading both. I like her writing style, and while the pacing wasn't even throughout, I became more invested as the story continued and the ending made me smile. I also enjoyed having a mystery that we discovered along with the characters (the kids at least).

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

“If people bear the trauma of their ancestors, doesn’t it follow they also bear their rhapsodies? If there is generational pain passed down, mustn’t there also be generational joy? If there are family curses that drop through time, mustn’t there also be family blessings that do the same?”

In the time of forever, Theo Fall disappeared, leaving his family cracked down the middle. His wife, Bernadette, chef of The Blue Spoonful, leaves out dinner for him every night. Twelve-year-old Dizzy Fall sees ghosts in the vineyard and just got dumped by her ex-best friend. Her older brother, Perfect Miles, talks to dogs and hasn’t been to school in weeks. Her oldest brother, Wynton, hung the moon and plays violin like he’s been possessed. They each have an encounter with a rainbow-haired girl (possibly an angel, Dizzy thinks), who is secretly the key to all of them. When tragedy strikes, the four of them will have to unwind the secrets that led to Theo’s disappearance to save each other and heal a generations old family curse. I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Penguin. Trigger warnings: fratricide, sexual assault/pedophilia, abusive households, car accident, severe injury, mental illness, depression, drug/alcohol abuse, neglect, bullying, infidelity.

I’ll Give You the Sun is one of my favorite books of all time, and I couldn’t wait to get my copy of When the World Tips Over. It has everything I love about Jandy Nelson’s writing: gorgeous, inventive prose; lovable, heartbreaking, fully-rounded characters; a sense of place like I’m actually living in their town for a while; just enough magic (mostly the kind we make ourselves) to fill me with wonder; and intricate, complex family dynamics that keep me guessing. Nelson’s writer voice is one of my absolute favorites, and even though the story and the characters are new, I can “hear” her in this book like I’m talking to a beloved friend.

As with many of my favorite characters, I’m confused about whether I want to know Cassidy or be her, with her rainbow hair and many tattoos of words and poems. She’s the spark that sets the Fall family in motion, but her complicated history keeps her out of Manic Pixie Dream Girl territory. Though they’re all a bit magical, Cassidy is as real and complicated as any of the Fall siblings. My heart broke for her so many times while she was growing up with her mother, who struggles with untreated mental illness. (I’m also completely in love with rosy maple moths now–the way my soul would leave my body if I ever saw one outside.) Felix was my second favorite character, a friendly giant with clashing clothes who appears when Miles most needs someone to ground him.

All of the Fall family are interesting and well-drawn, though, and the only place the novel lagged for me a bit was in the Time of Forever stories. I enjoy the way Cassidy tells the history of the Fall family, part fairy tale and part Gabriel García Márquez-style magical realism, but I did occasionally feel that they were a little too long/frequent and that it was pulling me away from the main story. There was a major Aha! moment when one of the plot elements finally clicked into place for me, and as always, Nelson is an expert at tugging all the threads of her many characters together into one coherent and beautiful tapestry. I love the Fall family like they’re people I know, and I can’t wait to revisit them on many rereads to come.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

Oh my gosh I really enjoyed this book!!

What a passionate story filled with love, loss, tenderness, and such a gem of a read!

Thank you to the publisher!!

4/5

This one started out really slow for me. It took me quite a few starts and stops to get to a part where I could continuously read. I believe the book could have been a little shorter. There was a lot of background information that had to be said so the pieces would come together in the end. Glad I stuck with the book. I believe there will be some students in the classroom that would like to read the Fall family history. The town had a pretty neat history behind it as well. I like the stories that began to come out during some of the road trips. The end though, wow! Thank you to Ms. Nelson, Dial Books, and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this book. I will be buying a copy for our classroom library.

I have really enjoyed Jandy Nelson's writing and this was no exception. I agree with friends who said this was a little longer than it could have been in places, but I love the characters in her books and the way their relationships developed in this one. It was quirky and heartfelt.

Really intrigued story that pulls you in and grips you from start to finish. I really enjoyed this one. Will chack out more by the author.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book is available now.

This is the second book I’ve read by this author. I gave 4 stars to her book “I’ll Give You the Sun”.

I couldn’t get into this book. It started with a rainbow-haired angel and then there was a talking dog. I was confused and completely uninterested. 528 pages is a long time to read a book I’m not enjoying. It would have been a Do Not Finish if it weren’t for the ARC. Sadly cannot recommend.