⭐⭐⭐ | 🌶️ Mild | "Identity crisis with a side of missed potential"

Okay, friends, I'm conflicted about this one. The premise had me so excited—a reclusive bestselling author finally ready to spill her secrets? Yes, please! And honestly, Fagan's writing flows beautifully. Those short chapters kept me turning pages even when my brain was screaming "but why though?"

Here's the thing: everyone in this book is obsessed with Cate, but I genuinely couldn't figure out why. She felt... ordinary? Sometimes even unlikeable? The trauma that shaped her entire life gets glossed over with surprising casualness, like "welp, that happened, moving on!" I wanted to shake her and demand some actual introspection.

The fictional memoir format works in theory, but unlike Evelyn Hugo (who feels completely real), Cate never convinced me she existed.

Vibes We Are Tracking:
📚 Unreliable narrator energy
🎭 Identity switcheroo drama
💔 Miscommunication mayhem
🔍 Mystery author mystique

Heart wrenching and absolutely filled to the brim with yearning, this was a really beautiful novel detailing the pain and long lasting impacts others have on our lives. It’s in an entirely different realm than The Seven Husbands, and the way the author weaved the narrative through different perspectives helped make the ending all that more compelling and significant.

DNF at 50%, the premise was interesting, but ultimately fell flat for me and I couldn't keep my attention hooked. I didn't enjoy the use of the miscommunication trope and the main character was extremely unlikable.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*

"The Three Lives of Cate Kay" is marketed as "Evelyn Hugo" and while the comparison works, this novel is less elaborate. I really enjoyed reading it, let me say that, it also was wonderfully queer, but I wished it had been a bit longer. It's the story of childhood friends losing touch where one becomes a bestselling author under a fake name, struggling with her past and life choices. It's a sweet book. I was a bit confused with the frequent focaliser changes and the jumps in time but I managed to catch on pretty quickly. It's a bit kitschy but I liked it.

Could be a good Christmas read!

4 stars

I really, really enjoyed this story. It reminded me of everything I loved about the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones & The Six, and The Favorites.

It was a perfect way to tell the story of Annie (& Cass & Cate Kay). Honestly, as the story started reaching the end I was worried that I was going to be left unsatisfied by the ending because I feared that there weren't enough pages left to fully wrap it up. Thankfully, I was mistaken. I'll know to never doubt Kate Fagan again (as I'm positive this won't be the last book of hers that I read).

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review "The Three Lives of Cate Kay." I really enjoyed the way that this book flowed. It was an easy read. It could be edited to make it shorter and I felt that some characters did not need to be added in. Overall, it is a well written, engaging, contemporary fiction.

The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan
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Cate Kay is the elusive author of a book trilogy turned box office success. The thing is, Cate Kay doesn’t really exist. Her real identity has been a secret since the day she fled from her home and her best friend.
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This was a bit of a strange book. I did the audio and it was a little hard to figure out what was going on for the first quarter of the book. It’s written in POVs but also short interviews with side characters and that took a little while for me to get the hang of. I feel like reading this with my eyes would have worked better.
Overall it was an interesting story and I liked it but didn’t love it.
3⭐️⭐️⭐️

It’s been months since I read this book and I still can’t put my finger on how I really felt about it. I would say at least 1/3 of the plot line felt very uninspired and mediocre. However there were parts that depicted the MFC’s childhood with stunning clarity and nostalgia. These chapters brought me back to the 90’s, to my own cartoon summers and I was more engaged then. The mystery aspect to this book and the subsequent conclusion fell pretty flat for me, but I would still consider giving this author’s future work another go.

There’s a moment in every reader’s life when they pick up a book and understand as if it’s whispered in between the turn of pages that once the last sentence unfurls itself it will live within them forever.

Consider a seed planted in my head; it will be a long time before I can read or write (both of which I am best at and both of which plague me) without Cate Kay peeking over my shoulder.

This book does what Evelyn Hugo wanted to and so much more, seamlessly blending multiple narratives to create a puzzle - not one that is begging to be solved, but is patiently waiting to unfold.

There were some lines in here that hit me so violently and personally that I wanted to write them down for myself and keep them locked up forever. I’m not a highlighter heavy reader, but this book is filled with bright green lines; Fagan’s prose is even better than her story, and I loved her story a lot.

I also loved the addition of Annie’s cliffnotes, the use of which I tend to find tired in fiction. Luckily for the reader, Fagan uses them beautifully, adding another layer to the story rather than just another vessel for Annie’s voice.

If there’s one thing I feel the need to critique about this book it would be the ending - it comes too fast. I’m someone who appreciates shorter texts, often reading translated novellas or plays when I fall behind on my reading goal, but this could have been strengthened by 30-40 more pages. The ending felt too sudden, too fairytale.

Thank you to Atria for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I just finished The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan, and I really enjoyed it. The story follows Annie, who reinvents herself as the elusive author Cate Kay, hiding behind a pen name after a personal tragedy. As her past catches up with her, she’s forced to confront old wounds and relationships.

The narrative structure is unique, blending memoir-style storytelling with multiple perspectives, which kept me engaged throughout. The exploration of identity, friendship, and the cost of secrets felt authentic and resonant. While some plot points stretched believability, the emotional depth and character development made it a compelling read.

If you’re into stories about reinvention, complex female relationships, and the blurred lines between truth and fiction, this one’s worth picking up.

This was my first book by Kate Fagan. I wanted to love it but it just missed for me. There were too many plot holes and not enough substance to the characters. I just wanted more.

A totally unforgettable read. Sold to Kate Fagan and all the stories she would ever write.

Loved how the character had the chance to reinvent herself and made the most of it.

For fans of The Seven Husband's of Evelyn Hugo, this would be highly recommended.

I really enjoyed this book! I love the different perspectives and jumping back and forth in time. The characters were relatable in their internal struggles. I wanted to keep reading to find out how all the ends would tie up (or not tie up). I am excited to read more work by Kate Fagan.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. The story just didn’t spark enough interest for me to want to continue.

The Three Lives of Cate Kay is a gripping story of identity and secrets, and how they can define us. The characters were well-drawn and I definitely enjoyed reading this one.

Thank you Kate Fagan, Atria Books, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

This novel started a bit slow but did hook me into finishing it. The premise, especially the catalyst for Annie leaving felt a bit unbelievable but once the next 'life' of Cate Kay started I was able to get into it more. This was a quick and mostly compelling book and I can see why it has been popular. I think I may have preferred it as an audiobook. Overall, not a huge win for me but still a fun read. I, like other readers, was very frustrated by the MC's lack of a quick internet search to confirm a pretty huge piece of news, but then again the whole second half of the book would be very different if that had happened.

Fun book! Really flew through it. I wish there were a bit more here. Lots of cliches and “this could be solved with one Google search” but it was cute.

This book kind of confused me at times, because of all the back and forth between the lives we were learning that Cate Kay lived. Looking back I did enjoy it, though sometimes through it I felt like it was meandering somewhat, or going in too many directions. This would probably have been easier in a physical book than the audio version I used, which I have found the case for many books. It requires a lot more attention than I can give an audio book, so that probably plays a lot into my review.

It took me a few chapters to really get into this, but once I was in I couldn’t put it down. This story of a woman who lives life under three names due to a traumatic life experience is compelling and told from so many perspectives yet is easy to keep track of. Definitely a lot of “missed connections” and miscommunication which could have saved a lot of heartache over the years, but a great read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was fast-paced and very intriguing. I enjoyed learning about the main character and her background and history.