Wow! I loved The Sun is Also A Star so I knew I had to get my hands on this one! Instructions for Dancing features a strong Black lead, an adorable romance and such a fun setting. It even has a fun “magical” twist with our protagonist’s special power. I highly recommend this book to fans of Nicola Yoon’s and YA romance fans in general

An emotional YA romance with a hint of the whimsical. Evie and X are brought together by fate to become dance partners and to ultimately teach each other about love. An endearing and tear inducing coming of age story about forgiveness and the power of accepting love, even with all its risks.

Blurb: When Evie finds out her dad is remarrying, she gives up on love and the very idea of finding a relationship worth risking heartache. Little does she know, a mysterious stranger and a dance book will lead her to the love of her life and one gigantic life lesson.

Angsty and a little infuriating at times, this is a book that will make you feel all kinds of emotions. I laughed, I cried, I got angry at Evie. Although the beginning was a little slow moving and Evie’s unforgiveness drove me insane at times, this book is incredibly tender and romantic. There is so much truth in the message behind its words and I would recommend this heartachingly beautiful love story over and over again!

While "The Sun is Also a Star" is still my favorite Nicola Yoon book, I enjoyed "Instructions for Dancing" just as much as "Everything, Everything" and would say the "feel" was about the same. It had a bittersweet nuance about it that made it difficult to read at times because you knew it was going to wrap up like a Blow Pop...sweet with a bubble burst at the end. "Instructions for Dancing" had good life lessons throughout with real-life mixed with magical realism, which usually isn't my thing but in this case it worked. The family dynamics were good and the chemistry between Evie and X was great.

I fell in love with this author while reading THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR and this book was also beautifully written! I loved these complex characters and the story was wonderful.

I received a gifted copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to NetGalley and the author for an advance copy, in exchange for my honest feedback.

Nicola Yoon has been one of my favorite authors since The Sun Is Also A Star, and Instructions for Dancing didn't disappoint. The action takes a few chapters to build, and the "magic" element isn't so much in line with what I usually jive with, but Yoon's writing style kept me engaged right up until the end.

As I've come to expect from this author, Instructions for Dancing left me thinking about a lot of deep things. If you knew how a relationship was going to end, if you could tell almost as soon as it starts, would you want to know? Of course, on a less meaningful note, it also left me wondering if I should take ballroom dance classes.

Evie is a well-rounded, intelligent young woman, and I see myself in a lot of her traits. Her whole world is changing, and she just wants to keep up with it. She's navigating her senior year of high school, friendships, relationships, and her new superpower. Also, her two left feet and her very finite hips. Between the covers of this book, I laughed and I cried right alongside her. She's a dynamic protagonist, and I think anyone would be hard-pressed to find a reason not to root for her.

And X? X is ... he's X. A tall, dark and broody love interest with a "just say yes" policy for life. Evie doesn't want to dance with him, doesn't want to fall in love with him, doesn't want to fall victim to her own superpower. But he's more than just a love interest; he's interesting and dimensional and thoughtful, kind and patient, with tragedy and his best friend's legacy hanging over his head.

A few pages from the end of the book, I was seriously worried about a happy ending, but by the time I read the last line, I was deeply, truly fulfilled by the way things wrapped up. It wasn't perfect, but neither is life, and that's what I love about this story: it's not perfect, it hurts a little bit sometimes, but there's also joy and learning and love. And a little bit of magic and dancing along the way.

Nicola Yoon’s new book is about Evie, a girl who no longer believes in the power of love after witnessing her parents’ marriage crumble. However, when she winds up joining a dance studio and agrees to help the owners win the annual Danceball championship, she meets X. Super charming, witty, and cuteeee, X and Evie begin to form a deep connection the more they spend learning the steps to bachata and tango. Oh, and she also has to juggle with the fact that she’s been given the ability to see the relationship timeline of couples who kiss after a run-in with a mysterious grandma.

I really played myself when I read this book. I thought I was going to be reading about a girl who doesn’t believe in love and ends up learning to love again after meeting a cute boy. BUT NOPE. What I got was an incredibly sweet and moving story about what it means to be brave enough to love when the world is incredibly unpredictable. By the end of this book, I was tearing up sooo much.

The only thing I didn’t really like was the ending. It felt a bit rushed for me and I wished the author spent a little more time developing the story before wrapping it in this neat little bow. However, I still really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it for anyone who’s interested in YA contemporary romances!

Exciting and appealing, Instructions for Dancing is definitely a perfect read for every reader’s curiosity and why’s about romance.

Evie used to feel the electrifying feelings of being in love. Talk about romance novels and such is her previous favorite and she’s done about it. As a former lover of romance books, Evie was tested with the tragedies of her father’s affair and her parents’ divorce. Thus, all I could think about the first four chapters is bitterness and morose.

The thing that I love with Yoon’s concept of story is the use of first person’s point of view. She just mastered the power of writing and in every chapters, it is always engaging. While, Evie tries to remove all her romance novel collection, she encounters a book called Instruction for Dancing and which led her to La Brea Dance Studio and her intimidating visions of couple heartbreak schemes. Confusion was playing with Evie and as she discovers the true foundation of her visions, he met Xavier a.k.a X. Whatever she believes in herself, she keeps pushing that love is not true. But in her denial stage, she was then slapped with growing feelings and the idea of falling in love is okay.

Nicola Yoon is here again to deliver another unique and beautiful story about teens and how love play with them. Certainly, readers will immerse with the consistency of what’s true and what’s not in terms of being in love, acceptance and tolerance.

Moreover, the side characters are just beautiful, raw and their innocent experiences of being a teen reflects to today’s situation. The flavor of the side characters we’re captivating and clear to established a strong connection to friendship. And falling in love is not about learning a new step for a dance, it’s about how you realize what you really want and your true feelings is always matter. Yoon was able to capture all the feels and vibes of being in love and so much realization that we may and may not give.

As such, I always see Nicola Yoon’s book turning into a film adaptation. The story is just so close to real experiences. Pure of clever dialogues. The characters were crafted well. And everything about her writing style is immensely beautiful. Instructions for Dancing is definitely a 2021 favorite book and I will always remember the beauty of friendship, strange feelings of love, coping mechanism to sad experiences and always believe in yourself. Indeed, a highly remarkable romance book.

(Massive thanks to PRH International for providing an eARC edition of this book my way.)

As a reader, I have loved both of Nicola Yoon's previous books, Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also a Star. while this book may seem similar at first, Nicola adds a twist that makes it different - and such a beautiful, heart-wrenching young adult romance novel!

Evie, our main protagonist, is struggling after she finds out her parents are getting a divorce because her father's infidelity. This leads her to question family and the concept of love. Meanwhile, she magically is given the ability to see the future of any kissing couple. As she sees the end of most love stories, it becomes harder and harder for her to believe in love. This surprising ability also brings her to the ballroom, where she meets X. Fate brings them together, but where will their love story lead?

Nicola Yoon weaves in the themes of grief, love, friendship, and coming-of-age with a little bit of magic to create a one of a kind young adult novel. I finished the book in one day because I couldn't put it down! I highly recommend this book to any Nicola Yoon fans or readers that enjoy love and magic.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's/ Delacorte Press for the electronic advanced readers copy! It was beautiful.

This was such a darling read. The amount of passion in the writing shined through. The characters had such distinct personalities and I loved getting to know them.

When I requested the ARC for this novel, I didn’t know what to expect but I’m so glad I did. Instructions for Dancing is a surprising, sweet, romantic, funny, suspenseful, angsty, original, and beautifully written young adult romance that left a huge smile on my face and a pang in my heart. It’s a novel about more than dancing, it’s about friendship, family, creativity, trust, and most of all, love, and the beauty, wonder, life, pain, strength, and growth it brings into our lives if we are brave enough to take a step of faith and the risk it requires.

Instructions for Dancing is written from Evie Thomas’ POV in first person. She’s a high school senior with Jamaican heritage, who no longer believes in love anymore. When she begins experiencing visions of how couples’ relationships begin and end after she sees them kiss, her cynicism only increases. Evie’s investigation of her visions leads her to La Brea Dance studio where she signs up for dance lessons, meets X, and enters a ballroom dance competition. She and X become dance partners, learning to waltz, fox-trot, and tango together. While Evie is a practical, reserved, risk-averse planner, X is adventurous, passionate, daring, and open to all the possibilities life has to offer. Evie cannot resist X, finding herself falling for him despite the risks as he challenges her ideas about life and love and even how she sees herself. But is she able to risk it all knowing for certain now not only that love ends, but also how, when, and why because of her visions?

I love Yoon’s lush description, and lyrical writing style that wonderfully brings the characters and this original story to life. Specific details and wording that is relevant to who each of the characters are and the story is consistently used throughout the novel to describe and make them feel real. The interactions between Evie and X are filled with chemistry and develop not only their relationship, but also the characters as the story progresses. Yoon’s prose is concise, flowing naturally from scene to scene, drawing you in from the first scene to the last word. The characters and the story from this novel stay with you long after the novel ends. Perhaps my favorite part is how Evie, a reformed romance lover, tells her story by relating it to different tropes, characters, and scenes from romance novels. It’s something romance lovers can relate to and will love. It also lets you know that for all her cynicism and talk of having moved on from romance, she hasn’t really let it go deep in her heart and soul – in her being.

Fantasy, magical realism, and romance lovers will love this emotional, humorous, romantic, insightful, entertaining, and beautiful love story that brilliantly explores the themes of friendship, family, taking risks, trying new things, forgiveness, and a young woman learning that the value of love is the experiences it brings into our lives – both happy and sad – and discovering that is always worth the risk.

Damn. 💔 💗 I love a @nicolayoon romance & INSTRUCTIONS FOR DANCING was no different.💃🏻 The structure of the storytelling & drama drew me in & kept me up past my bedtime so I could read to the very end.

This book was enjoyable, but though I realize it was YA it read younger than I think it intended. I wanted it to dive a little deeper into some of the things going on and it ended fairly suddenly. Overall ⭐⭐⭐💫  This is a good, fast, summer read.

I. LOVE. THIS. BOOK!!! It has all the qualities of previous books by Nicola Yoon, but it had a touch of magical realism and I am here for it! The story was emotionally riveting, and sweet and I did not want it to end, Honestly, the description does not do the book justice, it sounded cute and fun, but it brought so much more to the table. Nicola has an amazing talent for drawing you into the emotions that character is feeling, so much so that at times I had to remind myself that I was not reliving my own parents' divorce.

Instructions for Dancing should be a required summer reading this year. Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

From the first paragraph, I knew this book would be a good one. I immersed myself into the book from the first chapter and I cannot say enough good things about this book! Honestly amazing! The writing is incredible and the plot is just one to die for. I am absolutely obsessed with this book. My favorite part would have to be the character development throughout the book. Character development is something I look forward to and this book did not disappoint.

I somehow missed out on both of Nicola Yoon's previous books, and so I went into with Instructions for Dancing without any real expectations. Safe to say this book totally snuck up on me in the best way and made me feel all the feelings.

As a lover of romance novels and love in general, Evie is a girl after my own heart - or was, until her parents' divorce rocks her world. Ready to give up on love entirely, Evie packs up all her beloved romances and donates them at a Little Free Library, where a mysterious lady appears and encourages Evie to take a book of her own, entitled Instructions for Dancing. After this chance encounter, Evie starts having mysterious visions - when she sees a couple kiss, she sees the entirety of their relationship, including the inevitable end. Perplexed by these new visions and convinced they're further proof that all love ends, Evie tries to bring the book back to the dance studio listed inside, but there she meets X, who challenges everything she thinks she knows about love.

This book was just a beautiful examination of love and pain and the inevitability of both. Yoon's writing is gorgeous and packs a punch, saying a lot using only a few words. It will be an incredibly rewarding re-read, as on my first read, I know I rushed past some of the beautiful prose in an effort to find out what was going to happen with the propulsive plot. It's only June, but I can already tell this is going to be one of my favorite contemporary YA books of the year.

Thank you very much to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

After finding out about her dad's affair and her parents resulting divorce, Evie Thomas has given up on the idea of true love. If her parents' relationship can't stand the test of time, what hope is there for anyone else? Why bother falling in love if she is just going to be hurt in the end? But then things start to get strange for Evie. She starts having weird visions. She meets a handsome boy named X. She enters a ballroom dance competition. And through all of these things, Evie learns that maybe it could still be worth it to take a chance on love.

I was not expecting the touch of magical realism in this book. I guess I should have read the summary more closely, because it talks about Evie's visions right there! But I really enjoyed the magical touch to this story and found it to be a pleasant surprise. Even though there is a dose of magic, this is a very realistic story. It is sort of a love story and it is definitely about love, but it is mostly a story about Evie figuring out how to deal with heartache and pain.

This was a cute and delightful story, but it wasn't just easy and breezy. There is some substance here and and I enjoy a YA book that is both fun and thoughtful. It's also bittersweet and a bit heartbreaking and might lead to a few tears shed as well. I did feel like the ballroom dance storyline got pushed to the side towards the end of the book, and I was hoping for a few more ballroom dance scenes. But I guess that wasn't really the main plot of the story either.

I would recommend this book for a heartwarming and perhaps heartbreaking YA summer read!

This was a one sitting kind of book, I just flew through it. Contemporary romance reader Evie Thomas is dealing with the aftermath of her parent’ divorce, deciding that love isn’t worth the heartache that comes when, in her eyes, it inevitably ends. When she goes to get rid of her romance novels, a mysterious woman sets her on a path that leads to dancing, visions, and X. X is the grandson of the owners of Evie’s new dance studio and so perfectly poised to teach her how to live again.

Instructions for Dancing isn’t your typical romance, Evie is working through a lot of emotions (good and bad) and Yoon doesn’t shy away from them and how they effect Evie’s relationships with all of the characters, not just X. It asks big questions of its reader: is love worth the potential hurt? If it’s over does that lessen it’s worth? How do you move on from a love that’s hurt you, be it romantic or not? The book isn’t just the story of Evie and X after all, it’s also of Evie figuring out how she how/why she can still love her dad after everything that happened.

The story flowed smoothly and I never felt rushed or bored. All of the characters grow in ways that are believable and leave you cheering for them. My favorites are for sure Martin, one of Evie’s friends who is her rock through the story, and Fifi, the dramatic and dedicated dance instructor.

This book is heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time! I don't want to give away too much, so I'll stick with saying Evie's a loveable character, even when closed off from love. X is also a character you can't help but fall for, and I love his philosophy for life and where it comes from. Evie's sister, Danica, comes off as the little sister you just don't get at all but becomes cuter as the book progresses. I love the fact that this story starts off with and ends with a Little Free Library! The fact that most of the book is centered on ballroom dancing already drew me in, but I think Fifi made me want to stay. There's just so much to love about this book!

Nicola Yoon has done it again!! Or should I say... done it even more? Done it better? In my opinion, this is the strongest of her works so far. It's definitely a bit different from books past, but with many of the concrete aspects to Yoon's writing we know and love.

Instructions for Dancing is about a girl who becomes a "love cynic" after witnessing her father cheat on her mother. Then, she's cursed with the ability to foresee the entire relationship arc of which every could she chooses to look at. Of course, statistically most romantic relationships are doomed to fail, so of course this ability just makes her more cynical about romance. Until she meets a boy, and she falls for him fast.

What's new about this book is the magical realism aspect. In many ways it reminded me of Lauren Shippen's Bright Seasons series. I thought this was a brilliant and exciting new addition to the typical romance book Yoon writes.

This book has the same beautiful writing and meticulous plotting as Yoon's past books, as well as elements to the plot much deeper than just a romance novel. The second half of this book gets extremely deep, which I alsolutely loved.

Instructions for Dancing combines magical realism, dance, romantic pessimism, and a charismatic and lovable main couple to create an unforgettable book. I would love to see this book on the big screen if possible, and I will definitely be recommending this to anybody who will listen. Thank you so much for the ARC!

Ever since Evie witnessed her dad cheating on her mom, she has sworn off romance. One day, while dumping the last of her romance novel collection at a little free library, an encounter with a mysterious woman leaves Evie with the ability (curse?) to see the entire arc of their relationship each time she witnesses a couple kissing. This chance encounter also sparks a fun series of dancing escapades. At first, Evie's visions confirm her negative outlook on romance, but as Evie begins to fall for her new dance partner, she uncovers shocking truths. What she learns will change her forever and will remind readers why they should fall in love with not only this book, but also the world all over again.