Publication Date: June 1, 2021
Edition: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook; 304 pgs
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Source: Rockstar Book Tours
Buy: Amazon - Kindle - Audible - Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition - iBooks - Kobo - The Book Depository - Bookshop.org
Disclaimer: I received a copy from the publisher as part of a blog tour in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.
Tour Schedule
Week One
6/1/2021 - YA Books Central - Excerpt
6/2/2021 - Kait Plus Books - Excerpt
6/3/2021 - Jotted by Jena - Excerpt
6/4/2021 - Stuck in the Stacks - Review
6/5/2021 - EveryonesLibrarian - Review
Week Two
6/6/2021 - BookInNeverland - Review
6/7/2021 - Rajiv's Reviews - Review
6/8/2021 - Do You Dog-ear? - Review
6/9/2021 - The Reading Wordsmith - Review
6/10/2021 - What A Nerd Girl Says - Review
6/11/2021 - Emelie's Books - Review
6/12/2021 - Nay's Pink Bookshelf - Review
Week Three
6/13/2021 - Midnightbooklover - Review
6/14/2021 - Lisa Loves Literature - Review
6/15/2021 - Becky on Books - Review
6/16/2021 - Books and Zebras @jypsylynn - Review
6/17/2021 - Two Points of Interest - Review
6/18/2021 - BiancaBuysBooks - Review
6/19/2021 - A Court of Coffee and Books - Review
Week Four
6/20/2021 - Eli to the nth - Review
6/21/2021 - Books Are Magic Too - Review
6/22/2021 - Amani’s Reviews - Review
6/23/2021 - onemused - Review
6/24/2021 - FrayedBooks - Review
6/25/2021 - Fire and Ice - Review
6/26/2021 - Book Briefs - Review
Week Five
6/27/2021 - Polish & Paperbacks - Review
6/28/2021 - Book-Keeping - Review
6/29/2021 - The Book View - Review
6/30/2021 - The Bookwyrm's Den - Review
The Summary
#1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything and The Sun is Also a Star Nicola Yoon is back with her eagerly anticipated third novel. With all the heart and hope of her last two books, this is an utterly unique romance.
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?
Praise for INSTRUCTIONS FOR DANCING:
A Junior Library Guild selection
★ “An endearing, affecting exploration of the journey of love. Everything Yoon touches turns to gold and this cinematic supernatural romance will be no exception.”—Booklist, starred review
★ "A remarkable, irresistible love story that will linger long after readers turn the final page."—Kirkus, starred review
★ “Yoon delivers a story of love’s unpredictability and the importance of perspective that unfolds with ease and heart.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
★ “A sweet, genuine love story sure to pull on the heartstrings.”—School Library Journal, starred review
★ “Yoon delivers this captivating story of first love with beautiful prose, clever dialogue that swings between laugh-out-loud funny and wildly insightful, clear respect for the complexity and nuance of her teen characters’ perspectives and emotions—and just enough magic to make it all truly unforgettable.”—BookPage, starred review
Excerpt
Chapter 2
(Former) Favorite Romance Genres
Contemporary
1. Enemies to Lovers—Asking the perennial question will they kill each other or will they kiss each other? I’m kidding. Of course they’re going to kiss.
2. Love Triangle—Everyone loves to hate love triangles, but actually they’re great. They exist so the main character can choose between different versions of themselves: who they used to be, and who they’re still becoming. Side note: If you ever find yourself choosing between a vampire and a werewolf, choose the vampire. See #1 below for more on why you should (obviously) choose the vampire.
3. Second Chance—These days I realize this is the most unrealistic trope. If someone hurts you once, why would you give them the chance to do it again?
Paranormal
1. Vampires—They’re sexy and will love you forever.
2. Angels—They have wings that they’ll use to envelop you or to take you away from this place to wherever you need to be.
3. Shape-shifters—Jaguars and leopards mostly, but basically anything in the big cat family. I once tried reading about dinosaur shape-shifters. T. rexes, pteranodons, apatosauruses, etc. They are as horrifying as you think they are.
My Review
If you are a romance lover, a contemporary lover, or just a book lover, run and get a copy of Nicola Yoon's Instructions for Dancing. I fell in love with Evie and X from the get, and once you start to read their story, you won't put the book down.
Evie and X (short for Xavier) have the the cutest darn meet-cute I've read in a while. Bumping into each other at a dance studio that X's grandparents own, and then being partnered for the L.A. Danceball, a ballroom dancing competition that if they win will help the studio out immensely, all seems to be fated. And in a way it is. You see, Evie has the power of vision (to her immense surprise), and this led her to the dance studio in the first place.
Evie has gone through a lot, her parents divorce and finding out her dad cheated (hence the divorce), and has stopped believing in love because of it. And now, through her visions, she sees the entirety of a relationship of a couple when they kiss, and, unfortunately, the relationship never has a happy ending. This is what makes her and X's story so irresistible, both to the reader and to Evie. Because, love, well love can sock you right in the gut and you can't always stop it.
Nicola Yoon writes the most likeable, real characters. The way she crafts Evie, with her struggles and her joy, and her cynicism, and her big big big heart, she just lifts off the page. X has his own struggles, but his big personality and unfailing belief in the world, both in reveling in the good and accepting the bad, makes him swoon-worthy. And while the main characters are my favorites, I love the entire cast from the best friends to the parents. These characters are real with faults and dreams, and they sing on the page.
I definitely prefer my romances to be character-driven, so check that off, but Nicola also has this adorable plot focusing on ballroom dancing that I just love. Fifi, the dance instructor, is a firecracker, and made me laugh every time. The reason Evie and X agree to the competition pulls at the heart strings. You want them to win, so that X's grandparents get to continue their dream. Love, in all it's forms, is center-stage in this book.
Once other character I'd like to mention is Los Angeles itself. Nicola always does an amazing job of bringing the city her books are set in to life. I love when I get to meet L.A. as a local, and not a tourist, which is so often how the city is portrayed in the media. There's a little love story to L.A. wrapped in the pages, which I adore.
Irresistible, Instructions for Dancing goes by in a flash. The realities of love, the highs and the lows, the euphoria and the heartbreak, are all here in the pages, lovingly crafted by Nicola Yoon. Another fantastic book from one of the Queens of Romance; do yourself a favor and pick up a copy immediately.
Final Rating
About the Author
Nicola Yoon is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Instructions for Dancing, Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also a Star. She is a National Book Award finalist, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book recipient, and a Coretta Scott King New Talent Award winner. Two of her novels have been made into major motion pictures. She’s also co-publisher of Joy Revolution, a Random House young adult imprint dedicated to love stories starring people of color. She grew up in Jamaica and Brooklyn, and lives in Los Angeles with her husband, the novelist David Yoon, and their daughter.
Giveaway
3 winners will receive a finished copy of INSTRUCTIONS FOR DANCING, US Only.
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