SUMMARY (from GoodReads)
Evie Thomas doesn’t believe in love anymore. Especially after the strangest thing occurs one otherwise ordinary afternoon: She witnesses a couple kiss and is overcome with a vision of how their romance began . . . and how it will end. After all, even the greatest love stories end with a broken heart, eventually.
As Evie tries to understand why this is happening, she finds herself at La Brea Dance studio, learning to waltz, fox-trot, and tango with a boy named X. X is everything that Evie is not: adventurous, passionate, daring. His philosophy is to say yes to everything–including entering a ballroom dance competition with a girl he’s only just met.
Falling for X is definitely not what Evie had in mind. If her visions of heartbreak have taught her anything, it’s that no one escapes love unscathed. But as she and X dance around and toward each other, Evie is forced to question all she thought she knew about life and love. In the end, is love worth the risk?
REVIEW:
This one hurt. A lot. While it definitely had those sweet, absolutely swoonworthy moments Nicola Yoon is known for, it also held a lot of heartbreak. Instructions for Dancing is about learning to love even though love ends, which is painful and beautiful at the same time. This book was the definition of bittersweet, and while I tend to prefer a happy-ever-after, I think the ending of this book only added to its message and importance.
Even with this novel’s deep message, it didn’t feel overly heavy. The romance between Evie and X was incredible, and as someone who was obsessed with Dancing With the Stars as a kid, I loved the ballroom dancing element so much. It made me want to sign up for lessons at the local ballroom dance studio, only to find the love of my life there… I guess that’s unlikely.
While I didn’t like the “seeing the future” element of the plot at first, in retrospect I see its importance to the plot. Instructions for Dancing definitely lived up to the hype, even if it broke my heart in two. I love you, Nicola Yoon, even if you did make me cry with this book!
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