I just couldn't get into this book. Got to chapter 5 but had to give up, Couldn't connect with the characters at all. Sorry but not for me!

this was a really interesting read!! i really enjoyed the story, i love a book about a fake celeb, especially when it’s a singer/musician

i really really liked how this was structured, with the chapters being split into 2022 and before, but also within the chapters it going back even further, so we followed dylan’s friendship with kelsey progressing while also following her career progressing at the same time

also a very good conversation on women in the music industry and how they’re treated by the public - a lot of parts felt very relatable to taylor swift including even a similar concept to secret sessions👀 in the acknowledgments there was a mention of inspiration from miss americana, among other music documentaries, so that makes a lot of sense!

thank you to netgalley and 4th estate for this arc!

This was ok - I zoomed through it but felt like it was lacking something. I wasn't a huge fan of how many of the song lyrics and moments were woven into the book - the end bit where the visual album is described scene by scene lost me a bit as I couldn't really imagine it, and would have rather just been hearing about the plot of the book.

Once More from the Top is like if you took a big bowl, threw in some Taylor Swift, a bit of Daisy Jones and the Six and topped it off with a dark secret!

Our main protagonist is Dylan Read, a huge pop country star (you get the Swift comparison?) who has this perfect good girl image. However Dylan is secretly haunted by the loss of her best friend Kelsey who went missing just before Dylan’s rise to fame.

I was quite surprised at the low-ish average rating for this one on The Storygraph, but hey, I enjoyed it! It’s not a novel that’s going to change your life or bestow some newfound wisdom upon you, but it’s an entertaining book that you can lose a few hours in.

I love a dual timeline, so I was wrapped up in the flashbacks to Dylan’s younger years and her friendship with Kelsey, to her current timeline where she’s basically one of the biggest stars in the world. The unearthing of “the big secret” wasn’t that shocking, but nonetheless I found it a fun, easy breezy read! 4 stars.

This one missed the mark for me. I actually had to DNF halfway through because the story felt like it was dragging, there were a lot of characters that it was hard to keep track of them all and the constant jumping of timelines just made it way to tricky to keep track of what was happening and when and I'm usually a huge fan of time jumps.

It's been compared to Daisy Jones but honestly, the two books were nothing alike.

The one thing I did appreciate was the author's skill at writing beautiful lyrics which were interspersed throughout the novel.

I went into Once More From The Top with high expectations, given the mentions of Taylor Swift and Daisy Jones & The Six, but this novel missed the mark for me.

I found the non-linear narrative to be a bit disjointed and confusing, and the pacing was uneven. I didn’t really resonate with any of the characters, and was indifferent to the main mystery. A lot of people will probably love this, but in the end of it was just not for me (and that’s okay!).

I received an e-ARC from the publisher, Fourth Estate, through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was marketed to people who like Daisy Jones but aside from the fact they both deal with musicians they are in fact nothing alike but fear not this is just as good ! . It's not really a thriller as such but more of a coming of age story , a story about power and desire. I love multiple timelines and here bwe have three; present day Dylan, Dylan in high school and Dylan becoming the superstar. I was invested in all parts of her life, it works so well. The writing is good , there is good character development and the plot will make you want to read on without being over the top or unrealistic. I'm hoping this one will be adapted for the screen as it would be great !

I loved this book so much, I read it twice.

Why, you ask? You are going to have to dive in to find out for yourself.

I first read Emily Layden, when I picked up "All Girls" . .To say I was intrigued, would be an understatement. When I saw Once More From the Top, pop up on NetGalley, I was pleasantly surprised and eager to see what Layden had been working on.

I loved it

I absolutely loved every bit of this enthralling, tantalizing and mind bending thriller.

Relative and captivating, this is a book, once you start, you will not want to put down. I totally felt the Daisy Jones vibe with a hint of current social media influences.

You don't want to miss this one!

Check out this teaser :

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.

Dylan Read, a renowned pop star, has never fully recovered from the disappearance of her childhood friend, Kesley. When Kesley’s remains are discovered years later, Dylan is thrust into a whirlwind of revisiting her troubled past while managing her current fame.

This novel was an exhilarating ride. It seamlessly weaves together Dylan’s poignant memories of Kesley and her rise to stardom through vivid flashbacks, all while she grapples with the shocking revelations of the present.

http://thesecretbookreview.co.uk

2.5/5

I'm a country music radio DJ so maybe my expectations were set too high? I found the writing inconsistent...sometimes it ran freely and was enjoyable...however too much time was spent where it felt as I was reading through treacle. I'm sure people will enjoy this, but I personally didn't connect with the story, or Dylan. Many thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Once More From The Top is an enjoyable read. It follows our main character singer/songwriter Dylan as she revisits her home town following the discovery of her friends body who went missing as a teenager. It jumps between the present and Dylan's journey to fame to document how her friend and her disappearance played a role in Dylan's career development and personal life. It is an enjoyable read although I didn't find myself as immersed in the thriller/mystery aspect of the storyline as I would have liked. I enjoyed the look at the role of friendship and imposter syndrome that the character describes throughout the book and the emphasis on the music industry. Overall an interesting book which I am glad I picked up.

3.5 ⭐️ rounded up

This story seemed like it had all the right elements to be a favorite of mine, but it ultimately fell short. The plot centers around Dylan, a singer whose life begins to unravel when her childhood best friend, Kelsey, is discovered dead after having disappeared years earlier.

The narrative jumps back and forth between the past and present, but the pacing feels inconsistent. One moment you’re in the present, and the next you’re thrust back into Dylan’s high school years. I think the book could have been improved with shorter, more focused chapters.

I did find Dylan’s character intriguing, particularly the parts that explored her fame. Those were the highlights for me. The musical aspects were well done, and I appreciated the insight into her songwriting process.

However, the mystery aspect didn’t hold up, and by the time I reached the end, I found myself indifferent to Kelsey’s fate.

I have no doubt that many readers will connect with this book, but unfortunately, it just didn’t resonate with me as I had hoped.

Once More From The Top is not the book I expected it to be, I expected Dylan Thomas to be more of a superstar in the music world and the mentions of Daisy Jones and The Six / Taylor Swift only fuelled this. I liked the way the past was discussed by album, this could have been improved and added more layers to the story by having different perspectives or even articles/interviews from the time. It became quite monotonous only ever reading from Dylan's POV. She's supposed to be this "legendary country-music pop star" but not a lot happens from album to album, compared to the likes of *insert name of megastar here* nowadays.

I struggled to root for any of the characters, which didn't help with my enjoyment of the story either. I probably should have DNF'd and moved on. I expected more from this book especially when it was hyped up for fans of Taylor Swift and Taylor Jenkins Reid (don't disrespect the Taylors that way).

Thank you 4th Estate + NetGalley for the opportunity to read this! #OnceMoreFromTheTop #NetGalley

This had all the ingredients of something I would love but unfortunately it just didn’t hit the spot for me. It follows Dylan, a very Taylor Swift esque singer whose world begins to crumble when her childhood best friend Kelsey is found dead after vanishing years ago.

It flits between past and present but the chapters are also a bit all over the place in terms of pacing, one minute you’re in present day and the next you’re back in high school and I think it could’ve benefited from being sectioned into smaller chapters.

I did like Dylan’s character and her similarities to Taylor, the parts about her and her fame were really interesting and definitely my favourite part of the book.

The mystery got lost and by the end I didn’t really care what happened to Kelsey to be honest.

I’m sure a lot of people will love this but for me I just didn’t quite connect with it the way I wanted to.

I loved the premise of this book. It uses music to build the story but never does it get technical which helped engage me. The book has serious parallels with popular artists but never did I lose focus from the main leads of the story. Which is a credit to the author. It is well written and shows the cost of fame quite well. While a mystery, it is also about love, grief, friendship and loss.

Thank you 4th Estate and NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange of my unbiased review.

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 really enjoyed Once More From The Top but I wouldn't really class it as a mystery or thriller, for me it was more about friendship, coping with loss, overcoming guilt and imposter syndrome.
Moving between the present, her childhood and her albums Dylan narrates the story and I really liked her voice.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read Once More From The Top.

Dylan, a successful musician, has a past which haunts her. When the body of her childhood friend, Kelsey, is discovered she has to come to terms with how her disappearance has shaped her career. The present and the past are juxtaposed throughout as we learn about their friendship and about Dylan's career.
Although I enjoyed the book, it wasn't what I expected - I thought this was going to be a crime/police procedural novel. For me, the music side of things was too top heavy: I would have preferred to read more about the girls' relationship. Sorry!

This was such a unique and different read. The writing feels like a journal. This is a multilayered story and characters are so mysterious. This is about the loss of a childhood friend, friendship, secrets, mystery , fame and music industry.

Thanks to the Publisher and Author.

This book is perfect for fans of Daisy Jones and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, with a great mystery plot surrounded by a broader memoir-like story about a famous self-made singer, with interesting commentary on celebrity culture and fandom. I really enjoyed the mystery aspect to the story and how the book was structured, with constant timeline jumps to keep readers engaged and intrigued by Dylan's story. Unfortunately, I just felt that Dylan as a character wasn't as compelling as I wanted her to be, and in contrast, I wanted more of Kelsey.