The marketing compares this to Evelyn Hugo and I was definitely skeptical going in, but you know what? I can see that comparison for sure! There’s definitely a similar vibe but this one was very unique and original on its own. At first glance this seems like it may be a bit ambitious as far as structure and plot goes but the author delivered everything in a seamless manner and with a deft hand and I was never confused for a second. There are several points of view, some you only hear from briefly but everyone that does contribute does so for a reason, it’s very thoughtful and purposeful. There’s also a book within a book with I love so much and you also get a queer love story, some mystery, and deeply developed characters and strong writing. I absolutely loved this unique story and highly recommend it when you’re in the mood for a book that is consuming, thought provoking and smart.

"The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets First Lie Wins in this electric, voice-driven debut novel about an elusive bestselling author who decides to finally confess her true identity after years of hiding from her past.

Cate Kay knows how to craft a story. As the creator of a bestselling book trilogy that struck box office gold as a film series, she's one of the most successful authors of her generation. The thing is, Cate Kay doesn't really exist. She's never attended author events or granted any interviews. Her real identity had been a closely guarded secret, until now.

As a young adult, she and her best friend Amanda dreamed of escaping their difficult homes and moving to California to become movie stars. But the day before their grand adventure, a tragedy shattered their dreams and Cate has been on the run ever since, taking on different names and charting a new future. But after a shocking revelation, Cate understands that returning home is the only way she'll be a whole person again."

I LOVE authors who have a secret past! LOVE!

I was worried this book would be cheesy, but I had nothing to worry about. This was an in-depth look at what hiding and self sabotage can take away from your life. The characters were really well developed and had incredible depth, I’m glad we got as many POVs as we did. The formatting was unique and really fit the storyline well. The ending felt like a warm hug and really brought everything full circle.

I was pleasantly surprised by The Three Lives of Cate Kay. At first, I had no idea what was going on, but it pulled me in and didn't let go. The plot is hard to explain. Annie and Amanda are best friends in high school and make plans to run away to Hollywood together. But tragedy strikes and those plans are thwarted. The story is told from many, many points of view, really too many, and I found myself wishing it would move forward a little quicker, but it was a great book and i highly recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this fun, voicy debut! With a propulsive structure, a great, diverse cast of characters, and a storyline that weaves together every thread from start to finish, I can see The Three Lives of Cate Kay having wide appeal.

Our main character is bestselling author Cate Kay, who had an interesting life to say the least. Cate Kay is a pen-name, and no one in the real world knows the real person behind her huge novels aside from her literary manager - and if it's up to that literary manager, it will forever stay that way. But at the urging of her agent, Cate agrees to write a memoir of her experiences, which is the book we're holding. While it's largely written in Cate's words (with footnotes!), she invites other people that played a large role in getting to where she is now to contribute their own sections as well, resulting in alternating POVs and time periods. The story opens when Cate (or rather, who she was before she started writing) was a carefree teenager, and chronicles the years and identities that bring us to the present.

I think it's best to go into this one with less knowledge of the plot as opposed to more, as much of the fun for me was watching the story unfold, slowly understanding more and more how we got from point A to point B. It was addicting in the way that I just wanted to know what happened next, but it also felt like what I think of as a little bit "fizzy" in that it doesn't bring too much depth to get tangled up in. I was admittedly a little slow to connect with the characters at first - it felt like I was watching through a window rather than being in the room with them - but by the end, I really came to care for them. It felt to me that the author had a choice between rich, deep character development and more surface level with heightened entertainment, and while either strategy could have worked here, she went for the latter and truly delivered on the entertainment factor. I was really impressed with how intricately all the various POVs were woven into a cohesive story that worked SO well in a way that felt cinematic.

Kate Fagan (if that's even her real name...) is definitely one to watch, and I'll be looking forward to her next book! Pre-order this one for a late holiday gift for anyone in your life that you think might like to read a book. Thank you so much to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book hooked me from the first chapter! This was a shorter novel, but boy did it pack a punch. There’s so much depth to Annie/Cate/Cass’s story here. The different timelines and the different POV’s just ughhh yesss. The writing was very well done that it wasn’t confusing at all either.

Kate ,with a K, Fagan you are definitely meant for fiction writing!! I’m excited to read the author’s next fiction work.

The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan is an intriguing fictional memoir that explores the complexities of identity, friendship, and ambition. The story follows Annie and reclusive author Cate Kay, navigating their past traumas and present successes.
Fagan's exploration of themes like toxic friendships and professional dilemmas is both thoughtful and engaging, although some plot points seem a little unbelievable.
Overall, The Three Lives of Cate Kay is a decent read with moments of brilliance, without reaching its full potential.
A solid easy read, if you love The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, or Who is Maud Dixon, you will like the 3 lives of Cate Kay.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book felt like a stumbling upon a trail of Hershey kisses. You open one and savor the flavor. But then you want to hurry and get to the next Hershey kiss!

This book will be a best seller no doubt. I enjoyed every moment. Short chapters. Fast pacing. Different POVs. A little web of information that wraps up nicely.

This book was probably the most real book I’ve ever read. The thoughts and insecurities they had…and their reactions to them. Even if some of their reactions were ugly, they were real. And honestly how most of us react to certain scenarios. Humans aren’t perfect and neither are these characters.

Please add this to your TBR for 2025. Because it was delicious. ✨

Thank you NetGalley, the author and the publisher Atria for the advanced copy for my honest review.



(All my opinions are my own. And this is the truest review I could have ever written.)

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7018305750?book_show_action=false

https://www.tiktok.com/@.the.final.chapter/video/7442075402182446367?lang=en

This book is extraordinary.

I could not put it down. From the first chapters I was hooked and flung along with the story of Annie and Amanda and Cass and Cate and Ryan... and it made me so mad that I didn't write it (and couldn't have, I'm not that good) and also inspired to write better books.

Kate Fagan is an incredible writer and has written a remarkable first novel. Just holy shit and wow and I hope it wins a thousand awards.

This book was amazing. It's very interesting, because you are discovering this characters just like you would if they were real people in our world and you were reading their memoir.
I really liked the multi points of view. I feel like it really helped understand what happened, and see through the eyes of more than an unreliable narrator.

You learn about a lot of different dynamics through this book, and through very different lenses.
It's a beautiful story about loss, grief, friendship, love. It's a story about humanity and it's many facets.
I adored the way some part of the story written by Cate Kay mirrored her past or how some part of the adults lives of the characters mirror the past. While I was reading I kept having this moment of "Wait… I know about that! She wore it, she went there, she talked about it". It's full of call back.

From the first page, you get that something big has happened to the narrator, and everything is just a game of discovering what exactly and how deep it impacted her. There's several points of view that are very interesting and add depth to the narration. The writing is incredible too. Definitely an incredible book.

4.5 stars! In my opinion, The Three Lives of Cate Kay will be the next 'it girl' must read. So rarely do you find a book that actually feels like its references in the description rather than a copy and I believe Kate Fagan accomplished that. I look forward to recommending this book due to it's incredible character work as well as amazing use of multi POV.

The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan

We were promised a book similar to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and I completely agree. I loved this book!

We learn about the life of Cate Kay, a prominent author. When she was young, she was called Annie and was inseparable with her best friend, Amanda, then tragedy strikes, Amanda is hurt, Annie is in shock and runs away changing her name to Cassandra Ford or Cass. When Cass meets Sidney, she thinks her life is going to change for the better not realising what type of toxic relationship is in store.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Atria Books for a copy of this eBook in exchange for an honest review.

Girl, the amount of highlighting I did?????

This book is stunning. It reminded me of Taylor Jenkins Reid (there's some Evelyn Hugo here but also Daisy Jones) but it stands as it's own masterpiece. There is so much to love but making your soul ache for your best friend is the stand out emotion.

The characters are so real and imperfect and that is expertly executed through multiple POVs and the ability of Kate Fagan to just write raw emotion on a page. I was so invested that I kept staying up too late to read and kept making audible gasps when the story took one of its many turns.

Yearning is back, people! I think this will be a big book club hit, and I definitely look forward to reading it again!

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my review <3

As a HUGE fan of Evelyn Hugo, this hit all the right notes! I absolutely loved this story and can’t wait to force all my friends to read it. 😂

Oh my God, I really love this book! It’s so powerful! So intense! I understand why it’s compared with Evelyn Hugo, but I think the only things they have in common are that they both are memoirs and queer.
The three lives of Cate Kay is a very original, very powerful book and I was hooked since the first page. I just want to erase my memory and read it again for the first time.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

I will admit that at first I was a little worried that this book was too similar to Evelyn Hugo, but I quickly got over that. This was great writing with complex characters and a lovely story. I also love it when an author doesn’t force feed you every tiny detail but trusts the reader to infer what we need to/when we need to, and in turn the reader can trust that the author will reveal what they need to at just the right time - I think that’s not easy to accomplish but really worked in this case.

One note: I had a hard time with the endnotes being at the end of the chapters instead of footnotes at the bottom of the page. Maybe it’s because I read the ebook, but I found that a little harder to deal with than I would have liked. I love footnotes, and these added a lot to the story, but the placement bugged me.

Thanks, NetGalley for the advanced copy!

This was so good! I was invested in the story. I loved that it switched POVs to tell Annie/Cass/Cate’s story and that she added her comments in footnotes throughout. Very meta. I which there was a little more background on Cass and Sidney’s relationship for that is the catalyst for a lot of events in the book. But overall I loved the characters.

Bravo to Kate Fagan on an incredible debut novel!

Written as if a memoir, we follow the 3 lives of the writer: Annie, Cass and Cate.

Annie, daughter of an alcoholic mother, and her best friend Amanda dream of and aim for lives as successful Hollywood actors. Just before their adventure begins, there is a horrific accident. Fearing the worst case scenario, Annie flees their hometown in a panic and reinvents herself as Cate. Thus begins the journey of trying to escape her past in search of overcoming a guilt ridden past and achieving a pain free future.

The story of Annie/Cass/Cate is detailed with multiple points of view by the supporting characters. Their added viewpoints provide us with expected and at times surprising insights.

This is a beautiful story of friendship, love, guilt, obsession and abandonment. A great kickoff to a new year of reading.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for the complimentary eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love any book about a writer! This one had me at the edge of my seat. It really was gripping and it held my attention the entire time. Despite its fast-paced nature, it also felt like Kate Fagan held a lot of space for emotional depth with these characters.

****Publishing January 7, 2025****

Cate Kay is a successful best-selling author hiding behind three different names and lives. When Cate is asked by her publisher to write a memoir detailing her past, her 3 different lives will come to a head, and she will have to confront the past. Is she ready for this? Can she finally find peace?

A heartfelt and fast-paced story that examines how Cate goes about figuring out who she ultimately is and what she wants in life, but while confronting her troubled past. It’s a book within a book where you not only learn about her three identities, but also about the books she wrote! It definitely keeps you turning the pages to find out her fate. A great book for book clubs as it will lead to many great discussions.

Thanks to Atria Books, I was provided an ARC of The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.