By Jandy Nelson
Coming September 24, 2024
(4 / 5)
Dizzy, Miles, and Wynton are siblings whose father disappeared 12 years ago, and each are facing their own challenges. Then a mysterious rainbow-haired girl appears, affecting each of the siblings in their own ways.
When the World Tips Over is a book that dives deep into the dynamics of family, following a story that spans generations. Through the book, we follow the perspectives of 4 different characters along with notes from some other characters, plus the story of a family’s ancestors. It’s a lot to keep track of, but all of these pieces are interweaved in a way that slowly reveals a bigger picture while holding a feeling of mystery and destiny. There’s a sense of magical realism throughout, which gives the characters and story an almost fairy tale type feel. The book is quite long, and at times I felt like it was moving much slower than I prefer with not a lot of action… but I think that it’s just the type of book this is: very introspective and focused more on the characters than the plot. It was sometimes a bit depressing, yet thought-provoking enough to keep me wanting to read more, even when I wasn’t quite sure where the story was going. There are certainly some interesting surprises along the way that I didn’t see coming!
Thank you to Penguin Teen, Dial Books, and BookishFirst for the free review copy of When the World Tips Over! All opinions expressed in my review are completely my own.
