Book Review for Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon
Full review for this title can be found at: @fyebooks on Instagram!

Instructions for Dancing is a beautiful story about love, heartbreak, and living in the moment. This is a young adult novel that follows Evie, a senior in high school, who is dealing with her parents divorce. She doesn’t think that love is worth the risk because it always ends in heartbreak. After a strange encounter with a mysterious woman she finds herself being able to see other people’s love stories play out in visions. This encounter leads her to a dance studio where she meets a boy named X and her story really starts.
I really loved the characters. They sometimes make mistakes and feel very realistic. The side characters add charm and humor, as well as touching moments.
The friendships in this book were wonderful to see. The dynamic between Evie and her dad was explored really well. There are sad moments, but so many happy ones too. I’ve read many YA contemporary novels and this one really stands out to me.
I would recommend this book to those who like contemporary romances with a lot of heart.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this arc in an exchange for a review!
" Sometimes the only thing to say about a period of time is that it's passing and that you're surviving it."
This book was absolutely phenomenal and my favorite book I have read this year (so far)definitely!!
Things I loved:

Evie, I loved Evie so so much! She was kind, stubborn and so fiercely protective over her heart and everything and everyone she loved. I found myself relating to her a lot, more than I normally do to characters, which is an amazing feeling.

X, he was such an amazing, well-developed soft boi and I loved him and how passionate he was about his friends, family, interests and values.

Side characters, I loved Fifi, Maggie, Archibald and all of Evie's and X's other friends and family.

Dancing, as one would guess this book featured a lot of dancing and I loved every moment of it!! Learning about some different dances and following Evie and X as they learned them was so interesting and fun!!

Chapters, I love love how Nicola Yoon writes her books!! In all of her books, she always has her unique writing style show through and this book was no different. I loved everything about the writing style, from the different chapter lengths to the titles of the chapters to the different insights we got into people's lives, I was captured from the moment I started this beautiful book!!

Magic, I loved the twist of the magical ability Evie had that allowed her to see into other people's (romantic) relationships

Plot, throughout this book I was so connected to everyone, more than I have been in a while, so much so that I was crying (I mean full on sobbing) at certain points, which never happens!!

The message, to me the message throughout this book was that love is something everyone need and longs for in life, whether be romantic or platonic, everyone deserves to be loved and to love, but sometimes it can be scary to put your heart out there and take a risk on someone, the possibility of breaking your heart or someone else's sometimes seems to grand.

Things I didn't love:
Nothing I can think of

Anyway, please read this book when it comes out!!

As expected, Nicola Yoon does not disappoint! A recommended first purchase for YA and high school fiction collections.

This is an amazing story of love and loss. Evie’s parents have recently divorced, and Evie feels betrayed by her father, who she caught cheating on her mother. This has colored her view of life and love negatively. Evie finds a book and has a brief encounter with a woman at a roadside free library that changes her life. The encounter has left her with a strange ability and encouraged her to visit a dance school where she is talked into learning Latin dance for a competition with a hot guy named X. Will they make it as a couple and if so can it last?

What a lovely and heart warming book! This is my first Nicola Yoon book, and while I initially didn't think it was going to be for me, I absolutely loved it - so much so that I finished it within 3 - 4 days?

You should pick up this book if you enjoy love, heartbreak, growth, family and friend dynamics, and dance. This story is about a girl named Evie who is thrown off track when something happens to her. On the way, she learns about herself and life in general, all while picking up some dance moves.

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!