Thank you St. Martin's Press for sending me an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!
Two Second Review
★★★★☆ // 4 s t a r s
In the most basic sense, When You Get the Chance is about stage actor Millie Price and her quest to find her mother, convince her father to allow her to go to precollege across the country, and figure out her true feelings for a boy she thought was her enemy.
The Book
Trigger Warnings: ???
Release Date: January 4, 2022
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Genre(s): YA, Contemporary, Romance, Retelling
Series?: no
Page Count: 272
Premise:
Nothing will get in the way of Millie Price’s dream to become a Broadway star. Not her lovable but super-introverted dad, who after raising Millie alone, doesn’t want to watch her leave home to pursue her dream. Not her pesky and ongoing drama club rival, Oliver, who is the very definition of Simmering Romantic Tension. And not the “Millie Moods,” the feelings of intense emotion that threaten to overwhelm, always at maddeningly inconvenient times. Millie needs an ally. And when a left-open browser brings Millie to her dad’s embarrassingly moody LiveJournal from 2003, Millie knows just what to do. She’s going to find her mom.
There’s Steph, a still-aspiring stage actress and receptionist at a talent agency. There’s Farrah, ethereal dance teacher who clearly doesn’t have the two left feet Millie has. And Beth, the chipper and sweet stage enthusiast with an equally exuberant fifteen-year-old daughter (A possible sister?! This is getting out of hand). But how can you find a new part of your life and expect it to fit into your old one, without leaving any marks? And why is it that when you go looking for the past, it somehow keeps bringing you back to what you’ve had all along?
Review
How do I start this because I honestly don't know. Well, let's just take a moment to praise Emma Lord because here she is, doing it again. Anyone who's met me knows that I very rarely give four stars to contemporary books, I rate them on almost a completely different brain scale than others. But, here we are with the second book by Emma Lord, up at four stars (and she's only published three), like she really takes the cake as my favorite contemporary author at this point. Go read Tweet Cute. Now.
Okay, so When You Get the Chance is about Millie Price, a high-school actor who has big dreams for broadway. Once her dad tells her she can't go to precollege in LA (they reside in NYC), Millie makes it her mission to find her mother (who left her when she was a baby at her dad's doorstep) because she knows that her missing mom was also a broadway girl like her and would most likely side with her over her dad. This obviously lends way to a Mamma Mia! inspired plot point in which she attempts to find her mom (unlike Sophie who is finding her dad). Also unlike Mamma Mia!, she does find out who her mother is at the and so if you're like me and thought at the end of Mamma Mia! that is was crazy that Sophie didn't just take a DNA test and find out if Sam was actually her dad (because we were all rooting for Sam, you know it), this book is more for you than any other.
Honestly, I have nothing to say other than I loved it? It could have been a five star read, the only reason it wasn't is because it was just very predictable. All the twists were fairly obvious, and we enjoy them, don't get me wrong, but still. Also, I'll be honest, the romance also fell flat. Yes, enemies-to-lovers, blah blah blah. But, while it was important (kind of) to the plot (KIND of), it wasn't highlighted. Which I am not against, romance is not my favorite thing to read, but I do read it a lot (specifically contemporary romance) which is really weird, but also it's more like I like fluff and I don't like details…Like make me squeal but I don't care about your problems, I guess? This is going into rant territory, back to the book. Oliver and Millie are very cute, and of course, I ship them like crazy, and like I said I don't love romance too much, but I kind of wish there was more? There were moments where I was like, "If Oliver shows up right now, I think I would die from emotions" kinda think, ya know?
❝ ‘Millie, you’re not a person,’ he says. ‘You’re a roller coaster. My
seatbelt is buckled. I have no idea where you’re going, but I’m in for
the ride’ ❞
Anyway, this was the most confusing review, I literally just wrote words down and didn't proofread it whatsoever…But, eyes peeled for When You Get the Chance, for all my contemporary and Mamma Mia! lovers, this one's for you.
Tropes…
— Mamma Mia! inspired: find you mother
— enemies-to-lovers (but super dL and adorable and not enemies but yes since there's no better word)
Read…If You Liked…
Tweet Cute by Emma Lord(references galore…actually there's only like three, but still)
Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (band broadway potato potato)
Watch…If You Liked…
Mamma Mia! (sm references, watch the second two!)
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (kept thinking about the movie every time they said "Greek Life" [it's a made-up broadway show in the book])
Newsies (also mentioned lol)
Hamilton (also mentioned, and also its Hamilton so how can i not)
ADD WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE TO YOUR GOODREADS SHELF
random q to drop comments <3
What is your favorite broadway show?
(well, i'm biased and basic bc the only one I've actually watched is Hamilton but…
most likely going to The Lion King and Aladdin soon though, so there's that!)
