I really like the different time jumps, it's very interesting to me to see vampires in different times and how they get along with their eternal life. As a long time Dracula fan, I love and am obsessed with sapphic vampires. This really hit the mark but I think that one time period in particular was boring at times and I just wished to jump back into the more historical times. Overall, if you love sapphic vampires pick this up! Thank you so much to the publisher and netgalley for the arc!

If I could rate this book based solely on its cover, this would be an instant 5/5 stars. Look at it! It’s absolutely gorgeous. Lucy looks positively preternatural in the moonlight, with her hair made of wolves. She’s not the frivolous girl we saw in Dracula - she’s a feral force to be reconned with. 

Unfortunately, the rest of the story doesn’t quite live up to the promise of a seductive gothic tale. It was all a little melodramatic for my taste, with an odd mix of ideas that did not mesh cohesively.

I loved the alternating points of view with Lucy - going back and forth with the journal entries from her time as a 19-year-old girl in 1890 and her retelling her tale after becoming a vampire in a series of  therapy session transcripts in 2024. We really see her growth, and I enjoyed the homage to the original Dracula novel.

Iris’s modern day story, in comparison, is boring and kind of silly? She’s an heiress on the run from a corrupt multi-million dollar vampire MLM. It’s practically a cult, and the message is clearly that capitalism is the enemy. Money makes monsters of us all. It didn’t have the same feel as the rest of the story, which was truly a shame, because I really enjoyed Lucy’s story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for a free copy of the ARC in exchange for a 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. Please don’t get me wrong, this is not a bad book, really. This book has an interesting concept, and it is written in a unique way. I did enjoy myself for the most part even if the gothic feel for some of it isn’t my thing. A couple of things would have made this book exceptional for those who like this type of book, one being that it should have been a little less wordy and the other being it needs to be a little more…cohesive, I guess would be the word. This is a very interesting premise, and I think others will fall in love with this. I enjoyed it, but TBH, it’s not my type of book even if enjoyed it. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

3.5 Stars!

Lucy Undying is not your mother's Dracula novel! Sure you may know the story or be familiar with the tale, but I promise you, author Kiersten White put her own stamp and unique spin on this beloved paranormal romance.

Lucy Undying not only has a gorgeous and unique cover but also has strong female main characters and sapphic representation. While this story may seem a little slow at times, Lucy Undying has a lot to unpack and does a great job of worldbuilding and bringing this story to life. I loved the different timelines and points of view. The diary entries as well as the client transcripts added an additional layer of intrigue.

Overall, I was impressed with this gothic tale of romance and self-discovery.

wow what an interesting book about mina and lucy . 2 characters from the Dracula book. I like the 1st half of the book with the journals and letters and interview. I was curious on how characters of the past would be brought into today. I wasn't expecting the 2nd part of the book to be about MLM marketing and Utah. I also wasn't expecting it to go in that direction and dealing with crazy mothers. I'm gonna rate this book as a miss from this author.

Thank you, NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Lucy Undying Follows Lucy Westenra, one of Dracula's first victims, and her story through past and present experiences trying to deal with her new life as a vampire. She becomes infatuated with a girl named Iris. With sapphic and gothic vibes I found this book to be a thrilling tale about finding about yourself, finding love, and fighting the things that come back from our past. I found the cover to be so intriguing and just all out gorgeous.

This book in general sounded like something that I would enjoy reading but at times this did fall a little flat for me. The dialogue in places really took me out of the story and getting through Lucy’s life story at times was a bit of a slog. But the moody atmosphere really kept me reading and I did enjoy the MLM parts with some of the vampires. Definitely a first read from me for this author and I would be interested in reading her other books.

Absolutely LOVED this one! The writing was stunning, the characters were so real, and it was truly such a seductive and alluring story. I was rooting for Lucy and Iris the entire time!

I was immediately drawn in by this cover and the premise of sapphic vampires. While the gothic vibes were immaculate it was just a tad too long for me. The pacing throughout changed several times throughout the story. I enjoyed the character arcs. I would recommend this to my followers that enjoy the niche sapphic vampire genre and those who love gothic fantasy.

Ok, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I didn't particularly like this one. I don't think I've ever said that about a Kiersten White book before, and it hurts to say. But on the whole, this one was a bit of a slog that felt muddy and like multiple books slammed together into one.

The beginning was, mostly, interesting. True, I saw The Big Reveal about Elle coming from a mile away. True, the psychiatrist bits were blatant ways to work in backstory without calling it backstory. But still, I liked the direction things were going and was clicking along just fine until I hit the point that, frankly, could/should have been the end - and there was still 40% of the book left. Honestly, the second almost-half, with the takedowns, was just not interesting for me. At all. It felt like a rehashing of everything that had already been discussed, and then some. And some more. Things dragged on and on and at that point I just wanted it all to end.

I can't believe I'm saying that about a book written by the brilliant author of everything from Mister Magic to Hide to the Sinister Summer series, but I am. I wanted the book to end LONG before it did. It felt like it needed a hard-core edit and someone to say "pencils down!" I honestly think it could easily have been two books, and then I might have had more patience - but then again, maybe not. I still love her writing on the whole, but I think this one missed the mark - at least for me...

Thank you so much Kiersten White, Del Rey, and Penguin Random House for the eARC of Lucy Undying. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Gothic romance fans, this one is for you! 🥳 Lucy Undying is is the perfect Dracula retelling/reimagining for spooky season. If you can’t get enough of dark mansions, ruthless vampires, sapphic love, and twists on classic novels, you’ll want to get your copy ASAP!

One of my favorite parts of Lucy Undying is that it’s told over various time periods from 3 points of view. The time hops from past to present were easy to follow and were so interesting. I love that the author made this choice because it added a ton of depth to the story. Also, I felt like I got to know the characters, and their motivations, much more deeply than had the story been told from one perspective or time period.

If you’re familiar with Dracula, be prepared to be delighted with the characters that grace the pages. Jonathan Harker, Mina Murray, Professor Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, Dracula, and of course, Lucy Westenra are all a part of the story! I loved seeing these familiar “faces” in a new light.

Found family fans, I think you’ll find Lucy Undying especially satisfying. To be honest, this is probably the most complicated/dysfunctional chosen family I’ve ever read about, but it works 😍! When you’ve got centuries of history, things are bound to be messy, right? However, I couldn’t get enough of the dynamics between the characters.

In the pages, you will find:

🧛‍♂️Vampires
🕸️Gothic mansions
🗺️World traveling
✍️Journal Entries
🤝Complicated found family
❤️Romance
🤔Plotting/planning/scheming
😈An evil MLM
🕰️Multiple time periods
📖A perfect read for spooky season!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/4

Winded up DNFing this book. The writing style wasn’t it for me. The character and storytelling was confusing and one noted. Thanks for the opportunity on reading this book early even tho it didn’t work for me.

Need to start by saying I love Kiersten White! I have read many of her other adult and ya novels and loved them. This one just did not hit for me. I feel pretty comfortable with Dracula lore so I was able to follow for the post part, but the POV changes made it a little confusing. Was expecting something similar to A Dowry of Blood and this was definitely not that.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of this book. This is my honest opinion.

Genuinely wtf 😂 112 chapters, nearly 500 pages, and I was so horribly bored by Iris's story. They needed to converge her mother's story with Lucy's. I could've done without the Iris of it all. She was boring and shockingly underdeveloped for a secondary FMC. It's ok to not include romance in a vampire novel if that's not your typical genre. Leave that to the experts.

Seriously though? It was too long and dragggggedddd for the first 50%

I tried, really tried to absolutely love this book. As a mood reader, I feel like this was on me. I forced myself to finish this book and I wasn't in the mood for it. I will be revisiting this book in the fall to give it another shot. I LOVED the start and it had me, but I think this book was a victim of mood reader syndrome. I will be rating it on the beginning as I LOVED it! Its hauntingly beautiful.

I had a few issues with this book. The way the author shifted between POVs felt very jarring. It was difficult to get invested in the characters or story because I felt like I was being thrown around. This is the third book I've picked up from this author and they've all been disappointing. Maybe she's just not for me.

DNF early on which is such a disappointment. First, the cover is gorgeous. Second, I loved Kiersten White's previous books <i>Hide</i> and <i>Mister Magic</i>.

I had a lot of problems with this book and I didn't make it very far since I realized I wouldn't like it.

The book starts off with Dracula then Iris, THEN Lucy. If Lucy is supposed to be our main character, why are we getting her transcript/story third? Also, I was confused as to why Dracula's first chapter wasn't just a prologue.

After that, I immediately was confused. I understand that books take time to tell the reader what they need to know but there's a line between the author waiting as long as possible and the information coming too early. I think the information needed to be given because it turns into Iris' POV chapters turning into a lot of words and not saying anything.

From what I read in other reviews on how the book ends, I'm disappointed that this wasn't two different books. The first book would be about Lucy and how she survived life as a vampire with a perfectly normal (or normal-ish) girlfriend. The second book would be about Iris being the heir to a vampire MLM. Do you know how much I want to read about a vampire MLM now? Could I read this book instead? Yes, I could, but I have a feeling I would get annoyed by it if I was already getting annoyed.

I really wanted to read this book and the excitement sustained me until I started reading. There were things I did like such as the short chapters, but that wasn't enough for me to continue.

I really enjoy Kiersten White. I am a bit more use to her stories like Hide and Mister Magic but was really excited to pick up this Dracula Novela that was based around Lucy. Bring this story into modern day time and this was a pretty fun read. It’s sapphic, gothic horror, and vampires which I will never say no too. All in all I think the female characters were very strong. I am so happy to see Lucy get her own book. I really liked the journal entires and client transcripts. Iris character was also interesting escaping an American mlm cult. All in all I liked it and am very interested to see what Kiersten White writes next.

I can see the potential here, especially for Dracula superfans, but unfortunately, it didn't stick the landing for me. The POVs and the ways that these POVs are written out just caused more confusion and I feel like for a retelling this seemed to rely too much on the reader being very familiar with the original work.

Her name was written in the pages of someone else’s story: Lucy Westenra was one of Dracula’s first victims.

But her death was only the beginning. Lucy rose from the grave a vampire and has spent her immortal life trying to escape from Dracula’s clutches—and trying to discover who she really is and what she truly wants.

Her undead life takes an unexpected turn in twenty-first-century London, when she meets another woman, Iris, who is also yearning to break free from her past. Iris’s family has built a health empire based on a sinister secret, and they’ll do anything to stay in power.

Lucy has long believed she would never love again. Yet she finds herself compelled by the charming Iris while Iris is equally mesmerized by the confident and glamorous Lucy. But their intense connection and blossoming love is threatened by outside forces. Iris’s mother won’t let go of her without a fight, and Lucy’s past still has fangs: Dracula is on the prowl once more.

Lucy Westenra has been a tragically murdered teen, a lonesome adventurer, and a fearsome hunter, but happiness has always eluded her. Can she find the strength to destroy Dracula once and for all, or will her heart once again be her undoing?