Hello friends! How is your June going? I am sharing about a sweet Young Adult book that I read a few weeks ago and was waiting for my stop on The Write Reads blog tour. Books bring us together, whether it is because of the opportunity to chat about them with fellow readers or developing empathy for the characters and the situations. When a book named Instructions for Dancing leads our main characters, Evie, to a dance studio, she has no choice but to face her destiny head on. But that’s not all though – she also seems to have developed a power of foresight in love. Curious? Take a look at the synopsis below and then read on for my thoughts.
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?
Content Notes: Depiction of separated parents, infidelity, death, grief.
Thoughts on Instructions for Dancing
Let’s start off with 4 things I loved about this book!
# 1 An insight into relationships
Relationships are not just romantic. There are friendships and familial bonds in every story and Instructions for Dancing portrays so many beautiful, sometimes better-sweet, relationships that it is hard to not like it. Evie is hurt by her parents divorce and as a young girl, it makes sense that it has broken her heart. Similar to Evie, my parents divorced at a young age and this side of her story was what hooked me into the book. I could see the teenage me in this book.
Her relationship with her sister and the importance of friends in this book cannot be emphasized enough. All these characters keep the story going and I loved how I progressed from chapter to chapter.
# 2 A love letter to romance novels
Heart break has a tendency to make us reevaluate our briefs. Evie’s parents’ situation makes her look at her collection of romance novels and wonder if her fascination with them was any good at all. When love can end in heartbreak, why bother? Packing up all her precious well-loved books into a bag, Evie heads to a little free library to drop them off. Even though she is separating from them, she still thinks back to them over the course of the story.
Books and their characters never leave us alone. We might not see the books but we know the plot and will refer to it, without a lot of effort. I think this speaks to how ingrained our love for books and our hobbies become in our life. We might physically part with those things, but mentally, it takes a while. Healing has its own course to run.
# 3 A promise of friendship
I never imagined a road trip with my friends after high school or graduation but our rituals of playing badminton on the weekends, having iced coffee on the 7th of every month, celebrating birthdays by going bowling… When these little things have been part of life for many years, breaking away from them is more scary than exciting. Evie has a wonderful circle of best friends and I loved every single one of them. There is love and anxiety there. There is the possibility of broken routines and promises but we can’t let the future dictate the present. This is an important lesson from the book, one that Evie has to learn.
# 4 On taking a chance
When we put ourselves out there, we grow! We open ourselves to learning something new and who knows, maybe we will be good at it! When dance instructor, Fiona gives Evie a spot in her dance class, Evie can’t turn it down. With all the family issues, summer approaching and vision craziness, it does not seem like a bad idea to have some structured time away. When Fiona signs her up for the dance competition, she goes with the flow. There is no turning back for her!
I loved Evie for her zeal and her courage. I think she will grow up to be a wonderful and strong person. Here is a Young Adult character that I will never forget!
Reading Experience Summary
I love the cover of this book! It shows the chemistry between Evie and X really well! I found the book hard to put down and it was an easy read that I liked coming back to. The cast was lovable and I connected to Evie in particular. Like her, I had all these dreams about my graduation and friend circles while life runs its own course. I laughed and cried many times through this book and reflected on life and love. I wondered if Evie’s power to see a couple’s past and present was a lesson in itself. The storytelling was balanced with just the right amount of information and I loved revisiting high school through this book!
Will you pick up this book?
Instructions for Dancing is available in stores. Be sure to check your local library and order it through there to help this book reach more readers.
Amazon Print
Amazon Kindle
About the Author
Nicola Yoon is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Instructions for Dancing, Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also a Star. She is a National Book Award finalist, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book recipient and a Coretta Scott King New Talent Award winner. Two of her novels have been made into major motion pictures. She’s also co-publisher of Joy Revolution, a Random House young adult imprint dedicated to love stories starring people of color. She grew up in Jamaica and Brooklyn, and lives in Los Angeles with her husband, the novelist David Yoon, and their daughter. Connect with her on Goodreads, Twitter and her website.
Many thanks to The Write Reads and the publisher for providing me with a complimentary copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Be sure to check out the spots of my fellow reviewers to read what they thought!
Thanks for hanging out with me today! I am on a little break from the blog so take care until next time! If you are looking for more book recommendations, head to the Book Review Index! I’ll be back with more later. 🙂
Cover image: Cover Photo on Unsplash
I loved The Sun is Also a Star, she really does write unorthodox romance in her stories but still manage to get you in your feels. I have this on my TBR so I’m really hopeful to get my hands on it! Lovely review ❤️
I will add The Sun is Also a Star to my TBR! Thank you for mentioning it! 🙂 I am glad you enjoyed the review!
Ooohhh I hope you like it!
Incredible review! 😀
Thank you so much 🙂