3.5 stars

I’m a big fan of Nicola Yoon’s work and was pretty disappointed to not have enjoyed her latest book It had all the ingredients of a great book—swoon worthy love interest, a great friend group, and dance—but it didn’t wow me.

I wanted more focus—I felt like it could have been two different novels. I wish Yoon chose to focus on one concept and work to flesh out and expand that single story. Our main characters were great, though I wish there were more awkward instances between the two, especially dancing wise. When learning something like ballroom, you are in each other's personal space and for two teens, that had all the makings of funny and uncomfortable scenes.

The "magical" element was really well done. The reader is kind of learning the rules of this power with Evie—seeing how it all plays out. I would have loved to have read a full novel about this more in-depth.

ARC provided by NetGalley for review

Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for the opportunity to read and review this book. This is a book that has a lot of different elements; romance,friendship, family dynamic, dancing, etc. But the overall theme is love. I love that there were a ton more profound quotes than I was expecting and the twist at the end! Ah! it made me feel a ton of emotions Overall, I have to say bookwise this will be now my favorite from Nicola Yoon, and I am definitely excited for more from her. 4 out of 5 stars.

From the author of Everything, Everything, this is another adorable young adult rom-com, this time with a twist of magic! Evie is done with love after her parent’s divorce. A mysterious woman grants her the power to see the timeline of a couple’s love story when she sees them kiss. Seeing so many couples that will eventually break up only adds to her resolve to not fall in love. However, there’s this boy.... X is a free spirit who says yes to every opportunity, including entering a dance competition with Evie, when she goes to explore the La Brea Dance Studio. Can Evie take a chance on love? Can she forgive her father for breaking up their family? Or, will she choose to dance away from every relationship in her life?

I adored this book! I loved the relationship between Evie and X! X’s grandparents and Fifi, the dance coach, are great characters as well. The story is well crafted with a good arc for the protagonist. I would highly recommend this book!

Nicola Yoon most definitely did not disappoint with this book. Nicola has a way of ripping your heart out and we thank her for it. There are not enough adjectives created for me to express how much I loved this book.

Yvette " Evie" Thomas's world has just imploded. She thought her parents had a forever love but they divorced and he's getting remarried. Evie is given a book that allows her to see the love story of couples when they kiss. I was a little skeptical at first but the way the lives of the couple's Evie saw was beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. I do feel that ability was a lot of pressure to heap on a teenager.

Then there was X, a dancing competition, and her friends since middle school is thrown into the mix. Any YA book worth it's salt MUST have some teenage angst! Nicola Yoon provided just the right amount of angst. I did not want this book to end. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this wonderful book.

Nicola Yoon has been one of my favorite Young Adult authors and her latest book does not disappoint. Nicola Yoon's newest book, Instructions for Dancing, is such a wonderful book discussing how a teenage girl deals with her father's cheating, her parents divorce, and finding love, even amidst the possibility of loss. Evie's emotional range is perfect for character development and the entire book lends well to theme development if you were using this book in classroom book clubs.

A heartwarming story of growth and forgiveness. This story will most certainly make you cry, but is worth the read!

This book’s synopsis grabbed me right away, and I knew I had to read it. I also even saw the author on a Sunday morning news show a week or so ago, making me even more eager. So when I saw this blog tour coming up with Rockstar Book Tours, I signed up right away. And I was not disappointed at all! In fact, I read this in less than a day because it was so good!

A lot of things ended up in just the right place at the right time, coincidences? Or not? But every little detail and event made the story move in just the right direction at just the perfect speed! It wasn’t hard to understand why Evie was as upset as she was about her parents’ divorce. At her age, with the things that happened, it made sense. However, when she did finally get both her dad and her mom to talk about things, separately and at different times, it was exactly what she needed to hear. This book had a lot of good family issues and how they were dealt with in very realistic ways.

Then there were her friends, and all the ways that teens grow apart as they get older and their lives move to different stages. That senior year of college is a big one. I remember all my friends at that time, and how soon I didn’t really talk to any of them once I was at college and didn’t see them anymore. Of course that was before social media and keeping in touch online like we do today.

Finally, the curse, or when she started seeing how relationships would end. I figured at some point she’d have to see one that lasted, they couldn’t all end in divorce or break-up, etc. And when she finally saw that one, wow. It was so emotional to read. While it did change things for how Evie saw and dealt with her feelings on love, when she saw something more personal, man, that was a twist I didn’t see coming.

Of course it wasn’t hard to fall in love with X, Xavier. He was funny, and charming, and fun. The other aspect of this book that I loved is how Evie had been a big fan of contemporary romance stories, and how she drew on that familiarity in what was going on her life, and had trouble not comparing things to the stories she’d once loved.

A wonderful, sweet, short, fun book, but it had a lot of depth in its own way as well!

WHY DID I LISTEN TO INSTRUCTIONS FOR DANCING BY NICOLA YOON?
Anything Nicola Yoon writes is sure to be extraordinary. Instructions For Dancing is her latest and popped up on my radar because Yoon as mentioned is one of the best young adult contemporary authors in my reading rotation. I saw that Bahni Turpin narrated the audiobook which turned picking the audiobook up into a triple hitter kind of reading move. Turns out this was the perfect decision and way to experience Instructions For Dancing.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
Evie Thomas no longer believes in love. In fact, she scoops up her beloved contemporary romances and deposits them at the Little Free Library. While there, she is told to take a book, and so she does. That book is called Instructions For Dancing, inside there are instructions that if the book is found Evie should return it to the dance studio. She does so and ends up talked into taking a class. Evie also ends up talked into entering a competition with X, a young man who is the nephew of the studio owners and also the perfect match for Evie. She’s hesitant, however. You see, Evie witnessed her dad cheating on her mom and now her parents are divorcing. Combine this with the fact that she ends up with this ability to see the entire course of a relationship whenever she happens to witness a couple’s first kiss.

WHAT DID I THINK OF INSTRUCTIONS FOR DANCING?
Friends, I would give Nicola Yoon’s Instructions For Dancing 10 out of 5 stars if I could. This book is a gorgeous exploration of that saying it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. Evie gets a chance to see if this is actually true or not. I love that she was unsure of her footing, so to speak, when it comes to trust and relationships. Evie has been hurt by the actions of her father and the breakup of her family.

Witnessing relationships from beginning to end doesn’t seem to help either. And well, she’s scared to try things with X because she’s scared of the ending. FYI, X is a perfect romantic lead, I promise you’ll instantly love him as you read this book. I will admit, this book made me so sad and emotional, but it was well worth it. Personally, I love when a book makes me feel things.

HOW’S THE NARRATION?
As mentioned, Instructions For Dancing is narrated by Bahni Turpin. At this point, I’ve listened to dozens of books narrated by Turpin. She is one of the top tier narrators. So believe me when I say that this book is a wonderful audiobook experience from beginning to end.

I have loved every Nicola Yoon story, but this one is by far the best. I laughed, I cried, I wanted to dance! Such a lovely compelling story about living in the now and being present. Such a great read!

After being cursed with the ability to see the future heartbreaks that will end relationships, an aspiring ballroom dance competitor struggles to stop herself from falling in love.

A truly exceptional, must-read YA romance! If you haven't ordered this for your collection yet, do it now. The characters are alive, real, and packed with genuine human emotions and motivations. No secondary character is neglected. Though this is a romance about heartbreak and loss, it also made me laugh out loud. As with the characters, the plot and prose are packed with the full range of human emotion. I was captivated and read it in a single sitting. Teens will devour this book.

As a fan of Nicola Yoon’s novels, I was super excited to read her newest book, Instructions for Dancing, and it didn’t disappoint!

The main character, Evie, is struggling with the idea of romance and loving relationships after her parent’s divorce and her mother’s heartbreak. This is only made worse when she suddenly begins “seeing” how random couples’ relationships come to an end. She completely writes off the idea of falling in love when she ends up at a dance studio and begins practicing for a dance competition with a guy named X. X is funny, smart, and eager to try anything, and the sparks fly!

I absolutely loved the relationship between Evie and X, and found their dialogue both sweet and funny. It was impossible not to cheer them on, both as a couple and as dancing partners.

Even though I know nothing about dance, I loved reading this book and learning along with the characters. This was a fun, quick read that I enjoyed from beginning to end. I would recommend this book to any of my students looking for a sweet romance with a touch of mystery and magic.

A huge thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

What do you do when your parents have ruined the idea of love for you? Start dancing of course! Evie sets out on an adventure like no other in order for the universe to set her straight on life and love. A fun and quirky story, you will find yourself rooting for her and doing a bit of dancing yourself. Great YA summer read!

This was a beautiful young adult novel with some unexpected (and delightful) magical moments. I'm a big fan of Nicola Yoon and will read everything she ever writes!

THIS BOOK. ALL THE FEELS. I jumped into this one without having read the synopsis, and I think that made this book all the better. You'll laugh, cry, swoon, and cheer throughout the whole book. It's utterly beautiful and I wish more books were like this. I feel like Nicola is the Sarah Dessen of this generation! Also, be sure to read the Author's Note at the end - it's a tear jerker, but also wonderfully beautiful.

This book is much lighter in content compared to the author's previous two books. As I was reading it, I enjoyed the magical realism and realistic conflict that arose between the MC and her family/friends. I found it to be enjoyable but it didn't captivate me thoroughly. However, the twist at the end made me add a star to the book. I loved the message that the MC learned from it and I was surprised by it. That made the novel go from okay to one I will remember!

Loved the writing (so many great lines), the magical element, Evie and X, the whole story. The romance and the sadness. Nicola Yoon has done it again!

It’s hard to measure up to my love for The Sun is Also a Star, but I zipped through this and found the love story swoony and enjoyable. Heartbreak alert for the second half!

Instructions for Dancing feels like a classic romcom. A cynical girl who has given up on love ends up taking up a new hobby and meeting a boy thanks to an unlikely event and a little bit of magic. But what could have been cliche ended up being a heartfelt and fast read about finding love and learning what it really means even if you will eventually lose it one day.

I have loved every book by Nicola Yoon I have read, and this was no exception. She is great at balancing the serious and tough moments with the sweet and fun ones. And while this did feel a little superficial and the ending felt rushed, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

"The books don't feel like they belong to me anymore. They love stories are like fairy tales you're not meant to believe in them forever. I stopped believing in them the day after dad moved out."

I was so excited for Nicola Yoon's newest book, as I was a huge fan of both Everything, Everything and The Sun is Also A Star! I wouldn't really classify Instructions for Dancing as a romance, as the first line of the book says it all:

Despite how it might seem, this is not a love story.

This book really hits home and delves into the question of if love is worth it if you know it will end - does the happiness outweigh the pain when it's over? I've struggled with this thought myself, as many of you also probably have yourself, and too see the main character Evie really work through her feelings and goals was so cathartic.
This book made me sob, so you all should prepare for the emotional toll it takes, but I think that's part of what made this book so impactful. Nicola Yoon's ability to made me feel everything emotion from joy to devastation made this book feel true to life and our experiences.

5 unforgettable stars for Instructions for Dancing. It's definitely a top contender for my favorite book of the year.

I feel like Nicola Yoon tore out my heart, threw it on a dance floor, then ground it to a pulp with high heels on. Obviously I mean that in the best way. I now have a mild book hangover.

I loved Evie's development from a young, naive, romance-book loving girl to a jaded, snarky high school senior who is sure there is no such thing as Happily Ever After, to then growing up and learning that the HEA isn't the be-all-end-all, that a Happy For Now can be just as amazing.

The magical aspect of Evie's visions is interesting, but I wish the woman who was the source would have been better explained. That part felt a bit incomplete to me.

X was nice, but I think he deserved to be fleshed out a bit more as a character. I get that Evie is the main character, but I really wanted more from X. The ending seemed to happen so quickly and I wish there could have been a bit more of their HFN.

While this book can't top The Sun Is Also A Star for me, it was a good, fast, YA read. Nicola Yoon is a must-read author, for me. I would recommend this as a summer read, for sure.