Compelling, bloody, and intricate - Lucy Undying mixes up the standard Dracula story and will keep you guessing until the end about who will come out of this story alive.

<i>“My name is Lucy Westenra, and this is my story.”</i>

Told through three distinct timelines - Lucy’s diary, her own retelling of her story after her death, and current day - we slowly begin to piece together the story of Lucy Westenra, and what actually happened after her death in the story of Dracula. As we begin to unfold Lucy’s bloody history, we are introduced to another character - Iris Goldaming - who is the unfortunate CEO of a sinister MLM, and seemingly cannot escape her calling. When these two collide it’s an instant romance, but with both of them hiding deadly secrets from the other it seems doomed to fail. As we learn more about Lucy’s life after death, Iris and Lucy are ever drawn to each other and might be the one thing able to keep this story from becoming a tragedy.

I loved how this story was written, with it being interspersed by journal entries, therapist discussions, and even some internal monologue from Dracula himself. I found this writing style to brilliantly bring all the moving pieces in this story together like a well-oiled machine, and there were multiple times I had to pause to register what was going on when one of these pieces were cleverly inserted into the current-day storyline.

I was enthralled from the beginning, and this book was excellent at bread-crumbing more and more information at the end of a chapter right before a timeline or POV switch - making it extremely difficult to put this book down and constantly needing to find out what happens next. I also loved the inclusion of a sinister MLM lurking in the background, and the bits and pieces we (as the reader) are fed about it, until we can finally understand why Iris is so desperate to escape their clutches - and why they are so desperate to hold onto her by any means necessary.

While I, personally, love introspective stories with heavy inner dialogue, I can see this story not working for you if you don’t find a writing style compelling. A great deal of this novel is told through either Lucy or Iris’ internal monologue, as well as journal entries and a conversation/confessional with a therapist, and only the parts with more action feature direct dialogue and action between characters. While the plot in this story is compelling in itself, a great deal of this novel I would classify as more of a character study of a character who was cheated out of life in the original Dracula story, and is then forced to adjust to her afterlife as an undead vampire.

In my opinion, the only weak point in this novel was some parts of the romance between Iris and Lucy. It was never unbelievable, but the timeline of this novel is relatively very short and they very quickly fall into each other and become one another’s confidants, which I found to be a bit unbelievable. In the same way, Iris very quickly becomes friends with a cab driver she had met for only 30 minutes, and while I greatly enjoyed his character I felt he might have jumped just a bit too quickly into helping this woman he doesn’t know. However, neither of these things took enjoyment away from the story and were distracting enough to make this book any less than a 5 star read to me.

I loved this novel, but I could see how someone who loves all the characters within Dracula - and not just Lucy - might have some issues with this book. However, with this being a re-imagining and a retelling, I think you should absolutely give this book a chance to wow you with its story, like it did to me. Lucy Westenra truly grows from the hunted young woman who died in Dracula into a hunter herself, finding herself along the way and forging her own path.

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine/Del Rey for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A clever re-imagining of the story of Lucy Westenra in Dracula. If Lucy hadn't been destroyed by Dr. Van Helsing and others in Dracula, what adventures lay in store for her? Lucy never loved any of her suitors; she only loved Mina Harker, her former governess. Her life as a vampire is a search for love and meaning, not so different from life as a living human being.

Lucy's story is told in alternating chapters: Lucy writing in her journal in 1890; Lucy talking to her therapist in 2024; and Iris writing her story connected to Lucy. Iris is a descendant of Lord Goldaming, Lucy's fiance Arthur Holmwood in Dracula. Lucy's family runs a huge self-help empire called Goldaming Life, a legacy Iris is not eager to inherit. When Iris discovers Lucy's diary from 1890 in Lucy's bedroom at a London Goldaming property, she realizes there is an alternative history of Dracula and her family - and possibly a way out of Goldaming Life for her.

Dracula purists may not be attracted to Lucy Undying, but the novel is a creative take on the classic horror novel. Kiersten White fans will be thrilled with her new novel as will avid readers of vampire novels and sapphic fiction.

The power of blood’s driving force of life brings together the lives of two young women entwined by Dracula’s meddling in Kiersten White’s Lucy Undying.
Lucy Westerna sacrificed herself to Dracula to protect someone she loved and became a vampire, and upon awaking into her immortal life she’s spent her time on a path of self-discovery that eluded her in her past, as well as seeking an escape from the one who created her. After centuries pass, it’s 2024 and Lucy meets Iris Goldaming, who is desperate to break free of her family and past, which is a cultish empire built upon a dark secret. Lucy and Iris have an immediate, mutual connection and attraction to one another, but any future of their potential relationship is threatened by outside forces as Iris’s mother fights any attempt at escape for the sake of the family business and Lucy’s past is lurking menacingly in the shadows as Dracula’s on the loose wreaking further havoc; the pair have found happiness in one another but keeping it may prove harder than they imagined.
Composed of journal entries, recollections of the past during therapy sessions, and more traditional narration of present goings-on, the story spanning centuries that involves Lucy, Iris and her family, and Dracula is revealed in similar textual format as the narrative of Dracula, but instead of focusing on the titular character of that classic, an exploration is undertaken for a side character whose name and fate was written about briefly and quickly forgotten. Picking up and imagining what life, and reborn immortal life, was like for Lucy was an interesting concept to extrapolate from the original tale and parts of that were done well; however, the novel as a whole was too ambitious as the additional narrative thread behind Iris’s family, though intriguing, came across as more forced in and too much – both ideas were decent but combining them together diluted the potency of each. Obfuscation is relied upon heavily throughout to generate a sense of ominousness surrounding the secret behind the Goldaming’s empire and the past that Iris is so keen to escape from, but there are clues strewn throughout the lengthy text that point toward the truth of the matter, which makes that obfuscation less an effective tool and more a frustration to endure.
Overall, I’d give it a 3 out of 5 stars.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

First, I want to shout a HUGE thank you to @NetGalley and @DelReyBooks for this eARC!!
This book... This book! YES! An absolute MUST read for all Dracula fans.
My favorite aspect of this novel is how "true" it kept to Stoker's 'Dracula' in accordance with the characters and the timeline and pertinent events.
This story is one big What-If.
What if something different was going on with the side characters than we were originally led to believe? What if Lucy's heart belonged to another? What if That world and This world eventually melded? What if we tried to capitalize on vampirism? What if...
You could call this story a retelling of 'Dracula', but don't let your feelings from that book seep over and interfere with this one; whether good or bad. It's the same, but it's not. Ohhhhh, it's so not.
This is Lucy's (and Iris') story, not Dracula's.
While she (this book) is a hefty one and definitely a commitment, it's absolutely worth the time spent.
I'm quite curious to see the reviews roll in from readers who have never read 'Dracula' =)
Am I going to go back and reread it now? ABSOLUTELY!

An interesting take on the familiar story of Dracula, Mina and Jonathan. Lucy is a side character in the original and here she is the heroine. However in doing so Kiersten does completely redo her character. I think if you analyse this too closely compared to the original, you would be disappointed. In trying to highlight Lucy we villainise the other characters in Dracula more than needed. But if you view it as inspired by but totally separate from the original it is a good concept. The writing has Kiersten's familiar poetic flow to it, and is slow paced but in an entrancing way.
I like idea of client transcripts and past and present merging together and what lucy got up to over the years.
Maybe a little drawn out but ultimately an enjoyable concept and well executed, but may not appeal directly to fans of the classic original. It was good seeing a feminist twist and the parallels between iris (the main character) and lucy were interesting and well laid out, and the gothic, haunting vibes were beautiful to get lost in, even if it could have been more succinct.

As a fan of the original Dracula, I was disappointed with this book. For readers coming into it not knowing the original Dracula story, it may be more enjoyable. The author is definitely a talented writer, and her flow and beautiful imagery is what kept me reading. Unfortunately, though, the book fell flat as far as doing justice for the character of Lucy. I would try other books by this author in the future.

Thank you for the opportunity to read!

With the stunning cover and mentions of sapphic vampires, I was interested in the potential of the story. And while it did not embody my expectations, I still found parts of the story enjoyable, especially Lucy's perspectives early on in the novel. I found the pace to be slow but not in a way that made sense or was enjoyable, a dragging pace rather than meandering. I appreciate its quick chapters, but overall found it difficult to finish.

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House, and Del Rey for access!

Wow. This book was phenomenal! I found myself wanting to read just one more chapter, and couldn't put it down. I think the author did a great job with the points of view, and I found myself needing to know more about each character. I absolutely loved the message about finding yourself, as well. It resonated a lot with me. Lucy, Iris, Rahul and Anthony are by far some of my new favorite characters. My only complaint is that in the early chapters, Iris talks about journal chapters, that we as the reader have already read. It felt a bit redundant. However, this book was a nice, atmospheric read, and I devoured it.
Thank you to Net Galley for the eARC (and a new favorite author!)

Thank you Netgalley for this arc.
Full disclosure I did dnf at 17% so I don’t know if the rest of the book improved but I just couldn’t make it through.
I’m extremely disappointed with this book. It’s the first book I picked up after reading Dracula and I was so excited to read a retelling that centered Lucy since she’s absolutely amazing! Unfortunately this book did NOT do the novel Dracula justice at all. First of all, the characterization of all of the characters (including and especially Lucy) is so entirely inaccurate. I genuinely think that anyone who loved Dracula would absolutely hate this book. One of the first diary entries we get from Lucy describes her hatred for the characters who she did care about in the original novel. The romance between Lucy and Mina was also so poorly done in my opinion. The original book was a better love story than this. I did find the transcripts between Lucy and whoever she’s talking to extremely interesting. The descriptions of what it was like for her to become a vampire and befriend the wives of Dracula was super interesting. Unfortunately once she went on her trip to China (so random??) it kind of fell off and was no longer interesting to me.
Lastly I’d like to cover the Iris chapters. I get it, this is a gothic book full of mystery and intrigue but in order to have that you need to actually make your audience care about what the mystery is. Unfortunately for me I did not care at all over this weird thing going on with Iris’s mother. I found all of her chapters (except the one where she’s exploring the house) to be extremely dull with bad dialogue and cringy pop culture references. Also the line where she’s talking about the understanding between queer people is just weird. Also calling that girl from the train station her angel was honestly the last straw in making me dnf this. And the “my little cabbage” nickname?? Weird and unnecessary. Anyways!! If you are curious about this book please read it anyways and I sincerely hope you enjoy it more than I did.

DNF at 45%
Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the opportunity to read and review this book in exchange for my honest review.
Unfortunately, I am DNFing this book at 45%. This features 2 POV characters across 3 timelines. We follow Iris, a modern day woman dealing with the estates of an overbearing mother. She goes to London because she needs money and wants to raid two of the homes that are now hers after her mother’s death. Her only focus is on stripping the homes bare and selling as much as she can while flirting with a historian she has a crush on, Elle.
The other POV character is Lucy Westerna of Dracula fame. We see her human life through journal entries and we follow her vampire life as client transcripts as she pours out her story to a therapist. It seems as if this therapist is being held against their will while Lucy purges herself of her past.
The main issue I had with this book is that none of these storylines are at all interesting or new. Everything feels like an unfresh rehash of vampire stories that have already been out in the world. Ultimately I have no desire to keep reading this book past the point of DNF and won’t be sharing this book on my social media.

I did NOT think it would be possible for me to dislike a sapphic vampire novel but here we are. I was bowled over from the start by some truly atrocious dialogue and cringy cultural references, and struggled to recover from that point onward. I'm all for weird fanfiction of literary classics but this somehow pushed the envelope even for me. Lucy DOES deserve a girlfriend but what do you mean its not Mina Harker and also what do you mean she is a con artist? I really struggle with stories in which every character except the Beautiful Perfect protagonist is painted as a bad person and just couldn't get behind most of the characterization here in general.

Lucy Undying
By Kiersten White

I was not a fan of a lot things here: there were too many POVs and maybe 3 different timelines? It was hard to distinguish between the voices of Lucy and Iris plus Lucy’s journal entries and her client transcript. I think way too much was going on to the point where its so distracting and a reader it was hard to figure out what was going on. There’s something about the writing style that just didn’t work for me either. I really wish I had good things to say because the synopsis made it sound great but it fell very flat for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this gifted arc!

3.75/5 ⭐️
I don’t know how to rate this. The individual parts that made up this story were good. But it was overly ambitious and because of that it felt disjointed. It was like we had 4 different stories hodge podged together with some chewed up gum. A big problem was the multiple POVs. We had Iris in the present day, which gave more of the tone and vibes of Twilight. Lucy in present day talking about her past to her therapist that gave the vibes of St Gibson’s A Lesson in Malice and Dowry of Blood . Then pre vampire Lucy’s diary. The fourth story was the strange narrative that happened during the second half of this book that felt like it was going on for forever. Each of these parts on their own were excellent. Together it felt like you walked into a musical and the music style for each song would fluctuate between classic show tunes to rock n roll to opera. Each good on their own, slightly painful all together and gave me whiplash.
I liked this story and would recommend it. However, I really wish the author chose one style and one voice and tone and stuck with it. Either go with the traditional gothic with purple prose giving us Lucy’s life and journey, or give us the Twilight-Esq storyline stemming around Iris and her family’s cult. Lucy can still obviously be a part of the second option, but cut her pov chapters. At least the therapist ones.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing an advance reader copy of this book for my honest review.

I think Kiersten White is and audio only author for me. I loved her middle grade series, Hide, and Mister Magic. All but Hide I listened to, while Hide I read as a graphic novel. I love her ideas and characters, but I cannot get with her writing. I don't know why it just doesn't click and 10% in, I had to stop forcing the issue

drácula retellings WILL be my undoing, it’s true! i loved every second of this. from the captivating writing to the characterization of the women dracula has terrorized, i found this very reminiscent of s.t. gibson’s “a dowry of blood.” i think both explore the trauma the victims have gone through and the empowerment of overcoming it, as well as serving a sapphic story as well.

Lucy Undying has been an anticipated read for me since I saw it on goodreads. I love a good retelling, and was drawn in by the description and cover of Lucy Undying.

Lucy Westenra was one of Dracula's first victims. From reading Lucy’s POV, I was absolutely in love with how she was written. She had this raw sex appeal to her that I couldn’t really place, but I enjoyed it. Lucy eventually meets Iris, who’s family is hiding a secret and would do anything to stay in power. Lucy thought she would never find love again, until Iris seemingly charms her. Naturally, these two are drawn to each other and we start to get a romance element in this read. But their intense connection and blossoming love is threatened by the forces of Dracula and Lucy’s mom.

I loved the past and present elements in this book, especially because it allowed the reader to get Lucy’s story, Iris’s story, and then their story together. These characters were written with such genuine love and compassion for each other. While it was a longer read, I found myself struggling to put it down everytime I picked it up! Lastly, I agree, Lucy totally deserves a girlfriend.

Book: Lucy Undying
Author: Kiersten White
Rating: 1 Out of 5 Stars

I thank the publisher, Del Rey, for sending me an ARC. Kiersten White is an author who has been on my radar, but one who I have never picked up. I truly wanted to enjoy this one. It’s a Dracula story, and I enjoy it more than the original one. However, I could not get into this one.

In this one, we follow Lucy, who is one of Dracula’s first victims. Yet, her story does not end there. She became a vampire and has spent her life on the run. The events of that night still haunt her and she wants to keep moving so Dracula does not find her again. Years later, in London, she comes across another young woman who is also running from her past. Iris’s family is in the health business and has made a fortune from it. The problem is that it is all a lie and she wants to separate herself from it. These two women strike up a friendship. However, the past is coming for them and it will not leave without a fight.

The setup for this is quite good. We have two young women who have very different backgrounds and they find each other. However, it does not come out the best. I found these characters are a case of what could have been. This could have been a great character duo. We could have gotten so much out of them, but I did not. I found myself unable to connect with the characters. The truth of the matter is that I didn’t care about what was going on with them. I didn’t care about their backstories and what made them who they were. Whenever I cannot connect with the characters, it makes it very difficult for me to get into the book.

The plot is another thing that could have been there. We have a great setup and I can see it trying to come to life. Like with the characters, I found myself not being pulled in. I could not connect with what was going on. I don’t know why either. It has so much going for it that I love in books. I just could not get into the story.

The writing was okay. I know that Kiersten is mainly a young adult author and this feels on the adult side. The writing does come across as very YA, but that’s okay. I just had a hard time getting into it.

This is my issue with the whole book. I had a hard time getting into it. It does not mean that it is a bad book, but I was not the right person for it.

This book comes out on September 10, 2024.

Thank you, NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
When I was offered this book, I was actually hesitant to accept it since I wasn’t sure it would be to my liking. After finishing, I was right to be hesitant in accepting this book. The cover definitely drew me in and I typically love a good Dracula retelling. Both appealing to my inner emo kid.
Overall this isn't a bad retelling and I enjoyed the time jumping. But was left let down.

I was immediately drawn to this book - the cover, sapphic vampires, a Dracula reimagining - sign me up. Unfortunately, this book didn’t dazzle like I was expecting. This isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy it so let’s start with the good. This is an unconventional reimagining of Lucy from Bram Stroker’s Dracula. In this story, Lucy does not die but instead becomes a vampire and must travel all over the world searching for to find herself and where she belongs. The story also follows, Iris, in modern day London who must face her family’s legacy of a beauty cult. I love when female characters from classic stories are made into the main character so I was thrilled to see where White took the character of Lucy.

The book is told from multiple POVs and in multiple formats (journal entries, first person, therapy notes). I enjoyed the multiple POVs but felt like therapy notes really didn’t fit well with the story. It was a lot of Lucy just giving us her life story which I get but it was very slow at points. The character development was one of my favorite aspects of this book. I loved seeing Lucy as a human, in the early stages of being a vampire, and then much later in her life as a vampire. The theme of community and relying on others was woven through this story which I thought was beautiful.

Unfortunately, this story faltered in pacing and execution. The first half of the book was so slow and I found myself getting quite bored. Around the middle of the book, the pacing and story really picked up - I found myself so enthralled with the story but this only lasted for a few chapters. Then, the last 30% of the book was just odd. Overall I still enjoyed this book and found it to be an enjoyable reimagining - perfect for a spooky October read

Thank you to Del Rey and Netgalley for this ARC

DNF at 25%

I’m sorry but if you’re going to make a retelling of Dracula, don’t demonize every character expect for one. I am a huge fan of Dracula & is one of my favorite classics. I also really liked Lucy as a character in the book. I hated the main movie adaptation because they made her over sexualized. So I was excited for to see a story about her.

First off, I did not like the writing at all. It felt like immature writing. The flow of the book was already all over the place. We have 3 separate story narratives going on & it felt so choppy. This is a personal preference, but also did not like in the present day time period the over use of modern language. It felt very rom-com style.

Specifically the writing with the characters, I was not a huge fan. I need to, as a reader, to like the main characters. Both Lucy & Iris I could not give one care about. They were annoying & very unlikable. Which is crazy to me because Lucy in Dracula is a very likable character. With Iris, you still barely know anything about her at the 25% mark & the first experience you have with her is her telling her dad to screw himself basically.

Speaking of Lucy’s character, I did not like how the writer chose to explain why she lived on. It felt very unbelievable & a lot like fan-fiction. I would have liked a retelling of Mina & her together, rather than it be in present day.

At the end of the day it was not a book for me. I have too much love in my heart for the original work to like & continue reading this. If you are someone who is looking for gothic atmosphere, you will not get that. Although 10/10 for the cover!

Thank you NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.