This is a great story! Very insightful, coming of age, soulful, with a few twists along the way. Dylan Read returns home for the funeral of her childhood best friend, Kelsey, who went missing years ago. She was found drowned in the town lake which is a huge shock to the community who believed she had run off to follow her dreams. After Kelsey disappeared, Dylan pursued a music career in Nashville which propelled her into pop stardom. In spite of all her success, Dylan could never quite shake the feeling that she had stolen Kelsey’s music dreams. She wonders if the talent she is thriving on is her own or Kelsey’s. But the funeral and the answers about her best friend’s disappearance forces Dylan to confront the ghosts from the past and uncover truths she has been ignoring for the past 15 years. This story is being likened to Swiftie fan fiction and definitely carries vibes of Daisy Jones and the Six. So for those readers who enjoy Taylor Jenkins Reid, this book is for you! Thank you Netgalley, Mariner Books and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on September 10, 2024

Though musician Dylan Reed has reached Taylor Swift-level fame, no one knows that her best friend, Kelsey, disappeared when they were teenagers. Now, after Kelsey's body is discovered a decade later, we follow Dylan as she grapples with her feelings about their friendship and her rise to stardom - a rise that began in the immediate aftermath of Kelsey's disappearance. While we spend a bit of time with present-day Dylan, most of the story is told through two other alternating storylines: Dylan as a teenager and Dylan’s career biography.

While I did ultimately like the mash-up of genres, it did take me a bit of time to get fully grounded in the structure. The first chapter is so vividly written and sets the tone for a mystery or thriller, so I was little thrown to jump from there into the biography-style music pop star story.  But by the end, I did enjoy how the two worlds worked together to create the full story. 

My favorite parts of the writing were definitely the chapters in the past; Layden does a great job with the dark imagery as well as the complicated emotions of teenagers. I enjoyed those aspects of the writing so much that I just started reading her debut novel, "All Girls".

🎤🎤🎤.5

I would like to thank NetGalley and Mariner Books for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it in your local and online bookstores and libraries on September 10, 2024.

Dylan Read has morphed from teenaged country ingénue to pop star icon. (So, if you’re wondering, yes, Dylan is 100% modeled after Taylor Swift. 🎯😂) She has learned how to manage her stardom and keep herself relevant throughout her 15 year career. When the body of her best friend, who went missing when Dylan was in high school, is found, Dylan returns to her hometown and must face her past.

This one is for fans of Taylor Swift and Daisy Jones and the Six. I enjoyed a lot about the way this was written, but Layden’s prose won’t be for everyone. There is a lot in here about writing music and lyrics which will be a little monotonous for some readers.

“Country music is about relatability. Just three chords and the truth, as the saying goes. Pop, on the other hand, traffics in fantasy.”
— Emily Layden, Once More from the Top

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for giving me an advanced readers copy of this book for my honest review.
This is my first time to read a book by Emily Layden and while I did enjoy this story I sometimes found her writing style confusing at times.
The main character, Dylan Read, who is a legendary pop star has been keeping a secret for 15 years about her best friends disappearance. This is definitely a page turner with some twists that I didn’t see coming. I also loved the Taylor Swift vide as Dylan grows up in the public eye while writing and performing her music. This is a great story of growing up, friendship and the cost of keeping secrets.

I should have known!

The blurb for this book from Emily Layden mentioned its good for fans of Daisy Jones and The Six. I have talked about this for years - but I hate that book. Once More from the Top has similar vibes, with everyone being terrible.

Dylan Read has been famous since high school. Since releasing her first album, she's spent the last 15 years living in public. She's the ideal star, she has created the crack-proof narrative that keeps her on the good side of everyone. She's done this so well, that anything that threatens her success and image must be taken care of.

What the public DOESN'T know about Dylan is that her childhood best friend Kelsey vanished the year prior to Dylan's rise to fame. Now, 15 years, Kelsey's remains have been found and Dylan now has to reckon with the truth, the truth about everything.
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Look, it's fine. It's a fine story and people will enjoy it. There's a mystery, there's a celebrity, there's a secret.

It's just not for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I was excited to receive an ARC of Layden's second novel. I loved All Girls and the premise of Once More From the Top sounded intriguing. She did not disappoint! The story follows Dylan Read, a global pop star, who returns to her hometown for the funeral of a friend. The friend has been missing for fifteen years, but her body has just been found in a local lake. The story is told by switching between present day and flashbacks to the months leading up to the friend's disappearance.

What I love about Layden's books is her spot on take of girlhood. She captures the slightly obsessive friendships of adolescence and how you can feel so close to someone, but not really know them at the same time. This book is perfect for people who are obsessed with a pop star, have been a teen girl, or love a mystery set in a small town. Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

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.

3.5. Dylan Read has achieved incredible success in the music world. When a small-time news outlet runs an article connecting Dylan with the cold case of a missing high school student, they have no idea that the student is Kelsey, Dylan’s former best friend and the secret behind all her accolades. Kelsey’s body has been found at the bottom of a lake, forcing Dylan to search for answers while reliving her rise to fame. Imagine reading the diaries of a Taylor Swift-like popstar to solve a drama-filled mystery, and you have the feel of author Emily Layden’s new novel.

As an adult, I found this to be a moving story of self discovery and of a deep friendship and how that and guilts informs our lives. A little slow at times but deep and insightful and sometimes the transitions between the three timeframes were not clear. Some of my more creative students will like this as it explores a lot of the process of writing songs and the music industry. For a specific group, I can see them really liking it but many of my students don't have the patience for this yet

I knew going into this one there would be a nod to Taylor Swift and a Daisy Jones feel. And that was definitely true which I absolutely appreciated. At the beginning these little nuances were very fun and clever. However I ended up getting really invested in these unique characters. Dylan Read is a complex character and so is her relationship with her missing best friend. I loved the pacing of unfolding events. I was never bored but also never overwhelmed with information or confused. I think I'll be continuing to analyze Dylan Read and other characters for quite some time after finishing this one. A must read for Taylor Swift and TJR fans! (Swifties, let's not dive in too deep here. This is Dylan Read, and if this wasn’t fiction we’d be obsessed with her too.) And to be honest…. I could use a Once More From the Top original soundtrack.

Music insider details and a childhood mystery are the basis of this compelling read. Filled with observations about the desire for a public career and fame but also the desire for a private life will make you think about our current young female musicians. Long live rock and roll!

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Originally was drawn to this one as a Daisy Jones fan, and did enjoy that some parts of the story were definitely influenced by Taylor Swift. The multi-layered flashbacks and extremely long chapters took some getting used to, though, and the second half and felt anticlimactic. In a positive note, props to the writer the lyrical work in this one; another book like Daisy where I wish the music was real 😂 ❤️

If you are curious about the music industry and how singer, songwriters pull together their songs and albums, then this book is for you.

This book goes back and forth between present day and flashbacks of how each album was created and the stories that happened during that time.

There is a little mystery that is resolved at the end of the book, but this book is more a snapshot of a celebrity musician’s life.

Also if you like a book that mashes up multiple book genres, this book is one for you.

Thanks to @netgalley and @marinerbooks providing the ARC. I read this book as part of @thoughtsfromapage Early Reads program.

#OnceMoreFromTheTop #EmilyLayden

Once More From the Top by Emily Layden was a solid 3.75 novel.

This novel gave me The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale vibes. The mashup between a music industry/ musician as the main premise with thriller-y elements was complementary. I will be seeking out more of these types of novels. One that I read and enjoyed was Run, Rose, Run by James Patterson with Dolly Parton.

Nashville, live music and country music were sprinkled through the novel. Dylan Read is hella famous, selling millions of albums, but her past catches up with her after her best friend’s body is found in a lake. She has to navigate the tragedy with a celebrity lens and through a PR firm despite this being her best friend. Shifting through the past and present, it unravels at a quick pace. Some themes were imposter syndrome in a career, grief and loss, teenage angst, and navigating through a music career in a male dominated industry.

TW/CW: some descriptive content regarding young females (in sexualized way by adult males). I personally had to skip those sections.

Thank you to Cindy Burnett with the Thoughts From a Page podcast / Page Turners Patreon group for arranging ARC copies. Thank you to the publisher Mariner Books; the author; and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a review.

Giving 3 stars because I don't think I was the best audience for this book. It's much more focused on the friendship and the music field dynamics for Dylan than it is on the actual disappearance.

This will be a great read for someone interested in the music industry!

Dylan Read is a teen country singer turned pop star (sound familiar?) When her high school best friend who had been missing for fifteen years' body turns up, Dylan must go home for her funeral and face the past she's worked hard to bury.

This book is one part Taylor Swift fan fic, one part Listen for the Lie (a solid recent thriller), and all good. I was unsure of how the author was going to pull this off or if it would seem ridiculous, but it actually worked well, and I really enjoyed the characters and the plotline of this book. I can't wait to see what else this author does.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for a fair review.
I'll start with YAY! I really enjoyed this read. It is marketed to us fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid which is what drew me in. It is definitely that. There is a similar writing style in this book. But there is a little more mystery to this one. The story unfolds in a dual timeline way as we see Kelsey and Dylan's friendship develop and the level of guilt that haunts Dylan and her family for years.
I would recommend this book for sure and would probably make a good audio book as well.
4*

Super fun story that traces the propulsive start of the legendary pop Dylan Read.

Much like Daisy Jones & the Six, Layden gives us the good, the bad and the ugly and traces Dylan's start as a teen and her rocket to stardom. Dylan harbors a secret however, that is dark and would threaten all that she has accomplished. For years she has done everything she can to keep the secret but it's eating her up inside. When Dylan's best friend from childhood is found at the bottom of the lake in their town, she is forced to face everything she has been running from.

Just loved it, savored it, enjoyed it immensely. If you love rock and roll, contemporary culture, pop stars, fame and mysteries, this is a story for you!

#mariner #oncemorefromthetop #emilylayden

This was an interesting story with a past/present timeline. Dylan Read is a mega-star (think Taylor Swift) in the music industry, but very little is know about her past. Early in the story, the body of her childhood best friend is found, and we take a journey back in time to how the two met, their friendship, and finally, how her friend ended up at the bottom of a lake. There is an air of intrigue surrounding the whole story, and it unwinds in a slow, clever way that tells an interesting tale of life before and after fame, and what it is like to be famous, especially in the music industry. I recommend this for fans of mysteries, music stories, and coming of age tales.

This is the perfect book for swifties who love a bit of a mystery. With a Taylor Swift-esque protagonist who details her journey through the music industry alongside exploring the secret from her childhood she carries through her fame, this is such an interestingly written tale about friendship, guilt and the way someone’s past impacts the art they create.

I really enjoyed the way this was written, the exploration of Dylan’s past coinciding with her developing career and music styles. The details on how a story is crafted and the poetry behind it was so interesting and gorgeous. At times, I couldn’t tell if I liked Dylan or not but ultimately that’s what made me enjoy the book. I found her such a beautifully complex character that was hard to stomach at times but I also felt like one of her fans - invested in seeing how she handled the situations she was in.