This was my first Nicola Yoon book, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I loved the magical realism element throughout the book, and the way Evie's visions helped her reach acceptance for multiple, but I don't think I was expecting such a bittersweet ending. That's just personal preference, of course, but the bittersweet ending did kind of color my entire experience with this book.

I loved a lot, though, including the dance subplot. It felt rushed, particularly at the end, but those bits with Evie and X learning how to dance, and the dance lessons serving as a jumping off point for their relationship to grow were really lovely to read. I also loved all of the details pertaining to Evie's (former) love of romance novels. It helped ground the character and make her feel familiar, like she was "one of us."

I feel like this isn’t the best book I’ve read from Nicola Yoon. I think it just didn’t feel realistic enough and it just didn’t flow for me.

I really like Nicola Yoon's books. This one was no exception. While being a semi love story it was also a beautifully heart bending book. I like that every thing was not all frills and butterflies. I like the message of the story and the characters are well written and relatable. Glad I got to read it in advance it'll be great for reader's advisory ♡

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It was sweet and smart and heartfelt and had more depth that I originally thought. I loved all the family relationships and especially the friendships of the main character.

Evie has given up on love. How can it exist when people such as her parents love ends? And since it is not forever why even fall in love? Then one afternoon when Evie decides to take all her romance novels to a neighborhood lending library she picks up a book called Instructions for Dancing. All of the sudden she can see peoples love stories. On her journey to figure out why she has been burdened with such an ability Evie meets X at a local dance studio. Will Evie be able to find love with X? Does true love exist? Is it worth risking falling in love at all? I love how the title of this book is a metaphor. It is such a beautiful book about love and how while sometimes it only lasts for a moment that moment in time is worth living, looking to the future makes you miss how many amazing things are going on in the present. Dancing is all about being in the moment, nothing else matters. We should all dance through life if we want to live to our fullest. Just a beautiful message and such a fun book.

Nicola Yoon’s new novel Instructions for Dancing follows Evie Thomas, a senior in high school, whose world has been rocked because she walked in on her dad cheating on her mother. Her utter disappointment in her dad, coupled with her parents’ divorce, has left Evie feeling like there’s no point in falling in love if it’s just going to end in misery. Evie is so off the whole idea of love at this point, she takes all of her old romance novels to donate to a Little Free Library. An elderly woman there encourages Evie to take a book as well and gives her a book called Instructions for Dancing. Evie doesn’t want to be rude so she takes it and when she sees an address on the back for a local dance studio, she decides to check out the studio and while there, she meets ‘X’ (short for Xavier). They bond immediately as they begin taking dance lessons together and as they grow closer and closer, Evie starts to wonder if she’s wrong about love being a waste of time…

I don’t want to give away any further details about the story, so that teaser about how Evie’s emotional journey begins is all I’m giving you. Her path is a beautiful one, although painful at times. If you have parents who are divorced, you will relate very strongly to where Evie is emotionally. I know I did. As Evie finds, it can be hard to open yourself up to love when you know there’s the possibility you could get hurt. The message of this book though is that it’s not about how that love might end in heartbreak. Instead it’s about the journey of falling in love so deeply that when you do loose them, it crushes you, and the idea that we should all hope to be lucky enough to experience a love that deep. I thought this was such a powerful and important message both for Evie and for all of us and I loved how this beautiful sentiment, which reduced me to tears several times, balances out with some of the lighter and more fun elements of the story.

Oh yes, it’s not all doom and gloom by any stretch. Evie’s group of friends is a lot of fun and so are the people Evie meets at the dance studio. There’s intense training for a dance competition that brings Evie and X even closer together, as well as lots of dates for them as their instructor forces them to get to know each other better so that they have better chemistry on the dance floor.

Instructions for Dancing is a story that will tug at your heartstrings and make you believe that no matter what, love is always worth it. As the old Dr. Seuss quote says, “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”

DNF @ 30%
I just couldn't. I loved Nicola Yoon's other 2 books but I just could not handle this one. I loved the premise and the idea but the execution just fell short. I couldn't get attached to Evie or X and or her friends and family. I hate that I can see the pairing in the end and I just don't want to read it anymore.

In many ways, this book is exactly what you would expect from Nicola Yoon. A fun storyline, great main characters, and an undertone of sadness woven in. But it is also so much more. I won't spoil it, but if you liked Yoon's other books, this one isn't one to miss. I will say this: in her Author's Note at the end, Yoon talks about grief and pain she was dealing with while writing this and it is evident on the pages.

Evie and X were great main characters. I loved the way the connected even early on in the story, but how their relationship developed over the course of they book. The dancing and vision plotlines were also so fun! I saw someone mention that this would be a great Disney Channel-esque movie and yes, absolutely! And I would love every minute of it. Especially if it was also a musical haha.

The themes and the emotions in this books were particularly well written. The focus on accepting that things don't always turn out how you want them to (and living in the moment despite the fear of the end) is also a great addition.

While I very much enjoyed this book (it was a quick and easy read that held my attention the whole time), it wasn't a perfect 5-star book for me. Aside from Evie and X, I felt like the side characters were a bit weak and while both plotlines were great, there were times when they were sped through or kind of pushed to the side. For instance, the whole dancing thing supposedly takes center stage in this book (you know, the one titled "Instructions for Dancing"), but when the dance competition came up, it was over before I was even invested in it at all. Other things, like Evie's other relationships and her own inner struggles, on the other hand, sometimes felt too drawn out.

Overall, this book was an emotional rollercoaster and you have to be pretty heartless not to tear up just a tiny bit. Okay, I'm kidding. But still, if your easily susceptible to emotions: bring tissues.

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.

5 stars

CW: Death of a loved one, infidelity

I laughed, I cried, this book was absolutely stunning!

There was a time in my reading journey where I wasn't reading as much YA; this happened to coincide with Nicola Yoon coming onto the scene. I had heard rave reviews of her work so when I saw this ARC, I figured I would give this a shot. I am kicking myself for not picking her books up sooner.

Instructions for Dancing is everything that I love about the YA genre. The dialogue is fun, the characters are an absolute delight, and it does not shy away from showing teenagers going through some really tough times. What I appreciated the most, however, was Yoon's ability to craft a moment or a scene that felt like it had been taken out of my own life. It moved me deeply and I am so thankful that I have finally been introduced to the powerhouse that is Nicola Yoon.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for a copy of this book for an honest review.

When Evie finds a book in a little library box she decides to take it back to the original owner which is a dance studio. While there Evie gets roped into entering a dancing competition and that is when she meets X short for Xavier. This book also has a slight taste of magical realism which I didn't expect but didn't bother me to much since I'm not a fan of that theme. Instructions for dancing dealt with family, divorce, relationships, siblings. I really enjoy Nicola Yoons writing. They only con I had was that I felt the end was a little rushed.

I enjoyed this book, and how the pieces fit together by the end. Evie is distraught over her parents divorce and finding out her father cheated on her mom. She is so upset she gives her beloved romance novel collection away. As she does she meets an older lady who gives her a book, Instructions for Dance. She notices soon after when she watches a couple kiss she can see their past, present, and future. Evie tries to figure out the meaning of this gift that leads her to a dance studio where she enters an amateur dance competition and meets Xavier or X.

Thank you to Random House Children for a gifted copy of this eARC. All opinions are my own.

"Maybe the whole point of love is to make more of itself."

Ugh Nicola Yoon does it again. She is seriously one of the best YA contemporary writers out there and if you haven't read any of her books, you really need to! This book will break your heart and slowly piece it back together again. It will make you think about love and whether it is truly everlasting once you find your soulmate. Is it really better to love and lost than never to have loved at all? I think some readers will have issues with the ending but for me, even though it's bittersweet, I am satisfied.

Yoon does it again! She is one of my favorite YA authors even though this book feels different than the other two. I did miss some of the magic realism found in her other books, but this story still carried the heart and depth of her other writings. Definitely a book I’m adding and recommending to my YA readers at our library.

t takes me a while to read a book physically now, but when my friend read this and really liked it, I knew I wanted to try to read the arc before the book came out.

I loved everything about this story. It’s not really a love story at all but somehow, even with the ending which will devastate you, you still somehow feel hopeful about love.

This book made me cry which for me often means I’ll give it five stars because I’m a cold hearted bitch so good job Nicola Yoon.

4.5 Stars

My heart was completely torn in half by this amazing story because it's a perfect mix of falling in love for the first time and seeing your family fall apart at the same time. I found myself smiling at the page countless times and the only reason this wasn't 5 stars, was because the ending zigged when I wanted a zag. But overall, I loved this so much and think it's the perfect book to knock out in one sitting!

I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

First, thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC. To be fair, NetGalley giving me an ARC of Everything, Everything years ago is how I found out about Nicole Yoon, so really thanks for being my introduction to her writing 5 years ago.

I didn't expect to tear up in the last few pages of this, but knowing how gorgeous Nicola Yoon's writing is and how her previous stories have affected me, I shouldn't be surprised.

I loved Evie and X. I loved the dancing (although I wish there was more of it). I really liked the supporting cast (although I wish Danica had a bigger role, because she seemed so great (I'd read a sequel about her life post-Evie graduating)). Good and bad parenting was represented amongst the various parents. Excellent grandparenting

Overall this was such an inventive story with an really excellent ending. About the ending, I think some people are going to hate it but not everything ends with a big red bow. The eventuality of X's death and Evie's heartbreak are a truly honest way to end the story. Evie makes a good point that sometimes not focusing on the ending is the best way to go about life

I'm not surprised that I liked this book, because I've liked everything that Nicola Yoon has written so far, but man if this didn't take me through an emotional roller coaster. It follows Evie not only as she deals with these strange new visions of watching people's love lives from beginning to end, but she's also dealing with the fallout from the unexpected turn in her parents' relationship, which makes her question everything she knows about love and relationships. Honestly this is a reality than so many people face, and going through that process with Evie had moments of great joy and moments of real heartbreak. I literally teared up during one point while reading this, which I was not expecting, so thanks Nicola Yoon for giving me all of these feelings.

But seriously, I loved reading this book so much. Evie is a great protagonist, and I loved seeing her and X's relationship develop. They are both fun, snarky characters and in making each other laugh, they made me laugh as a reader. Evie is a connoisseur of romance novels, so she can point out whenever she's falling for a romance trope, but it doesn't make those favorite tropes any less enjoyable to read about. There are so many cute moments including ballroom dancing, bonfires with friends, the girl teaching the guy to play pool, and being called out by the super hot boyfriend while he's singing onstage. I also liked that this dive into love and relationships included a look at friendships and how those grow and change, especially towards the end of high school. I love Evie's friend group, especially her best friend Martin who is such a sweet, super supportive friend (and also very sassy). There wasn't a character in this book that I didn't like, which really just solidifies how enjoyable it was for me.

If you love Nicola Yoon's first two books (Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also A Star) then you'll definitely love this one. Really well written, and I also like that the chapter formats change in a seamless way between mostly prose but also text exchanges and lists. I wish this was a movie so that I could see all of the dancing and hear all of the music, but it's written in such a way that those visual and auditory moments are still enjoyable on the page. This book is fun, moving, and a little heartbreaking. All in all worth the read.

Evie is ready to throw love out the window. She used to be a massive reader of romance books but is getting rid of them. She can no longer see the appeal and can only see the inevitable end: the lovers are going to fall out of love, break up, so what’s the point? Her own parents have just gotten a divorce, after her dad started cheating on her mom. As she’s getting rid of her romance books, donating them to a little free library, she meets a mysterious woman who encourages her to take a book from the library, in exchange for her donation, the book Instructions for Dancing. It belongs to a local dance studio, one Evie passes by every day on her way home from school. Along with the book, Evie walks away with the power to see how a relationship will end. When she sees a couple kiss, she sees how they met, how they fell in love, and, inevitably, how everything falls apart.

It’s too perfect. She goes to the school and is swept away in a world of dance, signing up for a dance competition with X, the grandson of the owners of the studio. She quickly falls in love with him, their relationship flowing so easily. But Evie is hesitant to fall. She’s seen so many love stories end in front of her eyes. But she forgets: she also sees how they start. How they fell in love and how they loved each other. Is the love in the middle worth the heartbreak in the end?

Nicola Yoon has the wonderful power to make her characters so compelling and realistic that you don’t realize you’re reading until something in the outside world startles you out of your trance. The way Evie and X banter, how they connect and the way they move together is enchanting and enviable. Their love story is slow but inevitable, realistic and fantastical all at the same time. Outside of X and rehearsals for the big dance competition, Evie has fully fleshed out relationships with her mother and sister, Danica, as well as a solid friend group, Cassidy, Sophie, and Martin. I love that it’s not just Evie and X and the emphasis is not just placed on romantic relationships but on friendships and family, too. As Evie navigates her relationship with X, she also works on her relationship with her father, who she caught cheating on her mother and who she can’t forgive for tearing apart their family.

There are a lot of different facets of this story, though it is primarily arranged to showcase the love story of Evie and X. They aren’t super lovey-dovey. They are not cringey or horrifying to watch. They meld together so easily from their first interaction and it’s easy to love them and their relationship. He’s an aspiring musician and Evie supports him. They have a good rapport and while they might not agree with each other on everything, they are very mature and have conversations about big topics. I think that’s one of the aspects I like best: high school romances are usually so dramatic and overblown. But Evie and X actually talk about things, like how Evie doesn’t want to go to her father’s wedding or about how X dropped out of high school before his last semester to pursue a career in music after a close friend died. They don’t judge each other for their choices but talk it out and leave it up to the other person to make their own decision.

As always, the writing is immaculate. It drew me in so easily, time just flying by as I read. Again, I come back to the banter and the easy way of speaking, especially between X and Evie. I come back to how each character has a separate personality and how everyone melds together so easily into believable relationships. I do think there are a few times when actual dialogue would have been preferred, rather than Evie glossing over a situation by describing what was said instead of writing out the actual conversation. And also the time jumps really sped the story onward when I feel there could have been more emphasis on certain moments, especially leading up to the dance competition itself, which then led on to graduation and other important moments. It just felt so rushed in the end when I really would have liked to linger over these moments.

There is always the question of whether something is worth it when you know it’s going to end. It’s the constant thing in life. Why do something when we know it’s going to end? What would be the point? Evie struggles with this so hard throughout the book, especially as regards her father. By not talking to him, she’s throwing away their years together and it even taints what they used to have as father and daughter. The things they enjoyed doing together, she can’t do again without thinking of him and what he did. Then, she struggles with her friend group when Sophie and Cassidy get together because she knows their relationship is going to end and so tear apart their friend group. But that doesn’t mean they can’t still have fun in the now! That they can’t have experiences she will look back on with fondness and happiness. It’s definitely something that’s hard to grapple with when it comes to more serious topics. When it really comes to risking your life and livelihood to chase a dream.

I do have some questions about the mysterious lady who probably gave Evie these visions. It is obviously unrealistic and hard to get past sometimes. Also, some aspects of Evie’s life remain a mystery. Like, does she have to pay for these dance lessons? Are they free of charge because Evie is going to enter in the dance competition? It’s mentioned a couple times that the dance studio is struggling with enrollment, so they could probably use the money. But payment is never brought up and money is never exchanged, so I definitely have questions about the practicality of this arrangement.

Despite these hangups, this book was a breeze to read with a good message in the end. Yes, it is worth it to do things even if you might end up hurt in the end. It’s a good thing to put yourself out there and take a chance. It might hurt, but it’s not going to kill you. And maybe you wish it would but you’ll come out the other side okay eventually. I read it in two sittings, reading about three quarters of it in one go and finishing it off in the second sitting. As with all Yoon’s books, it’s a bittersweet ending if there ever was one but even though it hurts, it’s worth it. It’s always worth it.

I recommend this book to fans of Yoon’s other work as well as fans of Jandy Nelson and Jennifer Niven, that sort of book. It falls right in with those books. It’s romantic, it’s funny, it’s a little heartbreaking. Just the perfect summer read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an eGalley of this book! I am such a fan of Nicola Yoon’s work and was so happy to get the opportunity to read this ahead of publication.

Nicola Yoon is one of the best contemporary YA writers. Her stories speak to the teen experience. Instructions for Dancing is sure to resonate with teens, especially those who defy the traditional stereotypes that are often placed upon them. I love the way that a magical element is infused into a realistic story. It adds a nice touch of flavor and depth to the relationships that surround Evie and her own journey.