Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon – Review

• Title: Instructions for Dancing
• Author: Nicola Yoon
• Publisher: Delacorte Press (Penguin) on June 1, 2021
• Genre: YA Romance
• Pages: 290
• Formats Available: Hardback, Paperback, Audiobook, & Digital
• Rating: 5/5

Trigger Warnings: None

Many thanks to Nicola Yoon, Penguin, The Write Reads, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of Instructions for Dancing with a request for an honest review.

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Instructions for Dancing Blurb

#1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything and The Sun is Also a Star Nicola Yoon is back with a new and utterly unique romance.

Evie is disillusioned about love ever since her dad left her mum for another woman – she’s even throwing out her beloved romance novel collection.

When she’s given a copy of a book called Instructions for Dancing, and follows a note inside to a dilapidated dance studio, she discovers she has a strange and unwelcome gift. When a couple kisses in front of her, she can see their whole relationship play out – from the moment they first catch each other’s eye to the last bitter moments of their break-up.

For Evie, it confirms everything she thinks she knows about love – that it doesn’t last.

But at the dance studio she meets X – tall, dreadlocked, fascinating – and they start to learn to dance, together. Can X help break the spell that Evie is under? Can he change Evie’s mind about love?

Provided by The Write Reads for Tour Purposes

My Review

I will be upfront with you. I am a Nicola Yoon newbie. I’ve not read one of her novels nor seen any of the movie adaptations. However, after reading Instructions for Dancing, I will not be a newbie for long. Nicola grabbed my heart with her pen and won’t let go. I know I will never be the same again. This book is something you can’t forget.

When Evie learns a terrible secret about the one person she felt she could trust with her life, she shuts down. Nothing can penetrate her broken heart until she meets X. X is everything Evie needs, but nothing she wants. She doesn’t want to give her heart to anyone only to let it break again. Love always ends, doesn’t it? Evie thinks so. But, no matter how hard she tries, Evie falls in love with X, only to run away when she learns a truth she doesn’t want to face. Will Evie ever learn to trust in love, even if it means another broken heart?

Evie is one of those characters that you love yet want to scream at her at the same time. So many times, I wanted to shake her to get her to come to her senses. I understand her defenses. But her need to run away from heartache causes even more damage to her heart. She needs to stay and deal with the outcome. X is a good influence on her and is wise beyond his years. I thought he would be her guiding light, but maybe not.

I must tell you that this book got me. I read it in one sitting, and the tears never stopped. I can’t count how many tissues I went through while reading. I didn’t have those pretty gentle tears that sometimes leak from your eyes. I was full-on ugly crying, and it got to the point where my daughter thought I had a mental breakdown. But, I will also tell you that I wouldn’t change my reaction to this book at all. The tears made me realize how much I wanted to scoop Evie up and hold her. I needed to tell her everything will be okay, and she can let down her walls. The poor girl was so broken, and I wanted to put her back together.

It isn’t rare for me to cry while reading a book. In fact, I cry a lot, not just at books, but movies, tv, even commercials make me tear up. But, never in all the books I’ve read has a character broken me. Evie did.

I award Instructions for Dancing a full 5 out of 5 stars. There is no way I couldn’t after the connection I had to Evie. I know I don’t make the best argument for reading this book, but you need to trust me. Please, read it.

About the Author – Nicola Yoon

Nicola Yoon is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Instructions for Dancing, Everything, Everythingand 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.

Author’s Contact Links: Twitter | Instagram | Website