KIERSTEN WHITE HAS FIXED EVERYTHING WRONG WITH BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA!

But seriously, this story: phenomenal.

Lucy’s evolution throughout the story & across the globe is fascinating, & I loved everything about her relationship with Iris & how they bring out the best in each other. The worldbuilding was genius & the backstories of Lucy’s vampire friends were wildly creative. Also the author managed to infuse levity into a story with its basis in a classic horror novel, which had me thoroughly impressed & wanting to be besties with several characters.

Thank you very much to NetGalley & Del Ray for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The description of this book was intriguing. I always enjoy the concept of vampires crossing the centuries of time and what they might be like if you met one today. The alternating timelines was interesting and added a lot of depth to understanding the background of the characters. The multiple points of view were fine but ultimately I couldn't connect with either of them and I think it only made the pacing slow. There was a lot happening and it felt a little messy to follow. I definitely anticipated more gothic vibes too. I enjoyed the journals and unique perspective on the events with Dracula.

This gave some Interview With a Vampire vibes but written better and way more modern. I loved this reimagining of the Dracula story and that it took it in strange but directions that were really cool! This is the 3rd book I’ve read by this author and I love her writing and points of view!

This was unfortunately a miss for me. I love Kiersten White's writing, but the slowness, immaturity, and multiple points of view made it a struggle for me to finish.

If you love Dracula This is a must read. A complete reimagining told from Lucy's point of view. Exciting with characters you are familiar with and new ones . This takes place in modern day as Iris a member of the Goldaming family and fortune goes to great Britain after her Mother's death . There she finds Lucy's journals and we hear her side of the story. Very interesting concept this book is very hard to put down

While Lucy Undying felt like a slow start, the pace picked up well and kept me intrigued!! I love the mixed media aspect of the ebook, and that this was a sapphic story.

As a big fan of Kiersten White's other adult horror novels, LD really appealed to me. I mean hello, queer dracula retelling(ish)? But ultimately this one didn't do if for me. I actually had to DNF. I tried multiple times to start it, over many months, in every format there is (physical, ebook, audio) but it just came down to... I had no idea what was going on.

The split POVs were confusing, and I couldn't connect with either character. At 25% every time I had no idea what was going on and just kept wanting to put it down.

I'm sure this has an audience, it just wasn't me apparently.

I wanted to absolutely love this book, but it just didn't give me that 5 star feeling. First off, I love the re telling of Dracula where he is not the main character, and a woman is the main character of this vampire story. I felt like this book had way too many ideas going on and it dragged a little bit. I also didn't love the different POVs and time jumps. I did love the writing style and would read from this author again!

I love a good dracula retelling!!! lucy W did not get enough of a voice in dracula; she was vapid and boring. This book really brought her to life! love the gay approach also obviously

I feel like this book could have been really really great. It had strong writing and a delightful premise (cults and lesbian vamps!), but it was long and winding and it never quite got there form me. I think this book would have really benefitted from tighter editing. I still enjoyed it and would recommend!

You had me at lesbians and vampires and MLM cults but lost me at one too many plot twists and time frame shifts.

It took me quite a while to get through because I kept having to go back and reread.

That being said the last 30% of the book was probably my favorite.

ARC review: Iris’s evil mother is dead and she’s desperate to pawn off anything of value from the old Victorian home in London that she’s inherited. In her hunt for treasure, she finds the diary of Lucy. She begins to read Lucy’s musings, and the narrative splits into 3 separate POVs: present day Iris, diary Lucy, and vampire Lucy from the perspective of a therapy transcript.

This would easily be a 5 star for me if it was liiiiiiike 30% shorter and gave me some romantic angst in the relationship build up. The beginning and ending are incredibly strong, and the themes throughout were hitting. Unfortunately the middle dragged quite a bit and brought the enjoyment down.

I have never read the original Dracula so I have no idea how faithful of an adaptation this is and I truly don’t care about that either way.

FYI, an overarching theme throughout the book is Dracula turning women into vampires and is a pretty obvious allegory for rape. I don’t remember sexual assault happening on the page, but it is something to be cognizant of for sensitive readers.

Genre: gothic romance, dracula retelling

A really intriguing take on a Dracula retelling! On the one hand, it was too long for me overall, and while the pacing didn't specifically drag, it felt off to me. On the other hand, I loved the way White structures the various timelines in the book to keep me invested.

White says she wrote this because she felt that Lucy needed a girlfriend. Especially after reading Carmilla and having full investment in the idea of Dracula as a queer story, it only makes sense that Lucy is queer too. I love the focus on bodily autonomy as the foremost power in the book, and the complicated control that both men and women exert to get their way. I have vivid memories of 8th grade English lit class reading Dracula and discussions about Lucy as a flirt to get those 3 men to propose to her.... and that never sat well with me. Now, 25 years later, understanding more about women in Lucy's position (well dowered, beautiful, and taught to behave certain ways) the justice that Kiersten White brings back to Lucy is the critical missing lens.

Truly, the MLM component of vampiric blood makes way too much sense in the grand scheme.

I enjoyed this overall and know I'll be thinking about this for a long time. It's just on the longer side, so settle in for the long haul.

his was so, so good and so different from what I expected. It's like....half female-centric classic Dracula story, half "What if vampires turned their thirst for blood into an multi-level marketing corporation?"

Incredibly unhinged. I freaking loved it.

The novel is shown from different viewpoints — composed in a pseudo-epistolary style, Lucy Undying is told mainly in three different perspectives: the secret diary of Lucy Westenra before and during the events of Dracula in the 1890s, recordings of the vampire Lucy in 2024 done by a therapist, and a first-person narrative by a young woman named Iris who arrives in London at the start of the novel. Iris’s narratives take place a few days after the recordings, which are all done on the same day.

Reading this novel was somewhat difficult for me as I found it difficult to believe that Lucy could escape from Dracula. I guess I expected a different vampire novel. I am also a true devotee of the original Dracula novel with the original beliefs given. I don’t know what else to say. It is a complex novel. I do think that this is a book that has a different “flavor” to it. I recommend reading it and deciding for yourself if this is the vampire novel for you.

thank you net galley for the chance to read and review 'Lucy Undying'.

DNF: 33%

I tried for so long to like this book. I wanted so badly to love it but I just couldn't. By no means is the book bad, but it has some stylistic choices I dislike. Mainly the constant changing of the era. I Usually like when stories change setting to show the past however, this book feels like it was too ambitious with that. We spend so much time in Lucy's POV ,from the past, it's almost like you forgot who Iris is. and the chapters of the client transcript feel out of place to me.
As for the aspects I liked, misleading connections. I loved how Lucy referred to her "Darling" in the beginning, and I fully expected it to be Dracula and not Mina.
In the end, the story was engaging at points, but I simply don't have the time to stick with a book that isn't going to keep me engaged the majority of the time. Hopefully in the future I can come back to this one, but it likely won't be anytime soon

This had me in the first half...and then it takes a bonkers turn that didn't quite work. Which is saying something because I feel like the target audience for this! I too am an ex-mormon who thinks utah-based MLMs are perfect grounds for a horror novel! But I think White was biting off (heh) more than she could chew with this Dracula retelling.

Loved Lucy though! Her diary entries and therapy sections were the best bits of this book, and I honestly wish the whole book was her POV.

I also appreciated that Dracula was barely a character in this. I'd argue his POV sections were wholly unnecessary! Who cares what his dumb thoughts are!

Lucy Undying follows the story of Lucy Westenra, one of Dracula’s victims from the titular novel. It also follows Lucy the vampire, Iris the human, Dracula the vampire, and some random lady at one point…. There are a lot of POVs to this story. The best one was Dracula’s, which is disappointing since it’s a female gets revenge story. But the guy is the most interesting perspective.

Lucy the vampire follows her journey through the decades after her turning, through war and love and prosperity and death. Her perspective was my second favorite.

Iris, she’s an unexpected narrator, and the less you know I think the more you’ll enjoy it. The mystery of her life was what made her chapters interesting.

The book overall is not greater than the sum of its parts. It had a very promising start, eerie and mysterious, but this book was too long. Many ideas were revisited multiple times by different characters. It felt repetitive. Especially once the romance started, oh my Jesus! Nonstop waxing on and on about their love. But not in a romantic or poetic way, more like a love struck teenager.

With about 50 pages cut out, and more bloody vampire fights I could’ve rated this higher. The gore, while rare, was peak.

This is the type of story you get when a lit major decides to expand upon a beloved story and it goes swimmingly. Lucy, a small footnote in Stokers book, a character that has been routinely trivialized and "thrown away" by various interpretations of the source material, is fleshed out and given a story full of complexity and mystery. Thank you so much NetGalley for a chance to get my hands on this novel!

Lucy, in an effort to protect Mina, has allowed herself to become Dracula's bride, but soon finds that he truly only cares for Mina and is shoved aside so he might pursue her. Since she was a little girl, Lucy has been treated like she did not matter, that she only had one job to do, and that was to marry well and produce babies. Yet, as an undying bride Lucy is able to become so much more, to thrive, grow, and be who she was truly meant to be - from here is where LU starts. Overall, LU is a story of self-love and strength, it just so happens to also be a bit of a thriller and deals with vampires.

Kiersten White has been so hit or miss for me--I loved 'Mister Magic,' hated 'Hide,' and now really disliked this latest offering, sadly. Between the narrative voice and the overall writing, I was very put off by this one, though the story itself seemed awesome and like it might have been well-developed. I found myself skimming sections, though.