When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord was a delightful escape into musical theatre, family bonds, discovering yourself, and finding love. Millie Price is a high school student who wants to be an actress/singer who makes it big on Broadway. She has a stone supportive Dad and Aunt who support her, but Millie wants to find her mother. This is a fun retelling of Mama Mia with a gender swap. In addition to finding her mother, Millie and Oliver have this great enemies-to-lovers romance happening throughout NYC as they fulfill daily tasks for their talent agent internship. The relationships in this book were great with all of Millie's family and friends. Get yourself a copy of this YA book because it's a great read you don't want to miss.

Thank you, Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio, for my gifted copies to review honestly.

4.5⭐: I really enjoyed this book! It was so funny, heartwarming, and made me smile many times. Every time I played the audiobook, my day would be brightened as if Millie's exuberant and buoyant personality came through the screen.

In this story, we follow along Millie as she deals with being accepted into a pre-college school with a focus on performing arts, which her dad doesn't want her going to. All she wants is to perform in theatre and make it big, until she suddenly finds relics of her dad's past through LiveJournal. Once seeing his thoughts, she, with the help of her best friend Teddy, embarks on a quest to find her mother. But, what's this? There is an obstacle in her way by the name of Oliver that might just become an asset instead.

This story was so wonderfully crafted and written that I never wanted to stop listening. No joke, I was listening before work and was almost late because I got so wrapped up in the story (thankfully I made sure to watch the time). The journey that Millie takes the reader through is brilliant, and despite it taking ideas from Mamma Mia, and Definitely Maybe as well, it is it's own original story. From the characters, the setting, the plot development, events, the ending, and the side-stories, it was all so beautifully woven together in a creative, glittery pink gift box. I loved that the romance aspect wasn't the main plot of the story but was an addition that was very nice and not overdone. I'm also happy to say that I was able to guess the true mom early on, and it's not very easy to pinpoint who it is exactly. As someone who was in drama class for a few years, I really appreciated that aspect of this story and how both the acting and stagecraft were emphasized (and both are fun).

Not only was the story amazing, but the narration for this audiobook was incredible. The narrator, Jesse Vilinsky, was able to match Millie's emotions so well that it felt like I was really listening to Millie. She had a unique voice for each different character that was easy to distinguish and allowed me to instantly know who was talking without being told. When she spoke dialogue, it felt as if the people were actually talking to each other and having a real conversation. Her narration really helped the flow of the book and made it even harder to stop listening.

There were a couple problems I had with this book. The first problem was when Millie gets mad at someone and says something pretty uncalled for, and then gets mad at Oliver and tells him she's not sorry for what she said to the other person. This would've been okay if she apologized later, but she only said sorry to Oliver, not the other person. Another thing was the character descriptions. I couldn't really picture Oliver or many of the characters, so having more development on that would've been nice.

Overall, I don't have many complaints about this novel, and I really loved it! I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys theatre, acting, cute romances, and, of course, Mamma Mia.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for sharing this story with me in exchange for an honest review.

Review posted to Instagram (@a.bookish.plant.lover), Goodreads (goodreads.com/abookishplantlover) , and Amazon (ABookishPlantLover).

Watch out Broadway! Millie Price is taking over...once she graduates high school. The bubbly, spirited Millie is a rising senior. She is being raised by her father and aunt. Her father has never shared any information about her mother other than baby one day she showed up with a baby and left her. One day Millie stumbled across her father's LiveJournal from before Millie was born. Millie starts finding ways into to the lives of the women she read about in the journal to see if she can find her mother. One is a dance teacher, one a secretary of a Broadway talent agent and another part of an avid armature theater troop.

When You Get the Chance is a combination of Mamma Mia and a novelization of Dr. Seuss' Are You My Mother. With loveable characters and zany situations, this is a fun book for anyone who loves a good bildungsroman, romcom or is just a musical theater buff.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this audio in exchange for an honest review.

I love Emma Lord. I have read all of her books the month of release and I've loved every one of them. When You Get the Chance is no exception!
I will admit, it took some time for Millie to grow on me. At first she just seemed loud and annoying, but I reminded myself she was 16 and I probably was too at that age. I did end up loving her though, especially when I saw who she really was.
I loved the plot of Millie trying to find her mom, even though I guessed who she was! It wasn't super obvious, I just had a thought 'Wouldn't it be cool if .......... was her mom!'
The friendship between Millie and Teddie was just adorable. I loved seeing a guy and a girl be friends without so much as an inkling of romance. They say you can't just be friends with the opposite sex, but I don't believe it!
The romance with Millie and Oliver was to die for. Enemies-to-lovers is one of my favorite tropes. With that against the backdrop of all things Broadway, my musical loving heart was so happy.

Definitely recommend if you love a good ya romance, enemies-to-lovers, and a little family drama!

Millie dreams of being a Broadway star. Actually, she's not just dreaming about it, she's working her butt off to make it happen. So she's thrilled to find out she's being offered a pre-college place in a prestigious school. The only problem is, it's on the other side of the country and her dad has already told her no.

Millie starts to wonder if her mom would be more supportive, except she doesn't actually know who or where her mom is—she left Millie with her dad in college and hasn't seen her since. So, in Mama Mia style, Millie starts doing some sleuthing, with the help of her neighbor. Of course, nothing goes according to plan (because that would be a fairly boring book) and there are all sorts of hijinks along the way and plenty of run-ins with Millie's rival, Oliver.

I'm not much of a musical theater lover, but if you are I'm sure you'll love this one. There is plenty to keep you entertained even if you're not though. There's love, found family, drama, mystery, rivalries, deceit and so much more.

The audiobook was pretty fantastic, performed by Jesse Vilinsky (who you might recognize from Better Than the Movies among other titles). It's 10 hours and 17 minutes in length but I listened to it in one day over the weekend.

This was really cute! Millie's ambition, the recklessness of her emotions, her dad's livejournal--Emma Lord is always pitch-perfect.

This book was so cute! I loved all the musical theatre references and Millie was just a mood, she was such a fun character. I liked the play on Mama Mia for this story and Millie searching for her mom among three potential candidates. It took me awhile, but I did figure out who her mom was during a specific scene, and it was definitely an "I should have seen it earlier!" moment. I loved seeing Millie come into herself by being around each of these different women, and stripping herself of the personas she hid herself with in the past. I also loved the arc of her relationship with Oliver and the move from enemies to friends to lovers.

There were definitely a few times that I thought Millie acted a little immaturely, and that she should have communicated better with her dad, aunt and friends. It's YA so you can expect some of that, it was just a little more pronounced with her character, and could have been helping lend to the "drama queen" persona. It didn't hinder me liking the story at all, just a general observation.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be going back and reading Emma Lord's backlist. Also, the narrator did a fantastic job with this story and really helped you feel like you were in Millie's shoes, the narrator was able to portray all of Millie's many emotions very well, and I think it definitely helped the story.

I loved everything about this audiobook! Millie was such a fun, sweet character to follow along in her journey of being a Broadway star and at the same time finding her mom, who left when she was a baby. This book now is on my top five list of the YA category. It left me feeling warm and happy. I would highly recommend this book/audiobook to anyone looking for a feel-good, yet unpredictable storyline.

Recommend for fans of Mama Mia and broadway! This is a fun YA story with depth and great character development. I loved Millie’s relationships with her father, aunt, best friend, and Oliver. I loved her thought process to finding her mother. She is very dynamic, fiery, and full of spirit! The narrator was great and brought so much character to Millie!

"I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."
The story seemed interesting and was quickly engaging. However, I could not get past the narrator. Her voice and cadence just grated my nerves.

When You Get the Chance, written by Emma Lord and flawlessly narrated by Jesse Vilinsky is a captivating, poignant, and delightful YA novel about searching for something you longed for desperately and realizing that you had it all along. The novel’s charming protagonist, diverse cast of characters, and intriguing story drew me in immediately, and I found myself listening to the book every chance I got until I finished it with a huge smile on my face. Lord’s description is vivid, writing style active, dialogue excellent, and her characters are well-drawn, evolving authentically over the course of the novel. I loved how she deftly balances humor, angst, anxiety, fear, and the full spectrum of emotions experienced by her characters in their humorous, chemistry-filled, and emotional interactions.

Millie Price’s big dreams about becoming a Broadway star have been the driving force in her life from an early age, and she’s not going to let anything stop her from achieving that dream. She’s all personality, drive, emotion, and drama, none of which she believes can thank her introverted father for, as far as she knows. As a young college student, he raised her from a baby with the help of his sister Heather. At the end of her junior year, Millie finds herself on the precipice of her plans for her future falling apart. When she finds a link to his live journal from his college days, she is set on a journey of self-discovery and growth that will change her life and world in ways she cannot even imagine.

I loved Millie’s relationships and interactions with her father, aunt, best friend, and classmate Oliver, as well as other people she comes to know during the novel. The novel shines in these moments the most. Millie’s interactions with Oliver are fiery, sweet, so funny, electric, butterfly-inducing, and frustrating—all at the same time. Lord brilliantly explores the characters’ inner lives and emotions directly via Millie’s POV and expressively through the characters’ dialogue, personalities, and behavior.


Vilinsky’s narration effortlessly brings Lord’s memorable characters to life, capturing their personalities and quirks and giving them each a distinctive voice. The narrator’s lively narration wonderfully voices the characters' inner lives as portrayed by Lord. Emotion flows through her voice, as she captures the highs and lows of Millie’s emotions, Millie Moods, and her bigger-than-life dramatic personality. On the other end of the spectrum, Vilinsky does an excellent job of voicing Oliver’s low-key, long-suffering patience with Millie’s antics that allows traces of his confusing feelings for her to sneak through. I loved the narrator’s voice for Oliver.

I love musicals, however, my familiarity with musical theater and Broadway musicals as a genre is limited. Yet, it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the novel at all. On that note, I cannot imagine musical theater and Broadway musical aficionados not loving every second of When You Get the Chance. It’s filled with tidbits of musical theatre experiences/moments, song lyrics, titles, etc. Millie’s (and Oliver’s) love for musical theatre flows through the novel, and it’s infectious. I have been a huge ABBA fan since childhood, thanks to my mom, and I think ABBA fans should get a kick out of it as well.

A humorous, insightful, emotional, sweet, and romantic YA novel about self-discovery, family, following your dreams, and the importance of connection and being grounded, When You Get the Chance is an unforgettable story about love of all kinds.

This book was so cute I loved it. I loved the audio and finished it in a day. It was just such a quick read I couldn’t put it down. I loved the relationship with Oliver and how that evolved and I loved how much Millie growled while trying to find her mom. I also loved her dad so much he seemed so sweet and I just loved their relationship. So good and such a quick read.

This book reads like a Disney Channel Original Movie and I say that in the best way!!! The story is fun and light, the characters are likeable and relatable, there's crazy things happening that are both insane but believable and I just had so much fun reading this book!

My heart is so happy after reading this book!

The perfect blend of You Have A Match and The Hating Game. This YA story of self-discovery and family will warm your heart, while rooting for Millie to discover who her birth mother is.

I wish I would've had this author around when I was in school (I don't think she was even born yet, lol.) The stories are good for anyone at any age and I always take away several things that I can apply to my own life.

A huge thank you to MacMillan Audio/NetGalley for the advanced copy of the audiobook, given for an honest review.

**On the hunt for her birth mother, while trying to convince her father to accept her scholarship offer, she ends up on one crazy adventure after another with her best friend, all while fighting her arch nemesis for an internship.

If you are a fan of Emma Lord then you will love When You Get The Chance. This book has everything I love in a YA book, high school crush, friend drama, family drama, a misunderstanding but the BEST thing about this story is all of the Broadway references. Emma Lord references new and old Broadway shows, she references songs and actors/actresses and it adds such a fun element to the story!

This is the story of Millie Price and her search for her mom the summer before her senior year of high school (very Mama Mia). Millie lives in New York City and her dream is to be on stage! Her search leads her to three possible moms. I loved each of these women and the role they each played in Millie’s life. I loved Tweet Cute and You Have A Match but When You Get The Chance is my new Emma Lord favorite. I only wish these types of YA books existed in the 90s!

I was so excited about this because I love Emma Lord! This did not disappoint! It was such a cute story from beginning to end! I loved the idea and execution of this book! It made me smile and laugh and also pulled at my heart strings. I’m a sucker for a happy ending, and I loved that all the characters were included, and I wasn’t left wondering what happened to any of them. I definitely recommend this for a light, easy read!

This was soooo cute. Everything I needed to start my reading year off right!

As always with Emma Lord, I LOVED the writing style. It's so relatable and funny and, while it can be cheesy, it never goes too far. It never feels like a Millenial writing Gen Z characters and trying to be "hip" (we ALL know those YA stories). It's just always such a comfort reading from her characters. This story in particular took a bit longer for me to get into. I think it's because I'm... not... a Broadway person. *GASPS* Not because I don't want to be, I actually love musicals, but just because I never got into it and now it all seems so overwhelming. So while I did understand most of the Broadway references (and there are A LOT), I didn't get all of them and sometimes that made me feel on the outside of this story. Eventually, though, Millie grew on me tremendously and the story itself is so loveable that I ended up just falling into it without worries.

I will say here that I despise when people review stories and complain that a character wasn't perfect or how they wanted/expected them to be. Millie is in high school and she's a theatre kid??? Of course she's gonna have a bit of dramatic flair! That's just her personality. And I'm glad to see some personality in YA- it's often missing. I just hate when girls/women are given raw and real personalities and then everyone is like "whoa, it's too much. calm down." Ugh gross ew. I loved Millie and she definitely was over the top sometimes, but that's just who she is.

I feel like in this era of mine, where I'm not reading as much YA, this story stands out and left me feeling really warm and fuzzy. I think if I had to rank Lord's works for me, it would go: Tweet Cute, When You Get the Chance, and then You Have a Match. Speaking of Tweet Cute, those references were EVERYTHING!!!! Oh my god. More Pepperjack crossovers puhlease.

I listened to this on audio and I do want to add that I think the narrator does a great job at bringing these characters to life. I was really invested and the audio never took me out of the story once. I did listen to an audioARC on NetGalley though and we all know how I feel about NetGalley audioARCs. They are terrible! Everything is super echoey and you cannot listen on faster speeds without them glitching out and sounding sooooo bad. I did listen to a sample of this audiobook not on NetGalley though and it sounds great! So, it's obviously a NetGalley issue. I would recommend listening to this one on audio though- I think it adds a lot to the story.

Overall, I really REALLY enjoyed this story and honestly already want to pick it back up again just to feel all those feel-good feelings. If you loved Tweet Cute, but were a little iffy on Lord's sophomore novel, I highly recommend still giving this one a go when you get the chance.

See what I did there?

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for an advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are, as always, my very own.

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reading thoughts

17%: i gave tweet cute 5 stars & you have a match 2.5 stars so i'm SUPER intrigued to see how i feel about this one. so far, I'm really really liking it!!

20%: ALSO that tweet cute reference!!!!!!!!!!! gaaaaaaa!"

Thank you to Macmillan Young Listeners for providing me with an early audiobook of When You Get the Chance in exchange for an honest review!

Broadway fans, this is for you.

When You Get the Chance is a fun rom-contemporary adventure that's riddled with Broadway references (a lot went unnoticed by me but thankfully I am friends with the Broadway Queen, Taylor ♥).

After discovering her father's LiveJournal (yes, I 100% felt my age while reading this book) & learning about some of the women in his college days, Millie decides it's finally time to figure out which one could be her mother. Hijinks ensue & it's just a silly cute ride from there.

Along the way, Millie makes a lot of amazing relationships -- from possible mothers to their daughters to her arch-nemesis at school. Yes, there's enemies-to-lovers, my pals, and we are living for it. And, as what can be expected in a contemporary, Millie starts to discover herself & what she truly wants in life.

Emma Lord has had my heart ever since I read Tweet Cute & her newest novel did not disappoint.

When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord is basically a rewritten Mamma Mia. The main character, Millie, isn't getting married, though; she just got into her school of choice. However, her dad tells her she can't go, so she sets out to find out who her real mom is to convince her dad to let her go. She suspects her mom is one of three women (when she finds her dad's digital journal) and tries to get to know all three of them, which for Millie means signing up for an internship, a dance class, an acting group, and a whole lot of drama.

I liked this book for its enemies-to-lovers trope as well as the added closure Millie gets in the book. It's two of the ways the book differs from Mamma Mia. Also, I actually really like Millie and wish we were friends.

This Mama Mia retelling is the cutest book I’ve read in a long time. This story follows Millie a broadway fanatic who goal is to get into a college musical theater program for her senior year . When she receives the acceptance letter Millie’s single dad is not on board. Millie decides she will find her mom who left her with her father as a baby so she can get someone on her side. Millie stumbles across her fathers live journal from college and is able to narrow the mom search down to three women. Millie sets off on a journey to meet the women and try to figure out who her mom is. This leads her to an internship with her arch nemesis Oliver or is he.

I loved this book I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was great. I listened to this book in one day and loved the broadway references and the 2000 references made me cringe from being in college at that time. The characters were lovable and really made me invested in the story. I am definitely planning to pick up more Emma Lords books. I would also like to thank Netgalley and St Martin Press for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.