A review by yliana
Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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

4.5

this is my first book of 2023 and I absolutely loved it. this tore me to shreds, I seriously sobbed my way through the last half of the book.
the way Nicola was able to make this story so inspiring while also keeping it realistic in terms of the outcomes of different relationships (honestly though, that doesn't make me feel any better knowing what I know will happen in the future) was great. Evie felt so real and hearing her thoughts while she was dealing with her dad's cheating and how it broke their family hurt me so badly, it was where a lot of the crying happened.
I honestly don't think that I am as brave as Evie;
I wouldn't have gone to the wedding, I wouldn't have done the dance competition, and I absolutely wouldn't have been able to bring myself to see X after the vision. Evie was just such an amazing character and the way she navigated all of the issues in this book felt real. I hope she found happiness after X's death. After I finished the last page, I just stared at the wall lmfao. My heart was so broken, and even though technically we had a "happy" ending, I just couldn't help feeling slightly disappointed. Not in the sense that the book should've ended in a different way, because honestly, truly happy endings either don't happen or don't last forever, but I wish I could jump into the book and stop X from leaving. I just can't believe he won't get to grow up with Evie. it's making me emotional just thinking about it.

Overall, this book was truly so good and despite being so sad, it was a great way to start off 2023.
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