3.75/5

This book lives up to what I was promised. It was both super queer and super Canadian, and was quite frankly a blast!

I really liked the family dynamics in this, between the cousins, the parents, the grandchildren and grandparents. It was all great. The summer cottage they visited was such a fun place and I loved seeing it, as well as the life brought to the town around it.

Another aspect I enjoyed was the writing style. It was simple, but made the book a lot more fun and enjoyable I think.

Paige, Mark’s younger sister, was a definite highlight of this novel. Her bluntness made me crack up a few times throughout the book.

I loved seeing Toronto Pride brought to life here. I’ve never been myself, but reading this felt like I was there, experiencing it all.

All this being said, I didn’t like Mark’s character very much. He was a bit of a jerk and he does mention that he was acting like a jerk near the end, but it isn’t really brought up or focused on again.

Another thing I think could’ve done better was the development of side characters. I loved seeing SUCH a diverse cast of characters, but they never really had any backbone to them.

Overall, this is simply the perfect summer read, and I couldn’t be more happy that I got this chance to read it early!

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a feel-good roadtrip family holiday book, with a vast layer of lgbthi+, and I loved all of it! It was exactly the kind of book I needed to both escape the current chaos in the world and remind myself that other things are still (allowed to be) very important too.

All characters too were very enjoyable. All could be a bit snarky, or too popular, or a bit annoying, without becoming less nice to read about.

*I received a free e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
When You Get The Chance, by Tom Ryan and Robin Stevenson, is a lovely novel about two teenager's escape to Toronto Pride. One of the things I loved about this book was the alternating point of view. it worked out great for the book. I loved that both of the book's protagonists underwent a lot of character development. One character's little sister, Paige, is very insufferable, but that is to be expected in younger siblings. All in all, this was an excellent book.

DISCUSSIONS AND MENTIONS OF HOMOPHOBIA IN THE REVIEW
So, here's the thing. I really really REALLY wanted to just LOVELOVELOVE this book. I tried, I really did. But this mostly felt flat for me and I thought a lot about why. Because don't get me wrong, this wasn't bad. This was just kind of meh for me. And I realized that it was a mix of my expectations, the promises in the synopsis and the characters themselves.

Let's start with the plot. After reading the synopsis, I expected a half road trip story, half pride story. Instead until the very middle of the book we didn't see anything of the road trip, and then when it started, it lasted for about 20 pages, followed by 30 pages of Pride, only to then Pride to end and we go back to... whatever was happening in the first half of the book. It wasn't good, I was just promised a completely different story, so I kept waiting for something to happen and the road trip to start and being bored by everything else that was happening that wasn't focusing on the plot. Not to mention that in the first half of the book we got a somewhat "romance" plot,and I put it between " " because of how that storyline ended, it was anything but a romance storyline, but it was also pointless. We didn't need the pointless homophobia, we didn't need the random plot twist (that could be seen from a mile away), only for then to have another romance plotline for Mark (who this "romance" plotline happened to) to happen and go down in the 30 pages that was the Pride time and have a happy ending. Like, why couldn't have we just scratched the homophobia storyline completely along with all the rest of the shit that character did, in fact, just scratch the entire character and have the real romance of the book be a little different and the guy be there from the start so we could have a nice, slow burn romance? It would have been so much better.

Also, really, the focuses here were horrible. I wanted a trip and Pride stuff, not drama with the parents and searching for the reason for drama between the parents with really meh resolution.

And about the characters - Mark was an asshole. And I get that that was the point of his character and arc, and yes, he changed by the end of it, but for one, that change didn't really feel earned, and by that point I really just couldn't care about his character development because I couldn't like him enough to care. Everything he did when the kids were at the cabin just annoyed the shit out of me and I wanted to just reach into the book and shake him. So yeah, I didn't enjoy him at all.

And now to transition into the good, I really liked Talia. I was frustrated with her at times, I felt like she was too much sometimes, but I really liked her character in general and enjoyed her storyline, even if it was predictable. Mainly, though, I enjoyed the conversation and the topics that her character brought up and the discussion of relationship and gender and the different experiences in the lgbtq+ community that different characters had. I really enjoyed that.

And Paige was a joy. A JOY. More of Paige, please.

All in all, not going to lie, I struggled a little bit to get through this book, but it definitely had good points and I am not disappointed in reading it.

Wow. I'm always here for a queer book, but this is not the one I want to read. Unfortunately this was a DNF for me, and I did not make it far. But when you have two horrible MC's, it's hard to keep reading.

First problem: Our two MC's Mark and Talia just lost their grandfather, and neither of them CARES. I have never seen two more insensitive jerks in my life. They both say that the situation is "super sad," but it is so incredibly insincere, there is zero emotion behind their words. Mark is more concerned about getting to go to Pride and his social life, and Talia cares more about the fact that her partner got a summer job.

Now for the characters.

First off there's Mark. Like I mentioned, he 100% only cares about Pride and himself. I mean, I get that Pride is cool, I personally love it, but when one of your family members passes away you don't act like an inconsiderate asshole because it messes up with you social plans. And that isn't even the worst part. Our guy Mark here seems to think that since he is gay it gives him the RIGHT to disparage other queer characters for how they choose to identify. Why the hell is that okay? He also straight up asks Talia after looking at her and talking to her for a whole 30 seconds if she is gay. Who the hell does that?

And then there is Talia, our social justice warrior. Which can be a good thing, but Talia is basically a jerk about it. She calls out Mark for being white, when she is his cousin and just as white as he is. I'm sorry but how does that make sense? Don't get me wrong, there were times when I was on her side, like when Mark makes a joke about her partner being non binary, but also she needs to chill, she is not the ethics police.

Honestly, it's probably a good thing I only read 4.5 chapters of this book, otherwise this review would be longer. Maybe these characters grow over the course of the book, I'd like to hope that they do, but I'm not going to spend my time reading about awful people. Sorry.

This was an incredibly diverse book meant to celebrate pride and family. There is a huge range of characters that represent identities all over the LGBT spectrum. The book is short and fast paced, its easily read in a day and isn't a heavy read. The writing is good and makes it an enjoyable book to read in one sitting. But, I had some issues with this book.
The MCs in this book were extremely unlikable. Mark is self-absorbed who only cares for himself and chasing possible relationships. I honestly have clue how he was supposed to be a likable MC. Even is character development felt fake and self-centered. Meanwhile, Talia is uptight and constantly judging others. I'm all for correcting people when they mess up, but she did it so often it felt nit picky and annoying. Alot of this book also felt so preachy. I feel like a fiction novel isn't the place to try to educate a reader on LGBT representation, I think it would be better to just provide positive representation without making it a big deal.

so last week i read You Know Me Well by David Levithan and Nina LaCour and now i know why this book is recommended to fans of Levithan.. this book is the weird canadian version of YKMW.

both books are about an out gay jock named mark growing close to a queer girl during pride week in the biggest lgbt friendly city in the country as they both deal with relationship drama told in a dual pov.

though this book had an added familial plot, it ended up being a bit disappointing. there's this mystery element of why the two MC's parents don't get along which was a big deal in the beginning of the book, then it was hardly mentioned or explored until its anti-climactic reveal at the end.

but what really made this book hard to read were the MCs. they are both very unlikable.

mark is a self-absorbed jerk, who acts irresponsibly and puts his 10-year-old sister in danger (not that that's ever really discussed). he's obsessed with going to toronto pride and chasing cute boys no matter the repercussions.

talia is a prime example of "do as i say, not as i do". i'm all for activism and teaching people about a community, but the way talia does it comes across as irritating and intrusive, leaving no one safe to make mistakes. and then she doesn't even adhere to her own teachings!! she gets mad at everyone who makes assumptions about people based on looks or gender, then does the exact same thing!

the star of this book is mark's little sister paige. she's just out there living her best 10-year-old life eating ice cream and i'm here for it!

anyway i'm disappointed that i didn't love this book because i was so excited to read it after loving tom ryan's Keep This to Yourself. oh well, i hope i have better luck next time.

"When You Get the Chance" follows the two cousins Mark and Talia during their summer together. Sadly, Mark never quite grew on me, whereas Talia was a good (but still not perfect) character. But that's just how teens are, and they both grew on their journey. The story is fast-paced and I never got bored, thanks to the interesting side characters like Mark's sister or the people they meet on their trip to Toronto. Still, I wish that some aspects had been more fleshed out.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Cousins Mark and Talia used to spend summers together at the family cottage, but when a fight happened between their parents, those happy summer days ended, and they no longer talked with each other. When their grandpa dies, Mark and Talia are reunited for the funeral.

Although Mark is sad about his grandfather, he’s more interested in trying to go to Pride in Toronto while they are there for the funeral. He’s grown up in Halifax, and while they have a Pride event there, it’s nothing compared to what happens in Toronto.

And while Talia is sad about his grandfather, she’s more interested in trying to meet up with Erin, her partner, who recently left Victoria and moved to school early—which just happens to be in Toronto.

But their parents have other plans. Instead of either of them staying in Toronto, the families decide to go to the family cabin to begin to decide what to do with it because Mark and Talia’s grandmother’s health is also declining.

But when their grandmother’s health calls their parents away, they decide to unleash a plot to get them both what they want: Mark to Pride and Talia to Erin in Toronto. Can you say roadtrip time?

When You Get the Chance is a beautiful look at family secrets, dealing with the past, and the messiness of teen life. These are not perfect characters; they are not written to be that way! Their personalities are very nuanced, and it was honestly refreshing to see how messy they were at times. They are incredibly realistic and act like some people I know in real life. This very realistic messiness was dealt with in such a careful way by Tom Ryan and Robin Stevenson, and I loved how much the characters grew throughout the novel.

I absolutely loved this read, and it’s one that I definitely recommend!

This was a lovely little book that made my heart all warm. It was inclusive, and explained and taught things, like being nonbinary, in a way that was easy to understand. And there was so so much character growth. I hated Mark in the beginning, but he grows to be a better person and I love that. I really loved Talia and the way her relationship with Erin went. It could have gone really bad at a certain point in the book, but it took a surprisingly positive turn. I highly recommend this if you want a giant gay book with fun family bonding!

The death of their grandfather forces a rather uncomfortable family reunion between Mark and Talia's families, but results in renewed and new found friendships, as well as some exploration and discoveries about themselves.

Mark and Talia were like night and day, so different from each other, but they both were part of the LGBTQ community, and both desperately wanted to attend Pride in Toronto. Mark wanted to go, meet boys, and have a good time. While Talia needed to find out where she stood with her partner. Though their objectives were quite different, this trip was an instrumental part of them learning more about themselves and who they were.

Identity is discussed throughout the book, and I thought many of the discussions about sexual and gender identity were integrated well into the story. I especially appreciated how the authors presented the various points of view. Some of the best dialogues were prompted by the break-out star of this book, Paige. Paige was Mark's 10-year old sister, and her youthful, untainted, and precious this-is-how-I-see-it takes on identity were so wonderful. There were also points of view from people outside the community, as well as, older members of the community, which added even more depth to the discussions.

Overall: I had a wonderful time meeting Paige, Mark, and Talia, and enjoyed being part of their personal journeys.

A super fast, but not super interesting, read. I couldn't tell most of the time if this was meant for a middle grade or YA audience, because a lot of the behavior (and sometimes the writing) is very juvenile, despite the main characters being older teens. Speaking of which, I didn't like either main character. Talia is the worst kind of 2020 SJW and Mark was a thoughtless jerk, and though they both have redemptive arcs in the book's second half, it moved too quickly for the changes to seem genuine and earned.

With a little more meat on its bones and with more focus on storytelling rather than teaching (this is what non-binary is, this is why pronouns are important, this is the history of Pride, etc), this could have been better.

I really like the first part of the book. We dive quickly into the Tremblays and the shared point of views between the two main characters is a very good idea. Even though Mark can be such a douche, I felt really connected to Talia.

The intrigue really starts when they all hit the little cottage near Toronto. It’s a bit unusual to begin your story in the forest – but hey it’s Canada after all – I loved that part. Mark and Talia tiptoe around each other in attempt to catch up with all those years apart and it was interesting to show that despite being a member of the same family and being a member of the LOGBTQI+ community, you can always get along.

The journey begins quickly after that. It was more about finding themselves and what they seek in their respective relationships in this road trip towards Toronto Pride. They have to put aside their differencies in order to get to their destination. Luckily, they have Paige. I loved that kid, she’s so wit and smart, and even if she’s a bit confused about the questions of genre and sexuality, she’s open-minded and well-intentioned. I hate that Mark treated her as a burden, a fun-killer of his road-trip. My little girl deserved better than her awful big brother!

I’m usually not very fond of ‘road trip’ stories as they frequently built on the same pattern. But everything becomes more fun when you add some extra queer gents in your schemes! The Tremblays came across a rainbow – see what I did there – of people who helped them get through their journey and I loved them. They were all very endearing and welcoming.

I think that one of the main topics that I liked the most was that the LBGTQI+ is not a big homogeneous group who has the same issues. The relationship between Erin and Talia is really interesting and explore many of those issues: when you’re in a very small group of queer people, people – or yourself – tend to regroup and being drown with the other. But it doesn’t necessarily match. The importance of verbalizing our preferences is essential in a world that don’t usually want to acknowledge the fan of diversity. Therefore, we are not able to understand one another.

Identity and sexuality are commonly resume as the same thing. I was glad to see in a book that it’s two different things, very-well explained and carried by all the characters. Those two subjects are usually seen as irreversible, carved in marble whereas it’s an hiking trip and it’s okay to question yourself and it’s okay to decide you still haven’t figure it out. At the end, I think the authors wanted to tell us that it’s okay to live your own experience, you don’t have to be in the mold to blend in, and most of all : be happy with who you are and what you want.

It was a good book. Very entertaining and informative on a lot of subjects.

My Rating: 4.5
In this book we follow two siblings and their children that have met after many years, without seeing one another, due to their father's death. Janet has two kids, Mark and Paige and Gary (Janet's brother) has one kid, Talia.
After the funeral they all go to the old cottage they used to go during summer many years ago thinking everything would still be the same but Talia and Mark have a rough time due to their differences and their clashing personalities. Talia being the goody two-shoes and responsible one and Mark being the more relaxed and "partying" sorta guy. When Mark decides he's going to the Pride in Toronto all starts to change. I'm gonna be honest if I was Mark's mother I would be so pissed and I still don't know how he got out of the situation with only a warning. He legit took his 10 y.o. sister to Toronto without even thinking where they were going to sleep. But I still quite liked him as a character being all perky and always positive. With Talia I feel she was a bit too serious and "stick to the rules" type of person, which she ends up loosing up a bit as the story progresses.
The story was really good and I loved it (even though I had some matters that I disagreed on but since it's a personal opinion I'm not gonna discuss it). It's full of hope, light romance and teenage spirit. Definitely recommend it.

Anything gay gets an immediate 5 stars from me. This was just so good and I'm completely in love! I fell in love with all of the characters almost immediately.

This book is the best summer trip. Here is why road trip with the cousin, pride parade and romance. Also a journey were main characters find themselves. So do read this book. Also it is not that long read.

An e-ARC was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange of an honest review. This does not effect my opinion in any way.

Actual rating: 3.5*

When You Get the Chance is the story about two cousins taking their chance to go to the Toronto Pride. And it would have been such a better story if Mark, one of the main character, wasn’t such a dick. But before talking about him — because oh boy I have a lot to say — let’s start with all the stuff I like. When You Get the Chance is the perfect quick summer-vibe type of story.

The book is rather short but the authors took the time to tackle important subjects and I guess it was my favorite part of the story. Pretty much all the characters are queer but I liked how not all of them knew for sure how they identify themselves. Mark knows he’s gay and doesn’t question his sexual orientation at all but it’s not the case for all the characters and I appreciated that. More than that, I liked how nuanced that part of the story was : the authors show that you can question your identity at any time, that there isn’t a specific time that you should ask yourself this question. Talia — the other main character — has always thought about herself as lesbian but when her partner came out as non-binary, she didn’t know if she could still call herself lesbian since her partner isn’t a girl.

I guess what I want to say is that When You Get the Chance is a book which shows you that your identity isn’t a one time thing. It shows that sexuality and identity are fluid and you may identify yourself as bisexual but then figure out than you’re actually gay. And going from one to another doesn’t invalidate your experience as a queer person.

More than just a story about two cousins going to Pride, When You Get the Chance explores family, friendship and breakups. It shows the bonds between people, how easily they break, how easily they can change through time. Breakups, especially, are one of the main focus in the story. Talia wants to go to Toronto to meet her partner because she doesn’t know if they’re breaking up or not. I actually really liked that part of the story : I liked how they argued, how they talked, how they tried to understand each other. I guess it’s what I actually want to see in a story about relationship : I just want to see the characters actually talking.

Talia was actually a character I really liked. Maybe because she reminded me of myself, maybe because I actually could understand what she was feeling. She also fought for what she believed was right and called out people for their bullshit. She was strong but also confused about who she really was, who she was supposed to be if she had to breakup with her partner. Seeing her grow up during the story was enjoyable because you could see her questionning a lot of stuff, having very messy thoughts about life and what she was supposed to do and what she wanted to be.

And then, we have Mark. Frankly, I hated him with all my heart. And believe me when I say I tried to like him but I just couldn’t because he didn’t grow at all. He litterally went from huge dick to super dick and was just a shitty human being. There was that one quote in the book who perfectly summed up who he is:

You’re hot and fun, but it gets exhausting spending so much time with someone who’s so deeply in love with himself.
Mark loves himself, that’s it. He’s so spoiled, egoistical and self-centered. He just sees himself and I bet he would date himself if he actually could. He has this gift to make everything about himself, it’s almost incredible. There are a bunch of example in the book but the one which stood in my mind was when Talia called him out for being a dick. When she said there is nothing complicated about using the pronouns they/them, he replies with something like “hey, I’m gay so it’s complicated for me too okay?” And this is the thing which bothers me the most with Mark: he doesn’t recognize how privileged he is since he is white and able-bodied and like, good-looking, you know? He is called out about it several times in the story but besides throwing one or two “well okay I’m sorry,” you don’t see him actually learn from this. From start to finish, he didn’t change, I’m sure of that. I had a little hope at some point but then it was just me trying to look for something good in him.

I found this book very difficult to get into.
I have decided not to continue with it now and instead wait until the audiobook comes out.
The idea and plot really intrigue me and I really think I might like it.
I will definitely get the audiobook upon release and try again!

YA contemporary lit is always hit or miss for me. Sometimes I’ll really like it, other times it reminds me how much older I am than the characters. This fell somewhere in between those two extremes.

In When You Get the Chance, we are introduced to Mark and Talia, two cousins who have not seen each other in a good few years after their parents fell out in some mysterious argument. After their grandfather dies, their grandmother requests that they all spend the summer at her cottage, sorting it out. But Mark wants to go to Toronto Pride, and Talia wants to see her ex (who may or may not be an ex after all), so together with Mark’s sister Paige in tow, they start on a roadtrip to Toronto.

Firstly, what I liked about the book. It’s very easily readable and the writing is good. Readable as in it took me maybe two hours to read the entire thing. It wasn’t one of those books where I was bored out of my damn mind reading it because of the writing. I also liked the whole mystery aspect surrounding why their parents fell out. And I loved Paige a lot. Unfortunately, the rest of the book left me somewhere between “meh” and vaguely irritated.

Both characters aren’t exactly ones I might love without reservation. Mark, for his part, is a bit shallow and self-centered. Meanwhile, Talia seems to have assumed the role of preachy, slightly holier-than-thou, older sibling. And while I could deal with Mark’s personality, it was a whole lot harder to deal with Talia. Part of that just seems to be because this book does have scenes which feel like those you can point to as if it’s a “learning objective”. You know the ones, they’re trying to teach you something. Only, for me, those don’t work. They just make me cringe because they sound sort of false. If you want to normalise something, I think what works better is treating it as a non-issue. Like, not having a character say they “don’t understand” being nonbinary just so you can have another character pull them up on it. For me, that only leads to me disliking them both. And all of those moments went Talia, so of course I ended up not liking her for it (sorry, Talia).

That, honestly, is the major reason I couldn’t like this book any more than I did. Literally just because it did something I personally don’t like books to do.

So feel perfectly free to just ignore this review and pick the book up anyway. In fact, do it whatever. Ignore me.

When You Get the Chance, by Tom Ryan and Robin Stevenson, is a delightful book about family, relationships and identity. Told through the dual points of view of two queer cousins, Mark and Talia, it follows their quest to attend Toronto’s Pride Festival. The book doesn’t come out until May 5, 2020, but I was privileged to receive a complimentary advance reading copy.

When You Get the Chance is a quick read, coming in at 272 pages, and at its heart, it’s a small story. Unlike Ryan’s thriller Keep This To Yourself, Mark and Talia aren’t dealing with life and death here. Still, the stakes are very real for them – will they get to Pride, what will become of their romantic relationships, will their parents reconcile in the wake of their grandfather’s death.

On their road trip to Pride, we’re introduced to a wide array of strangers who become fast friends. They help Mark and Talia overcome the many obstacles (some self-inflicted) standing in their way. There’s a great diversity in LGBTQ+ representation in the book, with multi-generational perspectives that offer increased depth.

I initially found both Mark and Talia to be somewhat unlikable, and I believe this is by design. Mark appears to care little for others’ feelings as long as he’s getting what he wants. Talia is constantly on guard for others’ (often accidental) misuse of nomenclature or misrepresentation of identity. However, over the course of When You Get the Chance, we see both Mark and Talia recognizing some of the flaws in their worldview and work to become more empathetic.

I greatly enjoyed When You Get the Chance. It offers a lot of insight into family relationships and LGBTQ+ representation and history, and throws in a fun road trip to boot.

Note: although I received a complimentary advance reading copy, this review represents my opinion.