Almost nobody gets out of love alive – Helen Fisher
«Instructions For Dancing – Love moves to its own beat” is the newest book of internationally bestselling author Nicola Yoon. This book honestly moved me to tears.
Let’s begin with the chapter- titles. I loved them! They had titles like “Dance Number One” or “Dance Number Two, Excerpted”, which started like this:
“You always have trouble telling left foot from right foot?”
“You are leading her, not kidnapping her!”
“Unless toes are broken, keep dancing.”
“Get closer! Is his breath still stinky?”
“Sexy is small word. Why so difficult for you to understand?”
I loved the references to the dancing, although it didn’t matter that much over the course of the book despite giving a background in which the two main characters – Yvette “Evie” Thomas and Xavier “X” Darius Woods - can meet each other and get to know each other.
The story is written from the point of view of Evie Thomas. Six months ago her parents – a perfectly happy couple up to then – broke up. When Evie goes to see her father, quite an idol for her, and tries to change his opinion, she finds him with another woman, realising he had cheated on her mother. The result is that she doesn’t believe in love anymore. Because of this “books don’t work their magic” on her anymore, leading to her giving away all her Contemporary Romance section books.
Evie drops her books in a wooden neighbourhood library box. While doing so, an old woman appears out of nothing and encourages Evie to take a book because of the slogan “give a book, take a book”. In lack of a better alternative, Evie grabs “Instructions for Dancing”. But with the book she also got a “gift”. When she sees a couple kiss, she gets a vision of their whole relationship, from the moment they first catch each other’s eye to the last bitter moments of their break-up. It is enough to cement her believe that love is not worth the hurt that comes with the break-up.
“Heartbreak = love + time.”
Trying to get rid of the spell, she looks up the former owner of the book she took and stumbles into “La Brea Dance Studio”. There Fifi proposes to her, that she should compete in the LA Danceball, which is a ballroom dance competition. As a partner she gets X, the grandson of the owners of La Brea Dance Studio (who is, by the way, an absolute epitome of “Classic Romance Guy Character”, stated by Evie).
I loved Evie’s sarcastic and sometimes cynic tone throughout the book and the way she painted parallels between Romance Books and her life – first to show they never come true and later on to describe her life.
I truly felt the hurt Evie felt because of the divorce of her parents. Her feelings were so desperate and her visions honestly made me also doubt if everlasting and real love really exists. But, luckily, we find out that there’s another viewpoint too.
What else? The friendship group in this book was really authentic. The groups dynamic was ever-changing, mirroring real life friendships and their ups and downs.
But beware dear future reader of this book: the ending will be tearful.
