As a theater lover, a millenial pop music listener (hello Britney and NSYNC), and someone who really enjoyed Sussman's previous work Funny You Should Ask, I was excited to get an advanced copy of Once More with Feeling from Random House. Sadly it was just okay and didn't quite rise to Sussman's previous work, in my opinion.

Once More with Feeling follows the comeback of Kathleen Rosenberg, who use to be known as pop queen star Katee Rose, as she attempts to headline a Broadway show by a former teen boyband member Cal Kirby. Besides touring together back in the day, Kathleen and Cal have their own past as they spent a summer together at a theater camp where they work a duet together. Once More with Feeling focuses on the feelings between Kathleen and Cal that were left in the past both when they were twenty-somethings and as teenagers. Those feelings may not have been as long gone as they thought as they spend time working together for their Broadway debuts as star and director.

Although I enjoy Sussman's writing, I thought she was working with too many storylines in this novel which was a detriment to the story. I personally wanted to see more of the current storyline between Kathleen and Cal and that didn't shine through, which I was disappointed in. There are also some side characters that didn't get a chance to shine, but I felt like Sussman wanted them to be bigger players than they were. Sussman wrote that she is a fan of Broadway, but as such she spends so little time on that storyline that you'd thing she was a bigger fan of the teen pop genre instead as that's the bigger storyline. Overall it's still an enjoyable novel, but for me there were some problems with the story.

As a side note, I am also a Kathleen that goes by Katee so it was fun to see that in her book. It's rare to see the spelling Katee. Additionally I know Elissa Sussman is Jewish and I liked the Jewish representation that was shown in this novel. I'm not Jewish, but I wanted to point it out for those that are.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Awwwww, what a fabulously swoon-worthy read! I loved SO MUCH about this book! Ex-pop stardom, Broadway musicals, and a great second-chance romance… Seriously, the vibes were spot-on in this one! The “Now” and “Then” timeline hops were perfect because you slowly build your own understanding of the complex history of Kathleen/Katee Rose and her director/ex-love Cal. This type of slow burn is so satisfying and much more realistic in the best way. Let’s not forget the sweet-as-pie *You’ve Got Mail* reference… YES, PLEASE!

If you’re a contemporary romance reader and want something that’s a little less Hallmark movie cheesy (I mean this in the best way), give this one a read. Bonus points for those that love musical theatre and 90’s pop/boy bands!

✏️ ”’…That this is where you’ve always belonged,’” he said. I didn’t know if he meant the stage or his arms, but it didn’t matter. Both were true.”

✏️ ”It was the perfect spring day. Fragrant and bright and sunny and wonderful. The kind of day where every breeze seemed to sound like Tom Hanks murmuring, ‘Don’t cry, Shopgirl.’”

For all the men decrying cancel culture, there’s a litany of women who were for nothing more than being the victim.

Elissa Sussman continues spotlighting celebrity culture in Once More With Feeling, looking at 'fallen' female star given a rare second chance.

As Katee Rose, child theatre nerd Kathleen Rosenberg, was the IT girl pop star. With her boy band boyfriend Ryan, she had it all. Until she gave into her attraction to his bandmate and her former theatre camp crush Cal. Her lack of backbone to dump vain, selfish Ryan (seen in flashback chapters) backfired on her resulting in her losing her career after a public shaming.

In the intervening decade or so Ryan used his 'pain' for professional gain and public support (sound familiar, Justin Timberlake?), while Cal and Kathleen never spoke again, with Kathleen's name mud, destined never to be hired again.

Cal and Kathleen's paths cross when Cal is hired to direct their former camp friend (and Kathleen's best friend) Harriet's musical. Old feelings are stirred along with the rancour and hurt.

This book was a wonderful, easy read and I especially loved the chapters that focused on the work of putting together a professional musical. With flashback chapters we chart the past slow-burn between Kathleen and Cal which explains why she cheated on Ryan and how youth and lack of assertiveness (unfairly) contributed to her downfall.

The book also takes aim at the sexism and misogyny high-profile women undergo; however, I feel that this was too subtle and a missed opportunity to make this a larger part of the narrative beat – Kathleen is told that fans are re-examining in a new light how badly she was treated, but we don’t see any real response, this missing what could’ve been a powerful emotional beat. Why didn’t Kathleen sit down to do a real interview with a trusted reporter to tell her side given the groundswell of support?

Additionally, what was lacking for me was how Kathleen’s growth comes far too late in the book. For all her past therapy we don’t see much evidence of any growth in the intervening years. She even mentions that she should contact her therapist but chooses not to despite so much being at stake. I’d have loved to also have seen more of her working to get herself back in theatre ‘shape’ (figuratively speaking). She has an issue with the choreography but instead its just resolved with Cal changing it – I found the work scenes enthralling so this was another chance to see how she was working on herself.

But despite these quibbles, I devoured this book. I am all about second chance romances, but especially ones where our lead characters are getting a second chance to rebuild themselves. If you like a well-layered, thoughtful story of triumph, add this to your bookshelf.

As someone that loved Funny You Should Ask, I am so happy that I loved Once More With Feeling just as much, if not more. I went into this book completely blind and it was the best decision. This book filled me with so much joy that I finally was able to read a book and understand all of the references and where they were from. This book was so much fun and I was very invested in the characters!

2/5 stars

thank you to netgalley and random house publishing for an arc of this story!

okay. this is the first Elissa Sussman book and I was genuinely really excited for it because I've heard great things about "Funny You Should Ask". but, after reading "Once More With Feeling" I kind of doubt I'll ever go back to this author ever.

the entire story felt like a poorly written Wattled fan fiction, but even those have more heart in them than this. the love interest, Cal, was such a shitty guy for what he did and YES. it was in the past but it was still a shitty thing to do with no apology, and if I was Kathleen I would be pissed as hell forever. my dislike for Cal made it hard for me to even begin to get into him and Kathleen, who I also disliked at times. their romance felt so forced!!! the flashbacks to past/present were interesting but it felt like they didn't even do much to show the build up between Cal and Kathleen. their moments in the present showed nothing of them learning more about each other in the present and who they've become. they felt just thrown together to fulfill a trope and it felt lackluster. the characters hardly had any one on one and they didn't even speak to each other or have enough banter to make the romance feel like something I was even remotely interested in.

overall, I don't really recommend this story.

I cannot give enough praise to Once More with Feeling. Elissa Sussman has done it again! I loved Funny You Should Ask, and was eagerly waiting for Once More with Feeling to come out, and it did not disappoint. There were so many sweet moments between Kathleen and Cal. It was fun watching them grow together. Highly recommend Once More with Feeling!

Gah. The theater. NYC. And written by Elissa Sussman? All things that I love! This book was an absolute dream. Loved it.

I have so many mixed feelings. Was the book well written? Yes. I think the tropes were just not for me. I’m not the biggest fan of nonlinear timelines and will-they-won’t-they. The self centered FMC was driving me crazy. I liked the last 25% of this book.

Thank you to @randomhouse for sending me a copy of ONCE MORE WITH FEELING by Elissa Sussman. This one is out now.

I really enjoyed FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK, which was the previous book by Sussman. This one didn’t work as well for me. Theme of this month for sure it seems, so maybe it’s me. I just didn’t really connect with the characters or care about them at all. They all fell flat and this one was a dud for me.

My theatre loving heart absolutely adored this book. It was so close to a 5 star (and I might changed my mind and round up). I love anything MT and this was a legit ODE to everything musicals - from the movie musical date nights to the performances to the rocky horror of it all. Just a CLASSIC for anyone who nerds out on all things Broadway.

“Musicals were just so big. Big and bold and fun and yes, a little nuts too. And I loved it.”

Cal was so swoony. Kathleen was so stubborn and honestly a bit of a mess the entire book. I liked that their age was somewhat ambiguous - just like a mid to late 30s vibe which, FAB. I wish the musical Harriett writes was real and that I could see it.

I also loved the way this takes on the entertainment industry. It has some The Daydreams vibes (which I peeped Laura’s name in the acknowledgements!) in the way it talks about how young women in particular are just at the whim of nasty execs and horrible fans.

“Then again, that was showbiz. There was nothing fair about this industry.”

I think the first 70% of this is much stronger than the ending. I also felt like harriett was just there - and as the only Black and gay string secondary character, I wish her story was more fleshed out. Also it seems like box braids are going to be the one indicator that a side character is Black moving forward and I hate it (Emily Henry did it in HP too). I also didn’t love the 3rd act breakup but Atleast it was short.

Overall, if you love MT, this is a must read. And if you love a swoony man with a sensitive and prickly woman who takes a while to get her head on straight, dive in.

Unfortunately, I could not finish this book. I DNF'd after the third chapter. I was actually excited when I heard it was going to be loosely based on JT and Britney. I was hopeful, I wanted to love this story as much as I loved Funny You Should Ask but unfortunately it fell flat for me. It was reading like a Wattpad story (specifically it was giving me 1D fanfic flashbacks) and no offense to Wattpad I loved reading Wattpad novels and fanfiction in my teen years but it felt too underdeveloped for me.

A huge thanks to NetGalley, I received an ARC of this book from them in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed Elissa Sussman's debut novel Funny You Should Ask and jumped at the chance to read an ARC of Once More with Feeling!

While I felt that the premise was unique, the story fell a bit flat for me. Maybe, first and foremost, because I am not knowledgeable or passionate about theatre. I also wish that the major point of conflict had been more clearly resolved or discussed. Overall, this may be a read better suited to Broadway, theater, and/or musical fans.

While this wasn't my favorite read, I am looking forward to seeing what Sussman writes next. Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I loved the premise of this book and was very excited to read it. This book was not well flushed out and I did not love it as much as her last book. It felt very surface level and I did not connect to the characters. The first book is worth a shot but this book I struggled to read.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for the copy of this ARC!

I thought this was a cute read and one where I liked both leads, Cal and Kathleen, which is rare for me.

Kathleen is a former teenage pop star who ends up dating a singer, Ryan, who is in a band with her former camp crush, Cal. The book jumps around from their days at camp back as teenagers, to their time touring together, to the present day. The present day was my favorite storyline because Cal is directing a musical that Kathleen is starring in and I don't think we get enough books with a musical setting.

My only complaint is that I felt like the characters were all very surface-level. I liked them all but just wanted to know more about them.

This is now the FIFTH(!) book I’ve read that was released in 2023 and that was about a “washed-up” female musician who was a pop star/famous in her teens, had a big career blowup, and who makes a comeback in her 30s/40s/50s. This one was the one that solved the mystery for me: “Free Britney” happened in fall 2021. I think most, if not all, of these authors were inspired by her story.

“Once More With Feeling” is the most “on the nose” for Britney’s story, complete with boy band ex-boyfriend. I only wish Britney had been as estranged from her family as Kathleen was - maybe things would have turned out differently.

For Kathleen in this story, I loved her journey to Broadway and to her HEA (it is a contemporary romance, after all). The back story of kids at theater camp was cute, and I loved Kathleen’s spunk and how she focused on her love of performing even through all of the extraneous noise of gossip and paparazzi. I would recommend this one!

This was an easy five stars for me. I love Elissa Sussman. She has perfected the second chance romance. Cal and Kathleen were so heart breaking to read about. I couldn’t stop rooting for them no matter how jaded the past was for them. They clearly belonged together. I can’t wait to read more from Sussman

Once More With Feeling captures the friends to lovers/enemies to lovers trope perfectly.

Not only was I just completely enraptured by the characters but I loved getting to know Kathleen and Cal. Reading Funny You Should Ask and this one consecutively really made me appreciate the author’s writing && made me love the articles in between chapters as well as the back and forth timelines. Getting to know the characters both in the past and present and seeing how they got to be the people they were in the present really gave me so much more of the storyline.

I loved this book so much!! Cal and Kathleen are both gorgeous MCs to read. I couldn't put this it down at all, and now that it's over, I'm craving for more.

Our POV character is Kathleen- previously a pop star whose career was seemingly destroyed by an affair with a man who then proceeded to dump her. Cut to present, Kathleen's best friend has written a musical tailored for her as the heroine, but there's a catch. Her director is Cal- the ex she despises so much. How will they work together admist such animosity and resurfacing of old feelings?

Second chance romance is now one of my favourite tropes and Sussman uses it to perfection. The chemistry between the characters is sizzling from the very first scene, and every moment felt so natural. I found the side characters to be well crafted too, and especially loved Harriet and all of her internal conflict.

Writing style is one of Sussman's biggest strengths as she alternates between timelines with great ease. Her descriptions of the showbiz industry, paparazzi, and Broadway are flawless and captivating. Despite being someone with little interest in western music and musicals, I was hooked by the brilliance in her writing. It is safe to say that I was so hypnotised by the power she holds in her words, that I was unable to pin point a single error<3

The cover looks stunning, and alongside Funny You Should Ask, it is mind-blowing. I can't wait to put this beauty on my shelf. Brownie points for the lovely title which starts making sense in a while new way once you start reading!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the complimentary e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. And Elissa Sussman, you are GOLD! Thank you for being an author and writing this book!

NETGALLEY REVIEW: ONCE MORE WITH FEELING BY ELISSA SUSSMAN - June 3, 2023

Summary of book:

This is the story of Kathleen Rosenburg (Katee Rose) and Cal Kirby, who were previously involved in a scandal that resulted in the destruction of her career. Now, Katee has left her pop star image behind and is living an ordinary life as Kathleen Rosenberg. However, Cal reappears in her life with an opportunity to star in a Broadway show he’s directing written by her best friend specifically for her.

As the story unfolds, Kathleen is torn between her desire to pursue her dreams of performing and her apprehension about working with Cal again. Both characters blame each other for their past, creating a tense and ego-driven atmosphere during rehearsals. Despite their reservations, Kathleen and Cal find themselves drawn to each other once again, unable to deny the chemistry between them.

The story’s central question revolves around whether it’s a good idea for Kathleen to rekindle her relationship with Cal, considering their history of being burned by their past choices. This theme explores the complexities of second chances, forgiveness, and the risks involved in pursuing one’s passions.

The story blends elements of romance, drama, and the entertainment industry, delving into the challenges and pressures faced by celebrities. It also explores themes of personal growth, self-discovery, and the pursuit of happiness.

General Review:

I take handwritten notes for my Netgalley reviews, but this book literally has two lines in my notebook. I was so into Sussman’s book that I stopped thinking in terms of a review and just fell into this story. I stayed up until I was finished because I loved these characters so much and the story had so many of my favorite tropes and plot points. I enjoyed the Then/Now structure which gives what happened then tension to the story. Enemies to Lovers and Second Chance romance tropes are done so well here. The anger Kathleen has for a system that punishes her for her choices is so relatable and her anger at Cal for not stepping up for her drives the story in a way that is relatable and believable.

Characters:

Loved the fleshed-out main characters and unlike so many other stories found the secondary characters multi-dimensional and realistic. Harriet’s wrestling with the baggage of her friend and the man who holds her musical’s success in his hands was well done and totally human.

Tropes and Triggers: Friends to lovers to enemies to lovers, Second Chances / Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Body shaming, Eating disorder

Quotes:

“His mouth found my throat and I found myself thanking whatever lovers he’d had between then and now, because this? This wasn’t a boy unsure of himself.”

“I just wanted you to know. That I love you. Harriet thinks I have been in love with you since we were kids and I think she’s right.”

Stars:

This book feed into my theater kid and boyband obsessed tendencies. A fun book with quick chapters that makes it a great summer read. I really enjoy second chance romances and non-sequential timelines when they are done right and they were done right here.