Evie Thomas believed in love once. That was before she began having visions of couples’ relationships, from sweet beginnings to heart breaking ends. Trying to understand what is happening to her, Evie stumbles upon La Brea Dance Studio, a ballroom dancing studio. There she meets X. X is the complete opposite of Evie and yet between time spent in the studio preparing for the competition X pulled her into, and the time they spend together alone, Evie can’t help but start to fall. She knows all too well that nobody escapes love unscathed, yet she finds herself wondering if Love is worth the risk in the end.

This book was, if anything, interesting. I have read and loved Nicola Yoon’s other two works so when this book was coming out I knew I had to read it. It was a little bit underwhelming, but overall a solid book. There was an element of magical realism that Yoon played with in Instructions for Dancing that she had not touched in her past works. I have never read anything with magical realism so it was a bit weird adjusting to this new kind of storytelling, but I think that Yoon pulled it off well. While I do prefer her other works, I still thoroughly enjoyed what I think Yoon does best, which is her love stories in unlikely places. I fell in love with Evie and X and their stories. While I did not love the plot of the novel, the characters pulled it through and I would still recommend you pick it up. If you know that you like magical realism you will definitely love this and if this is the first exposure you have to Yoon and you do not love it I highly recommend you give her other works a try before you completely knock her.

Rating: 3/5
by Camryn

The book starts out following an 18 year old girl named Meredith to her cousin’s wedding shortly after losing her sister and then later breaking up with her boyfriend.  The wedding is held at their family place in Martha’s Vineyard, her sister’s favorite place and she is processing her loss.  She promises herself and her friends that she is just going to spend the time finding herself before college and having fun before she meets Wit, one of the young groomsmen.  She finds herself spending more and more time with her new friend… and possibly more.  YOU can find out by reading the book and experiencing all the heart-gutting emotions along with each word. 

I absolutely loved this book.  I received this book in my stocking at Christmas and it was just some random Target feel-good romance novel at the time, but after finishing it, I realized it was so much more.  It was witty and made you long for a relationship, something a book has never done before to me, a happily single pringle.  It was like the book The Summer I Turned Pretty and would be the perfect beach read.  The one flaw about this book is its name The Summer of Broken Rules BECAUSE NO RULES WERE BROKEN and it is so much more than a taboo romance story.  But I looked it up and the author apparently has a lot of trouble naming her books (she just renamed another one, so I hope she does the same with this one).  

-Gabi

Sophie wants nothing more than to spend Christmas break away from her overprotective parents and with her boyfriend Griffin. Griffin had other plans. 

After overhearing Griffin talk about wanting a break from their relationship, Sophie breaks up with him and decides to spend Christmas with her huge extended family. 

They devise a plan to set Sophie up on 10 Blind Dates to take her mind off of recent events. Reuniting with her cousins and navigating crazy dates, family dinners, and her feelings for the boy next door she has known since childhood, Sophie discovers just how much she needed this break. 

I loved this book. It was filled with fun, family drama, chaos, and just the right amount of romance. Sophie has a huge family, but Elston does a great job of writing the characters and the family dynamic so that it does not feel confusing. Instead it feels like a warm hug. You truly want to be transported into the world and into the Messina family. This book does not tackle huge worldly problems or morals, but it is just a feel good book. Elston created the perfect balance of humor, conflict, and wholesomeness. If you are looking for a book to lift your spirits or get you back into the reading game, I highly recommend 10 Blind Dates.

-Camryn

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, published in 2021,  is a contemporary fake dating story.  The book starts out with the main character, Olive, a PhD student at Stanford kissing a random man in the hallway as an elaborate ruse for her friend. The random man turns out to be an extremely successful professor/ researcher.  They continue with their fake relationship and grow a close friendship.  Watch what happens when a PhD student falls for her boss in the Love Hypothesis! 

I really enjoyed this book!  It is a beautifully written slow burn romance with flares of passion since it is also a forbidden romance.  The twist and turns in the book lead the reader to believe that nothing is going to happen, then BOOM FLARE OF ROMANCE, then nothing happens.  The author, Ali Hazelwood, keeps the reader interested by giving tastes of the possibility of the forbidden relationship, and it is worth the journey.  One thing I did not really like about this book is that it was mainly PG with some swear words woven in, then all of a sudden it was graphically R and hard to read.  So, I recommend skipping chapter 16 completely- it is very awkward and nothing of importance happens. 

-Gabi

I have been in a cycle of rereading books that I have loved in the past.  I have always been a fan of John Green and have read almost all his books.  The Fault in Our Stars is one of my favorites of his, so much so that I did a prose piece on it in the 8th grade.  The book follows Hazel, a teenager with lung cancer, who moves through life depressed, until she meets August at a cancer therapy group.  He had a form of bone cancer and was there to support his friend with eye cancer.  He jokes around with her and they form a connection.  The book then follows them on their journeys of life with the side effects of cancer.  I do not want to spoil too much, but you should read this book!  It will make you laugh, cry, and cry some more and fill your heart with a sense of love.  

I really loved this book.  It was my favorite for years, before being dethroned by The Song of Achilles.  It is an easier book to read, which makes it favorable for a nice weekend.  The book just flows, making it a page turned for what is going to happen next to the main character, Hazel.  Additionally, The Fault in Our Stars gives its reader a deeper meaning for life and how it should not be taken for granted.

-Gabi