Posted by Author Nicola Yoon has written another satisfying story. After reading her beautifully written The Sun Is Also A Star, I recently picked up another Yoon masterpiece, Instructions For Dancing. This mesmerizing love story, featuring a Black protaganist, will make you believe in taking the risk, no matter the outcome.
Ever since Evie’s parents divorced, Evie has stopped believing in love. Even her romance books can’t work their magic on her anymore. But, her life changes once she gives all of them away to a Give a Book, Take a Book library. In exchange, a mysterious lady insists she takes the only book on the shelf: Instructions For Dancing, which is about how to dance. Hours later, she sees her sister and her sister’s boyfriend kiss, and she is innundated with a vision of their love life from beginning to end. What’s even crazier is that her visions comes true.
Soon after, Evie finds the address of a dance studio in her new book and starts taking lessons at the studio. There, she meets a boy named Xavier or X, who becomes her dance partner for a competition. Evie doesn’t want to fall in love with him – her visions have proven that love comes with heartbreak, so what’s the point of it? But, as they grow closer to each other, she wonders if love is worth the risk of loss.
When I first bought this book, I assumed it was going to be a fun, upbeat story, but I was wrong. This book left me feeling bittersweet, and I kept wondering: is love really worth it if it will almost always break you? This book has convinced me that it is!
“It doesn’t matter that love ends. It just matters that there’s love.” I loved this quote so much, it encompassed the vibrancy of the story well.
I recommend this book for teenagers. Also, people who enjoy romance novels will love this one. Although, this story doesn’t end with the cliche “HEA”, this moving story reveals that there are happily ever afters, but that they sometimes also end.
This story is extraordinary. Four out of four roses!
Elena Reads and Reviews 