Book Review | Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon

 

❝ ...These days, though, the books are nothing but letters arranged into correctly spelled words, arranged into grammatically correct sentences and well-structured paragraphs and thematically cohesive chapters. They’re no longer magical and transporting. ❞



The first time I read the blurb for Instructions for Dancing, I was intrigued. I love to read about people like Evie, who gave up on love. I love reading about them understanding that although relationships come to an end, there is something else waiting to bloom on the edges.

Ever since her perfect world titled off its axis, Evie Thomas does not believe in love anymore. To remove herself from the notion of a happy-ever-after, Evie decides to donate all her beloved love books. To quote Taylor Swift, “Heartbreak is the national anthem” and, she sings it proudly.

In a small Free Library, while Evie was donating her books, she came across a manual called Instructions for Dance and met an old lady who left her riddled. This strange encounter confounds Evie, but when she accidentally stumbles upon her younger sister and boyfriend kissing, Evie sees the arc of their relationship. From the first encounter with how their relationship would end.


Evie doesn't think much of it, but, when her vision comes true, Evie is shocked and a little scared of what these visions mean for her, whilst furthering her belief that all love stories come to an end.


To understand why she possesses the power at the end of relationships, Evie ends up in a dance studio and ends up taking ballroom dance classes. It wasn't long before Evie was matched up with Xavier Woods, better known as X, in a dance contest. X... He is sexy, charming, flirtatious and an all-around fantastic guy and it's because of those charms Evie finds herself falling for him.


But the last thing Evie Thomas wants is to fall in love with a guy and that, too, when she's done with love.


❝ Given enough time, all love stories turn into heartbreak stories- Heartbreak = Love + Time. ❞



One of the things I enjoyed all along the book was the opportunity to get a glimpse of all kinds of relationships through Evie's visions. Each relationship had a wonderful beginning, but the end of each relationship was different. Some were bitter heartbreaks, while others were sorrowful. Then there was one relationship where there was no heartbreak.


The other thing that I enjoyed was the element of magic. The idea that magic doesn't need to be grandiose, but can be as simple as making a person believe what they thought they'd lost. The manner in which magic has woven through all stories and worldly lives was beautiful.


Instructions for Dancing is a coming of age story that is touching and healing. Although it does not guarantee the Happy-Ever-After, it shows that even though it is for a brief time, there is a Happy-For-Now.