I love Nicola Yoon, but I also hate Nicola Yoon. I should know better by now and have tissues ready.

At Tome Student Literacy Society, we have a list of language and content criteria for the books we select for our annual book award list, the Tome Society Book Award. Upon a language search in this book, we discovered that it did not meet our specific criteria for language. Due to this, we elected not to finish this book for review purposes for our organization. We would like to thank the publisher for the opportunity to review an e-book of this title.

One thing about Nicola Yoon is that her books are going to make me cry. Instructions for Dancing was no exception. I absolutely loved the almost fairytale aspect behind this story, and fell in love with Evie as a character nearly immediately.

This didn’t have the happy ending that maybe I had hoped for, but also know that Nicola Yoon’s novels are never exactly what one might expect them to be. They always leave you walking away in a state of melancholia, and this was no exception. I think that her world-building is wonderful, and this story (while initially seeming like a sweet YA love story) was a wonderful practice in the human emotion and what brings us to where we wind up.

Thank you for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I’ve had this book on my shelf for quite a long time so I’m happy to say that I finally blew the dust off of it and read my oldest arc.
I think this book was okay. It centers around Evie, a teenage girl who no longer believes in love after her parents finalize their divorce. One day, she realizes that when she sees a couple kissing, she can see their whole relationship journey and how it ends. To find answers, she ends up taking ballroom dancing classes at a local dance studio and there she meets X, a boy who catches her attention. They are convinced by the dance studio owners that they should enter an amateur dancing competition.

It was such a quick read and while it was a fine read, I almost wish we got some more depth out of it. I was expecting a lot of angst and heartfelt emotions especially with the side arc of knowing how relationships will end. I think more emotion could have been written overall as I don’t know if I’ll remember much about this book in the future. It just didn’t have an impact on me like I wanted.

Thank you to Delacourte Press and Netgalley for this arc, all thoughts are my own.

This book made me laugh, made my heart sing, made me cry, and made me not want to stop reading. I couldn’t ask for any more in a romance book. Nicola Yoon knows what she is doing.

This was so stinkin’ cute!!
Nicola Yoon was one of the authors that got me back into reading, so I may be biased 🙈🙈! I loved the relationship between Evie and X. I truly believe nobody is writing young adult contemporary like Nicola Yoon!!

What a joyful new romance from Nicola Yoon! I loved the chemistry, the banter, and the setting/world this one explored.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me a free copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

This was honestly such a mixed book. Deeply romantic and heartbreaking at the same time. Beautiful writing, although not my favorite Nicola Yoon book. Definitely recommend!

Well, this book absolutely shattered me. Toward the end of the book I suspected I knew what was going to happen, but that didn't make it any less gut-wrenching. I'm a fan of Nicola Yoon's -- she knows how to write complex young people and this book is no different. But whew I needed 3-5 business days to recover emotionally from this one after finishing it.

My BEYOND out of control TBR (and extreme moodiness) kept me from reading this book sooner. It split my heart open a little, delighted me a fair amount, and confirmed that I am indeed a fan of Nicola Yoon. Thank you to #NetGalley for sending me a copy (however many decades ago).

Love books by Nicola Yoon

Thanks to NetGalley / Edelweiss and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for a review.

Oh well that took a turn. I should know better that any Nicola Yoon book isn't going to be a cute lighthearted romance but I had apparently forgotten. Wasn't quite prepared for the heartbreaking part of this one but it was very good.

Thank you, Delacourte Press, for the e-arc on NetGalley!

I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. I haven't been enjoying YA contemporary, and I put off reading this novel for a couple of years because I was afraid I wouldn't like it. I am so glad Nicola Yoon, once again, proved me wrong. This novel is so whimsical and romantic, I could not help but fall in love with Evie and X, as they learned to love dance, as well as each other. Her descriptions of dance, and the passions and hard work that goes into dance training made me nostalgic for my own time dancing competitively. It was a lot of fun being able to remember my own experiences as I followed X and Evie's journey to the top. The touch of magic realism was a small detail that added beauty to Yoon's take on love, and how beautiful, yet destructive, it can be.

My only qualm lies within Evie's vision of her and X's relationship at the end. I may have missed some details about X's character, but it felt very out-of-place and weirdly tragic for an otherwise eccentric story. I am not entirely sure why that was worked into this story because, unlike Yoon's other YA contemporary stories, this one had a much lighter tone and a twist that upsetting created this emotional whiplash that I was not expecting from this tale.

Nonetheless, this was another wonderful story by Yoon. It is safe to say that Yoon is an author I will continue to read from as long as she keeps writing.

Did not finish. I was fully prepared to enjoy Instructions for Dancing but I just couldn’t get into it. Something about it was not compatible with my taste. I will be recommending it to others.

This is a great example of what it takes to open your heart and learn to trust. With charismatic characters, cute romance. This was a feel good, light-hearted and humorous.

I absolutely adored this book until the last 20%, when the story took a major turn. I still love the book, but the tonal shift was jarring. That said, I have purchased this book, and book-talk it often, but it is definitely best-suited for a high school reader who can handle the emotional shift from rom-com to young grief. I think these stories are valuable, and reflective of real life, which, when framed in Yoon's mysterious future-seeing-power, creates an interesting window into loss and how we approach living in the time we have.

I enjoyed this a lot more than I initially thought I would. The characters were enjoyable, and the plot was heartbreaking yet beautiful. I can highly recommend this!

This book is a new favorite. The way the relationship between X and Evie developed throughout the novel. The way they grew and Evie came to terms with believing in love and how even if bad things happen its still worth loving. I loved the friendship that Evie had. Evie and her sister, Danica are able to restore their relationship and Evie is able to have faith in her father again.

Yoon is becoming the Nicholas Sparks of YA literature. For those that don't insist on a happliy-ever-after will enjoy this book. the characters are delightful -especially the dance instructor. The main character starts off kind of annoying, but that makes her growth all the more enjoyable.

2.5 stars

I am a huge fan of Nicola and just kept putting this off because I wasn't in the mood for YA. Sadly, it didn't hit the mark for me.

I really liked Evie. She's driven and smart, curious and loyal. I loved how she supported her friends and tried to be open about her feelings. X is charming and sweet, talented and enthusiastic. I loved how he was all in for experiencing life. Together, they had open conversations and a quick chemistry that organically blossomed.

Plot wise it was a bit of a struggle. There are loads of moving pieces and instead of helping to emphasize the push and pull of life, everything was underwhelming. I enjoyed the magical aspect and definitely would have liked more at the end, but can appreciate the intention of the open ending.

Overall, there was just some sort of sparkle that felt like it was missing. I did finish, but could have easily DNF'd.

**Huge thanks to the publisher for providing the arc free of charge**