Took a break from work, work, work to read a YA book yesterday. Yes, I know; that’s work too but it’s also an opportunity to consume rather than create. The story is Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon, of Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also A Star fame. I’ll confess upfront that I haven’t read her other novels. When Everything, Everything came out, we were just starting to “go through some things.” When I’m “going through some things,” I don’t look for opportunities to …er, “go through more things.”
Anyway, back to Instructions for Dancing: I happen to be a big fan of the song she based her title on, which is one of the reasons I chose to read this. Frankly, a second reason I chose this book is the absolutely irresistible tweet she sent on her book birthday. It’s a picture of her, holding this book, and … well, I can’t really do it justice but her hair is the color of the book cover and her smile is wider than the universe. Somehow, all that joyful celebration just spoke to me and here we are!
Briefly, here’s my spoiler-free synopsis: Evie, previously a lover of romance, has hardened her heart since her parents’ unexpected and devastating divorce. In a twist on MG novel The Wish by Gail Carson Levine (and the movies Freaky Friday and Big), an unknown individual curses/gifts Evie with the ability to see how/when romances end. This leads our high school senior protagonist to a ballroom dance studio where she meets her soon-to-be dance partner, X. His philosophy, a result of his own deep grieving, is “say yes to everything (unless it’s illegal or unethical).” Can his lack of reserve help to break down the walls she’s built around herself? Can Evie, through her curse-gift, regain the ability to trust the power of love?
Some reviewers are saying that this isn’t a romance but I have to disagree. This story is about love in all its forms: love for family, love for self, love for friends, and love for Another. You may think you know how it ends. If you do, you are both right and wrong about that. The story ends as all stories end, long after the last words on the page.
What I like most about the book is that Ms Yoon allows Evie to be afraid and to make mistakes, to hurt others and then to acknowledge and learn from her actions. The author also gives Evie the benefit of being part of a loving family. I’ll willingly confess that I’m tired of YA novels with invisible parents and siblings who hate each other. You won’t see any of that here. They miscommunicate and hurt each other but they also support and love each other unconditionally.
Ms Yoon says in an afterword that she was “going through some things” herself when she wrote, re-wrote, discarded, and finally created this final version. Her grief comes through clearly in her characters’ stories, which makes the book richer and also more frustrating.
I wish that she had allowed Evie to discover — for herself — what she needed to learn about the risk and reward of loving other people in all its messy wonder. I also think the ending is somewhat problematic because — again, without spoiling it for you — she suggests that what happens at the end of Instructions for Dancing is somehow not the norm. You’ll have to read it to find out what happens but let me assure you that what happens is, in fact, completely normal and emotional and okay.
Regardless of my dissatisfaction with the way she sets up the ending, I recommend that you immediately order this book from your favorite indie bookstore (Books and Crannies, Riverstone Books, or White Whale Bookstore, for example). And, maybe, give that song a listen. You won’t be sorry that you did.
