When You Get the Chance, beautifully written by Emma Lord, 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 at once, and I found myself reading the book every chance I got until I finished it with a huge smile on my face. Lord’s vivid description, active writing style, excellent dialogue, and sharply drawn characters that soar from the pages into your imagination evolve authentically over the course of the novel. I love how she deftly balances the full spectrum of emotions—i.e., humor, angst, anxiety, fear—experienced by her characters in cleverly written humorous, chemistry-filled, and emotional interactions.

As a young college student, Millie's father raised her from a baby with the help of his sister Heather when Millie’s mother abandoned Millie. 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, even family. She’s all personality, drive, emotion, and drama, none of which she believes can thank her introverted father for, as far as she knows. At the end of her junior year, Millie finds herself on the precipice of her plans for the future falling apart. When she finds a link to her father’s live journal from his college days, her attempts to find her mom takes her 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 who come into her life. It’s in these moments the novel sparkles most. Millie’s interactions with Oliver are fiery, sweet, hilarious, electric, butterfly-inducing, and frustrating—simultaneously. Lord brilliantly explores her characters’ inner lives and emotions via Millie’s POV and expressively through the characters’ dialogue, personalities, and behavior. Oliver’s low-key, long-suffering patience with Millie’s antics is the perfect balance to the highs and lows of Millie’s emotions and her bigger-than-life dramatic personality. I love how the more time Oliver and Millie spend together, their confusing feelings for each other begin to sneak through subtly in the midst of their charged exchanges.

I love musicals and couldn’t resist the chance to read When You Get the Chance. Fame is still one of my all-time favorite shows and musical programs. While I watch and love musicals, my familiarity with musical theatre and recent Broadway musicals 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. Thanks to my mom, I have been a huge ABBA fan since childhood, and I think ABBA fans should also get a kick out of it.

A funny, 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.

Emma Lord has done it again. Lord's characters just jump off the page for me. Millie Price seems so real to me. It's not that I relate to her, I wasn't in theater and I'm not really a performer but she just seems like someone I want to be friends with.

Millie's personality is larger than life with big feels. Big highs and big lows. She's grown up snuggled in between her dad and her Aunt Heather, totally supported and cared for. Her best friend she's known since she was days old and lives in the apartment just next door. The only thing she's ever known about her mom is that she dropped Millie off with her unsuspecting dad days after Millie was born and apparently hasn't looked back. Honestly, it doesn't faze her much. Until it suddenly does.

Millie and her best friend, Teddy, come across her dad's Live Journal from college. From just about the time that Millie was born and came into her dad's life. Getting past the angsty theme of the journal entries it becomes clear that her mom could be one of three women he's written about. So without going the easy route and just... asking her dad who her mom is, Millie decides to take it on her self, Mamma Mia-style. She's going to surreptitiously find a way into each of these women's lives and try to figure out if she can see herself in any of them.

So many hijinks along the way, OF COURSE a romance, because what is a YA novel without a budding romance, relationship growth and drama. It really is like a modern day Mamma Mia with a enemies to loves romance. Can't beat it!

I will never not request a new Emma Lord book! I adored her two previous releases and therefore had high hopes and expectations for this one. I'm not a big fan of musicals or theater-oriented books, generally speaking, so I wasn't entirely sure Millie or the premise would be for me. However, the whole concept of Millie trying to track down her mother and figure out who she is? That's right up my alley. That factor plus the author made this an easy NG request.

Yet again, Emma Lord nails it. This book was a really nice reading experience. Millie was a bit much (with her drama and Millie Moods) but every time she crossed the line to "annoying," she would fall back to the "endearing" side soonafter. She definitely had a flair for the dramatic but that was a fun part of her personality in the end. I like how Oliver balanced her out and how naturally they moved away from enemies.

Books like this make me wish I liked NYC more - what a fun place to grow up and have the freedom to explore. (I get too nervous in the city lol). 

The search for her mom (basically a spin on Mama Mia, apparently - something I haven't seen!) was a really interesting plot point and went in directions I didn't expect - and some that I definitely did! I loved the relationships she did have: her dad, her aunt, her best friend, her potential moms... everyone felt very fleshed out. The ending was adorable and the journey made it all worth it.

It's always a good day when you finish a book and go "you know what they've officially hit favorite author status." Emma Lord hit those early 00s vibes on the head. Our protagonist, Millie, is headstrong and theater-kid levels of dramatic which makes for the perfect popcorn-eating levels of drama.

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.

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!

A precocious student spends the summer tracking down the identity of her mother while also balancing her dreams of stardom. When she gets tangled with her arch nemesis, she fights to stay on task while also battling her growing attraction to him. Emma Lord returns with another immensely relatable novel in When You Get the Chance.

There’s absolutely no doubt about the fact that Millie Price was born for the stage. She lives in New York City, has seen Broadway and off-Broadway productions of all the major shows, kills every vocal performance with her three-octave range, and goes to bat for her school’s theater department. Of course, it doesn’t help that the department also includes Oliver Yang, the fellow senior and stage manager bent on destroying her.

To be fair Oliver isn’t evil, but every time Millie makes suggestions—she’s been hinting about the school staging Mamma Mia! for ages now—Oliver pushes back. At everything. It’s like there’s a switch in his brain that flips to make him do the opposite every time Millie opens her mouth, even if he agrees with her idea.

With her acceptance to the prestigious Madison Musical Theater Precollege program in California, Millie can finally bid goodbye to Oliver. She’ll finish high school at Madison and use it as her launching pad for her career. All the biggest Broadway stars went there, and since Millie’s on her way to being a Broadway star it only makes sense to follow in their footsteps.

Except her dad isn’t on board with the idea at all, which gets her thinking about her mom who left infant Millie behind. Millie doesn’t know much about her, other than the fact that she was also really into theater. If her mom were here, Millie knows, she’d have the parental support she needs.

Then Millie finds her dad’s old online journal from eons ago. Armed with information from the journal, Millie and her best friend, Teddy, make it their mission to track down Millie’s mother. Their search leads them, Mamma Mia!-style, into the orbits of three very different but lovely women.

When she discovers that one of the women works in the office of Georgie Check, talent manager for some of the most recognizable faces on Broadway, Millie marches to the building to meet her potential mom. She runs into Oliver who thinks she’s there to apply for the same internship he wants. Never one to let Oliver have the upper hand, Millie goes to the manager’s office and talks her way into the position. Except she has to share it with Oliver. The tension that existed before gets dialed up several notches, but as time goes on Millie starts to notice that it’s leaning toward a type of tension she didn’t expect.

Author Emma Lord’s latest YA offering offers readers a sweet respite from much of the doom and gloom of other books in the genre. The pages brim with Millie’s passion for her place in the theater world, and it’s refreshing to see a young person confident within her abilities and equally aware of her shortcomings. Millie knows she tends to overdramatize situations, but she doesn’t resort to tantrums or other antics to get her way.

As a protagonist, Millie is a great role model for young women today. Smart, funny, somewhat self-deprecating but clear on her goals, she’s also very real. While she may be mature for her age, she also still has a fair amount of growing up left to do. Lord gives her space and time on the page for that change while keeping readers engaged.

If the book can be faulted anywhere (a difficult task,) it’s in small moments like Millie’s frequent mentions that leaving New York a year before school ends means she won’t get to spend time with her theater friends. Yet other than Oliver, readers never see her interact with anyone else from that world at school. Also, the three secondary characters Millie tracks down as potential mothers each have their own stories that don’t get enough time on the page, which is a real shame because they’re all fully developed, well-rounded people.

Regardless, theater buffs will absolutely love this book, and anyone wanting an uplifting read for the YA fan in their lives will certainly want to pick this up.

A very cute read for musical lover and theater kids. It's just so easy to breeze through and I couldn't stop smiling throughout. This is my first read from Emma Lord and the premise was just so fun, will be looking into her other works after this one for sure.

This book is Mamma Mia meets RLS’s Today Tonight Tomorrow, and what could be better?

When Millie’s dad tells her she can’t go to the coveted precollege theater program she’s been dying to go to, she decides maybe it is time, at last, to find her mom (who she knows was into theater) to help tip the scales in her favor. What follows is Millie tracking down three women from her dad’s old Live Journal and somehow ends up competing for an internship against her rival, Oliver.

This is a vibrant and fun YA novel that swept me away. I absolutely adored Millie and her crazy antics, and I loved the contrast of the more reserved Oliver at her side. While the plot may not be the *most* realistic ;), I truly did not mind. This is the type of novel that needs to be made into a movie!

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Emma Lord is becoming my favorite YA author! This was such a cute, fun book. It's so interesting how the author always seems to write about family/family secrets but I'm enjoying it. This had my favorite trope - enemies to lovers except its YA so the usual payout of the enemies to lovers (ahem steamy scenes) isn't there but it was still so good even without!

When You Get the Chance is a reverse Mamma Mia storyline where Millie Price is trying to find out who is her real mother. She has an amazing relationship with her dad and aunt but they won't tell her who her mother is. Millie is also hoping to become a Broadway star one day and I loved the inclusion of that story line into the book. I want to go buy tickets to Newsies and Mamma Mia now! This was a really fun, cute book and I was actually sort of surprised at how much I loved it by the end (which I'm not sure why I was surprised because I love the author's other books).

4.5 rounded up

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

All hail Emma Lord, queen of YA! This book was amazing and fun and nothing short of perfection. I am always impressed with how quickly you get sucked into one of Lord's books, and this one was no exception. Within the first few pages I was instantly hooked (and impressed with how well-developed the main character was).

Millie is incredibly flawed, but somehow still likable. I got some Rachel Berry vibes, but without Lea Michelle's cloying attitude. Although the plot was loosely based on Mamma Mia (with some Definitely, Maybe) thrown in there, the story feels original. The respect that Lord shows her teenage characters is impressive. They are semi-cooked (being in their teens) but unique individuals with distinct personalities, hopes, and dreams. I see a lot of similarity between this author's style and Casey McQuiston's, as both casually drop pop-culture references that make the book feel current, vibrant, and fun.

I might be biased, as I really appreciate this author, but I think this book deserves a 5-star rating.

Ugh, this book was not for me. Was the concept cute? Yes. Did I think the ending was enjoyable? Yes. Would I have enjoyed it more when I was younger? Probably. Did I believe that this theatre girl grew up in New York? Not for one minute.

Maybe, I'm jaded as someone who has worked in the industry for years, but there is no way that Millie was that theatre-driven, and at that point not have an agent or a manager. I think I would have believed it if it had been another town. But for NY theatre kids just have more opportunities. I know growing up in the midwest, I had no idea how to get an agent or get auditions, so I would have maybe bought it more. I just felt like it missed the mark of how the industry works and so it was hard to suspend disbelief. (Spoiler: a manager sending two kids down to a theatre to be stand-ins...a lot more paperwork would go into that, and no way would it be minors standing in for adults and be asked to sing)

Maybe I should have just let all of the above go, it is fiction. But Millie, as a character, for about 60 percent of the book was driving me nuts. She was a little too "on", which again (spoiler) is probably the whole point. But she even felt that way with her closest friend and family. So, it was hard to root for her.

While I like the last few chapters when Millie was just "herself," it wasn't enough for me to give it more than 2 1/2- 3 stars. Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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.

5/5 ⭐️ to When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord. This is her third book and I was so excited to read it!Huge thank you to @wednesdaybooks for the egalley to review! This romcom inspired by Mama Mia is set in New York City and follows 17 y.o. aspiring Broadway actress Millie. She gets an internship in order to convince her Dad to let her attend a prestigious musical theatre precollege program while also meeting 3 women who could be her Mom. The setting was magical and wonderful as someone who loves the idea of NYC, Times Square, and attending a Broadway show and has not yet visited the city. Millie herself is delightful, high energy, and a perfectionist when it comes to her musical theatre ambitions. She ultimately is unapologetically herself which is wonderful to see, even when we had doubts about being “too much”. Through her relationships with her dad, aunt, best friend, and rival she learns a lot about herself and experiences a surprising amount of character growth. I honestly loved her dynamic with her dad and the recognition that provided to single parents. And a romcom wouldn’t be a rom com without some romance; we got a fun rivals-to-lovers storyline that at first felt like a bit of a stretch, but quickly grew on me. I’m such a sucker for those! I enjoyed the visual writing and the dialogue was cheesy without being cringey. Highly recommend if you love Emma Lord’s other books, musical theatre, and YA contemporaries!

Mamma mia, was this a fun read.

When You Get the Chance, Emma Lord’s third YA book, follows Millie Price in the summer before her senior year of high school. She’s got Big Broadway Dreams and has been accepted to a college prep program in LA. When her dad finds out and tells her she can’t go, Millie turns to one of her favorite musicals to help: Mamma Mia. Upon finding her father’s old online journal (!!!) from college, Millie finds out that one of three women mentioned could be the mom she’s never known. And what better way to get her mom on her side than to meet all of these women under the guise of something else.

So many things about this were right up my alley, specifically the Mamma Mia of it all. (I had a Mamma Mia themed birthday party a few years ago so really, I *get* Millie as a character.) I loved the enemies to rivals to friends? to lovers that was going on between Millie and Oliver. I loved the relationship Millie had with her best friend from down the hall.

What I needed more of was Millie’s relationship with her dad. We get it more towards the end of the book, but he’s away on a business trip for a lot of it. More than that, I wanted to learn more about the possible moms! Not all of them are given equal attention, which is not only a bummer, but leaves you not feeling that connection to all three of them as possible moms.

Overall, I thought this was a solid 4-star read. Highly recommend putting on your preferred ABBA/Mamma Mia album as background music while you read this book.

I feel in love with Emma Lord after Tweet Cute and she is back with an adorable new book called When You Get The Chance, a retelling of Mamma Mia. It is the story of, Millie, a teen girl raised by her dad and her aunt, who goes in search of her real mom, after narrowing down the possibilities to 3 women. Sound familiar? Millie is an aspiring Broadway star so in addition to well crafted teenage angst, pop culture references to Broadway shows are peppered throughout the entire book. This book is like a ray of sunshine that had me smiling the entire time. Millie is so affable and charming as are all of the supporting characters. It is oozing adorableness with witty banter, fabulous family dynamics, quirky and hilarious friends and the kind of teen romance that made 90s movies so good. Not to mention that I saw Mamma Mia in London many years ago and it remains one of my all time favorite shows so having a book modeled after and constantly referencing Mamma Mia took the book up a notch for me. Embrace the YA in 2022 and start with this one. Thank you so much to @wednesdaybooks and @stmartinspress for my gifted copy.

Emma Lord’s books all have some sort of modern twist on a pop culture classic and this one is a Mama Mia type story in which Millie, who is raised by her dad, decides to find out who her mother is. She narrows it down to 3 options and starts to get to know each of them. I liked meeting these women along with Millie. I also enjoyed the NYC setting. There are many aspects to this story including the father daughter relationship, Millie deciding what to do with her future, and a hate to romance. If you liked her other books or enjoy theater or YA in general, you will like this one.

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.

Inspired by Mamma Mia!, When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord is a soothing coming-of-age tale that transcends the iconic ABBA jukebox romance into a passionate love letter for musical theatre fans.

The melodic novel follows Millie Price, a Broadway-star hopeful, who is determined to find her birth mother after a spat with her father leaves the teen earning to meet the woman that shares her love for the stage. With her search narrowed to three candidates based in New York, Millie infiltrates their lives to uncover the truth — and unknowingly finds herself in the process.

The author infuses the iconic paternal mystery with a fresh new protagonist that is unflinchingly brave and driven by earnest mood swings. Millie’s over-the-top outlook on the world has meaningful depth thanks to a scrambling internal monologue and mental health struggle that anchors her quest to find her mother in something a little more tangible than this cheery premise would suggest. Packed with so many rewarding threads to follow, the mystery of Millie’s mother has the opportunity to sneak up on readers.

And the romance, oh boy! An enemies-to-lovers trope with meaningful self-reflection and one hectic summer internship rounds out this super fun read. The chemistry between Millie and her high-school rival echoes a development that feels organic for two people forced to transcend petty comebacks for the first time in their teenage existence. There’s an authentic maturing to their young love that does not lend negatively to the oversaturation of this trope.

This sweet jaunt through the streets of New York City bottles the highs of chasing one’s dreams and the passion for performing arts to create a whimsical whirlwind read that thrives entirely on its adorableness.

Even so, Lord’s reads never seem to sacrifice sweet for insufferable storytelling. This book may inhabit a perfect version of the big city where everyone is sickeningly upbeat vessels of friendship and soulmates are just falling from the sky, but the story is hardly candy-coated fluff. Instead, the author grounds Millie’s perfect world in an integrated family dynamic between father-daughter and the found family she encounters throughout her search.

The plot of Lord’s books is always precise, taking the reader from point A to point B with a full-circle journey for the protagonist, a fulfilling ending, and the expert tying of loose ends. It makes the fluffiest of her teen romps a rich and rewarding experience for anyone looking for a light read that delivers dimension. The atmosphere of Millie’s story is no different, pumping readers with a fuzzy warm feeling of whimsey thanks to its adorable cast of angsty teens and smorgasbord of Broadway references.

If you, like me, struggle to embrace theater, the author’s passion for the subject will still pull you in. And if you love Broadway, Mamma Mia! references, and the glam of show business, then you will thrive within the pages of this tale. When You Get the Chance offers quick and effortless escapism with no strings attached. It’s arguably the perfect book to cleanse your palate of the bitter aftertaste that was 2021.

When you get the chance to read this one, definitely do it. You won’t be disappointed to start your year off on such a wholesome note.

And if you yearn for even more teenage shenanigans and light romps through New York City, put Emma Lord on your instant-read list. Tweet Cute stands as one of my favorite reads in recent memory with its mouthwatering dive into the fast-food industry through the messy beef of Twitter feuds. Then there’s You Have a Match, a fun reimagining of The Parent Trap. Lord certainly knows how to craft a good teen trope, and she is very open about her passion for Spider-Man memes and writing fanfiction.

So if you’re looking for a new author obsession this year, look no further.

The best characters that came out of this book are Teddy and Oliver. Those two can read Millie and her Millie Moods like a book, and because of that, those characters deserve the most respect in Millie's story. Millie is a strong and talented actress who is not afraid to achieve her goals and dreams in life. She will make it to broadway, and nothing will stop her. The first thing she has to do is attend Maddison College. The only struggle is that her father and Aunt Heather wants her to finish senior year at her current school. So what does Millie do? She decides to find her birth mother. CUE THE CHAOS. After scoring an internship to get close to the boss (potential mom #1), Millie also gets forced to spend her summer alongside the intern nemesis, Oliver. Oliver and Millie have been budding heads in the drama department since freshman year, with Oliver being apart of tech crew and wanting to do things one way, while Millie has views that clash with Oliver's choices. However, this may be the summer where Millie realizes that Oliver is actually the most understanding and caring person she'll ever meet. CUTEST BOOK EVER!