I get why people are raving about this book, even though some of it didn’t work for me. The story is truly compelling. It flew through it because I desperately wanted to know what was going to happen. The structure was perfect - I loved the small chapters and all the different POVs that were scattered throughout to get the whole picture. I also love that it commits to the fact that it is a memoir and tells the story entirely through that lens.

The writing was nice. A few of the lines were the type that hit me in my core. I thought Fagan had some great insights about the world. I, however, did not like the writing of the fictional book, so those excerpts confused me. I didn’t understand why everyone would be going wild over such a mediocre sci-fi book.

I think the main reason this didn’t hit it out of the park for me is it all wraps up too neatly. There are some genuinely bad people in this who aren’t punished for their actions. There are some characters who make misguided choices and everything works out perfectly for them by the end. There are no lasting consequences for anyone - it all capped off in a nice little bow. And I just didn’t find that realistic or satisfying as a resolution. Still a good book, but I don’t think it was as good as it could have been.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for this ARC. The Three Lives of Cate Kay comes out 1/7

What a great way to end my 2024 reading year! This book is everything. Wonderful writing, great characters, super story. Utilizing multiple timelines and character perspectives, but never confusing, the pacing of this book was fantastic. A unique way to tell the story of Cate Kay. It is effective and made me want to keep reading. I can’t wait to read more fiction from this author. Thank you NetGalley for providing the ARC.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with an advanced reader copy of The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan.

The Three Lives of Cate Kay starts with an intriguing premise—one that pulled me in right away. The layered narrative of Cate’s life, intertwined with the lives of those closest to her, created a dynamic and compelling story. I enjoyed the exploration of identity and reinvention, and there were moments that reminded me of novels like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, where a woman’s past slowly unravels through those around her. However, as much as I appreciated the setup, the introduction of numerous characters at different stages felt a bit overwhelming and occasionally detracted from the emotional core of Cate’s journey.

While the first half of the book felt dense and occasionally meandering, the second half was much more engaging. I found myself flying through the final chapters, eager to piece together the mystery and uncover how Cate’s story would conclude. There were stretches where the pacing slowed, but ultimately, the desire to understand Cate’s choices and the consequences of her actions kept me invested. The complexity of Cate’s relationships—particularly with her best friend and t mother and others from her past—added emotional weight, even if certain plot points felt a little scattered.

The writing itself is thoughtful and evocative, though at times it veers into over-explaining. I appreciated the glimpses into Cate’s internal struggles, but I felt some scenes could have been condensed for a tighter, more cohesive narrative. The “story within a story” element was interesting, but I wasn’t entirely convinced it added as much depth as intended. For me, the heart of the novel lay in the raw, genuine moments between Cate and those who shaped her life.

Despite its flaws, The Three Lives of Cate Kay ultimately left a positive impression. The emotional beats hit hard, and Fagan’s portrayal of complicated friendships, personal ambition, and the desire for reinvention resonated with me. It’s not a perfect read, but it’s one I’d still recommend—particularly for readers who enjoy multi-layered stories that blend character-driven drama with a touch of mystery.

Thank you again to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.75 ✭
Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with a copy of The Three Lives of Cate Kay.
From the very beginning, I was captivated by Annie's story and find it very unique. It reminded me a little bit of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, being about a woman navigating her complex world.
I liked the writing, however, as much as I was invested in the characters, I began to lost interest near the end of the book, specially because I thought the plot was predictable. Overwall, I still would recommend this book and I think it had a good narrative with a good message and great characters.

Fantastic. Not a slow or boring moment. The story of Annie and her best friend, Amanda. They are as close as can be with big plans for after graduation. Then, tragedy befalls the pair.

As time passes, we see how the pair suffers and are never far from one another. Annie hides from her past while becoming a wildly successful author with so much happening from being mistreated and falling in love. All the while, Amanda is left to try to navigate life.

Despite the turmoil and emotional distress in this book, there’s hope and growth with this compelling and quick paced book.

Advanced reader copy provided by Atria and NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

"we're all so much more, and less, than our best, or worst, moment"

A wonderfully woven story about a story - about a hidden author and how she lives and writes under her pseudonym. The story starts when Annie is young - and it's told not only from our main character POV but also from those her life bumped against and were affected. It's a great way to tell the story, through those that knew Annie as well as Annie. It gives us moments from other POV and also shows some of the cracks of how you see yourself versus how others see you. The story itself is a great mystery along with many other genres. I loved getting to know the characters and wondering how all the pieces would fit together. The addition of Annie's story within the story was another added addition and one that helped build the pieces to see the full picture. This story felt refreshing and unique. I loved it!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

I found the second half to be much better than the first… which is kinda rare?
I felt like the first was just all “telling the story” with no dialogue. Second half was much more immersive.

-Easy enjoyable read but with some parts were too far fetched to me
- I didn’t love the addition of the “book inside a book” aspect of this one

📚 PRE-PUBLICATION BOOK REVIEW 📚

The Three Lives of Cate Kay By Kate Fagan
Publication Date: January 7, 2025
Publisher: Atria Books

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
(4.5 ⭐ - Rounded Up To 5⭐)

📚MY REVIEW:

I didn't really know what to expect with The Three Lives of Cate Kay, but its synopsis piqued my interest and I decided to give it a try. And oh my gosh! This book was UNPUTDOWNABLE for me - the story absolutely pulled me in and I was enthralled with this read from the very beginning.

This book featured themes of love, friendships, secrets, lesbian relationships, unrequited love, and learning to live confidently within one's own skin. It had an atmospheric vibe with a slow burning storyline. Though it was a general adult fiction book, it contained many of my favorite elements: multiple POVs, short chapters, brilliant character development, multiple timelines, secrets, and even a little mystery.

This is a fictional story, written in the style of a non-fiction memoir, about a best-selling author who hides her true identity from the entire world. The story begins with two teenage best friends, Annie and Amanda, who are inseparable and plan to move to LA together after high school graduation. But a tragic event changes their plans and Annie leaves town on her own, changing her name to Cass after she leaves. To help her process her past, Cass writes a novel under the pseudonym Cate Kay, clinging ferociously to the secret of her real identity.

While this story was incredibly captivating to me, there was a lot going on. I struggled, at times, with the myriad of multiple POVs and the plethora of timelines throughout the book. It seemed like nearly every character in the book got at least one chapter to share their perspective about something that happened. And I always had to double check the time period at the start of every chapter. These things were great for character depth and perspective, but there were times this created unnecessary confusion for me and stopped the natural flow of the read. It didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of the book, however.

I was truly blown away by the riveting storylines in this debut novel from Fagan! If you love richly developed and strong female characters and emotional storylines, or if you're looking to read books with positive representations of the LGBTQIA+ community, The Three Lives of Cate Kay needs to be one of the first books you put on your TBR list in January 2025! Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this advanced e-copy of the book in exchange for my honest review!

#TheThreeLivesofCateKay #KateFagan #AtriaBooks #NetGalley #NetGalleyReviews #ARC #debutnovel #slowburn #characterdriven #generaladultfiction #womensfiction #LGBTQIAreads #booklover #bookreviews #bookrecs #bookrecommendations

I was not ready for this. For two reasons. This is NOT a thriller and should not be compared to First Lie Wins. But secondly, this was one of the best contemporary fiction books I have read in a long time. The characters were realistic, I mean people live this way. I have browsed reviews and someone said the book lacked realism because none of the characters went to therapy. How many people do you know IRL who avoid therapy and their feelings? This was a well crafted, beautifully written story about accepting your mistakes and knowing that you can’t hide out forever, no matter how hard you try. I seriously highly recommend this book as your first read in 2025. Thank me later.

The three lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan, when the book 1st started when she gets the manuscript from her ex lover/Manager and starts telling us the story I was really into the book and even when her and her BFF were growing up making plans to run away to Hollywood I still was down with the book, but somewhere between that in the middle of the book I lost interest it all just felt like minutia and something either uninterest or convoluted to my taste. once again we come to the summary not being the books reality and I just couldn’t go through it again. I tried my best to finish and almost did at 76%, but when they walked in the pizza shop and she said if he says hello, we get cheese if he says anything else we get whatever… I was just not down with the book anymore and couldn’t go any further. Having said that I could see me liking this book as a younger reader but not so much today. I really dislike not liking a book and I’m sorry to the author, but the book has 4.1 stars on Goodreads so this review may not make a difference. #NetGalley, #KateFagan, #The3LivesOfCateKay,#AtriaBooks,

An advanced copy of a debut author of a book I haven’t yet seen on bookstagram? Always a gamble but WOW DID IT PAY OFF THIS TIME! In my top five books of this year and sorry you have to wait til next year but I am honored to (probably) be the first to tell you about it. I loved this book so much - found it to be both page turning and heart warming and will be recommending it to all my friends

Synopsis: A best-selling author who has never revealed her identity to the public decides to share her story with the world after coming to terms with her tragic past.

Thoughts: What a lovely debut! This cleverly written story is crafted through the lenses of multiple characters contributing to a memoir of sorts. It adds a lot of depth to see the story through different lenses, and the author does a great job of tying them together and keeping everything cohesive. The characters are well-developed with a depth and complexity that I found to be super impressive for a debut novel. I won’t say much about the story itself because I think this is one you should go into blind, but it is definitely an intriguing page-turner!

Read this if you like:
✏️ fictional memoirs
✏️ literary fiction
✏️ lgbtq+ rep
✏️ multiple pov

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC! I truly couldn’t put this book down, and even though there were moments when I questioned some decisions made by the characters or was frustrated by a miscommunication, that level of complexity of these characters and their relationships is what ultimately made this great.

This book follows Annie from her youth alongside her best friend Amanda, and after a life changing event, her transition to become Cass, and publishing her bestseller novels under pseudonym Cate Kay. I was moved reading about the childhood friendship between Annie and Amanda, and without giving away any spoilers, I was constantly trying to rationalize the choices made by Annie. I love a story that really makes me think and question what I would do when faced with such a difficult situation, and I imagine I will think about this story and these characters for a long time!

Know that this might be a bit confusing at first-who among the voices is the author of the book that Ryan, an actress, falls hard for. It's a clever device. And that makes this difficult to review without spoilers as new readers should have the same opportunity to watch the onion be peeled. I liked the different povs and I especially liked the small easter eggs throughout. It's sort of a coming of age story, sort of a sapphic romance, sort of a tale of Hollywood-and it's really good. You'll see characters grow. And there are little bits (Soulcycle!) that might make you laugh. Thanks to Netgalley for the ArC. I'm loathe to write more except to highly recommend it because I really enjoyed this.

I loved this story! For me, it had a little bit of everything. I’m a sucker for a story with multiple points of view, and loved how Kate Fagan brilliantly weaved this story together.

Cate Kay is a world famous author who penned a bestselling trilogy. Due to a tragic secret from her past, she chooses to remain anonymous, even as her stories take on a life of their own. When her past finally catches up with her, she finally decides to share her own story with the world.

This story reads like a memoir, but with the addition of multiple points of view. While most of the book is told by Cate/Cass/Annie, I love how we get to see how the lives of different characters, both big and small, intertwined with hers.

This story came together beautifully through past memories, multiple narratives and timelines, and even excerpts from Cate’s best selling novel.

If I had one fault with this book it would be that they ending felt a bit rushed for me and I still felt like there were questions left unanswered.

I am so thrilled that I has the opportunity to read this story before its release. I can’t wait for everyone else to get their hands on this book. Thank you to Net Galley and Atria Books for an advanced copy. I love that this was my final read of the year!!

The premise held up here. This was a delicious read, getting me invested at every moment. Though the plot outline may not have seemed exciting, the writing was absolutely gorgeous, and the emotions beautiful.

This book was like candy, but not your typical sugary, fluffy stuff. I craved picking it back up when I wasn’t reading it.

The characters were rich, and the interwoven POVs were a great way of adding elements of surprise. I can’t believe this is rhetorical author’s first fictional novel. But then I realized she wrote What Made Maddy Run, which is one of the best nonfiction long-form journalism books I’ve ever read. She is a force and I’m so glad to see this other side of her work.

I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time.

One quick note: the blurb compares to Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, which does a disservice to both authors. Try not to pit the two against each other.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the early review copy. This one will be popular!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan.

Cate Kay, a mysteriously anonymous, yet wildly famous author, has been known by many names. This book is written in chapters that cover different time lines, told by multiple people about the mysterious Cate Kay. Her roots were humble, and there was a time when her and her best friend Amanda were going to become famous actresses together. But when tragedy strikes, "Cate" flees her life in search for an escape and fresh start.

This book has everything, romance, betrayal, redemption, and friendship. I struggled to put it down, the characters were so knowable, and the story had me frustrated and intrigued. I really enjoyed this book.

“The Very Last” book trilogy by Cate Kay has been turned into a movie, a broadway show, and even a theme park ride… but still, no one knows who Cate Kay really is. Framed as Cate Kay’s memoir, with chapters from people in her life at various stages, The Three Lives of Cate Kay reveals her true identity and what she was running away from, but it also brings the reader along on her journey to reconcile with her past.

The writing was good, and I love a book within a book, so the excerpts from The Very Last were a fun way to get a glimpse into Cate Kay’s mind. My favorite character was Carl - a minor player, but he had such a sweet story. Overall, this was a good read and a solid start for the author, as it’s her first novel.

A few things I didn’t love: I found most of the characters difficult to like, even the ones I was supposed to be rooting for, and characters like Sidney don’t get the consequences they deserve. Several of the relationships seemed kind of toxic or at least unhealthy. I would have liked to keep guessing for a while longer what had happened to Amanda - it was revealed so early, and it felt like a missed opportunity to build suspense and intrigue. The other characters’ POV was sometimes useful and/or interesting, but it felt a little disjointed as part of the “memoir,” and I got a little lost in time trying to keep track of the flashbacks/memories.

This is not a thriller, and I wouldn’t call it a mystery either. The story is more about Cate Kay, her true identity, and her life and relationships. I think the Evelyn Hugo comparison is a little unfair to this book, but if you enjoy that type of story, you might like this too.

Billed as The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets First Lie Wins, this is all but guaranteed to be one of the buzziest fiction debuts of early 2025. While I didn't see any similarity to First Lie Wins, the Evelyn Hugo comparison holds up. (Bonus: this version includes much better queer rep from an author who is queer herself.)

The book is entertaining and easy to read -- I blew through most of it in a day -- but I found myself a little let down in the wake of such rave early reviews.

I think a lot of the writing choices strip the book of its emotional impact. In giving so many characters ample time to present their own perspectives, the readers wind up having too much information and major plot twists are crystal clear from miles away. I don't want to spoil the ending but I feel multiple significant moments are glossed over or even left completely offscreen -- it took some time for me to get attached to these characters and then once I did, I was left without any payoff.

I worry it's just a teensy bit overrated... but I feel this way about Evelyn Hugo too, so it's an apt comparison. I do think it would be a fun book club selection for many readers!

3.5 stars rounded up