A little much going on for my taste, I wish it focused on one aspect of the story more - but I still enjoyed it a lot. A fun, fast read that will appeal to a lot of different types of readers.

I really liked The Three Lives of Cate Kay. It's very ambitious and takes risk with how it's written and structured. The memoir formatting is mixed with multiple extra POVs. Each chapter has different POV. The main character, Annie/Cass/Cate owns about 50% of the chapters, rest are divided with bigger and smaller side characters and even a few one chapter cameos. The story telling is linear but pacing is uneven. All these choices are risks that the debut author has taken. I found the structure and style interesting and enjoyed reading the novel. But the style is not for everyone.

The novel is about love, dreams, secrets, friendship, family drama, toxic relationships and mysteries. There's

There are similarities to Evelyn Hugo in the memoir style and the story telling feels also similar but the story itself is unique.

As a minor spoiler one thought that was constant during the novel: Fu*king Sidney.

Interesting plot but also very familiar. Cate Kay is an alias for an author who wishes to remain anonymous because of the life choices she is running from. Told in multiple voices starting in Cate/Cass/Annies childhood we learn her secrets. From a small town in New York state to the glitter of Hollywood and through decades we follow.
Some startling events and morally grey characters definitely give you the Taylor Jenkins Reid feels. If you enjoy contemporary fiction with a bit of mystery The Three Lives of Cate Kay is for you. Thanks to Netgalley and Atria books for this read.

Kate Fagan's "The Three Lives of Cate Kay" is a captivating exploration of identity, love, and deception.

Cate Kay, born Anne Marie Callahan but legally known as Cass Ford, is a multi-faceted protagonist whose journey—from a childhood of deep friendship and loss to a reclusive author's success—is relatable and deeply moving. The novel's supporting characters add layers of complexity, each with their own secrets and motivations.

The narrative grips you from the first page with its fluid and engaging writing style, weaving emotional depth and suspense into every chapter. The story unfolds at a deliberate yet gripping pace, enhanced by alternating perspectives through memoir-like footnotes and first-person viewpoints, offering unique insights into the protagonist's life.

Fagan skillfully explores themes of toxic friendships, professional success, and second chances, making this a smart, enticing read that lingers long after the final page. "The Three Lives of Cate Kay" is a standout in contemporary fiction, balancing love and self-discovery with suspense and emotional resonance.

Contemporary Fiction • Mystery • Love Story • Queer
Pub Date • 7 January 2025

‧₊˚🖇️✩ ₊˚🎧⊹♡ Thank you @atriabooks for the galley!

You’re going to want to add this to your 2025 list. I did not expect to love this one as much as I did. Mainly because I have not seen it discussed much on bookstagram.

Some peculiarities of the writing style:
⇝ Very short chapters: worked for me
⇝ Many many POVs, some who only get a single chapter (!)
⇝ Copious use of footnotes which I personally found hilarious
⇝ Fast paced and not every single loose end tied up

🥰 This book made me feel warm and fuzzy inside and was the perfect read for me at the time I read it.

❥ This was a story about running away in order to find yourself.
❥ There were flawed characters and broken homes, coming of age and coming out, and some Hollywood glamour.
❥ There was a love story. Sisterly love, platonic love and romantic love all get their moments.

I was satisfied by the ending. I could have read on if the story had been longer. Excellent debut from Kate Fagan.

This was a very interesting read. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I really enjoyed it. Annie’s lives and loves were all really relatable in different ways. Thank you for the chance to read this early.

I thought this was a unique refreshing and smart novel. Glad I went in blind! Can definitely see the comparison to Evelyn Hugo in that it has a mysterious feeling to it. This did take a bit to get into, but once I did, I was hooked. The multiple POV's and the way in which Fagan chose to tell the story as a memoir was clever. Very moving story about identity, love and friendship. Highly recommend!

This one was not for me, but I can certainly think of some of my reader friends who would be interested. Thank you for the opportunity to read the arc.

This book was a do not finish for me. I could not connect with the character and it was very confusing storyline.

A new favorite of the year in LATE DECEMBER?! Yeah you read that right 👀

I loved everything about this book from the writing to the characters to the plot. This is truly exactly what I look for when I’m reading a book — it’s the perfect balance of character and plot driven, it has memorable characters, and the plot is engaging.

We’re reading the memoir/tell all of author Cate Kay after her debut novel blows up because the name is a pseudonym and no one knows who Cate Kay really is. Lots of people from her past are telling us parts of her life from their perspectives (and there’s footnotes from Cate herself in these chapters!!). That’s all I’m going to say because then we’d get into spoiler territory 🤐🤫

There’s a plot we’re following and we’re trying to understand what happened and why, and we understand it by reading from all of these different character perspectives and experiences throughout the roles they played in Cate’s life.

Such a unique way to tell a story!! I never once wanted to put it down because I just HAD to find out what happened next. I was filled with so many emotions while reading — sadness, anger, joy, frustration — and I love when a book takes me through all of the emotions.

Okay I’ll shut up about this book (for) now. Just read it!!

Annie is just a girl from a small town with big dreams. Her best friend, Amanda, also has a need for “cosmic bigness” and the two plan to take Hollywood by storm after graduation. Things don’t go as planned after an accident that injures Amanda and Annie just flees. She runs away and changes her name to Cass, where she meets Sidney. Sidney changes her life for better or for worse and encourages her as she tries to become a writer. The two of them come up with a plan to write under a pardon pseudonym, Cate Kay, so that no one can ever connect Annie to the accident she fled from. The book becomes an overnight hit but it isn’t enough for Annie. She will always have this need for something that she can’t pin down. As we read her backstory, we learn that love is the only thing missing in her life and she needs to let things go in order to receive it.

In the beginning of this book I never imagined it would end up being a 3.75 read rounded up to 4. I found it really hard to get into. There was jumping back and forth between time lines and points of view.

Cate Kay is a pseudonym for Cass Ford who started out life as Anne Marie Callahan. She and her best friend, Amanda, are inseparable and right after graduation plan to leave Bolton for LA to become famous actresses in rom-coms. Then there is a horrible accident and Annie sets off on her own and changes her name to Cass Ford. She writes a hugely popular book under the name of Cate Kay.

I thought the characters were fairly well developed but two characters I thought were awful and selfish all in the name of love or really probably money. I don't know if I really understood some of the things Annie/Cass did but I loved her friendship with Amanda and found I was reading because I was really invested. So if you can get past the beginning it is well worth the journey.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria for providing me with a digital copy.

Welp I was not a fav of Evelyn Hugo and this was compared to that but despite that the premise sounded kinda cool so I gave it a shot. Should not have bothered. I did not get this book at all. It was like a book within a book or maybe it was meta idk. All I know is that I had to keep going back to make sure the story was what I thought and it just didn’t make sense to me. I seem to be the outlier in this feeling, but it is what it is.
It goes back and forth between several characters and not in any particular order, so if you’re not paying super close attention, you feel lost. Or at least I did. It does have short chapters going for it. I just had a hard time connecting in any way to the story. It was a lot of telling and not showing. Rounding up to 3 stars bc I’m feeling generous this holiday season;)
Thanks to Atria and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars!

I could not put this book down! Seriously, it’s been awhile since a book made me want to stay up late and keep reading. The Three Lives of Cate Kay follows the writer Cate Kay (a pseudonym) and what’s happened over the course of her life until she writes a dystopian sci-fi fantasy that becomes a worldwide best-selling phenomenon.

The moment I first saw the cover of this book, I knew I needed to read it. That’s because I recognized the author’s name, Kate Fagan, from her sports journalism work. Here, in her fiction debut, she crafts a novel that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

This book is likened to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets First Lie Wins, which I don’t necessarily find accurate. I can understand the Evelyn Hugo comp a bit more, but the only similarity I felt to FLW is the hidden identity. The book itself is a lit fic, a bit of a mystery, a story about friendship, a (fictional) memoir and a romance all in one.

It would have been a 5 star for me, although I don’t think the book quite stuck the landing. To say any more would be to give away spoilers, but I very much enjoyed it and think others will enjoy it, too.

wow. just... wow. the three lives of cate kay might be one of the best books i've read this year, and i don't say that lightly. you know when a story grabs you by the heart, shakes up your brain, and then quietly sits in your soul for days? yeah, that's this book. it's emotional, thought-provoking, and so beautifully written that i found myself pausing every few chapters just to process what i was feeling.

so, here's the setup: cate kay is mega-successful author of a bestselling trilogy that's basically her generation's version of whatever's the highest-selling book franchise right now (box office gold, household name—big deal vibes). the catch? cate kay doesn't actually exist. she's a persona created by a woman who's spent her whole adult life running from a tragedy that shattered her world. now, after years of hiding, she's ready to step out of the shadows and finally confront her past. what follows is part confessional, part mystery, and all heart.

the story hooked me right away with its mix of glamour and grit. it's giving the seven husbands of evelyn hugo vibes (as the blurb suggests), but for me, it felt more like the emotional resonance of a haruki murakami novel—except without the surrealism. it's all real life here, messy and raw, and that's what makes it hit so hard.

this books is all about identity. cate's "three lives" represent the different versions of herself: the girl she was before everything fell apart, the woman she became while trying to escape it, and the person she's fighting to be now. it's such a relatable journey, especially for anyone who's ever felt like they've had to reinvent themselves to survive. the way fagan unpacks that tension—between who we are, who we were, and who we want to be—is just genius.

and then there's the whole idea of ambition and its cost. cate's career is the dream, right? massive success, total creative control, a legacy most writers would kill for. but the book really makes you think about what she gave up to get there. it's not just about fame or fortune, it's about chasing something so hard that you lose sight of the people and places that ground you. that push-pull between personal ambition and meaningful connection is one of the most compelling parts of the story.

speaking of connection, the relationships in this book are so layered and real. cate's friendship with amanda, the toxic partnership with sidney, her memories of family, the fleeting but deeply felt romantic moments—it all feels so grounded. fagan doesn't sugarcoat anything; these relationships are messy, imperfect, and sometimes painful, but that's what makes them so believable.

the book also dives deep into the weight of choices and consequences. cate's life is a domino chain of "what ifs," and it really made me reflect on my own choices. like, what paths have i abandoned (i'm not ready for this oh my god)? what lives could i be living right now if i'd taken a different turn? it's existential without being heavy-handed, which is a tough balance to nail, but fagan does it so well.

now, about the ending. i'll admit, it felt a little rushed, and it leaves a few questions hanging in the air. but honestly? i think that's part of its charm. cate's story is all about embracing uncertainty and making peace with the unknown, so the sort of open-ended finish feels fitting.

if you're into stories that combine emotional depth, messy humanity, and a dash of existential reflection, the three lives of cate kay is an absolute must-read. it's smart, it's heart-wrenching, and it's the kind of book that reminds you why you fell in love with reading in the first place (at least in my case).

thank you, @netgalley and @atriabooks, for the e-arc!

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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.