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A review by lacyerh
When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord
5.0
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 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.
Advanced review copy provided by Wednesday Books via Netgalley for review.
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 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.
Advanced review copy provided by Wednesday Books via Netgalley for review.