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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
emotional
relaxing
slow-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Teenage drama, too many tropes I don’t like, irresponsible parenting
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Such a heart-wrenching story I did like it, but one flaw is that even though it’s a book for “dancing” I wish there was more dance incorporated in the book, a lot of cut scenes over it, I would’ve love to read more on the two characters tension between each other and the dancing, I also didn’t feel much chemistry between them until the 80-90% mark.
Instructions for Dancing is a coming of age story that asks the question of 'Is love worth it?' A hard question to answer for a book to answer let alone a YA romance (two genres that I generally dislike) and yet, this book does it—faces the question head on. It's bold and heartbreaking, funny, philosophical, painfully real, and all around a masterpiece in a way that doesn't feel like it's trying to be. I don't care much for romance and I especially didn't care for it back in highschool and yet, I have never read a book that captured my experience of being a teenager in the way that this book has.
In a way, this is the perfect modern coming of age story. Every situation that was brought up was a variation of something I've seen my friends or myself deal with—those experiences are the sole reasons why I'm able to connect with it. Instruction for Dancing captures the confusing and complicated tangle of emotions that come with being young, knowing better and the frustrating emotions that come with knowing better. Dealing with change, heartbreak, and loss and accepting that this is the life, that love can't exist without loss and yet loss exists because of love. The approach is heavier than most YA novels and I understand why that might not work for some people, because the overall tone of the book is lighthearted, but I think it only helps the book deliver it's point better. I can only respect for the author for going in the direction she did while still balancing that comedic playful energy.
One of the aspects which make it a great coming of age is how down to earth and realistic Evie is. Romance books, especially first person romance books, often have the main character feel like a self insert. In this case, Evie's her own person. She feels like someone I could know, a friend of my sister's or a kid in my neighborhood, and throughout the book I felt myself growing attached to her. She's snarky, bold, wise, and still naive and emotional the way 18 year olds are. Every one her emotional responses and thoughts make perfect sense to me. Family and friends in her life and just as important as the romantic relationship. The relationship between Evie and her sister is painfully similar to my own relationship with my younger sister. Her parents are very present in her life and the book captures the transition of growing up and slowly starting to see your parents as peers, understanding the weight of emotions they carry and hide. The friendship dynamics are all so fun; all of Evie's friends have strong distinct personalities. As a group they goof around, argue, make dumb decisions, ponder on life, and have inside jokes. Their conversations go from stupid to philosophical to stupid again, a little too reminiscent of the kind of conversations between my own friends back when I was 18.
I loved how realistic the romance felt; you see the starry eyed way Evie views X and yet, X doesn't feel like an idealized version of a love interest. Underneath it all he's just a very endearing kid, like her. The relationship between Evie and X is healthy but not in a preachy kind of way. They're chemistry is amazing and I love the way they banter joke around with each other.
So much happens but it's paced in a way that isn't hard to digest. It balances the painful and happy moments well, never feels like too much, but always leaves you thinking. The author challenges conventions in a very subtle way: keeping secrets, the ethics of when to lie and tell the truth, forgiveness, etc. Normally when I read YA, I try to disconnect my own perspective and try to view it as a book meant for a younger audience and therefore judge it keeping this in mind. In this case, I didn't have to do that. This is the kind of book I would've loved in highschool and I love now. It's criminally underrated and succeeds in every way other romances don't. This is the kind of book that deserves a movie/tv show adaptation over any other YA I've read.
Final notes: the audiobook is amazing. I loved the narration.
In a way, this is the perfect modern coming of age story. Every situation that was brought up was a variation of something I've seen my friends or myself deal with—those experiences are the sole reasons why I'm able to connect with it. Instruction for Dancing captures the confusing and complicated tangle of emotions that come with being young, knowing better and the frustrating emotions that come with knowing better. Dealing with change, heartbreak, and loss and accepting that this is the life, that love can't exist without loss and yet loss exists because of love. The approach is heavier than most YA novels and I understand why that might not work for some people, because the overall tone of the book is lighthearted, but I think it only helps the book deliver it's point better. I can only respect for the author for going in the direction she did while still balancing that comedic playful energy.
One of the aspects which make it a great coming of age is how down to earth and realistic Evie is. Romance books, especially first person romance books, often have the main character feel like a self insert. In this case, Evie's her own person. She feels like someone I could know, a friend of my sister's or a kid in my neighborhood, and throughout the book I felt myself growing attached to her. She's snarky, bold, wise, and still naive and emotional the way 18 year olds are. Every one her emotional responses and thoughts make perfect sense to me. Family and friends in her life and just as important as the romantic relationship. The relationship between Evie and her sister is painfully similar to my own relationship with my younger sister. Her parents are very present in her life and the book captures the transition of growing up and slowly starting to see your parents as peers, understanding the weight of emotions they carry and hide. The friendship dynamics are all so fun; all of Evie's friends have strong distinct personalities. As a group they goof around, argue, make dumb decisions, ponder on life, and have inside jokes. Their conversations go from stupid to philosophical to stupid again, a little too reminiscent of the kind of conversations between my own friends back when I was 18.
I loved how realistic the romance felt; you see the starry eyed way Evie views X and yet, X doesn't feel like an idealized version of a love interest. Underneath it all he's just a very endearing kid, like her. The relationship between Evie and X is healthy but not in a preachy kind of way. They're chemistry is amazing and I love the way they banter joke around with each other.
So much happens but it's paced in a way that isn't hard to digest. It balances the painful and happy moments well, never feels like too much, but always leaves you thinking. The author challenges conventions in a very subtle way: keeping secrets, the ethics of when to lie and tell the truth, forgiveness, etc. Normally when I read YA, I try to disconnect my own perspective and try to view it as a book meant for a younger audience and therefore judge it keeping this in mind. In this case, I didn't have to do that. This is the kind of book I would've loved in highschool and I love now. It's criminally underrated and succeeds in every way other romances don't. This is the kind of book that deserves a movie/tv show adaptation over any other YA I've read.
Final notes: the audiobook is amazing. I loved the narration.
coming from One of Our Kind this tonal shift was so jarring. I loved One of Our Kind and kinda hate this.
The magical realism didn't feel like it fit in this world. Everything else is so grounded in reality and then all of a sudden there is an old women who curses teenager with the power to see the entire story of love between couples when they kiss. Like wtf are you talking about? It's never explained, it's kind of freaky fridayed in there. And then the FMC just decides to not have the power anymore at the end like what?
I didn't like how fast the romance felt, the novel should have been twice as long in my opinion to really build up the relationship brick by brick rather than the book version of a movie montage at least 3 different times in a 250 pg novel.
Also idk why it's so sympathetic towards the cheating ass dad who blew up his family and life to get married to his mistress less than a year later. Like I would never forgive that sack of shit. And why does the FMC refuse to tell her younger sister that, it feels like a betrayal that the sister isn't allowed to know who her dad really is and make informed decisions about his presence in her life.
Idk I just really did not vibe with this anti-romance romance.
The magical realism didn't feel like it fit in this world. Everything else is so grounded in reality and then all of a sudden there is an old women who curses teenager with the power to see the entire story of love between couples when they kiss. Like wtf are you talking about? It's never explained, it's kind of freaky fridayed in there. And then the FMC just decides to not have the power anymore at the end like what?
I didn't like how fast the romance felt, the novel should have been twice as long in my opinion to really build up the relationship brick by brick rather than the book version of a movie montage at least 3 different times in a 250 pg novel.
Also idk why it's so sympathetic towards the cheating ass dad who blew up his family and life to get married to his mistress less than a year later. Like I would never forgive that sack of shit. And why does the FMC refuse to tell her younger sister that, it feels like a betrayal that the sister isn't allowed to know who her dad really is and make informed decisions about his presence in her life.
Idk I just really did not vibe with this anti-romance romance.
I enjoyed this book a lot! I don’t usually read a lot of contemporary ya romance, but this was a fun read, I enjoyed most of the characters and the themes of this book are well developed and dealt with sensibly.
In the middle the pace could have been a little faster for my tastes and the dancing could have had a slightly bigger role in the plot. Also, some of the characters felt a little flat to me. That isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy reading this, because I did, a lot, but those are the reasons I cannot give it 5/5 stars.
The ending made me cry, which is not something a lot of books achieve. But this romance was so sweet, the chemistry was there and I will remember these two for a while.
In the middle the pace could have been a little faster for my tastes and the dancing could have had a slightly bigger role in the plot. Also, some of the characters felt a little flat to me. That isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy reading this, because I did, a lot, but those are the reasons I cannot give it 5/5 stars.
The ending made me cry, which is not something a lot of books achieve. But this romance was so sweet, the chemistry was there and I will remember these two for a while.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Instructions for Dancing is a bittersweet YA novel that I stumbled upon during a reading slump. It poses an intriguing question: If you knew how your relationship would end, would you still choose to stay?
Evie, a high schooler disillusioned by love after her parents’ divorce, decides to donate her beloved romance books to a Little Free Library. There, she meets a mysterious woman who gives her a book titled Instructions for Dancing. After receiving it, Evie develops an unusual ability—whenever she sees a couple kiss, she experiences their entire relationship, from its joyful beginning to its inevitable end, like a movie.
Determined to understand what’s happening, she follows a clue inside the book to a dance studio. One thing leads to another, and she unexpectedly finds herself entering a youth ballroom competition with the studio owner’s grandson.
This is a thoughtful, beautifully written story that blends sadness and joy. It pulled me out of my slump, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Grief