A review by booktrotting
Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon

3.0

This starts out as fairly predictable, though broadly enjoyable, teen romance, hallmark fluff. Evie has become cynical about love since catching her father having an affair, and finds herself with a magical gift which allows her to see how relationships develop and end when she sees a couple kiss. This feels like a quirky and cute story about not giving up on love just because it might come to an end. What I wasn't expecting was that plot twist.

Spoiler

I want to be relatively kind about this, because the acknowledgements make clear that this book is at least in part a product of the author's grief. However, I am not a fan of having the rug pulled out from under me by a macabre plot twist - whilst it makes the shock of the upset feel very real, it also leaves you with a horrible pit of shock in your stomach you have to carry around with you. I feel like the tonal problem comes in before the twist rather than after it. I think it needed to have a bit more weight to it, really, and a touch less fluff.