4.5*

This is a really solid, character-driven story, reminiscent of Daisy Jones and the Six, except that the many people who influenced Annie/Cass/Cate’s life tell their own story for a multi-narrated “memoir” rather than being interviewed. In this case, Cate is an author who uses her writing to make amends, process her feelings about the women she’s loved, and finally realize what will ultimately fill the black hole that is her life. In the process, the story serves as an exposé of Hollywood and how both writers’ and actors’ managers hold immense control over the celebrities they handle, sometimes using it for good, but often for self-serving reasons. Cate is a sympathetic character who made a desperately bad decision, but created something memorable from her catharsis. The secondary characters are fully-realized, perhaps because we get to see them from more than one perspective.

My only slight criticism is that the ending seemed abrupt, but that’s more because I like stories tied up in pretty little bows and that’s not how life works. Although there is a sapphic romance element, it’s not the book’s primary focus which is ultimately about ambition, guilt, loneliness, love in various iterations, the power and pitfalls of celebrity, hiding in plain sight, forgiveness, and redemption. A solid work of women’s fiction I highly recommend.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Atria Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Honestly, I just didn’t vibe with the style of writing. It was not clicking in my brain. Maybe it’s just a me thing or maybe not, but it wasn’t for me. So sad!

Cate Kay is an enigmatic author whose hugely successful bestselling series is being made into a movie. But Cate Kay is the pseudonym of Annie, a woman who ran away from her hometown when her best friend had a terrible accident in front of her. After living in anonymity for her entire adult life, trying to remain anonymous isn’t sitting well with Cate anymore and she is craving the interaction of someone other than her controlling girlfriend-agent and so she chooses to fly to LA from NY and spend time with the actress starring in her movies and her life begins to change dramatically in many ways.

I’ve had this one on my shelf for a while and while it exceeded my expectations, I’m glad I waited to read it because I then received the audiobook and that took the novel to another level. I loved the multi cast narration and couldn’t stop listening to it. There was a great plot, interesting characters and the story arc kept me wanting to know what happened. In some ways it was presented as a Cate Kay tell all, but the way Cate’s story slowly unfolded really worked for this novel. A nice bonus for me was that there is a storyline that takes place in the UWS SoulcCycle, a place I am very familiar with (my daughter suggested I not admit how many times a week I am there) - I've told the staff there about this one because I think they'd enjoy. I highly recommend the audiobook, but if audiobooks aren’t you thing, the books is an engrossing read as well.

4.25 stars

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for the ARC to review

Kate Fagan’s debut fiction novel, The Three Lives of Cate Kay, is a Reese’s Book Club pick, so it is sure to be lauded and applauded in the upcoming months. I had added this novel to my TBR list before any mention of Reese, and was excited to learn that Reese and I had shown interest in a similar book. But unfortunately, where Reese seemingly loved this book, I practically loathed it.

The Three Lives of Cate Kay, about an elusive author with a mysterious, hidden past and identity, started off strongly, evoking 90’s nostalgia and beautifully representing the youthful friendship between protagonist Cate and her best friend, Amanda. I loved the fierce bond between these girls, and found their relationship delightfully written as the story progresses, showing how childhood friends shape us and become a part of us; how we never truly let them go, and carry a part of them with us throughout our lives.

But as the narrative of The Three Lives of Cate Kay further develops and the story moves onto numerous, and sometimes inconsequential POVs, this book began to quickly lose me. It felt like we were covering a lot of emotionally intense ground, but getting nowhere. I read pages and pages of this book, just spinning my wheels, waiting for something of consequence to happen. Spacing out when you are reading is never a good sign, but this novel just failed to hold my interest or even conjure up a modicum of care and investment in its characters as I read.

Before reading The Three Lives of Cate Kay, I imagined it to be a literary suspense-lite novel, but what it turned out to be was a sapphic tortured romance. The book’s primarily focus is on Cate Kay and her numerous relationships with women as she tries to move past her one true love. I do not feel like this book was marketed to show its true tone and mission.

This is an unexpected gem. It's the exploration of a woman finding herself even if she needs to reinvent herself multiple times. The story is told in an interesting way with many point of views. Although there is a romantic ribbon, the story is more contemporary fiction and a journey of a woman finding her place in the world and making peace with the past in an unconventional way.

When I saw that this book was being compared to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo I was intrigued. After reading it I can see why the comparison is made but can also assure you that this debut novel stands on its own.

The Three Lives of Cate Kay is structured as the autobiographical account of the life of a famous anonymous author, Cate Kay. Cate Kay’s debut post apocalyptic novel exploded onto the scene and was quickly followed by movie options, two more books to complete a trilogy, and eventually turned into a Broadway show. Cate’s identity is known to few, a pseudonym for a person in hiding from a tragedy that changed her life trajectory. While Cate Kay is a pen name for Cass Ford, Cass Ford is a new identity for Anne Marie Callahan (Annie).

This story is one of grief, fear and guilt but also love and it is so perfectly balanced throughout. I felt connected to all the characters, including the ones who acted out of hurt and anger and altered Annie’s life. In the end it is a beautiful tale of friendship, coming of age, coming out, and ultimately love.

Highly recommend this one! Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me a copy to review; all opinions are my own. The Three Lives of Cate Kay is out now!

I flew through this book, although I feel it’s being mismarketed as leaning mystery/thriller. It’s a queer contemporary fiction story following Annie in her childhood and how she becomes writer Cate Kay - it brings in different characters throughout her life. It was a fun story and Fagan does a great job bringing everything together

This was a little bit of slow start, but after the halfway mark, it really picked up. Similarly, it took a while to sell me on so many POVs, but once it clicked, I really came to love and appreciate what it did for the mystery and intrigue of the story.

This is not a book I would’ve necessarily chosen on my own, so I’m glad it was an option to select to bring me outside of my comfort zone. Though I had this book on my Kindle, I really gravitated to the audiobook. I’d recommend that for an immersive experience. The full cast was a huge plus as the full production really brought this to a life of its own.

I enjoyed the character driven plot. While there were some miscommunication bits here that I’m not typically a fan of, I still liked where the story went. There were series of events where some misguided choice caused a snowball effect which was thought provoking. Worth the read or listen.

This is a brilliant plot for a book; the idea of Annie taking on different personas for the big moments of change in her life was really impactful. Her inner thoughts gave a really good insight as to why she chose to take action the way she did. The plot is steady and engaging; the style of writing is easy to follow and there are so many quotable lines in this book. The only thing I was slightly disappointed in (by no fault of the author) is that this book was aligned with other books that I felt did not seem similar to at all; I felt like this impacting my overall experience as it wasn’t what I was expecting.

this the story of annie/cass/cate pulled me in almost immediately. you learn about annie and her best friend, then tragedy. the book leaves you on the edge until toward the end when everything is tying together. it’s a beautiful story for coming of age, identity crisis and queerness. I loved the book but the ending felt rushed, i felt like i needed more at the end. I’m hoping maybe there’s a second book to really tie the ends that i feel are loose from this book. overall, a lovely book. thank you so much netgalley and kate fagan for the arc!

Thank you to Net Galley and Atria Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I can honestly say that I was very surprised with how much I really loved this book. Based on the description I thought it would be a good read, but I was not expecting to be so enthralled with the story and not want to put the book down. The story was interesting and different, the characters were engaging and at the heart the story was a story about friendship and loyalty and forgiveness. A truly great read!

Loved this book so, so much. We had the great pleasure of hosting Kate at our store with Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe and she is one of the most interesting and engaging authors we have ever had. We would LOVE to have her back for her next novel, and our staff couldn’t get enough of this one.

The Three Lives of Cate Kay is the epitome of the human experience. It has so much nuance, and is filled with humour, love, loss, and pain.

All the characters jumped off the page, no matter how minor they were. They felt so realistic and flawed, with their own views of the world and their own lives.

This book feels like an ode to hope, and how it's never too late to have hope, no matter the circumstances.

The book also has an incredibly unique format, and is written in such an intriguing way, that I couldn't stop reading. The tone of voice is so profound and sincere, it feels like the author truly wrote from her heart.

I especially loved the disability representation, and Amanda's view on feeling like you're constantly taking from people. As a disabled person, I have never read something so true and hard-hitting as that profound guilt. Truly one of the best characters I've had the honour of reading.

I genuinely cannot recommend this book enough, to any and all readers.

This is one of those books that grows on you andhas you thinking about the characters for weeks after.

A best-selling author decides after years to finally reveal her true identity. The novel is told from the perspective of everyone who knows the true story of the author of a best selling trilogy. From childhood friends, people in the business, past romantic interests, the actress who plays the roles in the movies based on her books, family members, and the author herself.

Positives
Multiple povs and timelines
Many themes done well: grief, romance, friendship, identity, guilt, price of fame, family trauma, etc.
I felt like I really got to know the characters from the way they were written. Great character development
The ending did not disappoint

Negatives:
It did take me a bit to get into the book but then I really cared about the characters
You had to keep track of the timeline

While I enjoyed this book, I can see certain people LOVING it.

Thank you to Atria Books for my copy of THE THREE LIVES OF CATE KAY. This one is out Jan 7.

I really loved this strange little story. It was fun getting swept up in this world within a world within a world. I love this style of fiction that reads almost like it's real, I want to find more stories like this one.

Thank you so much Atria Books and NetGalley for this ARC! This book was SO GOOD. It gave such a fun Hollywood vibe and really took you on an adventure. I was a little slow to dive in but once I was into it, I was hooked! This will be one of the books of 2025, I can just feel it!

Unfortunately this one wasn't for me. I am really picky about "coming of age" type books and I wanted to read this for the intrigue, and yet that part was the most ho hum. Her big secret was dramatic yes, but also revealed early on and basically her only personality trait? I just felt like everyone in the book talks reverently about Cate as if she is this amazing mystical person, and yet she fell sooooo flat for me. No personality at all, except that she used people and then cheated on them or left them, and then blamed them all for her problems. Maybe I'm missing something, but I did not find this book all that interesting. I do love the writing and honestly would LOVE to read the fictional novel that Cate "wrote". I appreciated the discussions of coming out, or realizing one's sexuality, which is ALWAYS fascinating and lovely to read about. I also appreciated the theme of how your childhood friendships and loves can really shape who you are forever, but again just most of it wasn't that interesting or novel for me.

I didn’t not finish this book. It wasn’t because I wasn’t interested but I do think it moved very slow for me.

I was anticipating more action closer to the beginning. I may pick this back up again at a different time when I am prepared, or listen to it via audiobook.

Sometimes I feel like I was the only person who loved The Life and Death of Sophie Stark since it went out of print so quickly, but this book reminds me of that title.
There's a lot to like here- good Queer rep, piecing together a person's life through various narratives and points of view, but I get frustrated with misunderstandings and a single person's machinations to derail an person's entire life and relationships. I understand why this deceit was used in terms of the story, and there was a really fun bit with a mail center because of this- this is just a personal pet peeve.
Overall, it was a fun read, but I felt like it could have been more, been deeper and richer. 3.5 Stars