What a wild, frustrating, emotional ride Kate Fagan has created. A love like Annie/Cass/Cate and Amanda's is one that we all hope for in this world, but not all of us are lucky enough to experience.

We watch this friendship develop and blossom. Then, when a tragedy strikes, Annie/Cass/Cate flees and starts a new life. We watch her process this love and her journey to understanding the universe through her future relationships, and the writing of a massive best-seller.

Fagan's exploration of a story through so many perspectives is ambitious, but she displays absolute brilliance. We see the story not just through varying eyes, but also diverse, well-developed voices and (delightfully unreliable) perspectives. While our main character is a bit immature and makes questionable choices, you can't help but root for her. Luckily, we see her story through to a satisfying HEA.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an early copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

This book was really great. I was engaged from the getgo and always really love a book that does the "let's rewind and I'll tell you how we got here". I really enjoyed getting so many perspectives and considering how messy Hollywood and fame can be.

THE THREE LIVES OF CATE KAY is a magical and mesmerizing story that drew me in from the very beginning.

The "three lives" in the title refer to the different names Anne Marie Callahan adopts throughout her journey. To her childhood best friend, Amanda, she’s Annie. After leaving her hometown, she becomes Cass Ford, and finally, under the alias Cate Kay, she writes a series of famous novels that change her life.

Structured as a kind of memoir, CATE KAY unfolds not only through Annie’s eyes but also through the perspectives of key people in her life. We hear from her alcoholic mother, her cherished best friend Amanda, her literary agent, a famous actress who stars in the film adaptations of her books, and many others. This multi-perspective approach enriches the narrative, revealing the complexities of Annie’s personality and the different facets of her “three lives.”

At its heart, this is a love story—not just romantic, but one that celebrates love in its many forms. Annie and Amanda’s friendship is a particularly poignant thread, alongside Annie’s later relationships. The story is beautifully written, deeply emotional, and utterly captivating.

Without giving too much away (to avoid spoilers), the novel features a diverse and unique cast of characters and offers excellent LGBTQIAP+ representation, adding depth and inclusivity to its already compelling narrative.

I’d easily rate this 4+ stars for its stunning prose, intricate storytelling, and unforgettable characters.

I really enjoyed this story of friendship, identity, and luck. The characters all represented something different, from ambition to loneliness. Told from different POV’s over the course of several years, I enjoyed that even minor characters were able to contribute to the narrative. Although the ending was a bit rushed, overall, this was a great fiction debut.

I really enjoyed this book! It has friendship, hardship, suspense, and love. Chapters were written by a large number of the characters so you have to keep up, but I loved hearing from many people’s perspectives. It grabbed me from the start and kept me guessing and wanting more as I read. Highly recommend!

I really enjoyed this book and can see why they are comparing it to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo! The characters were well written, and I loved the multiple POVs as they each talked about their relationship with Cate. I also liked how Cate added footnotes to a lot of these to give her POV as well. Since Cate is a famous author, we also got a book within a book here, which was fun. The only character I didn't like was Sidney, and some of the things she did had my mouth hanging open in anger and shock.

This is a great story about love and friendship, and I had a hard time putting it down!

Kate Fagan's The Three Lives of Cate Kay is a fascinatingly unique character study of an author with three identities. Anne Marie (Annie) and her best friend have a Hollywood plan for their lives, but after an accident, Annie runs. She creates a new identity, Cass Ford, and becomes a best-selling author using the meaningful-to-her pen name, Cate Kay, and carefully guarding her privacy. The use of multiple narrators reveals the story in surprising pieces creating an evolving look at who Cate Kay really is. This book is impossible to fully predict and filled with interesting, sometimes wonderful relationships.

Cate Kay is one of the most famous authors in the world. She's written a very popular trilogy turned into a highly acclaimed film series. Only her identity is a heavily guarded secret. Through her own story and the perspective of many who came into contact with her life, the truth of her origin and identity are revealed. Her first life begins in her childhood with her best friend Amanda, and after an unexpected tragedy, she has to run away from her life and her dreams. She begins life again as Cass, finding what she thinks is safety and community that leads her to adopt her author pseudonym of Cate Kay.

The Three Lives of Cate Kay was a wonderful story of identity and what we deserve from those we love. I really liked how broad the perspectives often were, with a few chapters from characters who were only tangentially related to Cate Kay but were still able to give additional insight into her life and impact (especially a very sweet chapter from a postal worker towards the end). The book gets to balance a lot of story lines and characters and I thought it did a good job keeping the timeline clear. The fake memoir approach also made the book more fun, with Cate Kay giving her opinions about the thoughts other have around her, but mostly allowing their perspectives of her to stand on their own. A lot of the book depended on a character doing something incredibly frustrating, but once I got over that, I had an enjoyable time. Overall, a sweet gay book with romance and heart and a well-craft character study.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for a copy of The Three Lives of Cate Kay in exchange for an honest review.

Cate Kay is a hugely successful bestselling author. Her trilogy is a smashing success in both bookstores and cinemas. But what is even more striking about Cate Kay: she does not exist. Who is hiding behind this pseudonym?

We find out by looking back at three different periods in the life of “Kate Cay”. We discover where she grew up, what she ran away from and why, and whether she can ever return to it. Quite a lot happens in this book: practically every character has a say, with fragments from Kate’s books in between. That ensures that the story remains interesting - with each chapter a puzzle piece is placed that makes you want to keep reading. Occasionally a bit caricatural (and I don’t think people really wink at each other that often) but all in all a book that I read with great pleasure!

Happy belated pub day toThe Three Lives of Cate Kay!

Tis an unapologetically queer and messy story about identity, spanning years and characters that all intertwine and come together surrounding the titular character. Though titular character feels strange to say, because is it really Cate Kay’s three lives we go through, someone else’s? Anne Marie Callahan’s, perhaps?

The synopsis states that Cate Kay is on the run, and perhaps naively I believed it to be a more thrilling run than the one depicted. In the end, this novel is more meandering than tense, and when tense, it’s because characters are doing stupid things that, while they make sense, the reader knows are going to blow up in their face.

While writing this review I’m reflecting on my initial thoughts, which were some of boredom and frustration. Now, though, I’m noticing I’m reflecting a lot more on what the book has to say about identity and the masks we wear in different situations, the different lives we live and how that culminates in where we end up. It’s a strange feeling to not be very engaged in the story while reading it, but then to have many thoughts upon finishing it. Additionally, I think I'm just not into reading about fame, so that's on me. Hence, I’m torn on my rating so I’m placing it somewhere in the middle.

For interested readers, make sure to go into this knowing that it is more character study than anything else, tracing the lives of Cate and Amanda and how, in the end, they were connected at all times.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This fictional memoir about a best selling author who has reinvented herself under 3 separate names was something I had looked forward to reading, but unfortunately it progressed so slowly I had a difficult time working through it. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

This is another booksta favorite that was unfortunately a miss for me 🙈

This was marketed as Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets First Lie Wins. Now I havent read FLW yet (i know! Ill get to it this year, promise 😂) buuut I loved Evelyn Hugo so I was super excited to pick this up!

It’s told in multiple POVS - which is what made me go the audiobook route because it had multiple narrators and I looove a full cast audiobook! But the jumping timelines made it a little hard for me to follow so I ended up continuing with the physical book.

It’s basically a fictional memoir so it’s very character-driven but I just couldn’t relate or like Cate Kay at all 🥲 Like I dont feel invested to follow her life story and it took me forever to finish the book. I cant understand some of the decisions she makes and I thought that her character was written to be unlikeable at first to open up to some big character development moment but it never came (at least for me)

I also dont think that the Hollywood glamor/ drama storylines are for me. 🥲 I feel like there’s too many problematic characters and I gravitate towards books with more of a lighthearted tone (unless Im reading thrillers ofc😂)

As far as the Evelyn Hugo comparison, it did have similarities of having a queer lead, Hollywood vibes, and the reader following the lead as she navigates different relationships. I did like some of the come-to-god moments of some of the characters.

Also, I really liked the dystopian book snippets. (Cate Kay is a writer and we do get a glimpse of her bestselling trilogy)

As for the plot, like Ive mentioned, it’s a fictional memoir and we follow Cate Kay’s journey as she transformed herself into different identities throughout her life. Now this was my fave part of the book, I really liked the premise of it.

Overall, again, know that this is a very WELL- LOVED book and I’m sure my opinion about it is in the minority. So definitely still give it a chance if you like character driven books, queer lead, sapphic romances, with a hint of Hollywood vibes in it!!

Thank you @atria books for sending me a copy!! Thank you @simonandschuster for the audiobook!

💭 What’s a booksta fave that was a miss for you?

4 stars! Short chapters and multiple characters takes a minute to nail down but once you get the hang of who's who, oooooh is this GOOD! Thanks netgalley + the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Such a unique format for a fake memoir. The book has short chapters that read like first person interviews or accounts with a few footnotes by the memoir's author. Some of the interviews are with characters that our MC has only a glancing interaction. Interspersed within these chapters are also small sections of the novels our MC is writing. It sounds like an absolute mess but it works. It really works and is a refreshing take on the celebrity novel/memoir.

I can see how some readers would be put off by the format, but this is an excellent recommendation for those adventurous readers looking for something different.

I enjoyed the multiple POVs and overall story. It kept me engaged and I was eager to see how things would end. I was happy to see the direction the book went but also thought some things could have been easily resolved with a quick google search so that was a little frustrating. It made sense for the plot but also wasn't the most realistic. I still enjoyed it though!

This was such a fun surprise! I really enjoyed this story. The plot was fast paced and kept me engaged the entire time. There were a few moments where I genuinely had no idea where the book was going to go next. I really liked the writing and will definitely seek out more books like Kate Fagen in the future.

4.5 stars!

Cate Kay is a best selling author, but only one other person knows her true identity…until now. This is her fictional memoir, featuring chapters from other important people in her life, telling the story of her three different identities.

This book was so captivating and I loved it! I read with a mix of ebook and audiobook. The audio is a full cast, and I HIGHLY recommend the audio if possible. There are chapters from many points of view (even some very minor characters), and the audio helped me keep track of whose perspective I was reading at any given time.

I was so invested in the story, wanting to learn how the main character evolves from Annie to Cass to Cate Kay. I loved the depth that the multiple points of view brought to the story. Kate Fagan’s writing style was so interesting, weaving pieces of Cate Kay’s novels into the story. I also really enjoyed when Cate would add a footnote to another person’s point of view, inserting clarification into her own memoir. There is a little bit of everything in this book—love, betrayal, tragedy, suspense, and quite a few complex relationships. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it (especially the audiobook if possible)!

Thank you to Kate Fagan, Atria, and NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Although I liked the idea the book pitched, its realisation did not impress me. The dialogues were mostly shallow and honestly, the fact that almost anyone the protagonist(s) met was seen as a potential partner from the first second felt to me as lack of depth in what concerned the characters.

On the bright side, it was a quick read and although I would not rate it higher than 3.5 stars, at least I did not have the feeling that it wasted my time.

Completely obsessed with this reclusive author tale, peeling back the layers of a secret life to what really happened. Enchanting!

I can see why this was a Reese's book club pick!

This is a multi- first person POV novel with twists and turns that ultimately asks... what makes us truly happy? Fagan's writing style becomes especially evident in the later half of the novel, beautiful and literary. My only criticism is that for the first third, it was hard to care about any of the main characters. I am not sure why, but the connection just wasn't there. I am glad I kept reading. The memoir format is well-executed and the various stories that culminate Cate Kay's life are beautiful.

Definitely give it a go.