[Review] When You Get the Chance - Emma Lord

Summary: Nothing will get in the way of Millie Price’s dream of becoming a Broadway star. Not her lovable but super introverted dad, who raised Millie alone since she was a baby. Not her drama club rival, Oliver, who is the very definition of Simmering Romantic Tension. And not her “Millie Moods,” the feelings of intense emotion that threaten to overwhelm. Millie needs an ally. And when an accidentally left-open browser brings Millie to her dad’s embarrassingly moody LiveJournal from 2003, Millie knows just what to do—find her mom.

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? (Pub Date: Jan 04 2022)

 

Millie wants to go to this school on the other side of the country, but her father is set against it. The argument, plus discovering her dad's old journal online, spikes one curiosity she'd never really had: how is her mother? So she'll go around meeting the three contenders to get to know them and maybe feel the special connection. 

It's strange that I'd usually hate Millie's personality. She's a drama queen, she's moody, she's too confident to the point of presumptuous. And yet, it was refreshing, because her reactions were unexpected, leading the story out of the YA cliché. Even though this is obviously inspired my Mamma Mia, that also didn't make it predictable. It's not that there are so many plot twists it'll blow your mind, but it's far from being more of the same. 

Of course, there's a romance going on and it's super cute. I'm in love with this couple. At the same time, it's not the point of the story. I think that maybe Emma Lord had attempted this in her previous book, which was also about biological family, two sisters finding each other. But this time it was much more enjoyable to me. This book reminded a little of Julie Buxbaum, so you'll probably like it if you're a fan of hers. 

If I had to deduct point, though, it would be because of the ending. I'm not sure what happened there but I'm sure something must have happened. For the last fifth or so, the book loses rhythm and it feels like the plot is all over the place. Although the conclusion is great, the way it's presented was messy. It happens what I'd want to happen but not how, I think that was the problem for me. The last chapter is basically an epilogue, but there's a lot of stuff going on and we're just told how it all resolved. It's true the book was already dragging so if it had tried to "show not tell" it would be even longer. However, the fix was still not good, in my opinion. Luckily, it wasn't enough to undo how pleasant everything else had already been.

This was a fun and quick read, but it also had depth. I'm sure it would be a wonderful pick for a buddy or a group read. In any case, I recommend it to all lovers of contemporary YA looking for something to warm your hearts and also make you laugh.

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Rating: 4 out of 5.