A very wholesome book about queer teenagers. The story follows Mark and Talia and their grand adventure to Pride. Mark wants to know more about the world and have fun. Talia wants to reconnect with her ex. But life has other plans and not everything goes to plan. It’s a cute story, but there’s nothing really remarkable about the book. I think this is a book for lazy Sundays, It's a light story, with a nice rhythm and interesting characters.

I was drawn to this book by its cover, and it did not disappoint. WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE is a celebration of the queer experience, but is an equally accessible tale of friendship and forgiveness for those who do not identify as queer. I enjoyed reading Ryan and Stevenson's work and look forward to more inclusive and representative tales in the future.

I love stories about (found) family and friendship! I love them even more when they're queer. So you've guessed right: I loved this book. 😍

When their grandfather dies, the cousins Talia and Mark (and his little sister Paige) are send to clean out the cottage of their grandparents. Things don't go as planned and somehow they end up driving to Toronto Pride. Mark wants to have good time and celebrate Pride, while Talia wants to meet with her partner Erin and talk about their relationship status.

"When you get the chance" is written from two PoVs: Talia and Mark. I loved Talia from the first page on. She's kind of a "social justice warrior" as Mark calls her and I loved that. 😂 She's also a really loveable, calm and kind character and I just adored reading her chapters.
Mark and I had a harder time, though. I really didn't like him in the beginning. 🙈 But the more I read the more I realized it was part of his journey and I really appreciated his development.
Paige, Marks little sister, added a little spice to the story and I would've loved to read more about her. 😁😍

This book is really, really queer. Mark is gay, Talia identifies as queer, because she feels most comfortable with it and a lot of other queer characters are introtuced troughout the story, for example Talias partner who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. The book also dives a little into queer history, discusses privilege and other LGBTQ+ related topics.
I really loved how rounded up this was. It made the story feel real and made me really want to visit Toronto during Pride. 😂

Though I really, really liked the story itself, I thought that some parts could have been a little longer. This book is full of interesting characters and they're all so well written. Sometimes I was sad when a chapter was already over, because I would have wished for more.
But I loved the way relationships were discussed, no matter if they were between partners, friends, siblings or family in general.

Also, how beautiful is this cover? I love the Pride colours and the car and everthing. Fits perfectly to the story. 😍

All in all I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a fun read, that also deals with important topics, just how I love it. 😂 I'd definitely recommend reading this book. ❤

This book was exactly what I expected: a fast, fun, queer read. What I didn't expect was that it's also Canadian (I imagine there is a hint on the cover... and in the description) which made it all the better because Canadian books are always more relatable than American. (That's why we insist that Canada is a honorary European country)

It's told from two POVs: Mark, a gay high school senior from Halifax (and honestly a bit of a self-absorbed jerk) and his cousin Talia, a queer girl from Victoria (and a bit of a social justice warrior which I absolutely loved). I love that with more and more queer books the characters also get less perfect, more human and more relatable. The two of them meet for the first time in years on their grandpa's funeral and are sent to clean out a cottage that belonged to their grandparents - even though both of them would rather be in Toronto, Mark for the Pride weekend and Talia to meet up with her partner.

The unexpected and amazing surprise came in form of Paige - Mark's 10 year old sister. I don't remember ever reading a queer book where the queer character had a much younger sibling and definitely not one like Paige - she was unapologetic and had an amazing ability so see people simply as people, despite their gender or sexuality. She had some of the best lines, one of them when she was reminded for an nth time not to out people to others and she said that she doesn't want to waste her time on people who think less of others because they are queer. Paige's character was used to discuss a lot of important things such as queerphobia, the problem of putting things (and especially gender) in binary terms in a fun way and I really liked it.

I loved how this book reflected the current times: how the queer rights have progressed but not without backlashes. The uncertainty of the far right political movements and climate change and how it affects people. Discussions of privilege. It was subtle but on point and well done.

What I also appreciate is how truly queer this book is - not only gay or bi but engaging with different queer identities and issues. Talia is unsure of her sexuality and chooses to identify simply as "queer" and her partner is non-binary. There are discussions of poli relationships and the bi/pan debate. It discusses outing people and assuming sexuality (straight or queer). Also, especially Talia is very aware of how much their experience comes down to the fact that they are white and able-bodied (and, in Mark's case, also male) and the questions of privilege and gate-keeping came out quite a lot. There is a whole cast of amazing queer characters with different experiences, identities and approaches and it truly felt like a Pride.

Despite it all, it still managed to be a fun, light read, with a focus mostly on family, identity, old grudges and knowing when to move on. Plus a whole lot of Canadian summer vibes: lake, mosquitos, canoeing, ice cream and barbequeues.

My only problems are that the beginning of the book dragged a little and Mark's POV got a little of getting used to (because of him being such a self-absorbed jerk) but things definitely picked up as I read on so it's a strong 4 stars instead of 3.

The verdict is that I'm moving to Canada becuase I've been convinced that almost everyone there is queer and that it's generally the most amazing place ever.