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Once More from the Top
A propulsive, layered novel about the meteoric rise of a legendary pop star and the secret she’s kept hidden for fifteen years, for fans of Megan Abbott and Daisy Jones & the Six.
Everyone in America knows Dylan Read, or at least has heard her music. Since releasing her debut album her senior year of high school, Dylan’s spent fifteen years growing up in the public eye. She’s not only perfected her skills when it comes to lyrics and melody; she’s also learned how to craft a public narrative that satisfies her fans, her label, and the media. In the circles of fame and celebrity in which she now travels, the careful maintenance of Dylan Read pop star is often more important than the songs themselves.
And so lots of people think they understand everything about Dylan Read. But what no one knows is the part of her origin story she has successfully kept hidden: her childhood best friend Kelsey vanished the year before Dylan became famous. Now, as Dylan’s at the height of her career, Kelsey’s body is found at the bottom of their hometown lake—forcing Dylan to reckon with their shared past, her friend’s influence on her music, and whether there’s more to their story than meets the eye.
Immersive, page-turning, and psychologically astute, Once More from the Top is a riveting and keenly observant novel about friendship, ambition, and the cost of fame.
Everyone in America knows Dylan Read, or at least has heard her music. Since releasing her debut album her senior year of high school, Dylan’s spent fifteen years growing up in the public eye. She’s not only perfected her skills when it comes to lyrics and melody; she’s also learned how to craft a public narrative that satisfies her fans, her label, and the media. In the circles of fame and celebrity in which she now travels, the careful maintenance of Dylan Read pop star is often more important than the songs themselves.
And so lots of people think they understand everything about Dylan Read. But what no one knows is the part of her origin story she has successfully kept hidden: her childhood best friend Kelsey vanished the year before Dylan became famous. Now, as Dylan’s at the height of her career, Kelsey’s body is found at the bottom of their hometown lake—forcing Dylan to reckon with their shared past, her friend’s influence on her music, and whether there’s more to their story than meets the eye.
Immersive, page-turning, and psychologically astute, Once More from the Top is a riveting and keenly observant novel about friendship, ambition, and the cost of fame.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published June 18, 2024
370 people are currently reading
12.6k people want to read
About the author
Emily Layden
2books185followersEmily Layden is a screenwriter and the author of the novels Once More From The Top and All Girls. A graduate of Stanford University, her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Marie Claire, Runner’s World, and Town & Country. She lives in upstate New York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 345 reviews
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September 10, 2024yikes, not this book being published on Tuesday. Neglecting my book reports, wish me luck.
✨Thanks to NetGalley, The Author, & Mariner Books Publishing for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review�
✨Thanks to NetGalley, The Author, & Mariner Books Publishing for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review�
October 21, 2024
I liked it. I'm not sure if I have any grand thoughts about the story but I was engaged the entire time. I liked the writing - the interwoven past and present - it felt cinematic and built to reveal more about the characters. The mystery isn't the most revolutionary but the journey was great and I liked the juxtaposition of the small town and celebrity.
August 8, 2024
I received a free copy of, Once More from the Top, by Emily Layden, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Dylan Reed is an American singer who lost her best friend as a teenager. A decade an a half later Kelseys remains are found. I did not care for this book, the men in this book are vulgar and crass, not nice people.
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October 1, 2024this was a DNF for me at about 50-60%. the jumping of POVs and timelines mid-chapter was hard for me to follow + focus. also it being compared to Daisy Jones was 😩 instead i’d compare it more to HONEY.
will maybe go back to it on audio in future!
will maybe go back to it on audio in future!
December 1, 2024
by gave me serious Taylor Swift vibes, and while there has been some contention over the comparison to , I think if you are a fan of music/fame based novels you will like this one. However, just go in knowing it is nothing like Daisy Jones or the style in which that book is told in. A lot of what we learn about Dylan and Kelsey is told through flashbacks, and I really liked this style. It does happen within present day chapters throughout, but since we know Kelsey is dead right away (not a spoiler), it isn't hard to grasp these segues on audio which is the format I chose to read this in. I got lost in this coming-of-age, friendship, celebrity, musical, character-driven story, and thought it was well done.
I don’t know if it helped me or not, but I also happened to love Once More from the Top on audio and thought Sophie Amoss did a fantastic job narrating. If you are wondering whether you should read or listen, I would definitely recommend the audio route. I really enjoyed Layden’s writing and the way it pulled me in and held my attention. For some reason, I found the ending to be a touch on the ambiguous side, but I think I firmly grasp what happened now that I’ve had some time to think about it. Read this if you don’t shy away from unlikable characters, enjoy cinematic qualities in your books, and stories set in the music industry.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I don’t know if it helped me or not, but I also happened to love Once More from the Top on audio and thought Sophie Amoss did a fantastic job narrating. If you are wondering whether you should read or listen, I would definitely recommend the audio route. I really enjoyed Layden’s writing and the way it pulled me in and held my attention. For some reason, I found the ending to be a touch on the ambiguous side, but I think I firmly grasp what happened now that I’ve had some time to think about it. Read this if you don’t shy away from unlikable characters, enjoy cinematic qualities in your books, and stories set in the music industry.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
June 22, 2024
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Marketed for fans of Taylor Swift and Daisy Jones & The Six, this had my name all over it. And it did not let me down!
Pop star, Dylan Read, is haunted by the loss of her childhood best friend, Kesley, who went missing and was never found. So when Kesley’s body is found many years later, Dylan is left to try and balance the uncovering of her past and her present day fame.
I really enjoyed this one. A fast-paced read which looks at Dylan’s friendship with Kesley, and rise to fame through flashbacks, whilst in the present she navigates the uncovered truth.
Highly recommend picking this one up - the perfect summer read in my opinion.
Marketed for fans of Taylor Swift and Daisy Jones & The Six, this had my name all over it. And it did not let me down!
Pop star, Dylan Read, is haunted by the loss of her childhood best friend, Kesley, who went missing and was never found. So when Kesley’s body is found many years later, Dylan is left to try and balance the uncovering of her past and her present day fame.
I really enjoyed this one. A fast-paced read which looks at Dylan’s friendship with Kesley, and rise to fame through flashbacks, whilst in the present she navigates the uncovered truth.
Highly recommend picking this one up - the perfect summer read in my opinion.
September 14, 2024
Dylan Read is a Grammy award winning songwriter, who takes inspiration from her love life and relationships to create songs that resonate. Her story reminds me of Britney or Taylor Swift. Her best friend Kelsey goes missing while they are in high school, shortly thereafter she moves to Nashville to begin her career. The book goes back and forth between current times and her discography. Great for those of you who like to read books about the music industry, Honey and Daisy Jones and the Six. The story of Kelsey’s disappearance was my favorite part of the book.
April 21, 2025
Dylan Read has it all: Top 40 country and pop hits, Grammys, a 15-year career that's still going strong, a boyfriend who adores her, loving parents, and all the trappings of her musical success. But her career wasn't supposed to be as a solo artist. It was intended to be shared with her high school friend Kelsey, who had the better voice to express Dylan's lyrics. Kelsey disappeared just before their big break, and Dylan had to grab that chance alone. Now Kelsey's body has been found, and as Dylan attends her funeral in their hometown, she has time to consider where she is now and the role her lost friend has played in getting her here.This book has what I find to be an oddly low average rating, considering that I really enjoyed it and zoomed through it. I suspect that maybe readers are anticipating more of a suspense-type story following the discovery of Kelsey's remains -- it's what I thought this might turn out to be. Instead, it's a meditation on loss, grief, and imposter syndrome, which makes it sound gloomy, but it's not.
I was completely absorbed into Dylan's world and the way songwriting shaped her thinking and experiences. The story moves seamlessly between her memories of high school and Kelsey and her present-day life as a fictionalized Taylor Swift. I really appreciated how important her creativity and ability to use words, rhythm, and rhymes was to her, and I enjoyed the insights into the music business. Dylan doesn't come across as strongly emotional, but I liked her voice and the understated way she tells her story. Kelsey's absence in the present is a constant, as is Dylan's nagging conviction that she never would have had her career had any of her mentors gotten to hear Kelsey sing instead.
The biggest surprise to me was how well Kelsey's story is presented. As a reader, you know all along that she's dead. And yet when the end of the book comes and her death is fully revisited, I was shocked by how strongly my own grief rose within me. I give the author serious props for achieving that.
So, be warned that this book is sad, and quiet. But sometimes a quiet book really hits the spot.
August 7, 2024
This book is getting some hype at the moment due to the very Taylor Swift like main character.
I quite enjoyed it but it’s not a thriller or even a psychological drama. Dylan Read is a hugely successful pop star. When her teenage best friend is found dead in the local lake years after she was presumed to have gone missing, she returns to her hometown to confront the mysteries behind Kelsey’s disappearance.
The main problem is that Dylan Read is such a boring character. She is paranoid, utterly self aware and controlled. The one time she goes crazy and has a 72 hour marriage it’s given a couple of pages. It doesn’t make for a very passionate read, especially as the girl who died was far more interesting. There are so many characters in the book that I struggled to keep up with them, especially as many brought little to the plot. I finished it but I won’t be recommending this one.
I quite enjoyed it but it’s not a thriller or even a psychological drama. Dylan Read is a hugely successful pop star. When her teenage best friend is found dead in the local lake years after she was presumed to have gone missing, she returns to her hometown to confront the mysteries behind Kelsey’s disappearance.
The main problem is that Dylan Read is such a boring character. She is paranoid, utterly self aware and controlled. The one time she goes crazy and has a 72 hour marriage it’s given a couple of pages. It doesn’t make for a very passionate read, especially as the girl who died was far more interesting. There are so many characters in the book that I struggled to keep up with them, especially as many brought little to the plot. I finished it but I won’t be recommending this one.
October 25, 2024
I had heard that fans of Daisy and the Six would like this book so I was eager to read it. I found myself speed reading through it because I didn’t like the story or the writing style. The constant jump from present day to the past was disjointed and confusing. And I did not like the insecure main character and the build up to the secret of why she felt so undeserving of her fame. The interplay between characters was weak as well. I never felt connected or engaged. I’m disappointed that I recommended to my sister that we read this one together. I am projecting that she will hate it. Just not my style at all I guess.
September 8, 2024
Some will enjoy this one and some won’t. While I loved the writing I didn’t connect with the story.
July 2, 2024
t is a really gripping and faced paced story, as the plot unravels secret’s between the two girls past. You get an insight of both good and bad parts of being a celebrity - as well as learning to deal with loss.
Dylan was a complex character you will love and hate her in equal measures. She is my kind of female main character 💃
My one criticism is a few inconsistencies here and there. But overall I really enjoyed this one.
Fans of Taylor swift and Daisy jones and the six assemble! This will be right up your street 🎶
Dylan was a complex character you will love and hate her in equal measures. She is my kind of female main character 💃
My one criticism is a few inconsistencies here and there. But overall I really enjoyed this one.
Fans of Taylor swift and Daisy jones and the six assemble! This will be right up your street 🎶
August 26, 2024
This was very slow and the flipping between past and present was confusing. The ending revealing what happened the night Kelsey disappeared and the motives of main characters was weird and made no sense. Disappointing.
June 10, 2024
a MUST read for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid and Taylor Swift, this is not a drill!!
September 5, 2024
Review to come after publishing date :) 9/10/24
September 18, 2024
This book was not for me. I saw reviews that said it was comparable to Daisy Jones and I didn’t feel like it was. The author wrote a beautiful literary story about a pop music artist who has a secret she has kept for over a decade. I struggled with the long chapters and was confused at times by the dual timeline. If you like character driven stories with a hint of mystery, you might like this one.
I received an advanced electronic (eARC) copy from @thoughtsfromapage Early Reads Program. Thank you to Cindy Burnett and publisher Mariner books. I appreciated the opportunity to preview this book.
I received an advanced electronic (eARC) copy from @thoughtsfromapage Early Reads Program. Thank you to Cindy Burnett and publisher Mariner books. I appreciated the opportunity to preview this book.
October 26, 2024
This book was featured in Real Simple Magazine and my sister thought we would like it. By reading the summary, I thought it would be like Daisy Jones and the Six meets Taylor Swift, with a mystery woven in the storyline. In reality, it was like trudging uphill, in heavy boots, through a foot of thick, black mud! I had to force myself to read instead of happily reading. The flowery imagery and descriptive dialogue was 80% and mystery 20%. I was so bored that I was actually skipping whole sentences. I am not one to abandon so I power-read for one day so I could end my suffering. I wanted to reward myself for finishing the book by finding out the mystery of what happened to her friend. The answer was mediocre and lame. I feel bad that I didn’t like this book. 1 star ⭐️
May 6, 2024
when a pop star is haunted by the loss of her best friend, who’s case has been left unsolved.
as kelsey’s body is found, dylan must deal with the past coming to the forefront, as well as dealing with the prices of fame.
as the plot unravels secret’s between the two girls past and is perfect for fans of “the seven husbands of evelyn hugo.� you get an insight of both good and bad parts of being a celebrity - as well as learning to deal with loss.
thank you so much to 4th estate and william collins and net galley for the arc!! all opinions are my own <3
as kelsey’s body is found, dylan must deal with the past coming to the forefront, as well as dealing with the prices of fame.
as the plot unravels secret’s between the two girls past and is perfect for fans of “the seven husbands of evelyn hugo.� you get an insight of both good and bad parts of being a celebrity - as well as learning to deal with loss.
thank you so much to 4th estate and william collins and net galley for the arc!! all opinions are my own <3
October 26, 2024
Ok - first off - this book does not even compare to Daisy Jones. I devoured that book - this one I skimmed entire sections because I was just getting to lost in the story. It was like reading about a Taylor Swift who just couldn’t measure up to the real Taylor.
If you have several books on your TBR already then skip this one - you can do better.
If you have several books on your TBR already then skip this one - you can do better.
October 17, 2024
Don’t compare this to Daisy Jones and the Six. That was great. This was not.
December 26, 2024
The synopsis makes this seem very “thriller� like. It is not. What it is tho, is boring AF. Not a fan of the writing or jumping around in time.
One of those I probably should have just DNFd
One of those I probably should have just DNFd
February 19, 2025
All Girls was such a standout for me that I was delighted to pick this one up. It's so completely different from the author's first book that I'm kinda left with my mouth open. The actual writing is great, but really just not for me - I have zero interest in the music business, or at least in how it's produced and promoted, so most of this just flew by me without having any effect. I was really confused by the changing timelines - the reader has to be overly aware of who's speaking as sometimes that's the only clue, and unfortunately the male characters started to run into each other at the edges and I just didn't have the energy to keep everyone straight. Dylan isn't exactly an unreliable narrator, maybe it's more of a tone issue, but there was something so illogical and sometimes dismissive about how she thought of events in the past - I guess that was the plot right there - that the resolution still felt illogical. No big surprises or plot twists, and part of the resolution seemed to be a bit of a non sequitor even though we'd seen one or two clues. Giving this 2 1/2 stars and rounding up because of the Leonard Cohen quote at the end.
September 25, 2024
This was an enjoyable contemporary fiction book. I loved how this book was more character driven and how the story was told through a dual timeline. The dual timeline helped the story progress and made this book an engaging read. Once More From The Top starts out a bit slow, but the pace picks up after a bit. I liked the author’s descriptive writing style and the overall storyline of this book.
Read this if you like:
📖 Dual timelines
📖 Character driven books
📖 Coming of ages stories
📖 Mysteries
📖 Pop stars
Thank you to @marinerbooks for the gifted copy of this book.
Read this if you like:
📖 Dual timelines
📖 Character driven books
📖 Coming of ages stories
📖 Mysteries
📖 Pop stars
Thank you to @marinerbooks for the gifted copy of this book.
October 6, 2024
Dylan is a famous musician whose life is turned upside down when the body of her high school best friend is discovered. Follows the current timeline when Dylan returns home for the services and the past where we watch their friendship. I have mixed feelings. I wasn’t into the past timeline and I enjoyed the songwriting aspect but other than that I was like ok let’s get going - I think maybe because I thought it would read like a thriller and it’s very much literary with some suspense.
March 25, 2025
An emotionally charged story about fame, ambition, friendships and secrets.
Somewhat reminiscent of Daisy Jones & the Six.
Somewhat reminiscent of Daisy Jones & the Six.
November 14, 2024
Wholly engrossing and a little melancholy, Once More from the Top chronicles the life of a pop star at the peak of her career, just as her darkest childhood secret comes back to haunt her.
Emily Layden is a genre-blending novelist, one who takes familiar tropes and reimagines them with hints of other stylings to create unique stories. In her newest novel, the “Let’s Daisy Jones and the Six this type of singer� concept gets a more somber, mysterious twist. Layden swings big with her protagonist, Dylan Read. While not directly on the nose, Dylan’s career most closely mirrors that of one Taylor Swift—heard of her? Swift’s humble beginnings are arguably the most unrevealed aspects of her own life, so imagine the liberties Layden takes by making her protagonist’s best friend, a collaborator, disappear months before Dylan becomes a breakout star. With a title that says it all, Once More from the Top reflects Read’s life at the peak of her career, just as her best friend Kelsey’s body is found, offering a clever and unique look into the world of fame, with a little something extra.
Is it effective? Perhaps readers seeking a straightforward thriller might be a bit disappointed, and the heightened drama of Daisy Jones and the Six is more muted here. However, readers who love a plucky musician-turned-global-superstar will enjoy this one. It blends juicy elements of a cold-case mystery with enough suspense to keep you turning the pages. Dylan Read is a great character to follow—she’s calculated and naïve at the same time, too innocent for the industry she’s in, yet too smart to be thought of as innocent. She’s also flawed, making mistakes along the way, which grants her a well-earned place in the musical biography canon. The novel is deeply researched and feels truly insider-y—a treat for fans and non-fans of Swift (and similar artists) alike.
Overall, it’s an engaging mood read that examines the manufacturing of not just celebrity, but identity in a world where you want to bury the very things that shape it.
Thanks to Mariner Books for my gifted copy! Once More from the Top is out now.
Emily Layden is a genre-blending novelist, one who takes familiar tropes and reimagines them with hints of other stylings to create unique stories. In her newest novel, the “Let’s Daisy Jones and the Six this type of singer� concept gets a more somber, mysterious twist. Layden swings big with her protagonist, Dylan Read. While not directly on the nose, Dylan’s career most closely mirrors that of one Taylor Swift—heard of her? Swift’s humble beginnings are arguably the most unrevealed aspects of her own life, so imagine the liberties Layden takes by making her protagonist’s best friend, a collaborator, disappear months before Dylan becomes a breakout star. With a title that says it all, Once More from the Top reflects Read’s life at the peak of her career, just as her best friend Kelsey’s body is found, offering a clever and unique look into the world of fame, with a little something extra.
Is it effective? Perhaps readers seeking a straightforward thriller might be a bit disappointed, and the heightened drama of Daisy Jones and the Six is more muted here. However, readers who love a plucky musician-turned-global-superstar will enjoy this one. It blends juicy elements of a cold-case mystery with enough suspense to keep you turning the pages. Dylan Read is a great character to follow—she’s calculated and naïve at the same time, too innocent for the industry she’s in, yet too smart to be thought of as innocent. She’s also flawed, making mistakes along the way, which grants her a well-earned place in the musical biography canon. The novel is deeply researched and feels truly insider-y—a treat for fans and non-fans of Swift (and similar artists) alike.
Overall, it’s an engaging mood read that examines the manufacturing of not just celebrity, but identity in a world where you want to bury the very things that shape it.
Thanks to Mariner Books for my gifted copy! Once More from the Top is out now.
June 9, 2024
Once More From The Top - Emily Layden ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“There is so much about creativity that seems like magic, and so much about success that seems random.�
Dylan Read is a world famous music artist and so when her high school best friends body is pulled from a lake, 15 years after they last saw each other, Dylan is forced to go down memory lane and revisit past emotions and traumas, when long held secrets make their way to the surface.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it gave me Taylor Swift and Daisy Jones and The Six vibes so I am confident this is one that Swifties and TJR fans alike will adore!
It was a slow burn to begin with and I worried as not much had happened in the first 100 pages. I struggled with the switching between time perspectives and found it a little confusing until I got into the flow of it.
But after the halfway mark I was completely hooked, and I then came to enjoy learning about Dylan’s rise to fame, alongside the development of her and Kelsey’s relationship years earlier. The story pieced together really well and I especially loved the use of music throughout the book as a way of continuing the story - I think it could make a great tv show or movie and I’m confident this’ll be a popular one when it’s released in August!
“There is so much about creativity that seems like magic, and so much about success that seems random.�
Dylan Read is a world famous music artist and so when her high school best friends body is pulled from a lake, 15 years after they last saw each other, Dylan is forced to go down memory lane and revisit past emotions and traumas, when long held secrets make their way to the surface.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it gave me Taylor Swift and Daisy Jones and The Six vibes so I am confident this is one that Swifties and TJR fans alike will adore!
It was a slow burn to begin with and I worried as not much had happened in the first 100 pages. I struggled with the switching between time perspectives and found it a little confusing until I got into the flow of it.
But after the halfway mark I was completely hooked, and I then came to enjoy learning about Dylan’s rise to fame, alongside the development of her and Kelsey’s relationship years earlier. The story pieced together really well and I especially loved the use of music throughout the book as a way of continuing the story - I think it could make a great tv show or movie and I’m confident this’ll be a popular one when it’s released in August!
October 6, 2024
For a book about growing from the past, Dylan Read doesn't do much growing. Character development? Never heard of her. The prose itself was very readable, but the time skips (some marked and many just... not) took some getting used to. Honestly, felt a bit Taylor Swift RPF-esque.
Meh.
Meh.
July 18, 2024
4.5⭐️
July 4, 2024
Thank you @marinerbooks #gifted and #netgalley for the advance copy.
Once More From the Top by Emily Layden
Pub date: 9/10/24
Once upon a time we were each little girls with dreams - to sign, to dance, to write. Even before we knew those dreams were possible we were surrounded by school, siblings, girl-problems. Yet we dreamed! For Dylan and Kelsey they shared a childhood, each with different perspectives. Told in dual timeline format with threads of youth being pulled into current day timeline. As Dylan's dreams come to reality, Kelsey's memory continues to haunt her - her success, her ambition. A page turner from the start - with several twists and turns until you reach a satisfying ending!
five stars
Description: "A propulsive, layered novel about the meteoric rise of a legendary pop star and the secret she’s kept hidden for fifteen years, for fans of Megan Abbott and Daisy Jones & the Six.
Everyone in America knows Dylan Read, or at least has heard her music. Since releasing her debut album her senior year of high school, Dylan’s spent fifteen years growing up in the public eye. She’s not only perfected her skills when it comes to lyrics and melody; she’s also learned how to craft a public narrative that satisfies her fans, her label, and the media. In the circles of fame and celebrity in which she now travels, the careful maintenance of Dylan Read pop star is often more important than the songs themselves.
And so lots of people think they understand everything about Dylan Read. But what no one knows is the part of her origin story she has successfully kept hidden: her childhood best friend Kelsey vanished the year before Dylan became famous. Now, as Dylan’s at the height of her career, Kelsey’s body is found at the bottom of their hometown lake—forcing Dylan to reckon with their shared past, her friend’s influence on her music, and whether there’s more to their story than meets the eye.
Immersive, page-turning, and psychologically astute, Once More from the Top is a riveting and keenly observant novel about friendship, ambition, and the cost of fame."
#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksbooksbooks #justbooksbookstagram #booked #bookish #lovetoread #heyjudereads #reading #reader #reviewsmatter #bookreviews #oncemorefromthetop
Once More From the Top by Emily Layden
Pub date: 9/10/24
Once upon a time we were each little girls with dreams - to sign, to dance, to write. Even before we knew those dreams were possible we were surrounded by school, siblings, girl-problems. Yet we dreamed! For Dylan and Kelsey they shared a childhood, each with different perspectives. Told in dual timeline format with threads of youth being pulled into current day timeline. As Dylan's dreams come to reality, Kelsey's memory continues to haunt her - her success, her ambition. A page turner from the start - with several twists and turns until you reach a satisfying ending!
five stars
Description: "A propulsive, layered novel about the meteoric rise of a legendary pop star and the secret she’s kept hidden for fifteen years, for fans of Megan Abbott and Daisy Jones & the Six.
Everyone in America knows Dylan Read, or at least has heard her music. Since releasing her debut album her senior year of high school, Dylan’s spent fifteen years growing up in the public eye. She’s not only perfected her skills when it comes to lyrics and melody; she’s also learned how to craft a public narrative that satisfies her fans, her label, and the media. In the circles of fame and celebrity in which she now travels, the careful maintenance of Dylan Read pop star is often more important than the songs themselves.
And so lots of people think they understand everything about Dylan Read. But what no one knows is the part of her origin story she has successfully kept hidden: her childhood best friend Kelsey vanished the year before Dylan became famous. Now, as Dylan’s at the height of her career, Kelsey’s body is found at the bottom of their hometown lake—forcing Dylan to reckon with their shared past, her friend’s influence on her music, and whether there’s more to their story than meets the eye.
Immersive, page-turning, and psychologically astute, Once More from the Top is a riveting and keenly observant novel about friendship, ambition, and the cost of fame."
#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksbooksbooks #justbooksbookstagram #booked #bookish #lovetoread #heyjudereads #reading #reader #reviewsmatter #bookreviews #oncemorefromthetop
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