When You Get the Chance

2,5* Das war ganz süß, aber leider konnte ich mit den Protagonisten keine richtige Verbindung aufbauen und vorallem Mark hat mich tierisch aufgeregt.

It was okay. I never really got into it because Mark and Talia don’t interest me, but Paige is great.

[The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.] What I liked: • The cover is really cute (and queer)! • I loved that the story was about family and friendships, and not so much about romance. • The characters were so diverse – there were queer characters of color, trans and nonbinary characters, older queer characters, polyam characters… That was great! • I also liked that the story was set in Canada. • The side characters were all really great and interesting! Paige was very funny, and I loved Shirley and Derek. What I didn’t like: • I wish asexuality and aromanticism had at least been mentioned… In such a diverse story it would not have been difficult to include an a-spec character. • I really didn’t like the main characters. Mark was just an asshole, especially at the beginning. He’s a selfish, privileged white allo cis gay guy, and he literally tells Talia: “You don’t seem happy unless you have some social justice warrior shit to keep you busy.” because she educates him about some queer topics. And the worst thing is: he never apologizes for it, and at the end, Talia even seems to agree with him! • The plot was kind of boring… There was no real common thread, little to no character development and the ending seemed a little forced.

Maybe it's because it finally starts to feel like summer around here, but this book especially feels like summer. After their grandfather's death and some health problems of their grandmother, cousins Mark and Talia, alongside Mark's 10-year old sister, end up alone at the old family cottage they used to spend their holidays at when they were younger. They'd both rather be in Toronto, though (Mark to go to Pride, Talia to figure out where she stands with her maybe/maybe not ex-partner who's currently working there) – and so they take the shortest roadtrip of all time (even for my European standards) and run off to the city. I loved the entire Pride atmosphere, and there are some rather brief appearances of older queer characters who share a bit of their history, who I would have loved to see more of. It never really feels particularly heavy, though, which is probably what's giving me even more summer vibes. The main characters are... okay, I guess? Mark starts out as a bit of an asshole and his character growth is kind of weak, imo, but I guess it's not the kind of book that leaves room for some in-depth change. I read this in one go in one single morning/afternoon, though, so I can't say I didn't care enough about either of them to find out how things would turn out for them. What really disappointed me was the backstory of why Talia's father and Mark's mother (brother and sister) haven't really been talking to each other for years. The resolution felt so disconnected from the rest of the story for me? And fine, I'm gonna say it, I kept waiting for Talia's father to turn out to be queer, as well, for the biggest part of the book and kept expecting him to show up and play a bigger part somehow.

2,5* Das war ganz süß, aber leider konnte ich mit den Protagonisten keine richtige Verbindung aufbauen und vorallem Mark hat mich tierisch aufgeregt.