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A review by lennie_reads
Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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
4.25
Thanks to NetGalley & Penguin Random House for my ARC.
I feel like this book is different to Yoon's others. Maybe it's because of the reasons stated in the author's note (which made me tear up tbh) but it wasn't quite what I was expecting.
We meet Evie as she is still coming to terms with her parents divorce and subsequently has lost all her belief in love. She goes to donate all of her romance books and is given a book in return (Instructions for Dancing) by an unusual old lady. From that day on she can she the trajectory of people's relationship when she sees them kiss. This results in her seeing a Lot of heartbreak and only furthering her belief that people who fall in love are basically stupid.
I did like Evie but she could be very naive and also kind of arrogant in her attitude to love and people who entered into relationships sometimes. She's 17/18 and thinks she knows better than everyone about their own relationships.
But throughout the book she does grow and mature and learn to see her friends and family more clearly which I really enjoyed seeing.
However, my favourite parts of the book were Evie's relationship with X.
Now if you've read Nicola Yoon before you know that her books often have bittersweet endings but I wasn't prepared for this one. Even though I guessed what was going to happen about 3/4 of the way in it didn't make it any easier.
It's kind of an odd story. A lot of the book is just Evie and her friends finishing their last year of high school whilst she is learning to dance with X to enter a competition to help X's grandparents dance school get some promotion. There are also issues with Evie's father that she has to confront and deal with. And for a while I really didn't know where the story was going or where the conflict would be and then in classic Yoon style she drops a bomb on you!
I really enjoyed the book and I LOVE X, he's the sweetest lil cinnamon roll but it wasn't what I was expecting!
CW: death, divorce
I feel like this book is different to Yoon's others. Maybe it's because of the reasons stated in the author's note (which made me tear up tbh) but it wasn't quite what I was expecting.
We meet Evie as she is still coming to terms with her parents divorce and subsequently has lost all her belief in love. She goes to donate all of her romance books and is given a book in return (Instructions for Dancing) by an unusual old lady. From that day on she can she the trajectory of people's relationship when she sees them kiss. This results in her seeing a Lot of heartbreak and only furthering her belief that people who fall in love are basically stupid.
I did like Evie but she could be very naive and also kind of arrogant in her attitude to love and people who entered into relationships sometimes. She's 17/18 and thinks she knows better than everyone about their own relationships.
But throughout the book she does grow and mature and learn to see her friends and family more clearly which I really enjoyed seeing.
However, my favourite parts of the book were Evie's relationship with X.
Now if you've read Nicola Yoon before you know that her books often have bittersweet endings but I wasn't prepared for this one. Even though I guessed what was going to happen about 3/4 of the way in it didn't make it any easier.
It's kind of an odd story. A lot of the book is just Evie and her friends finishing their last year of high school whilst she is learning to dance with X to enter a competition to help X's grandparents dance school get some promotion. There are also issues with Evie's father that she has to confront and deal with. And for a while I really didn't know where the story was going or where the conflict would be and then in classic Yoon style she drops a bomb on you!
I really enjoyed the book and I LOVE X, he's the sweetest lil cinnamon roll but it wasn't what I was expecting!
CW: death, divorce
Content Warnings
Minor: Death and Infidelity