I love how Lord combines an enemies-to-lovers, a who-is-my-parent, and a "big-job-big-dreams" into the perfect love letter to Broadway and theater people in general. Somehow, Millie's worst excesses are tempered without ever making it seem as though she's being throttled, and I have to admit, I didn't see the parent reveal coming. Sometimes, it's nice to just kick back and watch the fun play out.

In a twist on the Mamma Mia! story, Millie has big dreams for her future. She wants to star on Broadway, but when her dad refuses to let her skip her senior year in order to attend an acting school on the other side of the country, Millie decides to take matters into her own hands. She never knew her mother, but using some careful sleuthing, she narrows it down to three options. She is determined to find her mother and get her to allow her to attend the school of her dreams. The only thing standing in her way is her rival, Oliver. When they both apply for the same internship, things get a little tense.

This is a charming novel with great characters. Although Millie can be a little self-centered and selfish, being prone to her “Millie moods” it is easy to root for her. She has some big lows but also some soaring highs! Oliver is a great rival for Millie. He’s just the right amount of sarcastic. The witty banter between the two is engaging and fun!

As the search for her mother plays out, we get to know all of the side characters pretty well and it is a great group. I kind of wish I had all these people in my real life. While the ending was not a full surprise, it was satisfying and brought Millie's whole experience full circle!

The premise of Mamma Mia really drew me in, but I was disappointed here. Millie was an annoying character never grew on me even as she was beginning to recognizing the error of some of her ways and maybe because of this I felt like the ending dragged on as she needed to apologize to everyone.

I wanted to like this book, but this was not one that clicked with me.

Oh, my theater loving heart! This story had me swooning over all of the musical references with a story that felt a lot like a modern Mama Mia!. I absolutely adored Millie and her family and friends. This book is a love letter to theater kids and NYC. Swoon!

Emma Lord never disappoints me! This was a very enjoyable novel, that I read fast and had a lo of fun reading. I look forward to seeing what she does next!

I thought this book was enjoyable! I'm kind of leaning away from this genre but this was a book I could still appreciate. A really sweet relationship between the dad and daughter and I loved seeing that.

I requested this on Netgalley after participating in a Macmillan Publishing author preview event for the book When You Get the Chance. After getting started, I found myself already recommending the book to several friends... before I even finished it! This book is for all of the people in your life who enjoy Musical Theater, all things Broadway, and Mamma Mia! If you have a performing teen in your life, this book is for them!

Millie Price just wants to be on stage as much as possible...and when she is accepted to a pre-college program for performing arts, without her dad's knowledge, she thinks her future is calling. And it's calling right now. But when her dad is not thrilled at the prospect of leaving home so soon, she decides to take matters into her own hands...no matter how much drama would ensue! I enjoyed the book! So much!

I really loved this book! When I read books by this author, they are the kind that I want to read in one sitting. I love her writing style, her character development, the fast pace of her plot, and for this book the setting was especially fun. I always can rely on Emma Lord to pull me out of a book slump.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord. All opinions are my own.

I was thrilled to receive a copy of this- I have loved everything that Emma Lord has written and when I saw it was based around a Broadway lover like myself? YES PLEASE! This is an adorable book, with loveable and frustrating characters. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a YA romcom, bonus points if you're a Broadway fan.

There is nothing I love more than a story about a theater obsessed character who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. Throw in a little Mamma Mia magic - as a girl who grew up with ABBA blaring in her house I adored this - a competition between enemies, and an awesome shake-shop and you’ve got the perfect combination for an high rating read! Millie is a girl after my own heart. There were so many characteristics I related to – the big emotions, the fierce determination, the love of all things theater. She is a million miles a minute with absolutely absolutely no chill and I was here for it. I think a lot of readers will relate to Millie and fall in love with her, flaws and all. I also loved the tension between Millie and Oliver. Their back and forth was hilarious and I loved experiencing them learning more about each other and their goals and motivations. Definitely one I would recommend picking up. I'm giving this one 4.5 stars rounded up.

When You Get The Chance is reminiscent of Mama Mia (with the parent gender reversed) and takes place in NYC.

Millie is a loud, self-confident actress with Broadway aspirations. When she receives an acceptance to a prestigious West Coast pre-college program that she knows will get her to her goal of being on Broadway, she won’t let her dad’s refusal to sign the paperwork stand in her way.

Her techy friend Teddy helps her find her dad’s angsty LiveJournal entries from 2003. Millie naturally decides that one of these women must be her mom and, if Millie can find her, she will sign the paperwork that will allow Millie to follow her dreams.

As if that wasn’t enough on her plate, Millie is competing to be a talent agent’s assistant with her nemesis Oliver. Whoever performs the best during their two weeks as temporary assistants will secure a permanent position.

Because this is an Emma Lord book, the balance of personal growth to romance to relationships with the side characters is perfection. I loved the often hilarious search for Millie’s mom, which takes us to dance classes and movie nights. There were touching moments between Millie and her dad and aunt, and I loved the growth she experienced throughout the book.

As a total musical theater nerd, I felt like this book was written for me. Emma Lord is one of my favorite YA authors, and this book was so fun. If you were a theater nerd like me, I think you’ll love this book.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for a copy of this book; these thoughts are my own.

I enjoyed this one! As a musical theatre fan this one really felt fun and enjoyable for all ages. I don't know how much someone not acquainted with Mamma Mia would enjoy it but that's a risk you take with any "reimagining" of an existing work.

I liked the writing, felt the pace worked well with the content, and the enemies to lovers trope was well done and just right for the characters to find their way to one another. The only thing I didn't love was the amount of suspension of disbelief we as an audience have to lean into, it feels very different to do it in a pay or musical as opposed to a book, but it was still very fun.

Definitely a solid 3.5 for me.

I'm of the LiveJournal generation and once I stopped weeping over the premise (I'm at an age where I could be the parent of a high schooler) I couldn't wait to dive. I had such a fun time with this Mamma Mia-inspired tale. Oliver was super swoony and would have absolutely had my high school heart. The relationship between Millie and her dad was great. Millie's search for her mom had me invested. Yes, at times the book ventured a bit into sappy territory and was a little predictable, but overall this was a quick and highly entertaining read.

Emma Lord’s novels never fail to engage me meaning that with her three novels (all of which I’ve read), I either liked them or really liked them and in the case of When You Get A Chance, it was the former. I liked it but the level of disbelief I needed to suspend paired with the overall outlandish-ness made it hard for me to love. That said, it was still entertaining!

Millie Price is determined to become a Broadway star and is willing to go through some enormous hoops to get there. She’s loud and brash (the total opposite of me and admittedly hard for me to relate to) but I admired her tenacity to go after her dreams. Her introverted dad, who raised her alone, is supportive but doesn’t want her to leave home to pursue said dream. When Millie randomly discovers her dad’s LiveJournal from 2003 (this made me roll my eyes and also aged me quite a bit because now that I think about it, am I the same age as her dad?!), she decides to use his entries as clues to find her mom, who’s been AWOL for most of her life, to help support her. She narrows it down to three women and proceeds to worm her way into each of their lives to figure out who’s the one. It’s very Mamma Mia-like, which is kind of the point, and downright insane in my humble opinion. But like I said, she’s determined. And what ended up grounding this plot point (aside from the group of level-headed people in her life, who I all adored) is that it’s not just about finding her mom to help support her Broadway dreams. It’s about finding herself and discovering her roots, and I think that’s something we all can relate to.

So fun! I wonder what the experience would be for someone who doesn't know the Mamma Mia plot as well as I do. This had a really satisfying ending where everyone ends up happy.

Gender-swapped version Momma Mia, I am here for that. Add an enemy to lover romance and you had me at hello. 😂 The drama nerd in me, loved this story. Millie is a force to be reckoned with and I loved her escapades. I also loved her relationship with Oliver and all their banter:

**3.5 stars**
When You Get the Chance is an uplifting and feel good contemporary young adult. The characters all added so much depth to the story. Millie was spirited and entertaining. The love interest brought out some perfect nemesis vibes. The family dynamics in here were top notch. It was a joy to read this one.

This is my favourite Emma Lord book yet. I loved every character, the made-family trope, and Millie was just a delight.

Loved this book! Loved the characters. ! Quirky and fun. You fall in love with all of the characters, I laughed often at the story because it’s all relatable. It’s a definite must-read for those that enjoy a good story!

Emma Lord continues to prove herself a favorite of mine in the YA contemporary category! When You Get the Chance was just as good as her previous books, making me smile, tear up and laugh multiple times while reading!

I've noticed that when it comes to YA contemporary, these past 2-ish years i've been having a hard time relating to the main characters or just overall enjoying my experience reading it like I did a few years back. Because of that, I've been very selective over which books in this category I request or pick up to read. Two authors that are still always immediately added to my TBR whenever a new book gets announces are Jenn Bennett, and most recently, Emma Lord. I fell in love with Lord's storytelling after Tweet Cute, and You Have a Match was just as good and entertaining to me! So of course I was so excited to start When You Get The Chance! it quickly became one of my most anticipated books of 2022, and I literally squealed when I got the email that I was approved for an ARC. And I am happy to report that it was as good as I expected!

The first thing that really caught my attention was the plot. Musical theater and gender-swapped Mamma Mia (as in the main character is looking for her mom instead of her dad)?!? YES PLEASE. And honestly, it was probably, along with the romance (which I'll get to in a moment) my favorite part of the story! I loved getting to know the 3 women who could potentially be Millies mom, I loved the relationships Millie was able to develop with all of them and I loved how different they were from one another. I specially loved Steph and the special relationship she created with Millie throughout the story.

Now, for the romance. I find enemies to lovers a bit overrated, so personally, there is just a few types that I enjoy. Millie and Oliver are drama club rivals that are constantly bickering over the smallest of differences. And soon they find themselves having to compete against each other for a summer internship. From the very first interaction between the two I already loved their little banter, but it got even better when they started battling for a job, and even better when that disliked started turning into a sweet friendship and then, before Millie knew it, a crush. Emma Lord always knocks it out of the part with the romance in her books. Her couple's interactions are always so fun to read about, their chemistry always clear on page. Oliver and Millie weren't different; I found myself rooting for them from the very start!

I loved Millie's inner monologue. It made her POV super fun to read about even though I did not relate to her at all. She is very extroverted and loud, and I am the complete opposite, but even then, I think it speaks to Emma Lord's amazing writing skills that I still managed to understand Millie and root for her to succeed. Was she a little bit childish sometimes? Sure. But honestly, it didn't bother me because I was already enjoying the story too much to care.

I loved the reveal of who Millie's mom is as well. I thought it was perfect!

Overall, another amazing book by Emma Lord. I cannot wait to see what she writes next. Based on her previous works, I'm sure it will be amazing.