Lucy Undying by Kiersten White is a gripping, emotional, and haunting story that completely captivated me from the very first page. As someone who loves unique takes on supernatural elements, this book was an absolute gem. White’s writing is both beautiful and eerie, and it perfectly matches the darker, more emotional undertones of the story.

The plot centers around Lucy, a young woman who finds herself in a complex and heartbreaking situation involving death, love, and the supernatural. What really stood out to me about this book was how it blended fantasy with raw, human emotions. Lucy’s journey is filled with heartbreak, self-discovery, and a lot of difficult choices, and I found myself completely invested in her character.

White’s ability to balance dark themes with moments of tenderness was impressive. The emotional depth of the characters, especially Lucy, made the story feel incredibly real, even as it explored the supernatural. I loved how the book delves into themes of identity, grief, and what it means to truly live, even when faced with circumstances that would seem impossible to overcome.

The world-building was another highlight. White created a unique, atmospheric setting that kept me on the edge of my seat, unsure of where the story would go next. The twists and turns in the plot kept me guessing, and there were moments that completely took me by surprise.

Overall, Lucy Undying is a beautifully crafted, darkly emotional story that I highly recommend for anyone who loves supernatural stories with real heart. It’s a book that stays with you long after you’ve finished it, and I’m sure it will be one I’ll keep thinking about for a long time.

DNF @ p.134/454

This pained me to DNF. Sapphic vampires are everything to me. And yet… this book is way too long and jumps between POVs way too often to feel 100% cohesive for me. I think if it were 200 pages shorter and only focused on Lucy’s story, I might be more inclined to finish it. Unfortunately, I couldn't bring myself to care about the characters nor their trajectories through the muddling plot.

I am usually all in for retellings, especially classics such as Dracula so I was extremely excited to dive into this one (and I loved the cover!) since I had heard great things about the author's previous works even though this was a first from her for me, personally.

Told in a epistolary fashion with chapters ranging from snippets of Lucy's journal and case notes from her meetings with her therapist, alongside chapters highlighting Dracula and Iris, an MLM heiress who is looking to escape her family's controlling empire. I loved the layout of the book and the storyline, however I think that the story would have worked better as NOT a retelling - the originality of a vampire run MLM and an heiress trying to escape their clutches whilst falling in love and connecting with someone whose journal was left behind in her family's old estate hundreds of years prior was what I enjoyed the most while reading this book. The chapters on Dracula were out of place and the whole Lucy/Mina storyline just seemed unbelievable.

My other two issues with the book were the length (I would have trimmed it down by about a hundred pages) because the first 67% of the book was a slog with absolutely no action occurring and then it ramped up to warp speed for the last 30%. Also, not sure if it was intentional or a seriously overlooked type, but the name in Dracula is Godalming and not Goldaming. I can get behind changing the name to insinuate "gold" and money, but every single time I read the name, I was pronouncing it "Gud-alming" and not "gold-aming" and then I would stop and try to repronounce it in my head, question myself again, and ultimately take time away from book immersion to figure out how I'm supposed to pronounce the last name as it features prominently throughout. In short, it was annoying..

Overall, I did enjoy the storyline and the unique take on a generational MLM scheme as I personally find MLMs to be evil and preying on unsuspecting housewives who are looking to make some extra money whilst feeling like girlbosses. So vampires, MLMs and evil were not a hard stretch for me. .

Recommended for fans of sapphic vampiric romances, although this one is pretty much a fade to black level of spice. If you are looking for a solid Dracula retelling and hold a degree in English, you are probably not going to be satisfied with this one.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kiersten White, and Del Rey for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Lucy Undying by Kiersten White is a queer reimagining of Dracula, focusing on Lucy Westenra, one of Dracula’s early victims. The story unfolds across three timelines: Lucy's historical journal entries, therapy transcripts from her post-vampiric experiences, and the perspective of Iris, a young heiress caught in her family’s dark health empire.

The novel combines gothic horror with a sharp critique of modern society, exploring themes of identity, empowerment, and queer love. While the atmospheric descriptions bring both Lucy’s eerie past and her haunting present to life, her portrayal in the therapy transcripts can feel inconsistent, at times making her seem unhinged, which doesn’t always match her more composed moments elsewhere in the story.

Though Lucy Undying offers a thought-provoking feminist take on Dracula, it doesn’t fully deliver on the gothic or romantic fantasy elements readers might expect. Instead, it’s more a critique of human society, and those who approach it with that in mind will find a lot to appreciate in its exploration of identity, grief, and resilience.

When I started this book I was genuinely interested in the story and three povs, but that quickly changed. I came to dislike our main characters, Iris and Lucy, and there was a disconnect between the povs. They didn’t mesh well together, and came to hate reading certain povs because they weren’t entertaining. I also feel like there were two different stories happening that were forced together, that didn’t work. We have Lucy Westenra’s story about her life and journey before and after meeting Dracula and we have Iris Goldaming’s story and her family’s mlm vampire business. Individually these could’ve ben better stories, but by putting them together we lost out on some of the details about their lives and couldn’t go into lots of depth with them. The characters felt one dimensional and not well developed with only one thing guiding them. And by the ending I was sick of them.

Ahhhhh this book, this book, this book. First off, I'm a fan of all Kiersten White books -- the Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein is my all time fave. Lucy Undying felt like that book's wild older sister. I looooved all the dracula re-imaginings and reinventions. They felt real and made me look at the old story in a whole new light. Lucy's chapters describing her vampire life were like breathing fresh air. This book weirdly feels exactly like tons of other vampire books but at the same time feels Nothing like other vampire books. Like the vibes and tropes of immortal beings losing their humanity is there, but done in such a different way. Also the focus on the female victims and women in general was excellent, such a realistic way to look at dracula's legacy and motivations in a way that feels so, so fresh. Also, in true Kiersten White fashion, there's a cult that plays a huge part of the plot, which just made everything framed so well and, of course, she writes cults in such an authentic way. Lucy, I am obsessed with you. And the Doctor. And the Queen and the Lover. All in all, I think this might be my favorite vampire book now.

This is a queer Dracula retelling that focuses on Lucy. Following three timelines that eventually converge, this is a masterful piece of art that focuses on feminist rage, angry grief, and queer love. This is truly about finding oneself and fighting your inner and external demons.

I laughed, I cried, and I recommended this book to 5 people so far.

I am such a huge fan of Kiersten so getting to read this early was a dream come true! I don't know that much about the original Dracula story however I felt that this was a perfect entry point for the diehard fans and those like me that only know of the names and legacy. A creative spin on a classic by one of my favorite authors... how perfect!

I feel like I was reading this book forever, but that is also because I read most of it in January, the longest feeling month of the year. Like January, it really sped up for me in the middle and I was scrambling towards to the end. This book made me want to go back over all of the many versions of Lucy I'd seen onscreen and apologize to them all. I had never given this character much thought before this and now I have so much more empathy/interest in her. Must read for vampire fans, Dracula fans, and Kiersten White fans.

Thanks to Del Rey for the ARC!

"Lucy Undying" by Kiersten White is a reimagined gothic fantasy that offers a fresh perspective on the classic "Dracula" narrative, focusing on Lucy Westenra, one of Dracula's initial victims. In this novel, Lucy escapes Dracula's control and embarks on a journey of self-discovery and love in modern-day London.

The story is structured through multiple timelines and perspectives, including Lucy's historical journal entries, therapy transcripts detailing her post-vampiric experiences, and a contemporary narrative following Iris, a young heiress entangled in her family's sinister health empire. This layered storytelling provides depth to Lucy's character, exploring her transformation from a Victorian-era socialite to an empowered immortal.

The novel features richly atmospheric descriptions that vividly bring to life both the eerie gothic elements of Lucy’s past and the vibrant yet haunting modern-day setting of London. These detailed depictions enhance the immersive quality of the story, drawing readers into Lucy’s world and her journey of transformation.

Overall, "Lucy Undying" masterfully bridges past and present, blending gothic horror with modern themes of empowerment and resilience. It is a thought-provoking exploration of identity and agency, wrapped in a story that will captivate fans of atmospheric fantasy and reimagined classics.

beautifully driven up characters and proses.

I loved how Lucy’s character came to life and the twisted in tale of Dracula. This was a unique way of telling Lucy’s side of the story and I am blessed to have read it.

But……this one fell short with my attention. This one took awhile for me to read. The pacing was off, besides that I loved it.

If you want something interesting and different, something tied into Dracula telling….. YOU WILL LOVE THIS!

I have really enjoyed following Kiersten White from YA to her adult books - her concepts are so unique and interesting and unexpected. I'm a Dracula fan from way back and I am so here for this new wave of books exploring the female characters and giving them a much needed voice, Lucy most of all. Also, all the stars for that stunning cover.

An epic vampire tale. I was so excited to read this but I will say, it took me some time to get through it.

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC for early review.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

I wish I enjoyed this sapphic retelling of Dracula's victim, Lucy, more than I did, but the fact is that I was expecting this to be a different breed of story than it actually was.

Lucy Undying is what I would call human-based horror, where the real scare comes from the fact that humans are disgusting and abominable creatures who commit the worst kind of atrocities possible for shits and giggles. When I pick up a gay vampire book, I am really Not Interested in reading about how human capitalism is the true monster. I want to read about vampires. And this was most assuredly and definitely more about the capitalism and critique of multi level marketing schemes, cult-like beauty clubs, and bloodline purity meddling.

I think that there were a few too many POVs by the end, with Lucy, Lucy again but in the past, Lucy a third time but now she's at therapy, Iris, Dracula, and the Doctor. I especially think the therapy sessions were off-putting. Lucy comes off as such a massive airheaded lunatic in the recordings, but Iris describes her as put-together, seriously intelligent, and calm. I couldn't really mesh the two characters, especially not when we got present day non-therapy Lucy POV and she acted the same batshit crazy way as the therapy POV.

The romance didn't feel very romantic at all. With the big twist at the end that wasn't at all surprising or hidden, you have to wonder if Lucy even really liked Iris for being Iris. And Iris fell so hard and fast for Lucy that it felt like whiplash. No girl who has had to distrust the whole world her whole life is going to fall that hard that fast, sorry.

I'll end by repeating what many others have said--- this is not the Gothic, dark, romantic fantasy horror you've been led to believe. As long as you go in knowing that those merits are not applicable to this book, you'll probably enjoy it a lot more.

Lucy Undying by Kiersten White follows Lucy from Dracula where she doesn't dye like she does in Dracula. We are told the story through Lucy's diary, and interview she did with someone she saved, and the current events told by another character Iris's point of view. Iris's mother recently dies and she is trying to run away from an evil MLM her family control and comes to London to try to sell off some property/items that she has inherited for some quick cash and ends up meeting Lucy.
While I end up enjoying the story if was not what I was expecting based on the cover, title, and what little I had heard about the book. I thought we were going to get more of a Dracula retelling but from Lucy's point of view which we do get small amounts of but that is not what most of the book is about.
Personally, I don't feel like Kristen White likes the story of Dracula and if you love Dracula (the original novel) you might not like this. Mina is portrayed as a conniving bitch and Lucy's suitors are trying to steel her family’s money. Once we find out how the MLM Iris's family runs works, it’s a self-help one that allows followers to live forever by becoming vampires, I was more interested in where that story would go. I would have preferred a vampire novel focusing on the MLM concept without any connection to Dracula. However, I did like how Dracula and all the other Vampires Lucy has met show up in the end and I did enjoy how Dracula was portrayed, as to me it is fairly book accurate.

This book delivered everything I wanted when I first read the synopsis! I ended up falling in love with Lucy and Iris, and their love story. Retellings are tricky to pull off, especially when it comes to adding something to the story, but White pulls it off so well here. The MLM subplot felt a bit odd at places, and the book is very long, but honestly? Neither of these things kept me from really loving the story and characters. It left me warm and fuzzy inside, and corrected some of the things I thought could have been better in the original Dracula story.

The elements of this book might seem like they wouldn't work (a Dracula retelling + MLM schemes), but with Kiersten White's writing they do. I loved the story of Lucy, her hope and determination, her heart and her courage. Everything she has to do to survive. I also really enjoy the way the story is told through journals, transcripts, and letters like the original source material
I found myself going back and forth between the two characters of Iris and Lucy devouring their separate stories and eagerly waiting for them to come together. I enjoyed their love story and how it was more than just about them falling in love with each other, but using that love to find and forgive themselves and heal. And get a little revenge.
Maybe one of these days I'll finally actually read Dracula.

This book is probably in my top 5 of 2024. This gothic horror takes the Dracula legend and flips it on its head by giving Lucy Westenra agency over her own story. It was so satisfying watching all the pieces of the puzzle come together. Not to mention some of the reveals that literally stopped me in my tracks because I did not see them coming but once they did they made so much sense. Absolutely incredible.

Thank you for the ARC, Del Ray Books!

I really loved the uniqueness of the story and how well the author tied in the original Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It flowed almost effortlessly and the little tiny details that added up with this story mixed with the original was honestly amazing.

I really loved the representation as well and that it was forefront, powerful, and didn’t become a spot of weakness or degration. Honestly this was so much better than I even thought it could be and the authors writing is just the cherry on top. If you’re a lover of multiple POVs, a Gothic setting, and a journey to discovery with vampires this is definitely for you!

The cover is beautiful, the character of Lucy is amazing, I loved the idea but felt the book was a little long. Still worth a read knowing that the book is good. I also didn't love the character of Iris. Not quite sure why. But I did enjoy the book.