Dracula is one of my favorite movies, so naturally, when I saw a book about Lucy, I immediately requested it. First of all, that cover alone makes me want to pick up the book. It is definitely gorgeous and a little bit eerie. As for the story, I love the author's different take on a well-known story. The story is not just told from Iris's point of view, but also includes Lucy's journal entries and client notes. I highly recommend this book if you want to read a different, unique, and sapphic vampire story. Thanks to Random House Publishing Group and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I am obsessed with this book and with Kierten White's writing! I went into this with no real expectations and was pleasantly surprised around every corner. I Couldn't put this down. Iris is a fascinating character, and I found myself relating to her quite a bit. Lucy though stole my heart. Her journal entries and her therapist transcripts were fantastic. This was a really interesting take on the Dracula tale that we all know. I loved being able to see through Lucy's eyes as she traveled and came into contact with more vampires that had been made and then abandoned by Dracula. I really didn't see the twist coming, usually I have some sort of inkling of what is going to happen. The way the story flips at the end was not what I was expecting but I loved it. Also, as someone who is currently living in the Salt Lake City valley, I was super excited when the story returned there. I loved the way that Iris took hold of her trauma near the end and used it as a weapon against those that had wronged her. I think she really grew into her own at the end. This is definitely going on my list of recommendations for vampire books!

Lucy Undying by Kiersten White is a fantastic Dracula novel!
In this epic and seductive gothic fantasy, a vampire escapes the thrall of Dracula and embarks on her own search for self-discovery and true love.
I really enjoyed the writing style here! I thought it was engaging and well written.
The characters suck you in almost immediately.

First, this cover is gorgeous! It visually gets you excited to read a gothic fantasy/romance with vampires. Unfortunately, the novel itself left me feeling meh. I love pretty much all things Dracula inspired. I am here for the recent transition from the more commercialized vampires to the scary haunting ethereal forms. When I saw a book featuring, in my humble opinion, a maligned feminine figure such as Lucy from Dracula I was all in. Instead I found more a thesis on the evils of MLMs. Perhaps I was mistaken in my expectations but this book was just not for me. When I first started this book I was intrigued and excited for the many ways this story could go. I found it dragged instead and I often found myself skimming and picking up my phone to scroll instead. Poor Lucy, still maligned for being a sexual creature in a time of purity. Alas.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group / Ballantine / Del Rey for sharing this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Another absolutely delicious novel from Kiersten White! The way she weaves a story to be not only fantastical but able to provide a searing feminist and sociological commentary has me lost for all the right words to express how much I love her writing. I am a sucker (pun not intended) for a story with multiple perspectives, and she just does it so well. I raced through Lucy Undying and couldn't wait to see this story of infinite nows unfurl. I loved flitting through time with Lucy and finding out the next revelation in Iris' equally chaotic life story. This book will be the reason I finally read Dracula after my 33 years on this earth. Thank you, Kiersten White. I absolutely cannot wait for your next novel, and I thank you for giving us Lucy & Iris, Rahul & Anthony, and the Queen, the Doctor, and the Lover.

Lucy Undying is an amazing story based around classic vampire lore and themes such as feminist rage and the idea of love and curiosity.
Also, please a moment of marvel for the stunning cover which drew me in originally and then a plot so perfect for me I could cry. 😍
First off: Dracula is a long time favorite of mine so naturally anything based on or around it I must read instantly. Sapphic Dracula retellings tend to be my favorite and the love story in this novel had my heart playing puppet. So unique and captivating I just wanted more and more. No spoilers but it’s one for the books!

In Lucy Undying there are multiple POV’s/timelines which definitely kept things interesting with so many twists and turns but the pacing could’ve been helped a little. The middle tended to drag on a bit in my opinion but that’s a small turn off. With that being said, every character we met was well developed and had a reason to be there. There was no wasted thought about why they mattered or what their purpose was. I appreciated that because it gave my brain time to wonder about other pieces of the novel.

Overall this novel was gothic and deep, the histories and hidden meanings behind small details really secured my opinion on this novel. More time often than not we get vampire stories of mass killing or slow insanity and Lucy Undying was a different but so intriguing point of view on a different undead life.

I highly recommend and will be reading again. 🖤

this will go down as one of my favorite reads of the year. dracula, vampires, sapphic humans that arer lovestruck and gay as hell? my favorite. the fmc is so relatable in her queerness, and the way the chapters are split up made me so, so eager to get to the next chapter so each element of the story could unfold. i loved every page.

Kiersten White, the writer you are.

Every chapter of this book is the perfect combination of female rage and sapphic longing. I love the prose, the suspense, and that ending? This is such a perfect spooky season book.


I see some hatred for this book, and I gotta say, maybe vampire books are not for you? Also, if you went in expecting a dracula retelling and were upset when it simply contained a book from Dracula, maybe read synopsis of books more?

Yas, queens!

The newest novel from Kiersten White focuses on the story of Lucy Westenra from Dracula. It is told through alternating timelines and POVs. For the first two thirds or so these primarily consist of excerpts from the journal Lucy kept before being turned into a vampire at age 19 in the year 1890, transcripts from current day Lucy's talks with a therapist as she explains everything that has happened to her since then (a la Interview with the Vampire), and a narrative following a woman named Iris, who is trying to escape her abusive and controlling family and its company/MLM empire. Her connection to the rest of the story becomes apparent over time as hints are dropped like a trail bread crumbs. Later, we get several chapters from the POV of the Transylvanian count himself.

This is the story of women who are expected, by their families and by society, to be a certain way, fit into a certain mold. These women may try to please these others so much that they are unable to even recognize who they truly are behind the act. They play at being meek and cooperative, but then no one pleased by their resultant vulnerability bothers to protect them when called for. The damage wrought by this kind of trauma can ultimately be cured by being wholly loved for exactly the people they are, nothing less and nothing more.

In that way, this winds up being a really sweet and inspirational sapphic romance story. It also has mysterious and Gothic elements, and the tension and dread of being constantly watched by those who believe they own you. Lucy's story takes us from England to China to Istanbul, and through two World Wars. Eventually we are brought to the States to take on the horrifying company that will never willingly let Iris go, and even Dracula himself.

Speaking of...the character of Dracula was the least compelling here. Maybe that's intentional as he thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread and everyone should worship him, but after centuries of growth some of the women he's screwed with realize he isn't worth taking up any more space in their thoughts. These women, though - by the end of the story, I loved them so much! Over the course of her Unlife, Lucy met and...sure, "befriended", a handful of other women turned into vampires by Dracula, and they wind up all being quite delightful in their own ways! Girl power!

Not just doom and gloom, there are some quite funny moments in this book as well. These are often provided by snarky and irreverent Iris, but not always. I got a real kick out of one of the vampires only just trying to learn about cell phones, sending a blurry picture of a squirrel. The recipient sends "Who is this?", and the dear, sweet, insane vampire replies "You mean what is this it's a squirrel".

The main reason I decided not to go with 5 stars for this book was because it did seem overly long and dragged a bit in the middle. But when it did pick back up once the three timelines converged, I loved all of the ass-kicking, and the healing of trauma through being loved for one's true self. Great stuff!

Thank you so very much to NetGalley and Del Rey for the eArc in exchange for my honest review.

Neutral 3 stars
——————

DNF @ 45%. I think I liked the idea better than the execution.

When I saw Dracula Novel in the title, I was expecting a gothic setting and lyrical writing. But I didn’t get it. The writing was pretty boring and the way the novel is formatted into different journal/client session/modern first person was too much. I didn’t need two perspectives of Lucy, even if it was before and after death. Plus the blurb kind of spoils what I imagine is the “plot twist” I found the characters boring, I couldn’t connect with them at all.

Neural stars because I DNFed.

This isn't horrible but honestly I could not get into such a modern vampire story.I loved Lucy's old journals in the story but vampiric cults, pyramid schemes and the very idea that Mina was bad didn't go over too well with me.There was too much back and forth with the characters until you couldn't keep track of whose viewpoint you were reading from and even if you did you just didn't care anymore.I only gave it three stars because I think Twilight fans would enjoy and the writing was okay.

4.0. I enjoyed this! The plot made sense with the original story and was very compelling, it almost read like a thriller. The vampire lore/worldbuilding was really cool and the nods to Dracula canon were really fun to read and well interspersed through the story. It’s definitely an alternate version of the story, but I think people who liked the original will like this too. My issues with this book were fairly minor. It honestly felt like I was reading two different books that split right at the halfway point. When Iris learns who Lucy is, the story shifted into a very different vibe. I still enjoyed it, but it really shifted the reading experience for me. The first half was definitely my favorite: Lucy’s diary entries, interspersed with modern day Iris, interspersed with Lucy in therapy was like. Amazing? So when two of those ended, the story progressed as it needed to, but I was sad for the loss. The Dracula in 2nd person sections were… weird? As they were supposed to be I think. His character was very well done for what this book was doing. As were all the other villains!! The reveal(s) at the end had me gasping! Overall, would recommend if you want a sapphic gothic vampire story to read, and especially if you want more historical queer women and you support women’s wrongs.

Thank you so, so much to Random House Publishing Group Ballentine, Del Ray, and Netgalley for allowing me to read the advanced copy of this book!! I am forever grateful for the opportunity!

I really enjoyed this book!! I have always loved vampires and this book had the perfect mix of light and dark that I was looking for! I don’t always like when stories jump between the present and past continuously throughout the entire story, but I enjoyed how White stuck to three main POVs to tell Lucy and Iris’s stories. The choice of those three POVs to come from Lucy’s diary as a human, the recount of her vampire life to Vanessa, and the modern narrative of Iris’s perspective and thoughts gave the story an interesting take, in my opinion. Though I agree that the beginning was the slightest bit slow, I felt that it moved along smoothly, with all three POVs coming together seamlessly to fully complete the story. I had so many highlights and quotes that really stuck with me as I read. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book! It was the perfect book to begin this autumn’s spooky season with!

This is an interesting novel. I will say that for as long as the book is the first two thirds really drags, to pick up massively in the last half. This book is predictable in some ways but also has a couple of surprises. I quite loved Lucy and how her interactions with other vampires caused them to look at their lives differently. The Lover had to be one of my favorite vampires. She was just so airy and at times added humor where humor where humor was needed. Overall, this book is okay. The ending was perfection I just wish that pace had been integrated into more of the book.
Thank you so much to Random House Publishing Group Ballentine, Del Ray, and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

Lucy Undying is the collision of two very different stories—the first is a punk, new adult coming of rage plot following Iris, the reluctant heiress to a vampire multi-level marketing cult, and the other is a queer, feminist reclaiming of Lucy Westenra (which, at varying times, feels inspired by Dracula, Interview with the Vampire, and Captain America: The First Avenger—no, I’m not joking). When Iris and Lucy meet in London, romance sparks and dark secrets unwind, threatening Iris’s freedom and Lucy’s greatest wish: to be seen and truly loved.

Lucy Undying has glimpses of brilliance—Lucy’s commentary on female desire and the “neediness” so often vilified in women is moving and lovely, and Dracula’s narcissism is cruel and well-depicted. The changes White makes to Bram Stoker’s narrative are clever (if somewhat predictable), and result in an eerie and entertaining conspiracy. I don’t think one needs to have read Dracula to follow Lucy Undying, but familiarity undoubtedly improves the reading experience, and I particularly enjoyed White’s callbacks to small but memorable moments in the original text (the garlic flowers, blood transfusions, and escaped wolf, to name a few!)

Unfortunately, White’s writing struggles to find a cohesive tone—in concept, queering Lucy feels like fertile ground for feminist literary fiction, but attempts to get there are held back by the Iris narrative, which seems YA both in plot and writing style. Similarly, the vampire MLM scheme is engaging and fun on its own, but is distracted by breakaways to Lucy’s vampiric past. Lucy’s characterization suffers as a result—though elements of her narrative are poignant and striking, she lacks the gravitas one might expect from a 100+ year old vampire plucked from a literary classic, and the insta-love romance (complete with painfully quirky couple names like “my little butter chicken”) feels more immature than earth-shattering.

Ultimately, there are just better sapphic vampire stories out there. As a Dracula fan, I don’t regret reading Lucy Undying, but I’d encourage others to check out queer vampire picks like Carmilla or Dowry of Bl00d instead.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine, Del Rey, and Random House Publishing Group for this advanced copy. You can pick up Lucy Undying: A Dracula Novel on September 10, 2024.

It's spooky season, so I figured this would be the perfect read to ease me into fall. And it is a good fall book... but boy does it eaaassseee you into things. I think it's more my mood/current reading behavior than any problem with the book itself, but I struggled to pick this one up and stay invested, Despite following 2-3 characters (Lucy past and present), none of these characters stuck out to me enough to care about what was happening to them. Nothing pulled me in and made me want to keep reading. I got about 14% in and realized that I could put this down and not think about it ever again. So, I'm afraid that's what I did.

Now, if you're looking for a moody, sapphic, atmospheric story about vampires with massive character studies, this is your book! But I'm afraid it wasn't for me.

See link for full review details. 3.5 rating, enjoyed the second half of the book the most. Loved all the twists

Lucy Undying by Kiersten White is a fabulous reinterpretation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I was able to read and fully enjoy the story without having read the classic text. But now that I know Lucy and the characters that surround her in life were created by Stoker, I’m eager to pick up my copy of the original novel.

We learn about Lucy’s life through a diary she wrote in 1890 at age 19, and the stories of her afterlife are shared through a transcribed therapy session in 2024. This was a very clever way of providing her full history and worked well with the present day first person narration of Iris.

When we meet Iris, she has traveled to London to sort out part of her recently inherited estate. It quickly becomes clear that she is caught up in some nefarious organization and her trip to London is only meant to be a quick stop to fund her escape.

Iris discovers Lucy’s journal hidden under the floorboards of Hillingham, the old mansion owned by and long-ago abandoned by her family. She finds a kindred spirit in Lucy who, like Iris, is dominated and manipulated by her mother and feels trapped in a life she does not want.

With a supporting cast of largely all female vampires, White spins a distinctly feminist retelling with cutting commentary on the predatory male gaze. Lucy was taught to be demure, quietly appealing - a blank canvas that men could project their own desires onto. It’s what made her an easy victim, and what continues to make women targets today. Keeping women quiet, afraid to cause discomfort or raise conflict, is what still gives predators the confidence that they can take whatever they want and get away with it.

I wish I could share a sample of my favorite quotes, because White composes so many beautiful passages about time, home, femininity, and sense of self. You’ll just have to read the book to discover them for yourself, along with all the great twists and sapphic romance I’ve skipped for fear of triggering spoilers.

1890, Lucy is a young woman with no freedom in her life. Immortality gave her a new entitlement to claim her identity as a woman she never could when she was alive, to be authentic inside and out. Kiersten White’s Lucy Undying spans centuries, depicting a young woman whose real story began when she became unalive as one of Dracula’s first victims. Woven through time from the past to the modern day, where another young woman named Iris unearths a mystery after her mother’s death. Traveling to London, she discovers a secret family home tucked away like a time capsule and within the untouched walls are mysterious diaries and transcripts that tell the story of a young woman named Lucy. Kiersten White writes an absolutely rich, atomsoprehic, and breathtakingly amazing female spin on Dracula that is long overdue! The intersection of these two women’s stories illustrates the pain of love and family relationships that carries across time and generations.

Confession time: I never actually finished reading Dracula. How is such an iconic and influential book so incredibly boring? Well, Kiersten White solves that problem with a retelling that focuses on Lucy Westenra. Jumping between time frames and points of view, we get a new perspective on what could have actually happened in Stoker's novel and how that story might continue to this day. My only complaint is that it felt like two novels. At the two-thirds mark, it felt like a tidy ending was wrapping itself up, but then the book continued on. Split into two, I would have happily devoured both books. I look forward to what Kiersten White writes next.