To say I loved this would be an understatement. I was enthralled from the very beginning. I couldn’t get through this fast enough. They are comparing it to the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, which I personally haven’t read, but if it is anything like this, count me in! The multiple POVs, the cliff notes, the smallest details tying into the bigger picture, all of executed BEAUTIFULLY. Some of these characters you love to hate that is for certain, but I love a good redemption. This is worth that wait & will be buying my physical copy once released.

Thank you to the author, publisher, & NetGalley for the read in return for my honest review!

I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this novel. From the description I wasn't entirely sure what to expect and was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep the story and characters straight. Cate Kay is a reclusive author who is trying to keep her identity secret after a mistake she makes right out of high school. She decides to write a memoir in which we learn why she did the things she's done and we also get to see other sides to who her story and who was affected. Rating this one 3/3.5 and recommend it, I want to thank NetGalley and Atria Books for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Cate Kay is the author of a wildly successful dystopian trilogy (kind of like The Hunger Games). She does absolutely no media and nobody has ever seen her; her identity is absolutely secret. Why? Well, it's a little murky, but ultimately it's guilt and self-loathing. Cate is constantly running from a terrible decision made on the cusp of her high school graduation. It causes her to change from a potential acting career to a writing career and to be reticent with everybody she meets. This book is written as the biography of Cate Kay and everybody who ever knew any of her lives gets to weigh in. There's no real mystery here except why everybody is so willing to forgive her. The 3 primary characters speak in the same voice; nothing in their speech distinguishes them. It's not a terribly exciting story.

When an author is able to move through quickly changing narrators in a way that feels cohesive and adds value to the story, I love it. Kate Fagan nails this in The Three Lives of Cate Kay. Cate Kay is the pen name for an author who has written a groundbreaking, blockbuster trilogy. We know who Cate is, and we know the story that drove the novels. Cate is our primary narrator, but many other perspectives are deftly woven in.

Annie, the original Cate Kay, is a young girl with a best friend, Amanda. The two are inseparable. Both are dying to be actresses in Hollywood, but in the meantime, they'll settle for small-town Bolton productions. Annie and Amanda love each other in the way only teenagers can--without reservation and full of infatuation.

There is so much I want to say about their story, but I worry I'll spoil all the good parts. This book holds many revelations about friendship, romance, and family. I loved the writing and the character development. Even the people with more evil roles have a depth that I appreciated.

Overall, highly recommended. I will definitely look up what else Kate Fagan has written. Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Atria books and NetGalley for the ARC!

This book was wonderful. It was a little confusing to follow at first but once I got into it I was hooked! It really was a great and twisty book with a lot of heart. I can't wait to read more by this author!

Thank you again for the ARC!

Thank you to Net Galley for this ARC.
I was very intrigued by the synopsis of this book but unfortunately, I wasn’t super invested in it. The memoir style doesn’t really appeal to my reading interests and the characters were complex but the story line kind of dragged on in pace for me.

3.75

This was a pleasant surprise and great for a debut novel! I think it started out a 4-5⭐️ until about the halfway point.

I’m not sure if I don’t really enjoy romance but I thought that the romantic aspect of this novel was unnecessary. I don't know that I learned or gained much from Cass and Ryan. Ryan seemed flat and left me questioning why she was there. I think I would’ve much preferred Cass to remain unattached or simply have flings that never amounted to anything and gotten to know her through those relationships. I wanted more from the end—all the reconciliations. There seemed to be a lot of buildup toward this resolution, lots of exposition, but then the resolution felt like it just happened. Everything happened off-page and the reader didn’t get to experience Cass resolving all of the issues and fixing all of her wrongs or accepting apologies from others.

Additionally, there were too many POVs and although they all came together very nicely at the end, many of them were unnecessary.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I do recommend it!

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

Definitely not for me. It sounded great but it never caught my attention or interest. The back and forth timelines took me right out of the narrative. It took me more than a week just to get to 20% which is when I gave up. (I average a book a day, so if it took me that long and I wasn't even a quarter of the way through, I was never going to make it to the end.)

This is a really good story written as a memoir from multiple points of view. The story recounts the life of “Cate Kay” who has written an extremely popular book series.

This is the kind of novel where details matter though you may not realize it at first, It’s not exactly a mystery, but there are still elements to be tied together as the story unfolds.

The book is about the type of intense friendships teenage girls have that can be all consuming with its own shorthand and inside jokes. It’s about big dream and fame, as well as anonymity. It’s about trusting the wrong person and their power over you. It’s about loneliness, being brave and facing your past in order to have a chance at a future.

It’s very well written and very unique. At no point could i telegraph where the story was going, but it concluded in a very satisfying way.

Meh. it's fine. I was expecting a sort of Where'd You Go Bernadette meets the Elena Ferrante novel. What I got was a chick-lit romp. I initially found the device in which chapters are authored in the voice of different characters, which KIND OF came together at the end, but not really. Light, pleasant but not a must read. I think this book would be more accurately marketed as being about female friendships that turn to love with a hint of mystery and family drama. This might make a cute TV show.

I haven’t enjoyed literary fiction this much in ages. Usually, literary fiction, even at its best, feels like a prerequisite is preconscious writing. This had none of that. It was a breath of fresh air and held me captivated throughout! Highly recommend

I generally enjoyed this, but it was one where the premise was more promising than the execution. It took me a good chunk of the beginning to figure out what was going on— the idea of a book within a book is creative, but I thought this was a little clunky. Once we got going, I enjoyed the middle section—the writing is solid, I enjoyed the different POVs and the Easter eggs between stories. The end wrapped up a little too neatly for me though and I wish there had been more there. A promising fiction debut and I’d definitely read her next book!

I feel like a tagline like ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets First Lie Wins’ is immediately going to intrigue a lot of people. I know so many people love TSHOEH (I've already seen multiple reviews comparing it!) and I’m here as someone who has not read that book but gave First Lie Wins one of the easiest five stars ever. Unfortunately I did not get First Lie Wins vibes from this at all. Fortunately, I still really liked it.

I think I just kinda assumed this would have a bigger focus on the different identities and I guess it did but like… none of it really came off all that dramatic to me? This is more of a comment than a criticism. Also, I don’t love the whole ‘book within a book’ thing. I do totally get why it was done this way, it fit the book, it’s just not my personal preference.

The way this was written was really cool. There were a lot more timelines and POVs than expected, and it probably should have been a lot more confusing than it was bit it just kinda worked. It kept me intrigued and I didn’t want to put it down until I was done. I found that the ending got a bit rushed but overall I am glad I read this because I enjoyed it a lot!

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book! I voluntarily read this book, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

The strength of friendship and the power of love drive the plot of this novel. Guilt is undeniably a part of the action as well. Formatted with several POVs, the 3 main characters still are satisfactorily developed so the reader cares about them. Pacing is really good as the tension builds toward a happy conclusion.


Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC to read and review.

A very cute little story. However, none of it was realistic, even as fiction.

The book is inventive and easy to fall in love with, and the literary gourmand in me wishes it were (much, much) longer. It subtly balances simplistic prose with intense introspective ruminations. That isn't easy to do as an author (especially in a debut), to string along a reader with absorbing drama and throw a pensive tone at the whole affair instead. The characters' distinct personas are fleshed out well in the beginning, but then all melt together, an unfortunate result of multiple POVs ultimately written by the same person. Plot conveniences happen, which could irk some readers. 3.5 stars rounded up—I'm being very generous because I loved the characters. Read if you like drama, escapism, endearing characters, and brilliant LGBT representation.

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review of this book! The Three Lives of Cate Kay is being published in the US on Jan 07, 2025.

The Three Lives of Cate Kay drew me in with its depth and emotional resonance, delivering the same intensity that makes The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo unforgettable. The novel explores Cate’s life through three transformative phases, each peeling back new layers of her personality and challenges, making her story feel personal and real.

What makes this novel shine is Cate’s complexity; she’s raw, resilient, and achingly human. Her journey of self-discovery, love, and loss is both gripping and introspective. The pacing is precise, with unexpected turns that keep you on edge, while the writing combines beautiful prose with dialogue that feels as if you’re eavesdropping on someone’s most vulnerable moments.

The supporting cast is equally compelling, each character shaping Cate’s journey in unique ways. Their relationships add a richness to the narrative, highlighting the intricacies of connection, whether in love, friendship, or family.

Ultimately, The Three Lives of Cate Kay is a mesmerizing exploration of identity and reinvention. It’s a novel that lingers with you, offering the kind of immersive, poignant experience that makes you reflect on life and the choices that define us. For anyone craving a story with heart and substance, this is one to savor.

“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…”

I loved The Three Lives of Cate Kay. The book was a quick read with multiple POVs & commentary from Cate Kay.

It was heartbreaking & frustrating to watch the miscommunication with the main characters & so many years wasted because of that. I cried.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Three Lives of Cate Kay had some strong comparisons to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and I can see it....kinda. The general premise being about Cate Kay which is the pen name the main character Annie uses once she leaves her home town after a tragic accident involving her best friend. Unable to live with the guilt of what happens, she leaves and through a series of events ends up writing a best selling novel which has far reaching impacts.

The story overall was a quick read that got me out of a bit of a reading slump. I found it enjoyable, but the convention used of multiple characters from her life recalling their memories at times was unbelievable-in some chapters it felt like the author forgot the writing convention and was just telling the story straight. Also, while it was fun to have excerpts from the book that Annie wrote, by the end of the book I found like these started to detract from the main story as they were used a little too often.

If you're looking for a quick, entertaining read that doesn't require a lot of thought, then I'd recommend spending time with this group of characters.

One of my favourite books this year. I loved everything about this book. The writing style, multiple POVs, commentary from Cate Kay, the characters, the storyline, the morally gray behaviours.

It was such a complex piece of writing but the execution was perfect. The description of the book was also perfect - this does give Evelyn Hugo vibes and I’m so here for it. But this book is also a standalone and should be recognised as an incredible book in its own right.

Loved that we gained insight from different characters. It was really sad in parts where you realised something had/hadn’t happened but in the timeline the Kate/Cass/Annie didn’t. The ending was so beautiful and I’m so glad it came together as it did. A fantastic story about how life doesn’t go the way you imagined it, but how it can work out in the end. Carl’s small entry really broke my heart.

Just loved loved loved it and would love to read more from this author.

I loved this book - hopeful and heartbreaking all at once, with a dash of Fleetwood Mac-ish vibes.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review