I was worried when I picked up this book that it was about to be as convoluted in terms of the times and dates things are happening in as the original Dracula novel is. And this book does happen in three distinctly different time periods.

For one, we finally get a version of Lucy's own diary entries!!! This excites me for multiple reasons. Honestly, I think I would have been happy with that part of the novel no matter what else happened.

The second narrative strain takes form as somewhat of an Interview with the Vampire allusion, wherein Lucy is telling a psychologist about her life after being turned into a vampire and shortly after being abandoned by Dracula. She comes to meet other vampires he has turned, always women, always without the memory of a name, and she tries to find some purpose for herself.

Finally, we are introduced to Iris, a wholly original character who's dated story begins about a month after the psychologist interview Lucy is giving.

It's unclear for a while what the tie is between Iris and Lucy but, damn, when it's revealed at about halfway through the novel, it just starts on an amazing and original story that continues the Dracula mythology, and the story of some of its characters, in a completely satisfying way that really was quite difficult to guess at ahead of time.

There were some pacing issues (this is a very long read) and that stopped me from rating it a solid 5 star read, but it was immensely enjoyable.

Torturous. Insufferable. Poor little rich girl on vampiric steroids. My third vampire book of the year and another huge disappointment.
Overly long with multiple POVs spanning centuries and barely a whiff of the dark, moody gothic one would expect from the absolutely breathtaking cover.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reading copy

‘Lucy Undying’ was a highly anticipated read for me (mostly based on the cover) and while overall, it’s a solid read, there are some aspects that let me down. I would recommend this to fans of ‘The Invisible Life of Addie Larue,’ ‘Dowry of Blood,’ and ‘A Long Time Dead.’

Plot: I found the plot engaging- the multiple storylines are woven together well, bringing gothic, vampire tropes and vibes into a modern setting. Like most stories with multiple storylines, I do think some were more interesting than others: Lucy’s plot line is more engaging than Iris’s.

Characters: I kind of struggled with the characterization in this… I found Iris to be a little too *quirky*- snarky without actually being funny, but that’s obviously up to personal preference. Lucy was fairly solid, but the side characters were somewhat one-dimensional.

Writing: I didn’t find the writing noteworthy in either direction, not beautiful enough to point out, but not egregious either. My only qualm is that some of the themes (feminist ideals) were a little heavy-handed and on the nose- White could have let the reader extrapolate more.

Pacing: At some points I was incredibly rapt and shocked by twists, and others, it almost slogged. The story took a little time to ramp up and kind of lost me at the end, but in the middle, I was very much along for the ride.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lucy Undying by Kiersten White is a gothic romantasy retelling of Dracula, following the renowned Lucy Westenra as she escapes from Dracula in search of self-discovery and true love. It also explores the story of Iris--an heiress on the run from the ghost of her mother and the secrets surrounding her family's legacy.

I found the story to be emotionally resonant and really enjoyed the intersecting of Lucy's and Iris's storylines as they both grapple to find their purpose and make peace with their pasts. The author's storytelling was evocative and fresh with how she explores different modes of weaving her tale, ie. Lucy's diary, the client transcripts, etc.

Overall, this is a must-add read to your TBR if you are interested in romance, gorgeous writing and poetry, deeply emotional themes, and timeless retellings. I couldn't recommend it more!

Thank you to Del Rey, NetGalley, and the author for the opportunity to read an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.


I know this is a retelling, and admittedly, I haven't read Dracula or any other retelling that I remember. That being said, I really loved this book! I loved the alternating perspectives between Lucy's transformation and life as an early vampire and modern-day Iris. Iris has a mystery hanging over her head, and it's really cool to see how it intersects with Lucy's story near the end. The end of the book gets very strange and more chaotic, and I just really enjoyed this book. It was fascinating, and I loved the characters

I love Dracula and am always excited to read a retelling of Dracula regardless of how loosely based it may be. The cover of this book is pretty and, of course, the title gives insight on what to expect. The concept was a good one, but the execution of the story left something to be missed. The characters were likeable but, overall, it felt as though something was missing. The story was good but it wasn't memorable and there were times where my interest in the story wavered overall, it was an okay read but I have to be honest that I was somewhat disappointed by the story.

Thank you to Kiersten, Netgalley, and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange my honest review.

Lucy Undying by Kiersten White is a loose Dracula retelling that follows Lucy, a character who plays a critical role in the original Dracula tale. Without going too much into the plot, this novel is a story that explains how Lucy really was and what became of her.

I am a huge Kiersten White fan so I was already excited about this but once I started reading it, I was so hooked. This story is incredible sapphic and gorgeously written. This is told in a few different formats and povs. Iris is a modern day character who finds Lucy’s diary so we get Iris’ modern pov, Lucy’s diary entries, and some transcripts.

The diary entries and the transcripts were far and away my favorite part of this book but I did enjoy Iris’ pov as well. It just felt more modern where as the rest had a more poetic vibe to it.

This book has so much longing and aching in it. I found myself tearing up more than once while reading this. I just loved some of the lines so much. There is a change in tone at about the 65 percent mark where it becomes a lot more plot focused so there is this feeling have having multiple stories mashed together which I really enjoyed but may not work for everyone.

I think there are a lot of great discussions that could come from this book about identity and womanhood and love.

I cannot wait to get my hands on a physically copy of this to annotate and tab because I enjoyed this so much. This will definitely be in my top books of the year, if not my top book of the year. I just finished it and I already want to reread it.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I enjoyed this book and think you will to. I love this author and she has done it again.

I really liked this sapphic Dracula retelling centering on Lucy’s character. It’s been many years since I’ve read Dracula, so I honestly don’t remember her story in the classic book, but the story told in Lucy Undying is so entertaining and enjoyable.

Lucy Undying takes place in three different time frames. Present day, the time before Lucy is changed, and the time after she’s been changed. Told in multiple POV’s, even Dracula has his POV told. Aside from Lucy, Mina plays a large role in the book. And finally, there’s Iris, a character present day Lucy knows, whose story is also a huge part of this book. How all of their stories converge is an intricate and fantastic journey.

Overall, Lucy Undying is a great read. I really enjoyed reading it, and totally recommend to any vampire/Dracula fans. Now off to reread Dracula and see how the story holds up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a little hipster about vampire fiction. I like to say I was a fan before it was trendy to be one. That being said, I never could read Dracula. I started and stopped several times, but it seemed so dry and taxing to read. I'd seen Gary Oldman play the man in my teens, why is the book the movie it was based on so BORING?!

Kiersten's telling of Lucy's version of the story was SO much more captivating and riveting. I could only only put the book down when it was time to sleep, and only because I couldn't keep my eyes open any more!

I loved the parallels between Lucy's story and Iris's, and even Lucy's and Mina's to a certain extent, trucking along, side by side to their eventual merge. There was definitely reflection amongst all the female archetypal characters regarding the ongoing misogyny of the times they all lived in, and we continue to live in. It was so relatable and understandable...the obvious treatment of the women by the men, but also the treatment of the women (Lucy) by the other women (Mina). My heart swelled at their evolution to become fully rounded people who accepted, supported, and loved each other. It gave me warm fuzzies.

But! We must not leave out the Bad Ass Heroineness of them all! They all came to kick ass and take names and it was glorious. The scene with the final confrontation of Dracula...*chef's kiss.*

I have always loved vampire stories and especially Dracula's stories. While I was extremely excited to read more about Lucy, I must admit I found the changing in language maddening. It went from such lovely prose (Lucy Wstenra's journal) to using so much of today's nuances (Iris). I even loved the client transcript more than Iris's POV, because I preferred that language. Nevertheless I loved the love story, it was amazing and so heartwarming, I was expecting the plot twist, but I enjoyed watching it develop.
For the story, the characters and the worldbuilding, this is a 5 star book, but the language switch has made it go to 4.5.

𝘈𝘳𝘤 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

4.5 stars rounded up

𝙇𝙪𝙘𝙮 𝙐𝙣𝙙𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 delivered on its promises of an epic & seductive gothic fantasy story on self-discovery & true love.

Kiersten White very gracefully pulled off multiple POVs & timelines all while keeping the reader going back for more with each chapter. White also brilliantly created & contained several separate atmospheres according to each POV; all of which I loved.

This sapphic reimagining of Bram Stokers Dracula/Lucy Westenra was everything & more.

So gay, and vampires! I loved this book so much. White did just an amazing job taking familiar legends about vampires and giving them twist that were perfect. I gushed to so many people about the takes on Dracula lore. I have always loved vampire stories and I feel that this is a book my teenage self would made their whole personality and as an adult loved it

5 STAR BOOK! Love this book so much, everything was exactly as I'd hoped (including the ending!). Love all the different perspectives and how they eventually came together!

** spoiler alert ** Thank you so much to Random House and NetGalley for a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review!

N.B. - DRACULA purists will note that the family name Godalming appears in my review as “Goldaming” instead. This is an artistic choice made by the author to change the spelling of the surname and not an error of mine. Whether you agree with that artistic choice or not, I leave to you!

LUCY UNDYING feels like three different novels barreling toward one another at breakneck pace; one is a beautiful epistolary adaptation of Dracula from Lucy Westenra’s point of view. Another, a 21st century Lucy processing her afterlife of loss and grief with her therapist. The third, from the POV of Iris Goldaming, whose family and destiny is as much entangled in Lucy’s past as it is with their futures.

I wish I liked this more than I do. The cover art is stunning and the idea of a sapphic retelling of Lucy Westenra's life, death and afterlife appeals. I will say Kiersten White has a really poetic touch at various points of the story, but it's clunkily juxtaposed to a lot of modern jargon that takes me out of the story. The story drags at various points and the convergence of the different stories suffers from this as well. I found myself favoring Lucy’s diary entries the most. I think Lucy’s storyline with Vanessa could have used some editing, and I think Iris’s chapters could have used a LOT of editing. The two contemporary storylines get bogged down by a lot of modern conversation that makes the characters sound terminally online. I guess that’s bound to happen in a premise where vampire Lucy Westenra processes her various traumas with a therapist and Iris Goldaming is her 20-something year old love interest, but it just really took me out of the beauty of their love story when they had a conversation about the age gap between Lucy and Iris and discussed the semantics of Lucy’s sexual identity.

I want to thank Del Rey for giving me a copy of the ARC. This was a solid retelling that I think is enhanced if you read the original Dracula (that part is probably obvious). I absolutely loved the first half of the novel where it’s essentially three POVs: Iris Goldaming (an ancestor of Arthur Holmwood a.k.a Lord Goldaming Lucy’s fiancé), Human Lucy writing in her diary (pre-vampire), and Vampire Lucy recounting her first days as a vampire to a human therapist a la Interview with the Vampire.

I think I could have lived without Iris’ POV? I was much more invested/interested in Lucy as a character.

The MLM vampire scheme was interesting? I LOVED the framing of Mina as the Big Bad.

Overall would def recommend. It was a fun ride 🩸🖤

Great concept with some missing beats, so giving this one a 3.5 out of 5. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I am always going to be a sucker for a feminist vampire story, so I was excited to be invited to read this ARC. However the overall story feels imbalanced in terms of character development and story pacing. Understandably, a lot of the focus is on Lucy as two of the three character perspectives are hers, so she is a really nuanced and complex character. You get to watch her gain agency over her own life literally through decades which on its own would be an amazing story.

Unfortunately, Iris's side of the story falls a bit flat. Compared to Lucy, her character development falls a bit flat. Without giving the story away, her part of Lucy's story feels a bit too much of a stretch of reality, given the context and mechanics presented in the story. In a lot of ways, I feel like there were two separate stories being told that yes did overlap, but at the end of the day could've been separated.

I generally speaking still enjoyed Lucy's story and would love to read more about her.

killer cover. but ugh i didn't like this one. it's unfortunate that to center lucy in a dracula remix kiersten white chose to do that to mina. i liked iris plenty but this left much to be desired.

There is something enticing about vampire stories and especially Dracula, so I was excited to dig into Lucy Undying. There are several interesting themes throughout which I loved about the story. There is a strong feminist tone, and I enjoyed Lucy and Iris’s relationship. I found the story occasionally disjointed, however, and the pacing slower than I would have liked. While Lucy felt well developed I wanted to see the character of Iris expended on.

Thank you NetGalley and DelRey for the advanced reader copy.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
I found "Lucy Undying: A Dracula Novel" by Kiersten White to be an exciting, unique, sexy, suspenseful & addictive take on the original story about Lucy from Dracula & what happens after the events of the original story.
I love watching vampire movies & I loved reading the original "Dracula" so this book definitely caught my eye.
I will be keeping my eye out for what Ms. White decides to write next.