I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the INSTRUCTIONS FOR DANCING by Nicola Yoon Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
Title: INSTRUCTIONS FOR DANCING
Author: Nicola Yoon
Pub. Date: June 1, 2021
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook
Pages: 304
#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?
Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N Exclusive Signed Edition, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org
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
Review:
OMG, this book wrecked me. Reading the last quarter of this book while in a public place was perhaps not my best idea this week…
Instructions for Dancing made me laugh out loud–there may have even been some snort laughing as well, but I will neither confirm nor deny this. Evie’s a very relatable character–she’s going through a tough time, and you just want to hug her and help her to figure out how to deal with the changes. Then a mysterious encounter gives her an unusual “gift” (or curse, if you ask Evie for most of the book) that seems to reinforce her belief that love never lasts.
Gah! Each time she “saw” something, I teared up, or worse. Every. Time. Darn you, Ms Yoon.
The secondary characters–Evie’s family and friends, the people at the dance center, X–are delightful. Each has a part to play to get Evie to where she is at the end of the book–a person who is more open to love, but who also is even more familiar with heartache.
Pay attention to that tagline that says, “this isn’t a romance” and ignore the second line that tells you, “until it is.” Because if you know the definition of a romance novel (as our main character Evie definitely does), you’ll know that ultimately, this isn’t one. I kind of wished it had come with a trigger warning, because I was absolutely not prepared. There were tears. So. Many. Tears.
Have tissues handy, because you’re going to need them.
Instructions for Dancing was my first from Nicola Yoon, and though I’d definitely read something from her again, I’m going to need some recovery time first.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
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.
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon
Giveaway Details:
3 winners will receive a finished copy of INSTRUCTIONS FOR DANCING, US Only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Sounds really great