This was super cute and warm and fuzzy.

Millie is a totally adorable and lovable character and I loved the relationship between her and her dad. There were several "Awww" moments where I could have shed a tear. 😢

I'm generally not very interested in Broadway/theater, but this really held my attention and entertained me. This will definitely be a big hit in the YA world.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and MacMillan audio for the advanced listening copy of this audiobook. The narration by Jesse Vilinsky was absolute perfection!

This will be released Jan 4th!

Jesse Villinsky was an excellent choice of narrator! She added an extra layer of charm that really made this book sing. I'm so glad I got the chance to both listen and read.

Like Emma Lord's previous books, this is every bit as fun and charming. A nice balance between lighthearted and emotional. I am not a theater person myself, but I still enjoyed that element of the plot, I do wish Millie's dad's old Livejournal had been more of a factor, though. The "plot twist" was super obvious to me from the beginning, but Millie is such a charismatic and loveable character that it didn't take away from my enjoyment of following Millie on her journey. All the characters were easy to love and I didn't mind that the book wrapped up in a neat (and probably unrealistic) bow. A fresh bit of optimism is certainly welcome and I can see many readers loving this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Millie has a big dream of being a Broadway superstar, and her sights are set on getting a jumpstart at an exclusive musical theater program in California. Living in New York City with her ultra introverted Dad and Aunt Heather, they quickly squash her dreams. Millie soon becomes determined to go all “Mama Mia” in hopes of finding her mom that she’s never known during her “Last Summer” at home. With the help of her best friend Teddy, Millie quickly finds three potential women and finds a way to insert herself into each of their lives. She lands spot as an intern (along with her fellow theater nemesis Oliver) to get to know Steph, tries to become a “Dancing Queen” and takes dancing lessons to learn about Farrah, and joins a Theater club to meet Beth. Are any of these women her mother? And will a certain someone decide to “Take a chance on” Millie?

This one will have you pulling out ABBA and wanting to watch all the musical theater you can find. I loved Millie and how she was unabashedly herself, but wanted so hard to find her whole history. I smiled and laughed through this entire book, so heartwarming. I loved Heather and Coop, and how as siblings they worked together to create a beautiful life for Millie. I loved Teddy and his nerdiness, but totally willingness to go to great lengths to help a friend. This one wrapped up in a beautiful bow, and sometimes that’s just how I want a book to end!

I absolutely love Emma Lords writing. She is easily becoming one of my favorit authors and I will buy her books the day they are released!

When You Get the Chance was such a good read. It’s a YA, but a love/hate book as well. And there were also a few times I found myself teary eyed. This story just hit me right in the heart. And I have to say, I loved the surprise at the end, it was a pretty poignant moment in the book.

Overall I would recommend this book to just about anyone, I absolutely adored it!

Genre: YA
Pub date: 1/4/22
In one sentence: Millie is on a path to Broadway stardom - but when her dad refuses to let her go to an exclusive musical theater program, she goes full Mamma Mia in an effort to find her mom.

This book had me grinning ear to ear - it was just the sweetest story of self-discovery with a heaping dollop of musical theater fun. Millie is "thoroughly modern" (couldn't resist the reference), and I loved her determination and fire as she pursued her dreams. Love interest and fellow intern Oliver was a great foil to Millie's dramatics, and I also loved Millie's BFF Teddy. And of course, NYC is the place where dreams come true for Millie and her friends.

I think audio is the way to go with this one! Jesse Vilinsky did an awesome job with Millie's emotions - she sounds so authentic as a teenager, capturing the lovable melodrama that comes with the character.

Young adults will relate to Millie's journey to find herself, but there's also a lot here for adults to love! If you like musical theater, definitely give this one a try. This book will have you singing the Mamma Mia soundtrack - Voulez-Vous has been stuck in my head for a few days now... 4.5 stars rounded to 5!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing my ALC in exchange for an honest review!

Review posted to Goodreads and Instagram 12/21/21.

I absolutely adore Millie Price! She is cute, fun, outgoing and she looks out for those around her. This is another fantastic story from Emma Lord. I will definitely be purchasing this one in both audio and print format for my Teen collection.

I normally do not like reading YA romance but I will never not read an Emma Lord book. I don’t know if it is because she understands the teenage experience so well, she makes teen romance not seem juvenile, or her writing is simply amazing but I am absolutely hooked every time I read one of her books. When You Get the Chance is no exception. Millie is an absolute riot-- an aspiring theatre kid with her fair share of teen baggage. Oliver, her love interest, is so clearly mooning for her you can only laugh as Millie continues to be completely oblivious. I also love the way the side characters are fully developed and not simply there for comedic relief. This modern day spin on Mamma Mia! will have readers laughing, tearing up, and planning their next trip to NYC (with a stop at Broadway of course). Another seriously amazing novel I highly recommend this book for readers of all ages. In addition, the narration was excellent and I highly recommend choosing the audio version of this book!

First of all-- Huge thank you to NetGalley for an ARC copy of the audiobook.

I have been a HUGE Emma Lord fan since her debut, Tweet Cute. TC is one of my all-time favorite YA contemporary romances. I knew I would give anything else she writes a chance after that fabulous debut. I read her sophomore book as soon as it came out (You Have a Match) and.... it just wasn't my favorite. When I saw NetGalley had audio ARCs of When You Get the Chance, I figured I had to just take a shot at getting an early copy. Y'all. Seriously, this book is SO good. Dare I say that it's even better than Tweet Cute???

Things to love:
-Super unique MC who is simultaneously so confident in herself and what she wants, but also so unsure of how to be herself. This is such a hard balance and Emma managed it perfectly.
-Adorable love interest-- definitely a grump; Millie's arch-nemesis who has secretly been on her side all along (SWOON)
-Intricate and realistic family dynamics. Millie is raised by her single dad and his sister. She has such a sweet relationship with both of those parental figures. I love seeing non-traditional families in media and this was done so well
-Kind of a retelling of Mamma Mia???? I mean, what's not to like?
-Hate to love romance
-Specific to the audiobook, the narrator was great-- emotive without being over the top; using different voices without being silly. I would highly recommend the audio version of the book.

The two little things I didn't love:
-One of the phrases repeated throughout the book is "Millie mood." This is meant to convey a very specific intense mood that Millie has that is somehow different than just a regular mood or emotion? It seemed silly to me and I found myself rolling my eyes whenever the narrator said that phrase.
- There's a Harry Potter joke about Millie being left on her father's doorstep by her mother in a "Dumbledore move." Haven't we moved past HP references in all media? It's generally not funny and also just isn't really a fandom I want to support anymore. I think this could easily be cut from the book.

Overall, I totally adored this book. I have had a preorder placed for several months now and after reading the book, I am highly anticipating the release of the final copy so I can get my grubby hands on it. An easy 5/5.

From the get-go, I wanted to say that a Broadway-tastic, LiveJournal led Mamma Mia-esque story with a helping of mental health in there was not on my wishlist but upon reading When You Get the Chance, I know now that I’ve apparently been wanting one all this time.
When You Get the Chance follows Millie Price in the summer before senior year. Broadway is in her veins and she’s spent the last several years reinventing herself and shining brighter in her school’s theater department and butting heads with serious stage manager Oliver. Everything seems to be on course when she gets into a pre-college program for a musical theater program but when her dad says no and mIllie is left staggering, she decides to look for the mom she never knew. With the help of her geocaching best friend and her dad’s circa 2003 LiveJournal page, Millie finds three possible candidates and enacts various plans in which to spend time with them. One of which leads her to be competing for an internship with Oliver at a talent agency. Of course, things are far from simple and quickly get more complex as Millie must grapple with whether the answer to this question is really the one she needs answers to. When You Get the Chance is a vibrant and beautiful book full of many musical theater references and fun hijinks and a vivid cast of characters. I had the best time listening to this book.
Jesse Vilinsky was the perfect pick for the narrator. She had all of Millie’s spunk and youthfulness and energy while bringing to life the whole cast wonderfully. For such a technicolor and theater-centric book, you really need the narrator to be able to bring that kind of energy and Jesse definitely did. She could use a little more on her dad and love interest voice but everyone else was so distinct and fun that I would frequently forget that it was a single person voicing them all. My favorite voice she would do was Teddy, he was really fun to listen to.
Overall, a well-executed and enjoyable audiobook that was a perfect performance for a very fun and sweet book that I had a great time with! Thank you to the publisher for granting me access!

Thank you so, so much to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for providing an arc copy! All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

Emma Lord just doesn't miss. I adored her previous 2 contemporaries, and this one was no exception. Her characters are real, flawed, complex, and somehow still so dang lovable. I just love how messy she lets her characters get. This book totally swept me away and I ended up listening to the entire thing in one sitting because I just didn't want to put this down.

I (of course) loved the rivals to lovers romance. I loved their banter and chemistry and the way they pushed each other. Despite them being academic rivals, there were very few instances of them being outright mean which I appreciated. And I loved watching them slowly acknowledge their feelings and learn to trust each other. The romance was so sweet and well paced and I loved it.

Emma Lord always tackles difficult family situations in her books and that was definitely the case in here. I love the exploration of different types of families and homes - single parents, divorced parents, queer couples, etc. I love that Emma Lord is taking on "normal household" standards.

Because the parents in here are WONDERFUL. As an adult reading YA, I always have to distance myself a little, because this book isn't written for me. (In fact I'm nearly the same age as the father lol). But the parents and adults in here are fantastic and supportive and present.

This also has a found family aspect, Abba references galore, a ride or die friendship that I loved, and tons of glimpses at NYC and Broadway. And overall this was just so fun, witty, and heartfelt. Emma Lord is an auto read author for me at this point and I absolutely cannot wait to pick up whatever she writes next.

When You Get the Chance follows Millie who's got big dreams of being a Broadway star. When she gets the chance to attend pre-college at a school which will give her a better shot. But her plans get derailed when she finds her dad's journal, leading her to search for her real mom, who abandoned her when she was a baby. With 3 potential moms, will Millie be able to find her mom and pursue her dreams?

I love, love, loved this book so much! It's got everything! Queer rep! Musical theater! Enemies to lovers! And an homage to Mamma Mia! Millie was such a fun character, and I really enjoyed her. I think this is a rare kind of book, featuring a theater loving protagonist. It's something I haven't seen at all this year in YA. I think it'll speak to kids who have similar dreams.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC. I think Jesse Villnsky was 110% Millie. I loved her narration of this book, and I definitely recommend it if you want even more depth to Millie's character.

A super cute YA book for musical theater fans. Essentially a version of Mama Mia that would be fun to read with a high schooler. The relationship between Millie and her dad is really endearing and sweet.

Another hit from Emma Lord. This big-hearted YA enemies to lovers romance gave me all the feels. Cue tons of snarky banter between high school rivals Oliver and Millie competing for an internship in NYC. This book is highly recommended for all the drama geeks and theatre nerds out there and anyone who loves complicated, non-traditional family relationship stories. Perfect for fans of You've got a match or As if on cue. Great on audio as well. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for one of my most anticipated 2022 YA books!

This book is SO CUTE.

Although some plot lines seem obvious (like enemies to lovers), this book was so cute and a Broadway teens dream. I loved the reverse mamma mia plot line, and the relationship between Millie and her dad.

The narrator was excellent. She definitely comes across as a dramatic, well adjusted teen on the cusp of big life changes.

4.25 stars

A heartwarming and humorous take on Mamma Mia, When You Get the Chance felt like it was written specifically for my former high school theatre kid self.

Lord really gets everything right about the very niche experience of high school theatre - the big emotions, the feeling like everything is make or break for your future career, and even the rose-colored glasses when it comes to the industry as a whole. While our protagonist Millie captures all of this beautifully, she is also made more relatable to "normies" through her journey to find her birth mother. It is a great choice by Lord to balance both the specific and the universal.

Did the plot drag a bit after we identify and meet all of the potential moms? Yes. Did the ending also drag out once we figured out who the mom was? Also yes. However, Lord has created such a charismatic, flawed, human protagonist that watching her grow up before our eyes consistently remains an absolute treat.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Young Listeners for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Very rarely am I so completely blown away by YA these days as I was when reading When You Get the Chance.

New to Emma Lord, and hesitant about the premise (as much as I love Mamma Mia, theatre isn't really my thing), I wasn't sure what quite to expect from this novel. However, this novel delivered everything I didn't know I needed in my life and more.

When You Get the Chance follows Millie Price, a devoted Broadway hopeful, as she does some sleuthing through her fathers journal to discover who her mother is. When she finds three candidates, all based in New York, she integrates herself into their lives as she tries to figure out which one could be her mother.

This book beautifully illustrates the dynamics of unconventional families and the inner turmoil of having questions about what makes you, you. Something I really enjoyed with Millies quest to find her mother is her reason: beyond the typical "I just want to know," Millie has emotional problems she really wants to figure out. The book doesn't explicitly state any mental illness Millie suspects she may have; however, Millie deals with fits of passionate rage and unshiftable moods that she calls her "Millie Moods," and she wonders if she may have gotten it from her mother, and if her mother may be able to teach her coping skills. This reason was a lot more compelling than the plain curiosity Sophie experiences in the real Mamma Mia play (though that reason is also valid) and gave Millie's character more dimensions.

THE ROMANCE IN THIS BOOK YALL. Millie has a theatre rival in the form of techie Oliver, of which they constantly butt heads. I admit, I've been a bit burnt out on rivals-to-lovers, as it seems to be becoming a very saturated trope, but THIS BOOK DOES IT SO WELL. Their banter, their backstories, the development of their relationship, their chemistry.... its just so perfect. Everything about their romance is a LOVE--think Not Here to Be Liked but... with even more chemistry?!?!

I listened to this via audiobook and the narrator is great. She has a very clean voice that sounds like a teenagers without getting annoyingly sharp as some narrators tend towards when reading YA books. Highly recommend!

Emma Lord is a fantastic writer, and I'll definitely be diving into her backlist after reading this book. I can't even control my emotions rn. I read this book all in about 5-6 hours. This book was insane good.