“Live Forever Now.” That’s the favorite book of the Fall family, and just part of the moving message told by Jandy Nelson’s newest novel. “When the World Tips Over,” published on Sept. 24, 2024, is the tale of three siblings and the history of their family. Dizzy, Miles and Wynton Fall live in an odd sort of empty space: The hole left by their father leaving without a word. Then a mysterious girl with rainbow hair appears, suddenly changing the way they see their damaged selves.
Told in many perspectives over the course of the story, “When the World Tips Over” is teeming with familial and romantic love. As the reader begins to understand more of the Fall family’s story, they quickly see the lines of generational love and sibling trauma, both of which have combined to make the siblings who they are.
The plot begins when they find themselves in the middle of the struggles leaving them feeling loveless: Dizzy’s loss of a best friend, Wynton’s spiraling mental health, and Miles’ shattering “perfect” facade; and the resolution only comes when they’re able to open up and love each other, reuniting after taking separate paths to pull their family back together.
Overall, this book is about emotion; Nelson wields her words like a composer wields song. This is a story to open the heart for; it is upsetting and joyful and heartwarming. It’s a piece of art, meant to make readers feel.
Every character is a little bit of a disaster, a mess of their past and themselves and everything that makes someone human. Despite having some elements drawn out with fairy tale-esque fantasy, the events and characters ring true in their complexity and depth.
Plotwise, this book is hard to put down. Within the first pages of the story, the reader is hooked. Despite the genre technically being young adult fiction and romance, it almost feels like a mystery with so many aspects of the family history to be uncovered. The story is unwound slowly, with secrets just begging to be known. This might not be the lightest or quickest of reads, with 528 pages, but not a single one of them is wasted.
The story also manages to handle mental health struggles authentically. Wynton and Miles both struggle with issues off the bat; Wynton with substance abuse issues and Miles with depression. They deal with it in vastly different manners, which helps to define their characters; Wynton pushes himself through, refusing to acknowledge his issues and Miles, on the other hand, tries to stay together until he finally falls apart and runs from the version of himself he’s created.
Their struggles and unhealthy coping mechanisms are never praised, but also never demonized. Both boys are still in their teen years, and their methods of coping with their struggles reflect that. It’s flawed, but human.
For all the wonderful things about this book, it does have some imperfections that begin to show between the middle and early end of the story. There are several ideas, like the idea that sisterhood may have a vital importance, that are introduced over the course of the story that prompt intrigue, only to remain unresolved at the book’s conclusion. They’re small details, but tend to nag at the mind unpleasantly.
Somewhat similarly, the various perspectives include flashbacks that readers may find difficult to keep track of, especially nearing the end. This is a lesser issue, though, because as long as the reader is able to keep their focus on the main story, it all explains itself in the end, and it’s worth sticking through for.
To say one thing about this book: it hurts. It’s excellent. The flaws in the plot are overwhelmed by the emotion Nelson is able to draw from her reader and the connection to the characters. Overall, it’s absolutely worth taking a chance on falling in love with this story.
Sarah Ressler • Oct 4, 2024 at 1:03 pm
Now excited to read it as it sounds much like the same style and family dynamics as I’ll Give You the Sun which I couldn’t put down (and ugly cried while reading on a plane ).