Book Review: Once More From the Top

By Jami Denison

Nothing is hotter than the light from the spotlight, and stories of the dangers of fame are perennially popular—there’s a reason A Star is Born has been made three times. With the rise of Tik-Tok, YouTube, Instagram, and reality TV, there are more routes to fame than ever before. But while there are countless stars in the celebrity universe, some of them shine so bright as to blot out the light from the rest. In her stunning, poetic novel, Emily Layden’s Once More From the Top examines the life of a Taylor Swift-inspired pop star, revealing the human frailties at the core of a carefully cultivated and maintained presence. While the fictional star’s dilemmas may be specific to her celebrity, the question of what we owe the people in our lives is universal.

Dylan Read is the top female singer in the world. While her boyfriends are just as well known as her music, no one knows that Dylan’s high school best friend disappeared the year before Dylan moved to Nashville at 16. Now, 15 years later, Kelsey’s body has been found at the bottom of the lake in their hometown. As Dylan strives to mourn the loss and honor her friend, she must also deal with her greatest deep-seated fear: That Kelsey was the true talent in the friendship, and her career was built on Kelsey’s bones. 

Once More From the Top is a beautifully written book, making it easy to believe in the protagonist's talent. Dylan is a poet before she meets Kelsey, who teaches her guitar and pairs her lyrics with Kelsey’s chords. Written in first person, the novel teems with Dylan’s careful metaphors and couplets. Rightfully compared to Daisy Jones and the Six, Once More replaces the throb of longing that underscores Daisy with the question of what happened to Kelsey and what is Dylan’s responsibility toward her.

Covering fifteen years, in many chapters much of the story is told rather than shown, but Layden speaks so directly and deeply to the reader, it doesn’t feel like a summary. Layden begins with the discovery of Kelsey’s body, then moves back to a 16-year-old Dylan meeting with a talent scout. He’s found the MySpace page with Kelsey and Dylan’s music, and even though Kelsey is the singer and guitarist while Dylan sang back-up, he gives Dylan a contract anyway, and she convinces her parents to let her move to Nashville. (She can stay with family friends who work at Vanderbilt.) While 2022 Dylan goes home to attend Kelsey’s funeral, reconnect with her parents and show her current boyfriend around town, past Dylan describes everything that happened to her since she went to Nashville: The albums. The switch from country to pop. The celebrity boyfriends who felt dimmed by the light of her star. The intense female friendships. The move to Los Angeles. Dylan’s life so resembles Taylor Swift that it made me wonder if the book was inspired by one of Taylor’s earliest songs, 15. 

But it’s her relationship with Kelsey that is the core of the book, and through that lens Layden explores many themes. Despite their mutual love of music, Kelsey and Dylan couldn’t be more different. While Dylan is the cossetted only child of professionals, Kelsey lives in a chaotic household with a single mother, an older half-brother, and his toddler daughter. Money is always tight, and Kelsey has little supervision and sexual relationships that Dylan both envies and fears. A straight-A student who always plays by the rules, Dylan instinctively recognizes that Kelsey’s talent may not be enough to break her out of the trap of poverty… while her own hard work and advantages could make up for a gift that isn’t as strong.   

As the book nears its conclusion, Dylan is driven to learn about Kelsey’s actions and relationships during the last days of her life. When those questions are finally answered, I found the ending to be anticlimactic and honestly somewhat disappointing.  There’s a chapter devoted to a description of a visual album that I found unnecessary. But these are minor complaints about a novel that is, on the whole, a thoroughly encompassing experience.

With its Swift-like protagonist and haunting mystery, Once More from the Top should achieve the same kind of attention that Daisy Jones and the Six drew. I’m already looking forward to the streaming mini-series that should result. 

Thanks to MB Communications for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Also by Emily Layden: All Girls

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