61 pages • 2 hours read
Nicola YoonInstructions for Dancing
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Yvette “Evie” Thomas
Former romance novel consumer Evie is the protagonist of Instructions for Dancing. She’s cynical, emotional, and smart. She’s often controlled by her emotions, as she can’t cope with her father’s affair and clings to her anger. This struggle with her father leads her to avoid him and refuse to go to his wedding—until she experiences character growth through mysterious visions and falling in love with X. Evie’s character flaws include avoiding conflict, holding grudges, and selfishness. While she’s allotted to her anger, her grudge against her father is destructive and drives a wedge between her and her family—including her mother Grace and sister Danica. Although he’s made mistakes, her father still loves her and tries to reconnect—but Evie continues to seethe until later in the novel, when X teaches her that time with loved ones is limited.
Before Evie grows into a more empathetic, vulnerable, and positive person, she makes several mistakes. She misinterprets the meaning of her visions, and distances herself from friends Sophie and Cassidy, and later X, because she can’t handle the idea of relationships ending. She breaks up with X after a vision foretells his death in 10 months, mourning him before he’s gone. Because she tends to act on her own feelings, Evie’s visions are meant to instill empathy and understanding. Though Evie believes she’s seeing heartache, she’s actually seeing love. She needed to witness different types of relationships, all forms of true love, to realize that love is worth the pain—like her romance novels described. She learns that even though her parents’ love story ended, their wonderful years together shouldn’t be dismissed or devalued, which relates to her ultimate decision to pursue a lasting love with X. By writing Evie with a dramatic question to answer—whether or not love is worth the pain—Yoon created a complex, round character who experiences extreme growth.
Xavier “X” Woods
X functions as Evie’s love interest, but is also a foil to her cynicism. He’s a caring, flirtatious, and positive risk-taker with a “say yes” philosophy. His optimism fuels his dream of being in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and contrasts with Evie’s pessimistic, practical nature. X is also Evie’s opposite in terms of risk-taking, seizing every opportunity he can. When he reveals his grief after losing bandmate and friend Clay, it proves to Evie that he’s open and unafraid to foster a deep connection. His openness leads to Evie sharing her conflict with her father, and both of them seeking advice in dealing with difficult emotions. X’s heartfelt encouragement, such as telling Evie to take advantage of every moment, helps her grow into a better version of herself and strengthens their relationship. As a foil, he both balances Evie and cultivates areas in need of growth.
Grace Thomas
Evie’s mother, Grace, is an empathetic, emotionally strong, and hardworking woman who works as a nurse and takes her role as mother seriously. She acts as her daughters’ protector and mentor. Like Evie, she avoids some conflicts, such as sheltering Danica from her ex-husband’s affair. Grace doesn’t want to be vulnerable, a trait she shares with Evie, until she finally explains to Evie that she was devastated when her father told her about Shirley. As a mother, Grace keeps her heartbreak hidden, staying strong for her daughters. She copes with her pain through baking and comforting the girls.
As a role model, Grace encourages Evie to rebuild her relationship with her father, and wants her to talk about her break-up with X and live a full, happy life of love. To help Evie gain perspective, she explains that she’s dating Bob because she can’t give up on love just because she was hurt once. She values her past marriage, and teaches Evie that love ending doesn’t make it any less real—a lesson that urges Evie to change.
Evie’s Father
Unnamed in the story, Evie’s father functions as a source of conflict and to a lesser degree, a mentor to Evie; he’s not an antagonist, but in Evie’s mind, he might as well be. Aware he ruined his marriage, he persistently tries to redeem himself by initiating contact with Evie even when she continually rejects him, inviting his daughters to his wedding, and attending the Danceball finals. Later, when Evie asks him about the affair, he honestly admits he made a mistake by cheating on Grace, owning up to his flaws. He teaches Evie that love and pain are connected and that love is “everything,” even if it changes or ends someday. It is later revealed that he tried to work through his marriage with Grace, but she didn’t want to be second to Shirley.
Evie’s father is portrayed as humorous, thoughtful, and smart. As a professor, he uses complex words and “dad jokes” alike to reconnect with Evie. He tries to keep conversations lighthearted, though Evie makes it difficult for him at the novel’s start. His humor and X’s bright personality lighten the novel’s tension.
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By Nicola Yoon
