Book Review: Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon (Spoilers)

Instructions For Dancing is a recent YA release by Nicola Yoon. I got this book from the LA Festival of Books and I finally got around to reading it yesterday. Here are my thoughts on it and note that there will be spoilers.

Here is the summary/ synopsis from the back of the book.

This book flowed really well and tugged on your heartstrings in all the right places. Nicola Yoon is truly a fantastic author, and I have loved every single one of her books that I've read. Instructions For Dancing was no exception.

This novel tells a powerful story about love and how it is worth it in the end despite the heartache that may come afterward.

Spoiler Section

Here are my thoughts on Evie.

So, Evie is a stubborn protagonist that for much of the story resents love. Yoon did a good job of not making her seem very childish like other YA protagonists, and I felt that Evie having to carry the secret that her dad was cheating on her mom did fuel the story along and contributed well to it. Sometimes when authors do this and name some reasons why a character doesn't believe in love, it feels like they tend to not give examples that we as the reader can see. In Instructions For Dancing, we are able to observe how this weighs her down and makes Evie only look at how each vision she gets of couples ends instead of the journey. We were also able to see the relationship she has with her dad and how she didn't want to go to his wedding. Basically, there wasn't a bandaid fix in this story for Evie's cynicism of love and I thought that the way Yoon showed the interactions and developed the story over time was very truthful and it made Evie's journey a beautiful story to witness.

Lots of moments in this story endeared me to Evie, and like always with me, I found it easy to love her character. From her thoughts about books to the events in her life she corresponds to common scenes in books, I just really enjoyed seeing that fun side to her. I also enjoyed the more depressing side to her where she would always want to be prepared for things (like we see in the philosophical bonfire questions) and how after learning that X will die in a few months, she just wanted to lock herself away in her room. Her character growth was amazing too.

Another thing I admire and want to briefly touch on is the chemistry with X and Evie. In some novels(I know I keep repeating this but bear with me), it feels like all of the chemistry is physical, like kissing and such, and even though they will say the characters get each other, that wouldn't be touched on as much. In this book, Yoon really built up the foundation for X and Evie's romance well with friendship, and even though Evie found X attractive through looks, Yoon showed how they understood each other aside from that. They never really pressured each other and they didn't shy away from discussing both of their other problems like X's dad and him dropping out of school or Evie's relationship with her dad and the wedding or her not feeling sure of love. I thought that was a great component that made me like this book.

Like most contemporary romance novels, I did predict a lot of the events in the story. For example, we of course knew that Evie would accept that she's in love and it would be during the big dance. I also knew there would be a revelation scene like how Evie saw that her visions weren't supposed to be a curse and that love is worth it despite how it will end. I even predicted that X might die after I saw in Evie's vision of Archibald and Maggie that they attended someone's funeral.

Of course, I still enjoyed this book and all it offered me despite that. I really loved side characters like Fifi. She brought so much energy to this story when she taught Evie and X the dances, and I thought Archibald and Maggie were adorable. I thought the way Nicola Yoon laid out the story and the chapters was great; I always really enjoy her writing style.

Below are some amazing quotes from this book:

“The problem with broken hearts isn’t that they kill you. It’s that they don’t.”

“It doesn’t matter that love ends. It just matters that there’s love.”

“Here's what I think. If you get very, very lucky in this life, then you get to love another person so hard and so completely that when you lose them, it rips you apart. I think the pain is the proof of a life well lived and loved.”

“At beginning you will not be good. Some of you will be like clumsy newborn baby octopus, but by the end you will be better.”

"I gave you the power to see love. The heartbreak is just one part of it. It’s not the all of it. Why did you only focus on the ending?” “Because it’s the most important part.” “Is it?” she asks. “It wasn’t supposed to be a curse, Evie. It was supposed to be a gift.”

So, overall, I give this book 4 stars. It was a great read and a temporary escape from reality.

If you haven't read it and like contemporary romances with beautiful lessons, I highly recommend you buy it and read it. Comment below if you've read it and let's discuss in the comments our thoughts.