Written by Emma Lord, published January 2022.
Raised in New York City by her dad, Cooper, and her Aunt Heather, talented Millie Price has one dream in life: to be a Broadway star. She decides that the fastest way to achieve this dream is to attend Madison Junior College in Los Angeles instead of finishing her senior year of high school in New York City. The only problem is that her father is adamantly against her leaving everything and moving to the west coast alone. Millie decides that if she finds her mother, she can convince her to let Millie attend Madison College next year, and she won't need her dad's approval. During a little bit of internet sleuthing, they find Cooper's college LiveJournal with clues about her mother's identity. In true 'Mamma Mia' fashion, she has three possible candidates and spends the summer getting close to each one. What she didn't plan on was having to work closely with her theater nemesis, Oliver. Millie's determination leads her to find happily ever afters for everyone in this sweet YA story.
I think this was a really fun read, and maybe people more into the theater scene than I am will enjoy it immensely. It has great positive energy and who doesn't like sweet Happily Ever Afters? I certainly am not in awe of this one though, so it could go either way. Give this one a read if you like headstrong teenage girls and coming-of-age stories, but I wouldn't move this to the top of the TBR.
This book contains a couple of mild swears, some kissing, one side character's lesbian relationship, and a theme of parental abandonment. It is very mild overall and a true YA novel.
Watch out world! There are spoilers coming your way!
"The thing is that I need someone to talk to about it, but there isn't a someone I can. My dad has always sidestepped the topic like he's allergic to it, and my aunt says my dad never actually told her who my mom was."
Maybe I didn't like this as much as others because I'm not a huge Mamma Mia fan (anyone else thought ABBA's music was better before the musical came along, or am I just old?). I wasn't a theater kid by any means, but I definitely admire Millie's strengths. She is charming but is a bit of a bulldozer, which makes Oliver pretty relatable. Especially with that interview crash, am I right?! It is a well-executed forced proximity and enemies-to-lovers trope, where you just love both sides so much that it is fun when they can overcome and come together. And I think Madison would approve of the pace of the slow-burn as well.
I definitely would have liked to have seen more "page time" with Cooper and Heather, but maybe that's the parent in me ;). My heart broke for Heather as the bonus parent that feels a little underappreciated when she finds out about Millie's search.
In no way do I expect my books to be perfectly realistic, but it made me laugh how almost every one of the characters ends up with someone at the end. Lord does a fantastic job bringing readers through a range of emotions, and I liked this enough to read other books by her.
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