ARC Review: When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord

An effervescent, endearing, joyful contemporary romance of one young woman searching for her birth mother one summer, by New York Times bestselling author Emma Lord.

Nothing will get in the way of Millie Price’s dream to become a Broadway star. Not her lovable but super-introverted dad, who after raising Millie alone, doesn’t want to watch her leave home to pursue her dream. Not her pesky and ongoing drama club rival, Oliver, who is the very definition of Simmering Romantic Tension. And not the “Millie Moods,” the feelings of intense emotion that threaten to overwhelm, always at maddeningly inconvenient times. Millie needs an ally. And when a left-open browser brings Millie to her dad’s embarrassingly moody LiveJournal from 2003, Millie knows just what to do. She’s going to find her mom.

There’s Steph, a still-aspiring stage actress and receptionist at a talent agency. There’s Farrah, ethereal dance teacher who clearly doesn’t have the two left feet Millie has. And Beth, the chipper and sweet stage enthusiast with an equally exuberant fifteen-year-old daughter (A possible sister?! This is getting out of hand). But how can you find a new part of your life and expect it to fit into your old one, without leaving any marks? And why is it that when you go looking for the past, it somehow keeps bringing you back to what you’ve had all along?
Joyous, heartfelt, and brimming with emotion, WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE is a novel about falling in love, making a mess, and learning to let go that will have you happy-sobbing and cheering all the way to the end.

• Title: When You Get the Chance
• Author: Emma Lord
• Publisher: Wednesday Books
• Publication Date: January 4th, 2022
• Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
• Source: Netgalley (Digital ARC via Netgalley / ARC provided by Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review)
• Targeted Age Range: YA
• Content Warnings: Parental abandonment, mentions of divorce, Harry Potter Reference
• Representation: Chinese-American love interest, Lesbian side characters
• Rating: ★★★★★

After devouring Tweet Cute and sobbing over You Have a Match, to say I was eagerly anticipating Emma Lord’s third novel, When You Get the Chance, would honestly be an understatement. The second news about this book came out, it shot up to the top of my TBR list. I mean, a YA novel about a musical theatre obsessed teenager? Emma was basically writing about my life. Then you add in the Mamma Mia inspired plot line? This book was literally made for me. 

Set in New York City, When You Get the Chance follows sixteen year-old Millie Price. All her life, Millie has dreamed of performing on a Broadway stage, and now, after being accepted to Madison Musical Theatre Precollege in Los Angeles, she can see that dream becoming a reality. That is, until her dad tells her that she can’t go. Determined to not let her dream die, Millie realizes what she needs to do. She needs to find her mother. The problem? Millie doesn’t know who she is. With the help of her best friend, Teddy, Millie finds herself connecting with three women who could possibly be her mother and in the process learns more about herself than she could’ve ever anticipated. 

Well, friends, she’s done it again. Right from the first page, I knew that When You Get the Chance would become a comfort read for me. I’m missing New York City and theatre terribly, and this book filled a little bit of the void that I’ve been feeling since 2020. I loved reading about the spots in New York that Millie and Teddy would go to, especially the High Line, as I loved walking the High Line the first time I went to the city. New York City is a magical place, and I do feel like this book captured a lot of that magic.

My favorite thing about Emma Lord’s books are always her characters. I find that she writes characters who feel so real and relatable that you just can’t help but feel connected to them. I felt that way with both Tweet Cute and You Have a Match, and When You Get the Chance was the same way. Right away I loved Millie and just knew that I would find myself relating to her. There are many parts of her character that remind me of myself when I was her age, so I definitely have a soft spot for her. I loved how passionate she was about theatre and I really admired how determined she was to achieve her dreams. Without a doubt Millie was DRAMATIC and I loved it – mostly because I can relate. I’m pretty sure that many people I know would describe me as dramatic with a capital D, so Millie’s intense characterization felt understandable to me. Though there were some moments where I didn’t necessarily agree with her choices, I understood where she was coming from and can see her thought process behind those choices.

“I knew I loved it, so then I found other people who did. And made a lot of friends because of it. And then it was easy to feel confident because I knew there were lots of people who had my back”

That quote in particular really resonated with me, as it is a real reflection of how I felt once I started theatre. It’s really true; there’s no people like show people, and the people that I’ve met through theatre have changed my life in countless ways. They allowed me to be myself, and encouraged me to fully embrace the things about me that maybe others would find “strange” or “odd” or “weird” and I think that Millie found that as well. 

I also loved the cast of supporting characters. I adored Teddy. I thought he was just the sweetest best friend and was totally precious. I loved that while he and Millie didn’t totally understand the other’s passion, they always supported each other and would tag along with the other on their adventures no matter what it was. They had such a pure friendship that I thought was so so lovely. As a stage manager myself, I totally related to Oliver (especially the thing about having pencils ready for my actors) and I enjoyed the dynamic that he and Millie had – I really loved them. Chloe was super adorable and reminded me of a lot of the kids I work with. I loved the relationship that she and Millie developed. 

In my opinion, Emma Lord writes some of the best family dynamics in YA literature. Something I am not a fan of in YA literature is when the parents or other family members are introduced and then we never hear about them again or they have no depth, and I think that Emma does a great job of making them real and important to the plot as opposed to making them throw away characters. I really appreciated learning more about Millie’s dad through his LiveJournal account (way to make me feel old, Lord, thanks). I also really loved Millie’s aunt, Heather, and their relationship. 

I was very pleased that Emma took a moment to discuss racism in the theatre industry when Oliver was talking to Millie about his mother’s experience in the theatre. In the last year and a half, especially, there have been more discussions about how deep racism runs in the industry and I think it was important that it was discussed in a book that is so focused on theatre. I was also glad that through this conversation, Millie was able to recognize her own privilege and how racism in the industry is not something that white performers have to worry about. It was an important conversation that I felt was dealt with well, though I do wish that there had been a bit more discussion about it throughout the story.

The little theatre references were so fun! I loved the theatre-themed parties that Beth threw all the time and I was OBSESSED with the fact that the first one Millie and Teddy went to was Newsies themed! Newsies was the last show I assistant directed/stage managed before the pandemic so Newsies has an extra special place in my heart and I would 100% go to that party! I loved the little joke about the unclear plot of Cats (true), and the little references to other shows and performers just warmed my little theatre loving heart. Also, When You Get the Chance takes place in a universe where Frozen is still on Broadway and I would like to be in that universe, thank you.

I had very high expectations for When You Get the Chance and luckily all of them were met. Emma Lord has very quickly established herself as an author that I can always rely on to write interesting plot lines and complex characters. If you enjoyed Tweet Cute and You Have a Match, then you’ll definitely enjoy When You Get the Chance.

Links for When You Get the Chance: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound