Instructions for Dancing
-
-
3.9 • 100 Ratings
-
-
- $8.99
-
- $8.99
Publisher Description
AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
"A charming, wholehearted love story that's sure to make readers swoon."—Entertainment Weekly
"Nicola Yoon writes from the heart in this beautiful love story."—Good Morning America
“It’s like an emotional gut punch—so beautiful and also heart-wrenching."—US Weekly
In this romantic page-turner from the author of Everything, Everything and The Sun is Also a Star, Evie has the power to see other people’s romantic fates—what will happen when she finally sees her own?
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?
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Evie Thomas has plenty of reasons to be cynical about love. There’s her parents’ messy divorce, her sister’s string of loser boyfriends—oh, and her recently developed psychic abilities. See, whenever Evie sees a couple kissing, she gets a vision of their past, their present, and their eventual breakup. She’s the last person you’d expect to find in a sizzling ballroom-dance class, but that’s where fate drags her…right into the arms of distractingly handsome fellow dancer Xavier. We’ve always loved hitmaker Nicola Yoon’s young Black heroines, and we especially enjoyed watching Evie learn to question all her pessimistic beliefs. Our hearts were also stolen by Evie’s delightfully quirky squad (like Martin, who insists on wearing corduroy and tweed in the California heat). If you want a story to make you laugh and cry (and maybe even try to tango), Instructions for Dancing has just the touch of magic you’re looking for.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
After her parents' divorce, romance enthusiast Evie Thomas, 17, swears off love. Donating the last of her romance book collection in the process, she comes across a neighborhood library box and a mysterious woman who encourages her to take a book for herself. Evie doesn't think much of the volume, Instruc-tions for Dancing, but realizes that something strange is occurring when she sees her sister, Danica, kissing her boyfriend, and has a vision of both how they got together and how they'll break up. After Evie sees the romantic fates of other kissing couples, her best friend urges her to visit the "please return to" address in the book—the La Brea Dance studio. There, Evie is sucked in by the magnetic owners, fiery instructor Fifi and the owners' grandson, X, and is persuaded to join the LA Danceball competition to help the studio gain clients. With X as her partner, she learns the steps to leading with her heart. With deadpan humor, realistically wrought relationships among the Black principal cast, and a well-executed fantastical element, Yoon (Everything, Everything) delivers a story of love's unpredictability and the importance of perspective that unfolds with ease and heart. Ages 12–up. Agents: Sara Shandler and Joelle Hobeika, Alloy Entertainment.
Customer Reviews
Couldn’t put it down
I am the type of person to give a book 100 pages. This book got me on page 7! Mrs. Yoon does a great job giving us really sweet banter between characters and really setting a scene. The love between a girl and HER version of her father. And the love between a father and a girl who’s world fell apart in her face. The struggle to keep composure for the sake of others. The fear of the unknown, yet the joy of tryin. This book made me cry, laugh and, scream. But to be fair i’m a really emotional person. give it a read 🫶🏾
Instructions for dancing
Excellent
💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼
A heartfelt and deep story but also has some funny and uplifting moments. Nicola is a brilliant writer and really knows how to draw you in. I really hope this gets made into a movie like her other amazing novels.