About the Book
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Author:
- Jandy Nelson
Cover Story: Work of Art
BFF Charm: Make It Rain
Talky Talk: Like A Dream
Bonus Factors: Magical Realism, Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Family Secrets, Tasty Business, Loyal Animal Friends
Relationship Status: Drinking Buddies
Cover Story: Work of Art
It’s so bright and textured; I love it! It’s like an art piece made out of strips of fabric or felt, or I can also see it painted using a painter’s trowel and there will be all curls and raises to the colors on the canvas. It really does evoke the rolling hills of Northern California to me.
The Deal:
In Paradise Falls, California, there lives a family on a crumbling vineyard with a complicated history. All of the Fall siblings, from “Perfect” Miles hiding his sexuality to destructively talented Wynton to motor-mouth Dizzy, are yearning for something they can’t have, and it’s not just the father that inexplicably walked out on them twelve years ago. It’s not until the rainbow-haired girl—who may also be an Eternal Being, according to Dizzy—suddenly appears in their lives that things which were once impossible now don’t look so hopeless. And this family’s destiny, which was going with certainty in one direction, is suddenly careening off into an entirely new path. But can you rewrite a story that’s already foretold?
BFF Charm: Make It Rain
It was easier to warm up to some of our main characters immediately, like Dizzy with her penchant for weird facts and her desperation to be loved, than others. Wynston is like that scribbly black cloud over Pig Pen, but it’s clear we’re not supposed to like him much, as he barely likes himself. Miles is also quite woe-is-me, as Sandro puts it, and after spending some time in his head, I was wishing I could make a counseling referral for a fictional character. But when we’re introduced to little Cassidy with her bug family, I instantly wanted to alternately hug her and slap her mom (a feeling which did not go away). It’s a credit to Nelson’s writing that I eventually wound up loving them all.
The story constantly flips back and forth between these multiple POVs to Bernadette’s journal entries, as well as side-steps into the past as we learn the history of the Falls family, but, somehow, Nelson keeps it all straight. Each character’s voice is distinct enough that it was actually pretty easy to follow along.
Swoonworthy Scale: 5
There’s a lot of grandiose declarations of intense, undying love from various characters. Multiple instances of love at first sight and lighting strikes of passion. Sometimes it was because we’re in the minds of horny teenagers, but also because it’s just that type of book. You gotta go with it for what it is or you will be rolling your eyes every few seconds.
I cracked up at the running theme that everyone in the Falls family had secretly read Bernadette’s trashy romance novels and were all comparing their love lives to the silly-named heroes from her favorite series.
Talky Talk: Like A Dream
I’ll be honest: it took me a few start-stop attempts to get into this story. There are some novels that demand to be read all in one sitting, and this is one of them. There’s a LOT going on, with multiple viewpoints and backstories and puzzle pieces to put together, and it doesn’t work right (at least, not for me) when you’re only reading bits here and there on your lunch breaks. But then I had a quiet Saturday where I sat down in earnest with the book at breakfast, and, well, suddenly it was 5pm and I was throwing away my last few tissues because yes, the last few chapters made me a blubbery mess.
Jandy’s style of writing is a bit like having a fever dream; as I sit here trying to sort out what the story’s mood looks like to me, I’m reminded of movies like Big Fish or Forrest Gump or Practical Magic. Rambling character studies in worlds where bad things happen and sadness exists, but there’s also sheen of brightness and whimsy over it, something to temper the dark so a hopeful ending feels possible.
I read both of Jandy Nelson’s previous books, albeit almost ten years ago, and I don’t remember many details from either one. And, really, I have no desire to read them again. So you could say I’m not exactly a die-hard stan or anything. BUT. I do recall how her books made me feel when reading them, and I got those same sensations this time: optimism, delight, feeling connected to the human condition. It’s why I’ll keep reading anything else she puts out and coming back to this kind of story in the future. Her writing is transformative, and that is a talent you can hone but can’t teach.
Bonus Factor: Magical Realism
Dogs with telepathy, kissing ghosts, souffles that make you fall in love with the next person you see. I am a sucker for magical realism. (Parts of this book reminded me of Sarah Addison Allen or Alice Hoffman if you’re looking for more in that vein.) There’s also some unreliable narration thrown in there for good measure as you’re not always positive which dreamy elements are real or embellished.
Bonus Factor: NOT Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl
I’ll admit, when I read the synopsis, and when the rainbow-haired girl was first introduced as this tattooed-covered, brightly-dressed quirky girl, that I was was worried we were going to be in for an eye-roll of a time, but I should’ve trusted in Nelson’s vision. She gets to tell her story and be a fully realized character, too, and I fell in love with her, just like everyone else.
Bonus Factor: Family Secrets
Things would be so much less fraught if people just communicated more, but then there would be way less telenovelas and draaaamaaah, so…trade-off.
Bonus Factor: Tasty Business
Bernadette is a chef and her restaurant in town is called The Blue Spoonful. In one of Dizzy’s opening scenes, she’s eating her mom’s gingerbread with lavender butter, which, honestly, sounds like an insane combo but also I need to try this lavender butter ASAP! Between all the winery talk and the magical souffles and the sample menus, I am STARVED. Trip to wine country, anyone?
Bonus Factor: Loyal Animal Friends
Miles can speak telepathically to Sandro, the black Lab who lives next door. Sandro, like Miles, is also queer and depressed and is missing his lost-love, Beauty. You don’t know how badly I, too, wish I could talk to my dog.
Relationship Status: Drinking Buddies
If we were to crack open a bottle of white on the top of a sunset-splashed hill, Book, oh, the stories you would tell me. We could probably solve all of life’s problems from that spot. Thanks for sharing your whimsy and vivaciousness with me for a little while.
FTC Full Disclosure: I borrowed my copy of this book from the library. I received neither money nor peanut butter cups in exchange for this review. When the World Tips Over is available now.
