The Book:
Title: Instructions for Dancing
Author: Nicola Yoon
Published June 3rd 2021 by Penguin
Genre: YA, Romance
Pages: 304
“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?” -Goodreads
My Review:
Nicola Yoon has been on my list of top authors for years now, and this book doesn’t change that.
I got this book for Christmas and it is signed!
This book is sweet and playful, but it also touches on some dark subjects. It devastated me in the end, but in a way that gives you hope. I loved it.
Evie is a wonderful character. I used to feel like her, desperate for love but thinking it was pointless. Her experience as a character is so unique. It made me want to sign up for dancing lessons with my partner.
X is a romantic dream, but I liked how the story did not only focus on the romance between the characters. Also, he was not an asshole or a man who is so hurt by his past. He is honest about his feelings.
This love story was sweet, but semi-unadventurous because nothing super bad happens to them. That was super refreshing. Clearly, there is something that goes wrong, but to tell you would be to ruin the book.
The story is a quick read, thanks to Yoon’s writing style. I love how sometimes chapters are just lists and sometimes they are only a few lines. I have always enjoyed that about her writing.
I think it is such a sweet book. It is definitely not her best, that is reserved for The Sun is Also a Star. I still loved it and highly recommend it.
As always, thanks for reading,
A Bookie
Star Rating: 4
Author: Nicola Yoon