Great YA Romance!
I was expecting a cutesy YA rom com, and that was not exactly what this is.
It was much more emotional, and honestly, a little heart breaking.
It has a cool concept; when a couple kisses, Evie can see their love story play out. The past, the present, the future. The good, the bad.
The romance is insta-lovey, but I didn’t mind it. I liked the characters and thought they were a good match and pushed each other to make better decision for themselves.
The ending was bittersweet, and I could’ve done with a HEA, but life doesn’t always end with a HEA.

I feel likes it’s a sin to admit this, but this is my first time reading a book by Nicola Yoon! And I already know it’s been a big mistake, and I will be remedying it.

Nicola Yoon. You have done it again.

Not only did this book have me up reading until 3 am, but it also tore my heart out of my chest (in a good way).

Instructions for Dancing is about a girl grieving the loss of her youthful innocence and idyllic view of love after finding out that her dad cheated on her mom. Reading romance novels has lost the magic that it used to have for her—it no longer transports her to other worlds and lives. Evie symbolically takes all of her beloved contemporary romance novels and donates them to a neighborhood Little Free Library, where she meets a mysterious woman who urges her to take a book if she is going to leave one. That book is "Instructions for Dancing." After this encounter, Evie begins having visions of the trajectory of every couple's relationship when she sees them kiss. She wants to get rid of the visions that only cement her viewpoints that love is not forever, and she finds that the book the woman at the park gave her has an address to the La Brea Dance studio. In hopes of finding some clue, she goes there and finds herself being talked into dance lessons and soon after, a dance competition for the studio in an amateur Nightclub Dance category (consisting of five dances: bachata, salsa, West Coast Swing, hustle and Argentine tango). She agrees before meeting the boy who will be her partner--X ( short for Xavier), the owners’ grandson and a boy with a smile created to break hearts. This story explores divorce, grief, loss, and love in the most beautiful way and I can't wait for everyone to get their hand on it.

Thank you Random House Children's/Delacorte Press and Netgalley for letting me read this fantastic ARC!

NICOLA YOON.
I love you.

Thank you for writing such a beautiful book that will probably be in my top 10 of 2021. Nicola hasn't published since 2018 but I have loved her other two books tremendously that I knew instantly I would really enjoy this one. I didn't even know what it was really about upon picking it up but I was not disappointed.

We follow our main character Evie Thomas as she is going through the stages of grief dealing with her parent's divorce. She cannot figure out why they got divorced until she comes upon a secret that her father was hiding from her family and it completely guts her. As this is quite a relatable topic for myself, I completely loved it. Her portrayal of grief is exactly what I encountered and it is written so raw and real.

This book also has an aspect of speculative magic as Evie often has visions pertaining to couples in relationships and can see the trajectory of their relationship and how it will eventually end in heartbreak. I loved this aspect of the book because it did not overshadow the main plot and eventual romance Evie has with another character.

Enter, X. Evie finds herself at a dance studio where she meets a boy named X. She eventually gets roped into participating in a dance competition and her partner is no one other than X. OBVIOUSLY we know where this is going to end up but I think the realness of Evie letting herself fall in love even though everything must come to an end is....incredible.

The writing is immaculate and I definitely cried. I read this in 2 hours and I honestly wish I could read it all over again.

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc!

I love Nicola Yoon's books and couldn't wait to read this one. After Evie's parents divorce, she doesn't have much faith in love. After an odd interaction with a strange woman, Evie begins seeing visions when she sees people kiss. It's like a mini movie of their first meeting, first kiss, and how their relationship ends. This makes her lose more faith in love. After deciding to take ballroom dance lessons, she meets a boy named X who is up for anything. The dance studio owners convince Evie and X to participate in a dance competition and they get to know each other. Will Evie see the ending to their relationship too?

I loved most of this book. In fact, before the ending, it was well on its way to being a 5 star book. Then, well.

I’m confusedly disappointed by the ending of this book. The very ending, I did love, but it was what led up to the ending that I didn’t care for. I wish it had played out differently. I understood it, especially after reading the author’s note at the end, but still, I didn’t like it 🥺

But! the rest of the novel I really really loved. It made me smile and laugh and I could not stop jotting down memorable quotes. The writing! It was deep and meaningful, and light and fun. On that note, I really enjoyed Evie’s character and personality. She pretty much personified all of us book lovers, and she’s snarky, and loving, and lovely, and fun.

My favorite character, however, was Fifi. Fifi is life and gold and I want to know her in real life. Her sharp little jabs that aren’t really jabs, just her speaking truth, in a loving way. Her loving way. I just loved her. I’m sure I’m not describing her right or fully. There’s just one thing I wish. I wish there had been more of her in the novel! I need more Fifi! The beginning was perfect, and then she faded away a little in the middle to make way for other conflicts, which I also appreciated. I just missed Fifi and her humor!

And the dancing. I love dance, and it was described beautifully on these pages. I could envision perfectly the dances Evie and X performed, and their attire, and feelings between them.

I haven’t read many YA magical realism contemporary romance books, and while I really like them and the touch of magic infused into the stories, I feel like the magic sometimes gets a little lost along the way in order to focus more on the romance and other conflicts. I guess I just wish the magical realism aspect had a little bit more of a presence throughout the entire novel. Not to say it was lacking much here. I really liked the magic in this novel and how it was executed and woven in. Except the ending 😒

So, in the end, I loved most of the book and would have given it 5 shining stars if not for one particular plot point. Also, I think this would make a really fantastic movie. Oh, and I LOVE the cover!

𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑁𝑒𝑡𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛 𝑒-𝑎𝑟𝑐 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤!

I hate to be the “Nicola Yoon has done it again” girl but…Nicola Yoon did it again. This book is filled with love and loss and also a dash of magic and it is so, so good and powerful and important. Evie is a relatable main character with a newly discovered fear of love (mainly losing love) because of her parents’ divorce, so throughout the book we follow her journey to rediscover what love really means. She also obtains a bit of an ability and it takes a turn I wasn’t expecting but was really entertaining (but also sad at times and quite thought-provoking). The main plot is Evie and her love story, both with love itself and with a boy, but there were also some great side elements, like Evie’s relationship with her father and sister and friends and dealing with the end of senior year. I also loved the dancing element where X and Evie are entering a competition, it really helped progress their relationship along. This book was short but it packed a real punch with authentic characters and great insight on the meaning of love, and I’d highly recommend it.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: June 1, 2021

After loving Yoon’s The Sun Is Also a Star, I was thrilled to receive an advance copy of Instructions for Dancing. Another fast-paced YA/teen romance that will have you racing through the pages although this one seems a little too rushed at times. If you’re into love with a bit of magical realism, this will be an easy one for you to fall for!

I was so excited when I received this advanced reader's copy! I love Nicola Yoon's books, and this did not disappoint! This is my favorite book of hers to date. I loved everything about this story, the characters, the writing, and the plot. I fell in love with these characters immediately, and I loved how perfectly imperfect they were. Sometimes the characters made the wrong decisions, sometimes they acted rashly, but always, they were human and relatable. I think the relatability of the characters in this book is the major selling point. I identified with the main characters on so many levels, and that just made me feel seen. Thank you for such a good book!!

Nicola Yoon does it again! She brings emotion to her characters and draws you into their story. This one has a bit of a "magical" twist as she suddenly gets the ability to see visions of couples romantic journeys when they kiss. It's poetic, and sad and the ending was not what I expected at all. There is a lot of truth about life in this story.

I didn't give it full stars because I'm a bit of a cynic when it comes to romance novels. Things always seem the tiniest bit forced. HOWEVER, on that end this book did a good job of making up for it with the rest of the plot and characters.

I really enjoyed two of her previous books, but I couldn't get through this one. The dialogue didn't work, the characters didn't work, the plot felt predictable.

Is love worth the risk?

After Evie's parents’ divorce, she finds it hard to believe that it is.
When she gains the ability to see the beginning and end of a couple's relationship by seeing them kiss, it only makes her more sure than before that heartbreak is inevitable.
When she meets X and starts taking more risks--by entering a ballroom dance competition--she struggles to balance her head and her heart.

This story, equally heart-warming and heart-wrenching, is an exploration of the risks we choose to take with our heart—and why love is always worth it.

This was my first Nicola Yoon novel, but I had previously seen the movie for Everything, Everything—so I would venture to say that this story is more bittersweet than her previous works. I've learned that her stories tend to throw one or two surprises my way, and sets hers apart from the other YA works I read. I feel like I walk away from them inspired to live and love more—which for me, is the whole point.

At points the pacing felt a bit quick for the amount of character development, especially the very end, which wrapped up extremely fast in my opinion. But, overall, I didn't think it took away from the effect of the story and I'm very glad I picked this one up.


Thank you Delacorte Press and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of INSTRUCTIONS FOR DANCING

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children's for this advanced reader's copy!

I have loved Nicola Yoon's writing for years, and Instructions for Dancing did not disappoint.

When Evie witnesses a kiss between a couple in love, she sees their entire relationship played out before her eyes. This causes some skepticism about relationships for her, especially her own budding one with her dance partner, X.

This book was a quick read, but full of heavy content. It was thought-provoking and tackled topics of divorce, breakups and grief.

The relationship between the main characters seemed a bit rushed, leaving me unable to fully buy into it. However the struggle Evie had with herself felt very real and important. It was my favorite part of the book. She went from self-sabotaging to protect herself to discovering being happy in the moment and living life to the fullest.

I think this book lives up to Yoon's other work, with the addition of a little magic. If you're a fan of Everything, Everything and The Sun is Also a Star, I have no doubt you'll enjoy this one as well.

I loved this book. I found it to be new and refreshing. I can't wait to read more books by this author. So enjoyable!!!

This book was so beautiful & so heartbreaking. I loved Evie & X's relationship and how it developed. I love this look at love and how it can break us but is also so good while we have it. Thank you Nicola Yoon for this astonishing beautiful story.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This book has quickly become one of my favorites of all time. I am sad to admit that I have had books by Nicola Yoon on my TBR for a while but after reading this one, I am going to go straight into reading everything she has written. It was a perfect book for me. While it was a quick read, it was extremely well-paced. I never got bored and was so enthralled that I finished the book in one sitting. It has a mix of romance, heartbreak, and everything in between with a touch of magic. Everything mixed together to make this one of the few five-star reads I have this year.

3.5/5 stars!

The heroine is disillusioned on love due to her parents' divorce. After getting rid of her romance books, she ends up with a power that disrupts her mental health. She meets the love interest at the dance studio and they ended up becoming close, even ending up as amateur dance partners.

This heartwarming YA story brought mixed feelings in me. I didn't like one part of the ending but appreciated the message of the story. I did enjoy the journey the heroine went through in the book, though I would have liked more details in some parts as a personal preference of mine. I liked some secondary characters, especially the love interest. But I would have loved more scenes focused on the dancing aspect. Overall, this is a nice YA story with a great message that I would recommend.

**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.**

Evie’s parents are divorced after her father has an affair. Evie can’t forgive him, even though it seems her mother and sister have. She takes all of her rom coms to a little free library and her life is changed after meeting a mysterious woman. As Evie watches people kiss, she sees their entire relationship before her eyes. It becomes a curse for her and makes her unwilling to take a chance on love. Then Evie meets X and she learns to dance. Will she also learn to love? Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my review.

Rating: 4.99999 stars because I'm a jerk and because I wish this were longer.

"Love stories are like fairy tales: you're not meant to believe in them forever."

As much as I make fun of cheesy rom-coms and formulaic love stories, underneath all that sarcasm and derision (like way, way deep down,) I'm a hopeless romantic, and I think that's a big reason why I think I loved Instructions for Dancing so much. I mean, how many YA contemporary books--how many romances--are told in a skeptical, sarcastic tone?

This book is just the right combination of sap and snark and is exactly the kind of love story my cynically romantic heart craves. Yoon simultaneously pokes fun at and celebrates the familiar tropes founds in romance that we all know and love (or love to hate,) which is pretty much my relationship with the whole genre in a nutshell. (Seriously, X reading and sassing Cupcakes and Kisses is me 85% of the time I read/watch anything remotely romantic.) Like, I need this to become a new subgenre of romance because sometimes you just want a side of sarcasm to go with your love stories.

Evie Thomas is a hopeless romantic turned jaded cynic after her parents' divorce, and while we share very little in common, there's just something super relatable about her. Her voice comes across the page so clearly and really makes the story come to life. (This is one of the few cases where first-person POV is actually done right.)

Speaking of the story, the story, you guys. It's nuanced and beautiful and so not what you would expect from a YA contemp romance. It's about loss and love and learning to heal, and I don't even have words to explain how much I loved it. I don't even like magical realism, but this book comes together so seamlessly, the whole "I see visions of people's love lives" is surprisingly believable. And while this is a romance, it's not your predictable, HEA nicely tied up with a bow, kind of romance. There's complexity and a healthy dose of reality, but it's also a story of hope and of healing and of heart. There's this contemplative aspect to the story that's not really common in YA fiction, and I kind of loved it.

Of course, a story is nothing without a good cast, and Yoon's characters did not disappoint. Obviously, there's Evie, my fictional foil, is a girl after my own heart who I absolutely adored. Martin eighteen-going-on-eighty is so endearing, Archibald and Maggie are relationship goals for life, and Fifi is the sassy, blunt dance instructor I need in my life. And the non-romantic relationships in this book are so good. Ugh, you guys. I love the dynamics between Evie and each of her family members. I am such a sucker for a good sibling or father-daughter relationship, and we get both in Instructions for Dancing. The fact that these aren't storybook perfect but complex and flawed makes them that much better. Also, there's this one mother-daughter scene towards the end that reminds you why moms are the best 😭.

My only complaint, and the reason I ended not going all the way and giving this a full 5 stars is that it was over too quickly.

The story is almost like a collection of montages; Instructions for Dancing is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it kind of a book. The story is strong, but Yoon gets straight to the point and doesn't give us much time to really linger from scene-to-scene. The ending, especially, is a bit rushed and doesn't quite pack the emotional punch it could've. I mean, it still hits you hard, but with a little more development, it would've been a knock out for sure. Similarly, the characters have pretty distinct personalities; I just wished they had been developed even more.

As usual, Delacorte Press provided the ARC, and I get to tell the people what I really thought.

This was a truly impressive and mature love story. Instructions for Dancing has just enough magic to give this story a solid footing in the YA world, but it is also insightful enough in its exploration of love to not alienate an adult audience. I was amazing by the level of chemistry and emotional complexity Nicola Yoon is able to write in her characters- not just in Evie’s personal romance or the relationship with her teenage friends, but with the uncomfortable, bitter, swirling feelings that come from dealing with a family separation. This was a captivating read that not only has you rooting for romance, but also has you remembering why its worth diving in head first again and again.

Yoon is a good writer. She is clever and her characters are engaging and meet all the requirements of a good YA read - a snarky, smart girl and a genuine, sweet, handsome boy. Evie is reeling from the breakup of her parents and is trying to decide whether to embrace life with all the possibility of heartbreak or to wall herself off somewhere safe. This isn't high literature but I'd read it on a beach any day.