Best book I’ve read in 2021. Deserves 10 stars out of 5. Such an important lesson for readers. A hot summer read. A sweet YAro,since. An epic plot with the best characters. I w loved every single page and could not put it down!

3.5 Stars
This is one of those books that definitely falls in the -it's me not you- category. Having just finished I feel a bit gutted and emotionally spent. I went in fairly blind thinking this would be a romance about two characters meeting at dance class yadda yadda. It was so much more complicated than that and that's where the distinction lay with me. I'm a bitter judgy person normally so hearing her father cheated on their mother and Evie the MC caught him in the act just automatically put him in the loser category. It would have taken an act of God or the equivalent to make me change my mind and sadly all I felt we got were excuses. I can't blame the heroine for being mad and giving up on love. Not to mention her parents then try to force his new relationship on her and that was all kinds of wrong. The oddest thing happened when Evie was trying to dispose of all her fictional romance books, why have them if you no longer believe in the concept of love at all, right? However on that trip something happens that makes her have visions. Visions that show the entire relationship of a couple when she sees them kiss. All but one of the visions she sees end in heartbreak. How this was supposed to repair her belief in love or work as a gift, I really do not know. In fact I think this would have made me give up altogether and turn into a stereotypical spinster cat lady. Evie though, somehow manages to make all this work for her and I still can't believe it. She's a pretty tough and strong character for still being a teenager I will say. In many ways I'm beyond thrilled she finds her happiness as fleeting as it may be but I can't help but die inside over the bittersweet end we are left with. <spoiler>Evie learns that her new love and dance partner will die in 11 months. Now she initially breaks up with him to save herself the pain and I don't blame her. The day of her father's wedding she realizes she doesn't want to live without him and I was so happy for her that they will at least be able to live out their relationship till his untimely death. But ughhhh that just hits me in the feels. I think what hurts the most is the not knowing if they would have had that long lasting soul mate connection. His death changes everything and I almost wish we had another book on the horizon because I want to know how she'll actually carry on once that moment comes to pass. ---In my defense I think a lot of my grief with the book lays with a personal loss in my own life. The loss of possibility and a chance for a HEA almost makes me question the whole thing. Evie is convinced that all that matter is the right now, but what's so wrong with hoping and having a happy future as well?</spoiler> If this book was anything it was emotionally powerful. It will bring about many emotions and some deep thought and in that sense I really did enjoy it. I just don't love having my splintered heart broken. I'm sure I will be the rare outcast when it comes to this book but I am still glad I read it because it was a wonderful insightful read.

I requested this one because I've been a huge fan of Nicola's last two books and while I wasn't disappointed, this one just didn't have the same magical feeling I got from her other books. I liked reading this one and read it pretty fast but when I finished it, it just felt meh. X and Evie were just okay, the stakes for the dance competition felt very low and almost pushed to the side, and I didn't find anything else super attachment worthy. That's not to say that this book wasn't bad, it just wasn't anything special.

The sort of magical element wasn't really anything special either. Now, I'm not a huge fan of magic elements thrown into contemporary books because they feel really out of place but the way this one was handled was... not great. It almost felt brushed under the rug because it happened a few times, went away for a big chunk of the book, and then came back for a kinda important but eh twist. I probably should have been more emotional at the end but like I said, the characters just felt meh to me.

I wish I had enjoyed this one more because I've had a really great experience with her other two books but unfortunately it just fell a little flat for me.

This book was amazing. I finished it in 3 days, Nicola Yoon is one of he best in YA. I just hate hat she guts me to the core when i read her books. Spoiler: i hate death of young people and it just makes me weep at the end of books.

I felt this young love between X and Evie . It was palpable the pain and love they shared. I don’t want to give anything away with the twists but living in the moment was the true lesson to be learned. Evie’s pain surrounding he end of her parents marriage, her friend group and her dance partnership and love affair with X are just so heartbreaking, i love that in X we get a different kind of black guy who falls for a different kind of black girl.

I can’t give this enough stars to be hones f

hat a perfectly sweet and heartbreaking (in the best way) YA romance! Nicola Yoon does such an impeccable job in her books of capturing the heady feeling of first love, and I am fully expecting this one to get picked up for a movie adaptation in 0.3 seconds because it was made for the screen.

I loved Evie. I loved Evie’s family. I loved Evie’s friends. And I LOVED Evie and X. Seriously, the characters and relationships in this book are everything. And while magical elements can be hit or miss for me, I honestly enjoyed the part where Evie starts having visions of people’s love stories (start to sometimes ugly finish) when she sees them kiss—it wasn’t overdone, but gave a unique additional depth to her conflicted feelings about love in the wake of her parents’ divorce. Overall, a quick and easy YA read that I would easily recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced look at this novel in exchange for an honest review.

When Evie is cursed with a blessing, she begins to see things as they could be in the future. Her negative slant on life and love stem from her parent's divorce, her father's upcoming nuptials. Her wrong attitude continues to drive her to bad decisions all around.
However, as is typical of seniors and high school graduates, she begins to grow apart from her BFFs and be drawn to her ballroom dance partner. (Not something I thought would be in a YA novel, but very nice!)
What she knows about the future makes her hesitant to share her life, but in the end, Evie decides to live in the present, take the bull by the horns, and live life to its' fullest.

-`ˏ 5 stars ˎ´˗

Storyline -`ˏ 10/10 ˎ´˗
What's worse than discovering that your parents are getting divorced? Witnessing your daddy's betrayal. This completely breaks down and changes the way Evie sees love, how can you believe in it when the people you admire fall out of it? Still appalled, Evie meets a strange woman who hands her a book. .and the power to see a short timeline of a couple's relationship from the way it started to the way it ends unfortunately when they kiss. Great, more reasons to prove Evie's point that being in a relationship isn’t worthwhile. Frustrated with her new power, Evie needs to figure out a way to get rid of it. The book is the only key and it carries her to the doors of a dance studio.

Characters -`ˏ 9/10 ˎ´˗

Evie was raised in an ideal family setting. Now that her family is unraveling, her emotions are getting scrabbled. Evie meeting X was a nice balance. Both had their own personal battles ahead of them, but their mutual support is absolutely wonderful. The friends and family members were carefully considered and provided great emotional value. I appreciate the individual moments when they have discussions to better understand each other's feelings. Personally, I would never like the father because I’m a strong believer in “ Don’t cheat. Don’t lie. If you’re unhappy and your heart is leading you to someone else. Just leave.”

Atmosphere -`ˏ9/10 ˎ´˗
I might be nitpicking but I would have loved more of the dancing portion of the story. Also I’m glad I paid extra for a waterproof kindle. I don’t know why my eyeballs keep leaking. I should probably call a repairman, it might have something to do with my HEART CONSTANTLY BREAKING!
Trigger warnings: infidelity, grief, and death(mention).

Language -`ˏ 8/10 ˎ´˗
Eloquent and thought-provoking writing. Just a little bit of magic enough to move the story along.

Enjoyment -`ˏ 10/10 ˎ´˗
Is it too late to ask the repairman to bring me a box of tissues? maybe 10? If you're expecting a cutesy & adorable romance, this is not it.

*sidenote: Excuse me, but I think we should all stop accepting random things from strangers without a valid and refundable receipt. . just in case.
**sidenote: Sugar, Spice, and everything nice. These were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect romance novel, But New York Times bestselling author Nicola Yoon accidentally added an extra ingredient to the concoction - An exceptional male specimen name X (Random powerpuff girls reference-I’m sorry, I’ll see myself out).

WoW! What a book! This book hooked me! The characters were real and raw!
I loved Yoons writing style! Its like beyond amazing! This is my first book read my her and I'm looking for me! That's how much I loved this book!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Overall, this was a sweet, refreshing read, but I had to get past the immediate connection I had to Evie’s anger at her father in the aftermath of her parents’ divorce. As a 36 year old whose parents only divorced a few years ago, I could still see myself through her struggle to reconcile her feelings about his actions and her disappointment in love as a concept. Yoon did an amazing, honest job of capturing the family dynamics in that thread of the storyline.

The interesting twist of magical realism combined with Evie’s newfound cynicism towards dating, love, and marriage was a great way to flip the typical romcom. Her current relationships with her family and friends made for a nice contrast to the new people who come into her life and go on to change her perspective of the people she’s known for so long.

I loved the dance lessons and wish more of the story and descriptions had focused on the competition.

I can't believe I'm saying this but I just had to DNF this one. I had such high expectations for this book but I couldn't bring myself to finish it and to be honest, I can't pinpoint why.

This book broke me. My heart still hurts just thinking about it! I had to sit down after finishing this book and just process everything. Definitely did not see a lot of things coming.
This story is about Evie and how, after seeing her parents marriage fail, no longer believes in happy endings. One day she starts having visions of couples and how they fall in love, and how it ends. Obviously this does not help the fact that she already stopped believing in love. In her journey to help herself stop having these visions she ends up in a dance studio and meets X, a young man with such a positive out look on life. He comes in and makes her start doubting, so can there be happily ever afters?
This book hooked me all the way from the first page to the end. It never bored me, I just wanted to keep reading to see what happened.
Evie’s and X’s connection also made me want to melt! Those first interactions where they’re actually getting along and trying to get to know each other a little bit better. X was such a sweet, caring character. I loved how he actually tried to get to know Evie’s friends and family and wanted Evie to be a better more forgiving person.
The only thing that would get me a tad bit frustrated was how naive Evie could be about love. Her negativity with love started with her parents divorce, but her belief that every single relationship is destined to fail would be so frustrating at times. However, after realizing that I had not read a YA book in a while, I started taking this with a grain of salt. I realized that as a teenager you kind of do have the right to be naive and get away with it. Were not as opened minded at that age. So it was nice to see her grow out of that by the end of the story.
Overall this was such a cute story! At this point I’ll read anything this author publishes.

Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I did not finish this book, but I would like to share my review of what I did read because I don't think my experience should deter others from reading the book.

Honestly, the first half of the book was amazing and I'm sad that I was unable to finish it. Evie doesn't believe in love and she is granted the ability to see couples love stories -- from the beginning, middle, to the eventual break up. When Evie meets X at a dance studio, her tune changes and she starts to believe love is possible. Evie's ability eventually allows her to see the outcome of her relationship with X. This is where I couldn't continue the book. Ultimately, it triggered something for me.

From what I read (the first half), it is an absolutely beautiful book with a powerful message about believing in love and living life to the fullest. I hope some day I am able to pick up the book and finish it because I do believe Yoon wrote another well written and powerful book.

I am required to rate the book so in order to not influence the book negatively, I am giving it five stars. It probably deserves it.

Nicola Yoon has written some of all time favorite YA contemporaries, and Instructions for Dancing is not an exception! I was so excited for this book, and my expectations have been fulfilled!
-
Instructions for Dancing follows Evie, a jaded pessimist when it comes to love after her parents divorce, as she herself finds love through a ballroom dancing class.
-
While this book was not perfect, it is an amazing, fluffy, romance that will also tear your heart out. I was not expecting to get hurt! Much like in The Sun Is Also A Star and Everything, Everything the banter is incredible. The chemistry between Evie and X was amazing, and I loved her interactions with her friends and family.
-
An unexpected bonus to this book was the touch of magical realism. I enjoyed that aspect a lot, and it added a fun twist to the average romance.
-
Overall, I would recommend this to fans of Nicola Yoon’s other works and fans of the To All The Boys trilogy!
-
CW- cheating, divorce, grief
-
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

After she catches her dad cheating and her parents subsequently divorce, Evie Thomas has no more illusions about love. She thinks that all relationships are bound to end, thus they aren't worth pursuing in the first place. When Evie brings an armful of her unwanted romance books to a Little Free Library, a mysterious woman encourages her to take the book Instructions for Dancing. Soon after, Evie discovers that she now possesses the strange ability to see the course of couple's relationships. When she sees a couple kiss, she sees flashes of their lives together, right up until the inevitable breakup. This new power further enforces Evie's beliefs about love. But when the book Instructions for Dancing leads her to a local dance studio, everything changes. Evie takes a ballroom dancing class and is then paired up with X, the charming and handsome grandson of the studio owners, for a dance competition. As they learn to dance and learn about each other, Evie and X fall hard and Evie starts to wonder if it's worth falling for someone after all.

I've read one of Nicola Yoon's books previously and was a bit unhappy with it so I was hesitant to try another. I got sucked in by the gorgeous cover art of this book and, for the most part, wasn't disappointed. I think Evie and her family are realistic and I enjoyed seeing the dynamics between them. I could even understand Evie's attitude towards love, especially after seeing the relationship between her parents deteriorate. I liked that she and X came together slowly and neither pushed the relationship more than the other wanted. That is something I don't think we see often in YA.

My only issues with this book is that I almost don't think Evie's "super power" was necessary to move the plot forward. She was jaded and pessimistic enough from her parents' divorce, that I don't think the power really changed much else for her. Overall though, I really enjoyed this book. Evie and X were very sweet together and I think the message is an important one.

I definitely like the plot of this book and thought it was unique for a YA rom-com. It really shows the depth of the main character and her relationship with her family.

Evie is upset when her dad and mom get a divorce. She decides to give away all her books that deal with romance because love does not last. On her way to the library, she runs into a little old lady and a free-standing box telling people to drop off books and take one. The woman encourages her to take the book on dancing. She goes to the dance studio that is written in the back of the book and finds herself taking dance lessons with the X, the grandson of the owners. If Evie and X can win the amateur title, the dance studio will profit. This is a great story about love regarding both family and friends, and the importance of living life in the moment. Evie begins to look at love and her parents in a new way. Watching Evie and X explore feelings for each other is heartwarming.

This book was by no means perfect, but it was just what i needed.

We follow Evie as she gains the ability to see a couple’s romance play before her eyes (from their beginning up until their unavoidable end) when they kiss in front of her. Seeing how she’s very cynical about love and relationships, this isn’t something she’s fond of, therefore she sets off to find out why it’s happening and how she can undo it. Obviously, there’s a cute romance and some dancing involved, but there’s a lot more to it. We get deep conversations about dealing with grief from losing a loved one and the confusion that can result from parents divorcing.

I’ve read all of Nicola Yoon’s novels and this was no let down. It reads like what you’d expect from a fluffy YA contemporary romance and paired with the short chapters/easy writing it’s a breeze to get through. I loved how self aware it was about cliche tropes and typical plot points in romance stories, but still incorporated them in her own way.

Something I wish could’ve been developed more was Evie’s friendship group. They’re described as being very close and tight knit, but we don’t really get to see that. Also, I felt that at times the story felt a bit rushed and glazed over events and details without really explaining.

All in all, I really enjoyed this story and can’t wait to get my own copy when it releases.

Thank you NetGalley for this book!

I have read one other Nicola Yoon book, The Sun is Also a Star, which I absolutely loved. And I’ve been reading some heavy books as of late. So this little breath of fresh air was the perfect book. Much like Sun, this book is a great combo of light and heavy, love and heartbreak, fun and serious. I flew through this one in just a couple of days because I couldn’t stop reading. I absolutely loved it.

From Goodreads: Evie Thomas doesn’t believe in love anymore. Especially after the strangest thing occurs one otherwise ordinary afternoon: She witnesses a couple kiss and is overcome with a vision of how their romance began . . . and how it will end. After all, even the greatest love stories end with a broken heart, eventually.

As Evie tries to understand why this is happening, she finds herself at La Brea Dance studio, learning to waltz, fox-trot, and tango with a boy named X. X is everything that Evie is not: adventurous, passionate, daring. His philosophy is to say yes to everything–including entering a ballroom dance competition with a girl he’s only just met.

Falling for X is definitely not what Evie had in mind. If her visions of heartbreak have taught her anything, it’s that no one escapes love unscathed. But as she and X dance around and toward each other, Evie is forced to question all she thought she knew about life and love. In the end, is love worth the risk?

Evie is such a fun character that I really related to. She has her one group of friends, doesn’t get out much, studies a lot, snarky, and smart. Her struggles are grounded in reality, and you really understand why she feels the way she does. X and Evie’s friends are a great support system, as well. Just kept giggling at this book in the best way. Young love is always so fun to read about when it is genuine and not full of stupid YA tropes. After reading two excellent books by Yoon, I’ll be reading anything else she writes.

What is love? I’m sure all romance books ask this question. In fact, Evie, who used to love romance books, had decided to hate them, as the knows all their tricks, and is bored with them.

So, when she does fall in love, she starts ticking off the things about her new boyfriend that are too cliche. It is sort of fun, and meta, and self aware.

Oh, and she can see the future, when she sees lovers kiss, and it mostly ends in heartbreak, so she decides that love is not worth it, because of this.

This might sound boring, but it is actually, sweet, and tender, and full of jokes, and I gobbled it up in one day, as it is set in Los Angeles, and other than making the jacaranda trees bloom too early, most everything else felt very right.

Yes, there is sadness, and anger and heartbreak, and oh, the tango as well, as Evie and X, her boyfriend are in a dance competition, to help the dance school that X’s grandparents run.

Go out and get it when it comes out in July. And this is coming from someone who usually hates roamances.

<em> Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

Did I expect to get my heart broken in multiple pieces when I first started this book? No. Did my expectations matter? No, because this book made me feel so many emotions wether I wanted to feel them or not. But wow, my love for this book certainly took me by surprise!

In Instructions for Dancing, you'll follow Evie after she caught her father cheating on her mom. Fast forward a few months and she still doesn't want to see or speak to him and she basically gave up on love and the idea that her father was perfect. And if her parents didn't last, no one can..right? Well, she'll be proven wrong, eventually. She will learn that even if people end up separated because of a break up or death, it doesn't mean the love that they felt was less real. It happened and existed in the present, in the moment and saying no to all of that might just be wasting the time that she could have with a certain someone. Xavier (or X as he likes to be called) is a hot and talented musician who dreams to be a rockstar. He lives day by day after losing his best friend and always wants to say yes to new adventures. Just like the one where he and Evie will end up competing as amateurs ballroom dancers.

Overall, I simply loved this book. It was so freaking good. I had never read a book by Nicola Yoon (shocking, yes I know) but I'm so glad I got to read this one in advance. I can't wait to see all of your reactions and reviews once it comes out on June 3rd.

(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)