The Three Lives of Cate Kay
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Average rating3.1
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.
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This debut novel gives off definite [a:Taylor Jenkins Reid 6572605 Taylor Jenkins Reid https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1645653842p2/6572605.jpg] vibes; it is bingeworthy and just slightly literary, with a fictional famous woman the focus of the storyline (see [b:The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo 32620332 The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Taylor Jenkins Reid https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1664458703l/32620332.SY75.jpg 46885151], [b:Daisy Jones & The Six 40597810 Daisy Jones & The Six Taylor Jenkins Reid https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580255154l/40597810.SY75.jpg 61127102], etc.). I appreciated the idea of a multi-POV memoir, and the excerpts from the MC's post-apocalyptic bestseller were arguably more compelling than the actual novel. And thumbs up for showing that “WLW” can mean more than one thing. Fagan uses a strange mix of melodrama and detachment so that some of the story's tragedies feel life-changing, while others are almost shrugged off. The ending itself is muted, with longed-for reunions sketched briefly or set completely off page, as if Fagan didn't want the reader to run out of Kleenex. Or maybe it's related to the author's background in sports journalism, where the most essential information is front-loaded. Anyway, as Reese Witherspoon's January 2025 book club pick, this will no doubt be as popular as Cate Kay's fictional smash. Whether Fagan's novel will yield movies, musicals, and theme parks like its counterpart is yet to be determined.
This was a good enough read. I would definitely read another novel by Fagan, and I had fun with some parts. However, there were too many perspectives and the ending was really just... okay.
