THE THREE LIVES OF CATE KAY by Kate Fagan started off so interesting - there's a book inside a book inside a book! Popular author Cate Kay is finally ready to reveal her identity and tell her story via memoir. What's to discover is why she's hid her identity as a bestselling author for so long.

This story drew me in - I read the first 37% in one sitting. I liked how much was going on (we get perspectives other than Annie/Cass'), but I did feel that the characters verged on stereotypes at times. It also seemed like the reader got a great deal more detail at the beginning of the book than at the end, which I didn't love.

There's also the kind of continuity error that I can't not see (I may have been around 3.5 stars, rounded up for 4, but that knocked my rating down to 3). To be sure, that may be fixed prior to publication, and I'd try another novel from Fagan.

Thank you so much to Net Galley and the publishers for this ARC copy. I was skeptic going into this book as it’s been compared to the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo and I absolutely love the writing in that book. That being said, I can’t believe this is a debut novel?! I was hooked from the start, I loved getting to see chapters from various characters in the story and how their perception of what happened changes. I’m so glad I got to read this book because it truly was phenomenal and it kept me entertained during a very long travel day!

The Three Lives of Cate Kay was by far the best book I read this year. Love the characters depth and how well developed the story is. Great turning, great context, great novel. I would absolutely recommend this book to a friend!

A unique and well written novel following the life of an author. Annie and Amanda are best friends until a tragic event leads Annie to flee her hometown and start over. Changing her name to Cass, Annie writes a novel under a pseudonym, and as the book gains popularity, Cass embarks on a journey through loves and betrayals. The novel is unique by alternating chapters between Cass née Annie, and the points of view of the other characters in the story. From Bolton Landing, NY, to LA to Charleston, Annie keeps her identity a secret. Recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

The Three Lives of Cate Kay is an impressive debut from Kate Fagan. This is a character driven book that tells the story of one woman's life through the lenses of the three identities she used . Written partly in the form of a fictional memoir and with chapters from the perspectives of several other characters, the story moves quickly and the author does a very good job of drawing the reader in. This is helped by the almost conversational writing style which makes it feel like Cate is telling the reader her secrets. Cate Kay is a pseudonym for a best selling author whose identity remains a mystery to all but a very select few, but she now feels like the time has come for her to reveal the truth about her past and her identity, Born as Annie she grew up in a single parent household with an alcoholic mother and the best thing in her life was her friendship with Amanda, a kindred spirit who is always there for Annie and knows her better than anyone. The friendship seems to be blooming into something more until the day that everything changes and Annie flees to the city and her new identity of Cass, a struggling barista whose dreams of becoming a famous actress seem further away than ever, but who begins to write a story that will later be published under the name Cate Kay, the first in a best selling trilogy that will make her one of the most famous authors in the world. This period of her life is complicated, she befriends law student Sidney in an introductory writing class and they quickly become lovers and enter into a relationship that is both personal and professional. There is nobody that Cass trusts more but it seems like that trust may be misplaced. When her best selling debut is optioned by a studio to be developed into a movie Cass meets Ry. a young closeted actress who is desperate to land her dream role and quickly becomes infatuated , though it seems that the feelings are mutual until things go wrong yet again.
This is a book filled with complex relationships from childhood best friends and first crushes to unhealthy or even toxic romances and I was there for all of it, I found that I was immediately hooked by the opening of the book and I finished it in just a couple of sittings. If I had to pick a fault I think there could have been more of an effort to make the various character voices more distinctive, there were times when I found myself having to check back to see which character perspective I was in but that is a minor quibble. I found the pacing to be quite propulsive, especially in the second half of the book as the secrets from Annie/Cass/Cate's past came bubbling back up to the surface and I was excited to see how it would all pan out., thankfully the ending of the book was every bit as satisfactory as I was hoping for.
I read an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an eARC copy.

This story is at the same time entertaining and heartfelt. The book has been advertised highlighting the similarities with another well known fiction - The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo - and while I see where that came from, I think this is so much different, and since I was not the biggest fan of the other, I liked The three lives of Cate Kay more than I planned.
For sure there are irritating characters, but the plot and the yearning for more, kind of makes up for the annoyance.
What I liked the most in this novel is the depiction of deep friendship and platonic love.
And last but not least, I found the writing style marvelous, easy to read but so good.

If you like TJR you’ll love this, and if you don’t, you’ll probably like this anyway because it is different.

DNF Review • This feels like a book that will work much better for other readers than it did for me. At just 300 pages and with a mystery at its heart, I hoped it would be a quick and compelling read. Unfortunately, I just did not feel invested in the story at all. This book is the fictional memoir of a bestselling author who has had three different identities throughout her lifetime and is finally revealing her story. It is told through multiple points of view in relatively short chapters. Although that helped the pace, it made me significantly less invested in the characters. The voices felt the same -- I had to flip back a few times to remind myself who was supposed to be narrating (and what their connection was with the main characters). For those reasons, I decided to put this one down.

This was an emotional rollercoaster but the best kind. A must read for 2025. Beautifully written and engaging. Never a dull moment. Annie, Cass, Cate Kay, Annie, Amanda, Ryan. I only wish I could have seen more chapters from Amanda and Ryan at the end.

I don’t know how to review this book without spoilers, but I will do my best. For starters, I was instantly hooked by Cate Kay’s voice. I loved the conversational writing style and the way she spoke to the reader. It made the book easy to read and made me instantly like Cate Kay as the main character and narrator. And I continued to like her, despite her mistakes and bad decisions. I also liked that there were other perspectives mixed in, though I didn’t find the voices particularly unique. But my favorite thing about this book was the way it examined love and relationships. There were so many emotionally rich connections between characters, and that love often drove them to do the wrong things for the right reasons. It was amazing nuance. However, I did struggle a bit with the level of miscommunication, lying, manipulating, gaslighting, and generally unhealthy behaviors in many of these relationships. As for the plot, I found it a bit weak and anticlimactic. I did love the ending though. So overall this was an enjoyable read.

3.5 ⭐️ thank you atria and netgalley for the arc!! the three lives of cate kay was an enjoyable and fast paced read. i really loved cass/cate’s relationships with ry and amanda, and even sidney- but in a “she’s psychotic” way. however, i think that cass herself lacked depth as a character. she’s completely stuck in her past until her mid-thirties; please go to therapy!!
i see why this is being marketed to fans of evelyn hugo and i would recommend it to anyone who likes tjr- i could definitely feel the tjr influence in this book.

Told from multiple viewpoints, The Three Lives of Cate Kay is a fictional memoir unlike anything else I've read. Cate Kay aka Cass Ford aka Annie Callahan is a mysterious writer who has kept her identity secret despite her trilogy of books, The Very Last, rocketing her to stardom. Each chapter is told by varying characters taking us through Annie's life as she transforms to Cass and hides behind Cate.

I really enjoyed this book - I loved the multiple POV and found it particularly fun that Cate/Cass/Annie would put in her thoughts as if she were reading these recollections from each different character. Seeing the progression of. the chapter titles through Annie & Cass was also this great insight into where we were with her development. It also felt extra special as even minor characters got their moment in the sun, I found that particularly touching for Carl, the man in charge of the P.O. Boxes. The quote: "The trick of life, as I see it now, is to make what's around you beautiful. It'll grow from there. Took me a long time to see that." really embodies so much of the book and I highlighted and double underlined it while I read it.

Kate Fagan also expertly depicts what it's like to have a Best friend with a capital B between Amanda and Annie. There are so many moments throughout the book, but my favorite is how she captures the lexicon of friendship where you have these inside jokes and vernacular particular to you and your bestie. These get woven into the snippets of The Very Last that we get throughout the book as well.

Finally, of course, the different kinds of love as Annie/Cass stumbles her way through relationships - her unrequited love with Amanda, her situationship with Sidney, and her longing for Ryan.

All in all, I highly recommend this book - it's wonderfully queer, the character development is just lovely, and will be a great way for anyone to start of their 2025 reading.

Thank you so much to Atria Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

I went into this expecting great things based on some other reviews I’d read but it ended up being three stars for me. Three stars, for me, means while I didn’t enjoy all of it, I know there is a huge market for this and others will love it.
I found myself having to go back and reread sections to make sense of who was who and what stage of life I was reading about.
I’ve read some excellent books wherein the plot is about writing a book but this one left me scratching my head at times.
However, if you enjoy sapphic romance, books about someone writing a book, and characters who are actors, I would recommend this.
The one aspect I loved was the relation to Lawrence, KS and the University of Kansas - my Alma mater! Rock Chalk Jayhawk - Go KU!

Unique and fun! This is being advertised as a Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo/First Lie Wins mash up and it certainly has vibes from both.

Nobody knows who Cate Kay really is even though she is one of the best selling authors of her generation. She is a mystery. But she’s ready to tell her story and this book is her memoir. It all begins in her childhood as she and her best friend dream about moving to Hollywood and becoming famous. But something goes terribly wrong…and you’ll just have to read it for yourself to find out the rest!

Thank you Netgalley, Atria Books and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on January 7, 2025

‘The Three Lives of Cate Kay’ is a memoir detailing the main character’s life and three identities: Anne (Annie) Marie Callahan, Cass Ford and Cate Kay. There was a lot to like about this book. I enjoyed the authors’ writing style and I thought she did an excellent job of conveying the relationship between characters without being tedious. The relationship between Annie and Amanda (her childhood best friend) was engaging and I enjoyed their character growth throughout the book. That being said, I felt it was difficult to keep the timeline straight in the first half because the book jumped around between years and POV. I also felt some characters were underutilized and did not contribute much, making me question why they were “interviewed” for the memoir. Additionally, I felt underwhelmed by her second identity, Cass Ford. So few people knew “Cass Ford” that creating a third identity felt a bit unnecessary. Overall, this was a solid fiction debut and I will definitely check out future books by this author.

4.25/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

SYNOPSIS
- Cate Kay is a bestselling author whose trilogy became a film series—but she isn’t real. She’s never appeared in public or given interviews, and her true identity has remained hidden.
- Years ago, she and her friend Amanda planned to move to Hollywood after highschool. Then, on the eve of their departure, tragedy struck. Ever since, Cate has lived under assumed names, fleeing her past. Now a shocking discovery forces her to return home and reclaim who she really is.

MY THOUGHTS
- I am clearly in the minority here, as you can tell from the rave reviews on Goodreads.
- I struggled my way all the way through this one 👀 Each chapter felt like it was coming from the same voice, with no clear distinctions or defining traits.
- There isn’t much character development, and I am not a fan of the execution or writing style.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐ This one wasn’t for me, but judging by the rave reviews on Goodreads, I am in the minority here

Thanks to Atria Books & Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchanges for an honest review. This book will be published on January 7, 2025.

This is a perfect book for book clubs. There is so much to unpack. First loves. Strong friendships. Can we ever really escape our pasts? I couldn't stop turning the pages. I was absolutely enthralled. I know this is going to be a much talked about book.

The Three Lives of Cate Kay tells the story of Ann that after going by many names and running from something incredibly traumatic ends up as Cate Kay, a wildly famous writer that nobody knows the real identity of. It's set as a memoir written from many different points of view to tell her story from childhood up to the moment she comes clean to the world about who she is and tries to mend relationships. Despite the different POVs technically being written by different characters I couldn't say their voices were wildly different but the writing still had me engaged and hooked. I kept wanting to return to the book so I could see the mystery of who Cate Kay really was unfold. It made me go through almost every emotion I can think of!

It's also a sapphic story that captures really well being in love with your childhood friend and then needing to outgrow that to find yourself. That was perhaps my favourite part as, sadly, the main romance followed a trope I'm not always into. (Being deeply in love after only knowing someone for a couple weeks but I do understand the feeling of wondering what it could have been long after it was over.)

Lastly, the only thing keeping me from a higher rating is there was a number of plot holes and moments I really needed to try hard to suspend my disbelief but I still really enjoyed this book and do recommend it!

Sadly ,I've had to do a soft dnf for now and come back to the book in the future. I think the writing was very good. Based on what I've read so far I would still recommend this to people I know would love this type of story.

I grabbed this book, without having read anything about it, as soon as I saw it available on NetGalley. I’ve read What Made Maddy Run by Kate Fagan and used to listen to her podcast with her wife, Kathryn Budig, so I was excited to see she was now writing fiction.

I would recommend going into The Three Lives of Cate Kay the same way I did - without reading too much about it. It will not disappoint. I really like the way Fagan writes, and at right around 300 pages, it’s a pretty quick read that I had trouble putting down. I will absolutely be recommending this to friends and as a pick for book club in 2025!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Cate Kay is an infamous author of a wildly popular trilogy. She writes under her name of Cate Kay, which is the third name she has legitimately used in her life. Born Ann, she grew up answering to either Annie or Ann Marie. After a traumatic event, she changed her name to Cass. Lastly, she is Cate Kay. This is her memoir of the 3 different versions of herself.

While I enjoyed The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, this character driven, fictional memoir did not connect with me as well. There was a lot going on and a lot of characters, in fact maybe too many. I never really connected with Ann/Cass/Cate and for the story to be successful, I needed to. Cate has been through so much and I wanted to learn more about her as opposed to the multiverse of characters that dropped in and out of the story, some only once.

If you are a fan of character driven novels, give this one a whirl. Its not that I disliked it, I just did not like it enough.