Instructions for Dancing

by Nicola Yoon

Paperback, 2022

Status

Available

Call number

813.6

Genres

Publication

Ember (2022), 304 pages

Description

Romance. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML:AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "A charming, wholehearted love story that's sure to make readers swoon."�??Entertainment Weekly "Nicola Yoon writes from the heart in this beautiful love story."�??Good Morning America �??It�??s like an emotional gut punch�??so beautiful and also heart-wrenching."�??US Weekly In this romantic page-turner from the author of Everything, Everything and The Sun is Also a Star, Evie has the power to see other people�??s romantic fates�??what will happen when she finally sees her own? 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 e… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member DilowRosas

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.**

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LibraryThing member Hccpsk

Nicola Yoon fans looking for her usual story-based novels with a romantic thread may have to adjust their lens a bit with Instructions For Dancing, which leans more towards a romance with a more serious undercurrent. At the same time, Yoon plays on the generic characteristics of romance novels in

her clever and skilled way so that it feels fresh and very readable. Don’t worry though, Instructions For Dancing has all the YA hallmarks--handsome boy, cute, snarky girl, quirky friends, etc. Evie’s still reeling from her parent's divorce, and has sworn off all romance--including her favorite books--when she realizes she has the magical power to see the end of relationships of couples in love. (Did I mention magical realism? Yeah, that, too.) All bets are off when she meets Xavier and they enter a dance contest for his grandparent studio...romance novel, remember? Yoon throws in a few twists, so things may not turn out exactly the way it seems, but readers still get all the feels they expect from her books. Although the very abrupt ending and significantly fewer pages than her last two books left me thinking she rushed to meet a publisher deadline, the honest acknowledgments revealed stress and sadness in Yoon’s personal life that made this understandable. Not Yoon’s best effort, but certainly worth the time for her fans and readers looking for something fun and well-written with themes of love vs. heartbreak, friendship, and family.
Thank you NetGalley for an ARC

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LibraryThing member bookworm12

Lovely, sweet, and definitely a tear-jerker. A disillusioned teen named Evie finds herself dosed with a bit of magical realism that leads her to ballroom dancing classes. The meta-references to romance novels were snarky and fun and her chemistry with X was crackling. I particularly enjoyed the

relationship between X's grandparents and Evie's supportive friends. I loved reading it, even if I saw the end coming for a bit. The Sun is Also a Star remains my favorite Yoon, but I will eagerly anticipate her next book!

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LibraryThing member bell7

Evie used to love her romance novels, but she's cleaning out now that her parents are divorced and she's still mad at her dad after walking in on him kissing his new love interest. She doesn't believe in lasting love anymore, and when a mysterious power allows her to see the trajectory of people's

relationships when they kiss, she's even more convinced that all love leads to is heartbreak. But then she's pulled into a dancing competition helping out a ballroom dance school and meets the owners' grandson, X (short for Xavier). Do Evie and X have a chance at true love?

I really enjoyed this story, exploring all sorts of relationships and changes that happen with family and friends in the course of a lifetime. It's no mistake that Evie and her friends are seniors, ready for big life changes both in and out of their control. Evie's mixed feelings about her dad - angry, but still loving him, and feeling betrayed - are honest and confused and heartbreaking. Her developing relationship with X, who lives in the moment, was sweet. And she and her friend group go through ups and downs as well. It takes a lot to make me cry - this book did.

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LibraryThing member AVoraciousReader

4.5

Book source ~ TWR Tour

Evie Thomas is struggling with her feelings about her parents’ divorce. More, she’s mad that her dad cheated on her mom and she promised her mom she wouldn’t tell her little sister Danica. And finally, she’s down on love. Especially since a strange thing happened

one afternoon. When she sees a couple kiss, she sees the beginning, the middle, and the end of their romance. She doesn’t know why this curse was bestowed upon her, but she blames it all on a book she found at a strange lady’s Little Free Library. So she decides to return the book, Instructions for Dancing, to the studio stamped inside. And that’s when her life takes a turn she didn’t see coming.

This is a story that I think we all can relate to. Love. The wonderful beginning. The steady middle. And sometimes, the painful end. Evie has been dealt a harsh blow and she struggles to get past her dad falling in love with someone other than her mom. She has decided she is never going to love someone. But life has other plans for her. Or the strange lady does. Who was that woman anyway? And why gift/curse Evie with the sight to see relationships from beginning to end with a kiss? Where did she come from? Where did she go?

This is a wonderful and yet heartbreaking tale about love, relationships, and life. How things never stay the same and don’t always go as planned. And about taking chances. Beautifully written, it will pull you in, twirl you around, and not let go until the final note fades away. It is a book that will stay with you for a long time after the last page is read. If you like an author who puts their characters through the wringer then this is the book for you. Have a hanky ready because there are parts that would make a stone gargoyle bawl.

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LibraryThing member Maydacat

Though sad in parts, this teen book is not submerged in teenage angst as so many young adult books are. Evie is given a magical gift: when she first sees a couple kiss, she sees their past and gets a vision of their future. And it’s not the storybook ending people hope for. By chance or maybe

fate, Evie enters a dance studio and gets caught up in a dance contest. She and the owners’ grandson become partners. Times are good, but then she sees visions. Along with dealing with this unwanted gift, she must cope with her parent’s recent divorce. It’s a tough time for this high school senior, and a challenge not only for her but also for her family and friends. This is quite a story, and runs the gamut of emotions, but in the end, Evie does discover what is most important in life. But I’m not going to tell you, because you should read this extraordinary story for yourself.

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LibraryThing member HeatherLINC

I thoroughly enjoyed "Everything, Everything" when I first read it but "Instructions for Dancing" was soooo much better! This novel had more depth and was extremely touching. I adored Evie and X, they were both down-to-earth and realistic. I also loved all the supporting characters, especially Fifi

who was Evie and X's dance instructor.

The subtle fantasy element was handled well and I found all the dance sequences interesting. However, the end was heartbreaking. A wonderful read and the girls will love it.

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LibraryThing member ShellyPYA

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?

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LibraryThing member EdGoldberg

Yvette (Evie) used to believe in love, that is until her parents got divorced. So now she's donating all the romance novels she used to devour to a little free library. But a stranger says you need to take a book when you give a book so she dicks her hand in and pulls out Instruction for

Dancing.

She soon realizes that when she sees people kiss, she can read their past and future. Most of the time the future ends in sadness. Hoping by returning the book to the dance studio whose address is in the back, her visions will go away. But while there she's convinced to take lessons and ultimately enter an amateur competition. She's paired with X (Xavier) and there's an instant attraction.

Can her aversion to romance be swept away in dance and X and will her visions go away? Read the book to find out. You'll really enjoy it.

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LibraryThing member Salsabrarian

Narrated by Bahni Turpin. Yvette is bruised by her parents' divorce and the discovery that her father cheated on her mother. So she finds it hard to open up to X, the boy she is training with for a dance competition, even as she is attracted to him. Why fall in love if your heart is just going to

be broken? I didn't really feel this romance and I was actually more interested in pursuing the storyline where Yvette sees visions of how couples' relationships will turn out (including that of two close friends). Still, Yoon has a talent for creating a genuine "awwww" moment that is hopeful and not at all mawkish.

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LibraryThing member deslivres5

I was pleasantly surprised by the "whiff"/"light seasoning" of magic here that I wasn't expecting.

I thought this was going to be a meet-cute type of book (and in a way it is), but it was so much more, with Evie's family drama, X's band backstory, Evie's friends group, and the truly philosophical

musings that really hit me hard. Not as much dancing as you would think, with relationships taking up a majority of the story.

Don't want to give anything away. Just saying that you better be prepared for this one!

Bahni Turpin is the narrator here (I listened to the audiobook) and I always enjoy her narrations; her embodiment of the dance instructor, Fifi, put a smile on my face.

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LibraryThing member bookczuk

2021 pandemic resurgence/Delta variant read. (Please wear a mask, get vaccinated, and stay safe.)
Picked up because I like this author, and I like dancing. It's only logical that I should like this book, which was delightful, refreshing, and genuine.
The author note was fantastic.

LibraryThing member ewyatt

A charming read. A meet cute at a ballroom dance studio after the main character, Evie gets a brochure leading her to a dance studio and a sudden power to see the history & future of people's relationships when they kiss (compared to the novel Big by her friend Martin). Evie is soured on love after

catching her dad cheating on her mom and their subsequent breakup. Her senior year sees her agreeing to a amateur ballroom competition with the warm, handsome X. The romance is lovely, and Evie's emotional journey throughout the book feels heartfelt.

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LibraryThing member Mav-n-Libby

Who knew? This was a Once Upon a Book Club book. And I didn't realize until it came in that it was a YA book...which I tend to try to stay away from. But I absolutely fell in love with this book. I read it in two days and can see picking this up again in a few years and rereading it. Even though

the main character was in high school (I think she was a senior), it didn't write like YA at all. The only thing I wish was that it had a little more of the "seeing the future" in it. However, I'm not dinging the book for it. That's just me and I love a little futuristic-ness. But the way she saw all the love stories and how they ended. SPOILER: And then to see the boy she loved and the future that he was going to die. The whole theme of, it's better to have loved and lost than never loved at all, is very strong and comes down to that decision in the end, since she knows he's going to die in 10 months (or 8 months), whatever it was. Anyway, just an amazing story. I thought it was going to be a silly little romance and it ended up being so much deeper than that. I really enjoyed the characters and their banter and how she was a little hard on the outside, but soft inside. The characters didn't feel young and didn't read like a YA. So glad I picked this one up!

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LibraryThing member BookConcierge

Evie doesn’t believe in love anymore. Not after she found her father in the arms of his lover, and her parents subsequently divorced. But then on a trip to a little free library, she comes across an unusual volume – “Instructions for Dancing.” It’s a manual and the flyleaf says it’s the

property of a dance studio, so she decides to return it to the studio. The next thing she knows, Evie is paired with a boy named X, learning to waltz, fox-trot and tango. Oh, and she’s acquired an unusual ability to see a couple’s love story just by witnessing them kissing.

This is a charming YA romance with a young couple who have multiple family issues they have to navigate. I like that Yoon gives us reasons why Evie is so reluctant to give herself over to the potential of falling in love. I also really liked X. He’s a steady presence and a genuinely lovely young man – tender, accomplished, forward thinking, a gentleman. These two young people really shine.

However, I think Yoon could have left out the “visions” that Evie has when she spots a couple kissing. They just didn’t really support the story, in my opinion. Although, I suppose I understand the message of enjoying the moment and not over-thinking the future.

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