i thought the narrative was pretty interesting and i found the main character compelling; however (this may be a marketing issue), i thought this novel would be more of a thriller based on the comparison to first lie wins and was a little caught off guard that it was more of a character exploration. i also found it slightly unbelievable that seemingly every character in this novel was super attractive?

it was easy to get through and a fun read, and overall i enjoyed it and do see the similarities to evelyn hugo.

Cate Kay, author of the hottest best-selling trilogy, is a mystery. Nobody knows her face, or her real name, but she’s finally ready to share her story. This book is her memoir: it starts when she was a teenager daydreaming with her best friend about being famous. They were going to go to Hollywood and become eternal. But something went very wrong…


The Three Lives of Cate Kay tells the story of Annie using several POVs that get to know her in different states of her life. The blurb promises The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo vibes and I have to admit they were there, even if the books are very different.


My relationship with this book wasn’t great at first. I was moved only by the mystery surrounding Annie/Cass/Cate and kept mourning the fact that I didn’t really care about any POV besides Ryan’s. That would be my main critique of the book: I couldn’t connect with the other main characters until the 60-70%. At first I thought the author didn’t want me to understand and love them, but by the end of the book I decided it probably wasn’t done on purpose.


In any case, the suspense kept me entertained and I ended up caring for Cate and the others. I think this is a story a lot of people are going to enjoy: it’s fast paced and fun to read, with the Hollywood glamor some readers adore in the background. I advise to go in blind, because I enjoyed a lot not having any idea of how everything was going to end and liked how the author executed it.


*Rating: 3.5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria for providing this ARC!

I have really mixed feelings on this one. I so wanted it to be a 5 star read after reading all the praise, but I’m currently hovering between 3 and 4 stars.

There was a lot that I loved. I thought the premise was really interesting and unique, and the writing style really had me hooked. I also enjoyed the multiple POVs, and thought it was so interesting to hear from even the most inconsequential characters in Cate’s life.

But what really frustrated me were all those wasted years over nothing. Ryan and Cate spent years pining for each other from afar, all due to a misunderstanding that could’ve been cleared up by a single phone call. Amanda and Cate spent years on anger, guilt, and blame that could’ve been avoided by a proper Google search.

These characters refused to pick up the phone but were all about grand gestures—sending a handwritten note from LA to NYC, moving to Charleston to watch the filming of the movies, and randomly driving around the streets of Bolton Landing in search of Cate.

I also thought Cate’s reclusiveness and determination to live such an empty life went a bit too far. Years of being a bestselling author without even reading fan mail? I just wasn’t buying it.

Lastly, while I did get some Evelyn Hugo vibes, I think the comparison to First Lie Wins (which for the record, I loved) isn’t accurate and does both this book and readers a disservice.

Overall I still quite enjoyed this book. I’m glad I read it and know a lot of other readers would love it even more.

An amazing novel by Kate Fagan. A story filled with strong characters with complicated relationships and how those relationships change as the characters mature. The ending will leave you content as the author ties up all the loose ends. I truly enjoyed reading this book.
The story is told through multiple points of view with strong attention given to the relationships of all the characters. It is the perfect book for anyone who wants to read a story with substance.
Thank you to Atria Books for the gifted ARC provided by NetGalley. All opinions are my own and given voluntarily.

Cate Kay is a bestselling author and no one knows who she really is. Cate Kay is a pseudonym and she's been running from a tragic accident that occurred when she was a teenager. She doesn't even know what happened. This is the story of Cate Kay and how she finally returns home.

This book is a gripping tale that hooks you in from the opening pages and keeps you so engaged that you never want to put it down.

I’ve read Kate Fagan’s non-fiction, so I knew she was a gifted writer and talented story-teller. In her debut novel, Kate blew me away from the book’s premise to the plot’s gripping twists and turns. I was so mesmerized by Cate Kay’s world that I missed it immediately upon finishing. I honestly can’t wait to see this book again!

After the emotional whirlwind of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I was eager to find a novel that could evoke a similar sense of connection and depth. The Three Lives of Cate Kay did just that, pulling me into its world and holding me captive until the last page.

The story follows Cate Kay, a complex protagonist whose life unfolds across three distinct chapters. Each "life" reveals different facets of her personality, struggles, and triumphs, making her a deeply relatable and multifaceted character. The author masterfully weaves themes of identity, love, and resilience throughout Cate's journey, making her experiences resonate on a profound level.

What I appreciated most about the book was its pacing; it kept me on my toes with unexpected twists and turns. The writing is both lyrical and engaging, drawing me in with vivid descriptions and emotionally charged dialogue. I found myself completely absorbed, often losing track of time as I navigated through Cate's joys and heartbreaks.

The supporting characters are equally well-developed, each adding richness to Cate's story. Their interactions illuminate different aspects of her life and choices, making her journey feel all the more poignant. The exploration of relationships—both romantic and platonic—adds depth to the narrative, showcasing the complexities of human connection.

Overall, The Three Lives of Cate Kay is a beautifully crafted tale that captivates and moves in ways I hadn’t anticipated. It’s a perfect read for anyone who enjoyed the emotional heft of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I couldn’t put it down, and I’m still reflecting on Cate’s journey long after finishing. Highly recommended!

I whole heartedly implore you to read this book.

I love multiple POV stories. This was such a relatable story with how tragedies can affect your relationships. Very well done.

*alexa play “the bolter” by taylor swift*

I love books that walks you through such a portion of someone’s life and this one does it in a beautiful and captivating way. Divided in shorts chapters with multiple POVs, it leaves you always waiting for more.

It honestly took me some time to get into it, but once I hit the 25%, I was GLUED to it. And now that it’s over, I already feel nostalgic about it.

If you love reading about complex characters and relationships, sapphic yearning and co-dependent friendships, you’ll devour this one! Bonus points for identity and fame, as well.

That’s also why I think it could be a perfect book club pick! I really hope it’ll get the success and love it deserves.

Thank you to NetGalley and AtriaBooks for the ARC!!

I LOVED this book. It’s one of those books that stay with you while you’re not reading them. There I was trying to do the dishes while I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters and what they were doing.

A few things that I loved:
-The friendship. It was very easy for me to connect with young Annie, even if her childhood was nothing like mine.
-The characters. Even the ones that were doing things that left me thinking in acronyms (OMG and WTF were super common), I feel like their actions were believable and well presented.
-The story within the story. I liked the premise for The Very Last. At first I didn’t love the snippets of the book, I felt like they were too compact and rushed to get the story across without creating a whole new book inside the book, but after a while it made sense that The Very Last didn’t have the best quality because it was the first book a teenager was writing.

Overall, I really REALLY loved this book. We need more Kate Fagan books asap!

Favorite quote: “It’s like you hold me steady, but without holding me still.”

-Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was great, I loved the multiple POV. Overall a very enjoyable read. I would recommend it to my friends to read.

Wow! This book really blew me away. From the first chapter I was hooked! I love the way Kate told this story, sharing perspectives of people we met as we read. I felt like I was along for the journey with these characters, especially Cass, in such a real way. The story and writing style are so fun and unique. It’s a book within a book within a book. It’s bookception in the best possible way!
I just finished reading it and wanted to sit with it before writing my review but I just can’t. I’m too excited to not gush about how much I loved it. However, I know I’m going to be thinking about this books and these characters for a long long time.
While I’ve noticed several comparisons to other novels, it actually reminded me a lot of Daisy Jones and the Six in the way the story was told. While it isn't the same at all, the way Kate tells the story from so many perspectives created a similar feeling.
Honestly, it was a fantastic novel and I know it’s going to be an easy recommendation from me to anyone who asks. Do yourself a favor and read it!

The Three Lives of Cate Kay is intelligently written and has characters the reader will care about. What drew me to the novel was the premise of an incredibly famous author hiding behind her pseudonym. I was intrigued from the first chapter and could not put the novel down.

The reclusive author, who is the main character in the story, is running away from a traumatic experience involving her best friend. Throughout the novel, we read different vignettes that beautifully describe the friendship between the two girls and their dreams to escape their small upstate New York town. Although the novel jumps between time periods and has multiple points of view, each chapter is labeled with the date and the character’s name, so the reader can clearly follow. The author is skilled in that each voice sounds different and moves the plot along. All the characters are very interesting, including a Hollywood star and a cutthroat attorney. The settings include NYC, Hollywood, and Charleston.

This was a most enjoyable novel with an incredibly satisfying conclusion.

This was an enjoyable read. Excellent use of multiple POVs. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

4.25 stars!

Thank you to Kate Fagan and Atria Books for an ARC in exchange for my full, honest review!

This was a really pleasant surprise! Contemporary fiction isn't usually my thing but I really liked the premise and one of my friends also received an early copy and enjoyed it, so I thought I'd give it a shot. The Three Lives of Cate Kay is a queer contemporary novel that definitely draws from books like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo but with a little more intrigue and multiple POVs (we will come back to this).

First, the good stuff, which is most of the stuff in this case! While I think this is fairly plot-heavy, there's a lot of care put into the character development which I enjoyed. The differences in accounting events between different povs show aspects of characters (particularly Cate/Cass/Annie and Sidney) in a super interesting way and led some credibility to the fact that this is a fictional memoir and those kinds of discrepancies would really happen in this kind of book. In general, I thought the multiple povs were a really good decision, both because I'm a fan of multiple povs in general and because it fleshed out events in a way I don't think would have been possible otherwise considering how complex it gets. The plot was the perfect amount of complex to be really engaging while not overly confusing. I just thought this was entertaining and well done all around and I think it's going to do really well on release.

Some minor notes I have: Personally, I wish it got just a messier/darker. The paths it goes down had some real potential for mess and I think the author might have shied back a bit, but I think a darker plot would have made me a little more emotionally invested overall. I will say that there are some points in the writing, particularly towards the beginning, where the writing feels a little derivative, or maybe just predictable for the genre. Maybe it's just because I'm not a contemporary fiction fan but those moments made me cringe a bit.

Generally, I totally recommend this. I think fans of this genre and Taylor Jenkins Reid will go crazy for it if even my sci-fi/fantasy-obsessed ass could get behind it. It's definitely worth your time!

Happy reading!

This is one of those odd books where the past events are a lot more interesting than the present ones. I wish the story had been told more linearly with fewer POVs. That said the underlying fury and character in this book made it hard to put down!

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley. I got a little confused over some of the back and forth in the beginning, but then realized that the chapters are clearly labeled with each character's name which helps greatly. This is a book about love and forgiveness and how our choices can reverberate through our lives. I did like most of the characters and loved to hate some of the others so I was invested in the storylines.

This book grabbed me from the first chapter and never let go. The characters were complex, yet likeable, (except for one). The story telling from multiple character points of view kept the story moving at a quick pace and I could barely put the book down. I will be recommending this book to all my friends, this is definitely a must read.

Thank you to the published Atria Books who provided the ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Three Lives of Cate Kay is a loving story about female relationships that I didn't know I needed until I read it.

The way the chapters interweave to create this tapestry of the main characters’ lives was a delight to read. It's a beautiful tale of human nature, female friendships, love (the real kind), and the queer identity. It was beautifully written and I'll be thinking about these characters for a long time.

I felt quite emotional reading this characters as they aged and the narrative followed their lives and careers. I am now the age that the characters are at the end of the book, and it made me feel renewed hope for the future to come. So much can change in a decade!

I think this is a great read for fans of Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Normal People. You will enjoy reading about a love story over time, and the obstacles to living as your authentic selves - though the stakes in this do feel lower than those first two examples.

My only critique is that I do wish some of the story had happened on page, rather than not, but within the context of the books narration, it makes sense. I’m just a greedy reader.

An uncomplicatedly enjoyable read.

Thank you to Net Galley and Atria Books for the ARC. This was insanely good and so clever! I love how mysterious Cate Kay's life is and how all the different POVs fit together to help us understand who she is and what happened in her life. I also enjoyed the excerpts from the novel Cate Kay writes. I love the various relationships between Cate Kay and Amanda, Sydney, and Ryan. This book is full of sapphic yearning, messy relationships, and heart breaking moments. I really love how the author executed this concept in a way that makes it feel like they are holding my heart in their hands and gently squeezing. The ending was really touching.