Nicola Yoon does it again with another impeccably told YA story about love. I adored the different variables in this story of being able to see the ending of other's love stories and how the main character worked through them.

Nicola’s writing just gets better and better. This book like all her others has relevant topics that many youth can relate to. Evie is living through her parents rocky divorce and worse is she caught her dad with another women. This changes Evie’s perspective on relationships. She once swooned over romance novels and love stories. Now she does not believe in happily ever after. Is love worth it if it only ends In heartache in the end?
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This book makes you think about how you live your life and the view you take on life can in the end change your experience. This story weaves topics in a swoon worthy story that builds and will leave you impacted and still lingering over the last pages for days.
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I definitely cried at the end of this one. This story has a magical twist that keeps the story moving quickly. I could not wait to read what Evie would see next. I highly recommend Instructions for Dancing! 5 out of 5 stars.

I loved this book so much! Everything about it was perfect. I loved Evie and her crew, especially Martin. He was such a great friend to Evie. And X was just the best! 🥰 I immediately connected with these characters and just fell in love with all of them.

I really love Yoon’s writing. I loved both her previous books, but this one is def my favorite so far. Yoon did such a good job incorporating magic into this contemporary story. I don’t always like magical realism but this book had just the right amount.

If you are looking for a YA contemporary romance to fall in love with this summer Instructions for Dancing is the book for you!!

Loved this book! I love the breakdown of the romance genre tropes and heroic types. It was easy to root for X and Evie as a couple. But what I really enjoyed about this book is the overall idea that it’s the middle that matters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this digital arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

If you are looking for a read to start your summer off with, I definitely recommend Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon, even if romance isn’t your usual read. This one got me… on multiple levels. Look, I walked into this book ready for a romance. I walked away from this book with a new philosophy on life. No, I am not being dramatic. Nicola Yoon literally had me looking at life differently after I finished the book. 

Honestly, it felt like romance is the side character. The main attraction of this book is actually the grief the main character, Evie, is working through after the divorce of her parents. She catches her dad in the act of cheating and her world is blown away because of it. A girl, in her senior year, who loved reading romance novels so much that she has them categorized, is thrown into a state of disillusionment. What is the point of love if it always ends in heartbreak? 

Enter, a random book on dancing instruction from a little free library and a mysterious lady ala Zoltar in the Tom Hanks movie Big. Now our MC suddenly has the power to see the beginning, middle and end of a couple’s love story just by seeing them kiss. The plot thickens and Evie ends up at a dance studio and meets soon-to-be love interest, X.

I came for… the romance and dancing. People often think the tango is risqué but that bachata is dangerous too when you do it right.

I stayed for… the complexity of the main character and how she processed her parent’s divorce. 

Why I picked it up: Let’s not lie to ourselves...the cover is absolutely gorgeous! Plus it makes me want a blue raspberry slurpee every time I look at it. 

Hot Cocoa Moments: Fifi the dance instructor is hilarious!

honestly, i don't have the best track record with Nicola Yoon books in the past, i dnfed the sun is also a star and just hated everything everything, so i didn't have high hopes with this book. i mean, i really liked this book, since it just felt so emotional and raw and just really good and i honestly really liked the plot and the characters.

honestly, i really liked the whole premise of Evie seeing how people got together and also how they broke up. like i honestly thought it was so cool to see the break up, since i don't think i've ever really read a book like that, so i thought it was just so cool. and i mean, i feel like seeing how everyone broke up added so much into the story and it just added so much more depth to the romances. only got like 4, with people had their own chapters and to have actual plot with them. but, i mean, there definitely was a couple chapters were they were talking about the whole visions. but, i still wish we got to see more visions and got more than just the important people in her life, and maybe more strangers.

i also kind of liked that this wasn't your typical HEA romance book. like, i feel like a lot of romance books have these HEA and after the book, everything is supposed to be okay and nothing bad is ever going to happen to break them up. but, i really liked that this book showed and really told you that it isn't always happy and sunshine and roses after the book, and once you fall in love, your going to be happy forever. so, i really liked that we got to see that everything isn't going to be happy forever. and i mean, it being a more of a bittersweet story, i feel like it added so much. like, for me, i think that it was just so amazing that it was bittersweet and that we got to see it. like i already said, i feel like to much of YA books are happy, so having this book be more bittersweet was so much more cool and i really enjoyed it not being that adorable and cheesy. since there is so much that are very cute and happy, so having it be bittersweet really worked.

but, with that being said, i do wish we got to see more dancing plot. like, i feel like it was such a big part of this story, hell it even is in the title. so, i do wish that we got to see more of them dancing and also just to see them starting to dance or just to see them falling in love while they dance and i think that would be so cool because not many books have a lot of plot with dancing, or any books anything like this.

This book was spectacular. I loved all the characters. And I liked the realistic elements a lot. This was a beautifully written book.

This book reminded me of that saying it is better to love and lost then to never have loved at all. I think that is a really good quote for this book. The main character is dealing with the idea not to take a chance on love since her dad had an affair. And let me tell you sometime love sucks. You give it your all but its just not enough and that love leaves. And then you are left a fraction of yourself, hollowed out, and stripped of a part of you.

This book is like that in parts it was kind of hopeless but also inspiring. The writing style was interesting as you are kind of on the outside looking in. It was definitely a different feel to a love story. But overall it really worked out. I loved the story and its characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

4/5 stars

When I first saw a new Nicola Yoon book pop up on NetGalley out of the blue, I thought I read the name wrong. Or maybe it was a different Nicola Yoon. But no, she's back! I loved The Sun is Also a Star and Everything Everything is at the top of my TBR! I'm happy to report that this new edition to Nicola Yoon's repertoire did not disappoint.

First of all, I loved the main character, Evie. She's obviously been through a lot, but she's still witty and fun to read about. When I heard the love interest was named X, I was a little nervous for the punk/grunge tall, dark, and brooding character that we were likely going to get, but I'm much happier with the way X was actually written.

As with any Nicola Yoon book (so I presume, this is only my second), the big kicker of the story is the theme/themes portrayed. In Instructions for Dancing, those themes are loss and whether the high of love is worth the low of heartbreak. Both themes are powerful in their own right, though the latter is the one that is focused on the most. The way the themes were expressed was both masterful and heartwrenching, though I would expect no less from the author who made me bawl my eyes out over a previous novel.

While hard topics and adorable romance are in Nicola Yoon's wheelhouse, it's pretty obvious that magical realism isn't. While the magic itself was interesting, all the stuff with the weird old lady trying to teach a lesson is overused and cliché.

All in all, this was an engrossing novel with important themes and great characters. While The Sun is Also a Star is still my favorite, I'm so happy to see a new Nicola Yoon book.

Instructions for Dancing is a love letter to love, but don't mistake this for a fluffy, light-hearted, cute romance. It's magical, but there's no rose-tinted fairy tale ending here - just a journey that's worth everything, even if the destination breaks your heart.

Evie is a fabulous main character, a little broken-hearted herself, but putting herself slowly back together over the course of a tightly written 304 pages. She's funny in a deadpan, snarky (and self-protecting, defensive) way, and her narrative voice, as well as character development, are perfect for the story. The rest of the cast, from her love interest, X, to her divorced parents and sister, to her cluster of best friends, are well-drawn, realistic and fun to read about, supporting Evie's journey toward an understanding of what love is, and why it's worth it.

The acknowledgments are also well worth reading in this one, as Nicola Yoon's explanation of what she was going through while writing this book, and her experiences that informed it, added a whole extra layer to my understanding of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the advance review copy!

I thought this book was adorable. As I was reading it, I kept thinking Nicola Yoon does it again- makes me me fall in love and cry over such a sweet book. Evie Thomas is struggling over her parents divorce, when she's "cursed". She can suddenly see how people fall in love and then apart. And when she starts attending dance lessons with X, she starts to fall in love. Evie is a little jaded and isn't sure that love is worth it. If you like The Sun is Also A Star, you'll love Instructions for Dancing.

I really enjoyed Nicola Yoon’s two previous novels, Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also a Star, so I was excited to give this one a try. This is just as good, if not better, as her other books, so if you enjoyed them, give this a go! You will not regret it!

To quote a famous theologian, "I laughed, I cried, it moved me Bob" - Larry the Cucumber.

<I> Instructions for Dancing </I> was everything I needed to read at this time. It was heartbreaking and hilarious. I ate this story up. The main plotline with being able to see in the future (also the past, and present) reminded me of 'That's so Raven' a little bit. (I'll be honest though I never really really watched the show like that.) The plot was so cutesy and the friends-lovers was well done. Typically I'm more of a fan of enemies-lovers but the way Yoon writes is just something else. The whole plot was well thought out and the ending drove me mad. An open-closedish ending like that sometimes messes with my sanity. I legitimately burst into tears after I read the last line of the last page.

The family drama in <I> Instructions for Dancing </I> was real. I was moved multiple times throughout this book. I felt Evie's pain and frustration. I think at the end of the day her feelings were valid and everything she did in the book was true to life. The romance between Evie and X was beautiful and I enjoyed every minute of it. I love how an overarching theme of <I> Instructions for Dancing </I> was you cannot let past hurts hinder you from living. Evie was holding herself back from love but also from living life. the conclusion she came to at the end of the book was tear-jerking but perfect. I think I loved this book even more after I read Yoon's dedication and her afterwords. She was obviously going through a lot before and during the time she wrote <I> Instructions for Dancing </I> and as a reader you can see her emotions come to life on the page. If you want a cute heartbreaking read, do pick this up.

Thanks to Delacourt, Random House, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of Instructions for Dancing!

What a charming book. Despite dealing with some heavy YA themes (divorce, cheating, death), this book manages to feel light and fun and full of hope at the end. I loved how the author wove actual dancing into a book (its so hard to describe!), making you feel like you were there for the lessons and all of the choreography.

I loved X and Evie together, how they pushed each other to open up and do new things. I also loved Evie's friendships and how they all worked together as a group. It felt natural and not contrived.

I know that the curse at the heart of the book is about Evie learning a lesson about love but at times it felt like it was just dropped in as a way to get her to the dance studio and I almost wish there had been a different plot device to get her there since it started to feel a bit contrived. Evie never tries to figure out how to stop the future from happening? Why is she so passive? I found those chapters a bit frustrating.

Overall though, what an adorable book. I can't wait to read more from Yoon.

You know it’s a Nicola Yoon book when you smile on every page...until you start crying. This ode to romance novels, rom-coms, and ballroom dancing is so incandescently beautiful that it sparkles off the page.

This one was very different than any of Yoon's other books, at least in my opinion. I thought the concept was really interesting and enjoyed the characters probably more than her other books. I felt like the whole thing was a little surface level though. There wasn't a depth and explanation like I expected from Yoon. There was a rushed quality to it that just made it kind of a let down. 3.5 stars rounded up.

I loved Nicola Yoon's first two books, so I was very excited for Instructions for Dancing and it didn't disappoint! It was a beautiful YA romance with a touch of magic that had light, sweet, funny moments but also emotional and heartbreaking moments. I highly recommend this wonderful book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Instructions for Dancing
Author: Nicola Yoon
Pub. Date: June 3, 2021
Rating: 3

This will be a spoiler free review. I listened to the audiobook via Audible and read via eARC provided by NetGalley and Penguin. So, thank you to NG and the publisher for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this almost immediately once I saw it hit NG. I’d never read any of Nicola’s other books before, and this sounded adorable. It gave me similar vibes to Rachel Harris’ Eyes on Me and I loved that – so I assumed this was going to be right up my alley. Cute, rom com, with a dancing element and just adorable moments.
I’m definitely a fan of characters who don’t believe/have lost faith in love, only to get proven wrong and fall in love – so I liked Evie. She’s pretty cynical, and there were moments when I wanted to shake her and just tell her to open up and relax. But overall, I liked her journey and the realizations she comes to.
I loved her mother and her sister – their whole relationship felt real and relatable. I couldn’t really relate to her relationship with her dad, but I loved how that progressed and changed and the conversations they had.
Evie’s friends were fun, I feel like Martin is a character I could really get behind – and I’d totally read a book featuring him and his crush – if you know, you know. I think they’d be really adorable and fun together.
As for X – I liked him. He’s enjoyable, but I didn’t click with him the same way I did with the other characters. I just felt like he was a bit surface.

I don’t really know how to explain it. Maybe it was a pacing thing, but everything happened so quickly, and his chemistry with Evie, while cute, just didn’t feel believable. I don’t know. I just didn’t feel anything deep for the two of them. Surface level they’re adorable and I loved the progression of their relationship. There’s something wholly satisfying and oh so fun when the guy is 100% all in, and the girl is a tad apprehensive. He doesn’t pressure her or make her feel uncomfortable – he’s more than happy to go her pace, but there’s this knowing that he knows she’s all in, before she does. I eat that up, and that’s very much these two.
Though, my favorite character had to be Fifi – she’s hysterical and wonderful. I loved her.

So, we’ve covered the characters, let’s dive into the rest.
Firstly, I’ll be honest, I hated the ending of this book. Hated it. It made me so mad at work, and up until that point, I’d been really enjoying the book. And if I step back from my emotions – I still liked the book. But if we’re talking about how I feel – then the ending just made the journey seem pointless. I’m still angry.
There’s also a magical element to this book – which I wasn’t expecting. I love this incorporation of magic in contemporaries – it’s fun and whimsical. But this felt a little random. I get that it’s used to teach a lesson, very Fairy Grandmother-esque, but it was kind of out of place. Had I known going in that there was going to be magic, or whatever you want to call it, I think I would have been more on board, but it was just so out of left field. And it ties into the ending – which is still angering me.

Plot-wise, I wish the dancing had been a bigger focus, and not just a plot element to orchestrate a meet-cute. The dancing seemed like such a side plot and I was kind of bummed. I guess I expected to see their relationship grow through the dancing, and while it sort of it, their relationship sprung up outside of the dance floor. It also sprung up really quickly and kind of out of nowhere. Not quite insta-love, but pretty damn close.
I did like that this was a really quick read. The writing style, and just the way the book is formatted makes for an incredibly fast read – I did most of the audio in one day. It just flies by.

I’m just going to end my review her. While I didn’t love this book, I didn’t hate it. There were definitely moments that I really enjoyed, others…not so much. I think I’d read Nicola’s other books, and whatever she puts out in the future. I’m glad I read this, and finally read one of her books – I’ve been meaning to dive in for a while now. If you’re looking for a quick, enjoyable, cute YA contemporary, you might want to give this a shot.

I loved The Sun is Also a Star, so when I saw that Yoon was coming out with a ballroom dancing story, I just knew I had to read it, and it did not disappoint. Once again, Nicola Yoon has surprised me with another unexpected take on a romance story.
The book follows Evie, a high school senior who gives up on love after her dad left her mom for another woman. She knows where love leads: an inevitable broken heart. And after she’s given a copy of a book on ballroom dancing, she gains an ability that confirms her suspicions. Every time she sees a couple kiss, she has a vision of their entire relationship from beginning to end. These visions don’t change Evie’s opinion on love, but when she follows the trail of the power-giving book to a dance studio, she meets someone who may be able to change her mind: X.
While on the surface, this may seem like just a love story, it is so much more than that. It’s an emotional, heart-wrenching, beautifully-written tale of the importance of love. Yes, all things end, even love, but it’s not the ending that matters. When it comes to love, the only thing that matters is that it was there at all, and I loved watching Evie come to that realization. She was so closed off at the beginning, so jaded and controlled. But then X enters her life, and he’s the opposite. He’s a free spirit. He goes with the flow and takes risks. Bust despite their differences, they have great chemistry and fit really well together.
I loved so many other things about this book, but it’s hard to go into them without spoiling the ending, which was the most powerful part of the book. It definitely secured Nicola Yoon a spot on my “auto-buy” authors list. What I can say is this: if you’re looking for a book with great, diverse characterization, immersive descriptions of ballroom dancing, a little magical realism, and that will give you all the feels, look no further than Instructions for Dancing.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Children’s, for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

All I knew about this book going in was that it featured dancing and I love romance books with dancing in them so that's really all I needed to know. So considering the fact that i knew nothing about the book, I was so pleasantly surprised by how much more I was given!

I mean, I really didn't expect there to be a whole sort of magical ability storyline, and it was so well done! I loved the sort of irony that Evie suddenly had this ability to see a whole relationship in the blink of an eye, especially because she's given up on romance actually existing! Consider me swept off my feet with this beautiful story of heartbreak and loss and a little bit of magic and love!

I love that X is this guy that is a keep moving forward, optimistic and "always. say yes" attitude sort of guy because he's so much different than Evie and seeing the relationship grow truly made my heart flutter. of course, it wouldn't be a Nicola Yoon book without a big gasp moment and trust me, it was so beautifully done. I truly didn't expect my heart to feel every emotion, but I definitely did!

Not only did this explore romantic relationships, but the beautiful friendships Evie had honestly were so so relatable. Evie has to go through a lot but she has really great supportive friends (even when she has a lot of growth to go through). Without spoiling, I just really understood Evie's sort of pessimistic approach to relationships (of all kinds) and the way that the story was told in this book made it incredibly relatable!

If you enjoy literary references, dance competitions, first kisses, and a little bit of magic, I would highly recommend this! This is my favorite Nicola Yoon book so far for sure! If you enjoy "opposites attract" sort of pairings, different family and friendship dynamics, flashbacks, and feeling basically every emotion ever, you'll definitely love this book!