i regret not reading anything from this author sooner, THIS WAS ICONIC. if you loved dracula, especially lucy, you will love this

I'm sorry, but I had to DNF this. The three timelines, the two POVs, the confused stakes and storyline...I just couldn't get into this. The idea is great! But I'm not interested in what's happening here.

I am a big fan of Dracula and I enjoyed this book! There were parts that felt a little slow but overall I loved how queer it was and how the side characters from Lucy's past kept showing up and grew as people (vampires?).

What has Kiersten White done to one of my favorite novels? Bad, bad, bad!!! And yet, I loved this story. She fundamentally changed the original in a way that makes so much sense that I can’t believe I never noticed. She took the great but not very developed character of Lucy and gave her a story. None of the twists really surprised me, but I don’t think that was her intention. At first, I hated Iris, the main modern character. She’s stealing and cheating and lying but then, after I learned her story, I was surprised at how much of a survivor she is, and started rooting for her. It’s funny how what seems like a bad thing is actually good, depending on the viewpoint. The novel is told in different timelines and points of view. There’s Lucy’s original diary, undead Lucy talking to someone in the present and Iris, the heiress of a vast fortune related to a cult. I was delighted as how Miss Westenra’s journal reads like it could have been part of Stoker’s original. The tone and the language match, giving a different perspective on the events we already think we know. The characters that Lucy meets throughout her un-life are also well developed. They are more than the stereotypes their names would convey. I’d say more but I don’t want to spoil the wonderful story. The book is a little too long for me, I would have maybe skipped some parts, but it was nice to revisit the original from a completely different angle.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey.

The gorgeous cover and promise of a Dracula retelling immediately drew me in!

Just like Stoker’s Dracula, this novel is broken into multiple POVs and told through different mediums. The chapters that I felt were the strongest were Lucy’s diary entries and the client transcripts. The different timelines being told all at once really made Lucy feel so fleshed out and interesting.

The parts that lost me a little are how instantly Iris and Lucy seemed to fall in love, and the whole MLM plot line. I also felt like Iris was such a flat character compared to Lucy.

Overall, I found this book to be fairly enjoyable, and I know many people will love it, it just wasn’t really for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine/Del Rey for providing a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Lucy Undying provides an interesting perspective on a classic tale. As someone who has never read Dracula, this was very beginner-friendly and I was able to connect to the backstory/context of the original Dracula narrative. Through multiple character viewpoints, we follow Lucy on her journey as she discovers herself not just as a vampire, but as a being with her own needs and desires. Luvy herself is a relatable character. While Lucy Undying is an overall engaging read, the story could be predictable, especially in the beginning. As the story progresses, the plot also becomes a little chaotic/jarring. I would not describe this as an “epic gothic fantasy”, but more of a fun modern gothic romance. (3 stars)

Lucy Undying by Kiersten White served as my introduction to this author. This book sparked my interest as it was a Dracula Novel, and I had recently read Dracula by Bram Stoker, so I was curious about a novel making use of his characters. At first I was left a bit conflicted on how I felt about this book, similar to how I felt after reading the original Dracula book, but thought it was an interesting and entertaining story overall.

It took a while to really get into the book, as the first half flips quite quickly between Iris, an original character who has recently inherited her mother’s sketchy business along with her properties, Lucy Westenra’s diary from her teenage years, in which we learn of a different side of Lucy than the Lucy that Bram Stocker invented, and Lucy’s much more modern transcript with a therapist, in which she recounted her post mortal life story. These first chapters were so short that it took a while to become invested in any of the storylines, especially before it became obvious how they all fit together. While the diary entries include all of Bram Stoker’s original characters, in Lucy Undying Lucy claims that she kept two diaries, one a secret diary expressing her real feelings, which differed greatly from her attitude in the original Dracula book. Lucy Undying changed a few other key plot aspects of Dracula too, the most obvious being that Lucy is still alive, but included an explanation for how every change was possible. Beyond the original Dracula characters, there were also a large cast of original characters, and Lucy’s friends ended up being really fun to read about. I wouldn’t say that it’s necessary to have read Dracula to enjoy this novel, but being familiar with the basis of the story and characters is nice as there are some Easter eggs that relate to the original story.

The pacing of the book, much like the original Dracula, was not completely consistent. The beginning was a bit slow, and chapters often ended on cliffhangers which sounded really exciting, then ended up being silly and simple events, which got a bit old after the first time that tactic was used. The love connection also seemed to just be based on lust, as they fell in love without even getting to know each other. Some of the action scenes in the later half of the book also seemed rushed and unrealistic, which was a bit strange.

But what kept me going? For me, the book was not completely predictable. I didn’t know how it would end and I did not expect all of the twists. While I’m sure some people will piece it together faster than I did, it took me some time to put together the relationship between the characters and Iris’ family’s business. There were definitely hints thrown out, but I liked the slow reveal over time.

In the end, I realized that even though I originally felt the book was a bit slow, I became attached to some of the characters and I was invested in how it all played out. I liked seeing a different side of Lucy Westenra, and getting to see her finally have a chance a true love and being an independent woman. Do I believe in the conspiracy theories of Arthur, Jonathan, and Mina? Well no, I don’t believe that was Bram Stoker’s intentions, but it was really entertaining to hear them out and see how they actually (kind of) fit into the original Dracula book. I thought it was a unique take, and I will look into some more of Kierstan White’s books in the future for sure.

A unique twist on Dracula! I'll be honest I wasn't sure that I was going to like this book because the cover threw me off and the romance in this book is not my cup of tea. However I found this story extremely engaging and I was surprised by how much I liked the book. The story is told from four different perspectives at first. Iris is our main character who is living in the present day. The other is of Lucy, who lived in the late 1800s, her story is told through her journal. Third is a client transcript from the present day, but you learn about her past as a vampire. The last perspective is that of Dracula. Each perspective gave a unique view into vampires and their struggles. Iris, as the only human, was my favorite character. It was interesting to see how all of these characters were connected and to see their lives intertwined.

The story was more than about vampires but about overcoming obstacles and finding your true self. The message was an important one and I always enjoy a stories with strong female characters even in this case if some of them were vampires. I wish the book was a little shorter. The length was a little too long at points however the writing was very good and it did flow. The romance was not my preference but it was tastefully done. I have never read the original Dracula I did not know that Lucy was an original character to that novel. I am now interested in reading that classic because of this book. Overall, a unique vampire novel that fans of vampires and horror would enjoy!

Thank you to Del/Rey Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC.

Oof, this is a tough one to review. It's always heartbreaking to start a book you're really excited for and have it end up being a big disappointment all around. <i>Lucy Undying</i> has all the right ingredients for an extra tasty meal, but if you don't cook 'em right, the end result will still taste like ash.

<i>Lucy Undying</i> tells the story of Lucy Westenra, spanning from the events of the original novel and her survival of them to the modern day. So far, so intriguing. It's being told through her diary entries, records of her therapist session and the point of view of Iris, the young woman who finds Lucy's diary decades later. It's a great premise and Lucy is an interesting character. Sadly, a great premise doth not a great book make.

I started having doubts pretty early on when White apparently consistently got the name "Godalming" wrong. At least I think that's what happened, because I didn't find any other reason for her to constantly write about Lord "Goldaming" and his ancestors' big "Goldaming" MLM. If there was an intention behind changing the name, White never told us. As it is, it reads like a very weird and easily rectified mistake that should have been noticed considering the name comes up regularly throughout the novel.
The writing is, in general, okay but the dialogue is very stale and often cringey. The plot is convoluted and gets worse with every page. The pacing is rather slow and quite frankly, the story drags and drags and is surprisingly boring for a Dracula novel. There's a central romance that could have been great but suffered due to bad dialogue, lack of chemistry and Iris as a character, because she's just insufferable most of the time but White clearly wants her to read as "cool and quippy" with some added awkwardness in romantic situations. It's also just very instalovey, and to top it all off they call each other "my little cabbage" and "my little butter chicken" and just, no. Yes I get where the names come from, no they're still terrible.
And then there's Lucy. I wanted to love her because hey, it's Lucy Westenra, but in this novel she isn't really allowed to be that. There's no actual exploration of her tragedy, of her inner broknenness beyond the superficial. Instead, she is turned into some kind of vampire Badass Superheroine that, I kid you not, is basically solely responsible for ending World War I, is stronger than any other vampire she meets that isn't Dracula himself, and somehow inspires every age old vampire lady (she only ever meets major female vampires, because this is a ~feminist retelling, you know) to become her Best Self and Be Nice. How she does this I can't tell you because I sure wasn't inspired by anything she does or says. She's also not allowed to have any flaws whatsoever. Yes, she talks a big deal about being a monster for killing people, but every other character keeps telling her that actually, she's doing great, she's killing the right people (bad men, Nazis, ya know, the thing superheroines do), she's innocent, she's a victim whose survival everyone is in awe of. She's also allegedly very clever, yet doesn't figure out very obvious things and is clueless about the modern world despite living in it. She simply isn't a well-written, complex, consistent character. She reads like a watered-down woobiefied fanfiction version of Lucy Westenra, and I'm not talking about the good kind of fanfiction.
But really, the same can be said about all the original characters. Without spoiling too much: In her aknowledgements White writes that she's absolutely convinced that Lucy was the victim of a conspiracy by basically all the people involved in her life who were only ever out for her money. That's what this novel is. Everyone is evil but Lucy, who is flawless, and Iris, who's the cool rebel that's fighting for all the right things and really wants you to know about it, too.

Does this read like a rant review? Probably, and I apologize for that. But the disappointment is real and there was just nothing that could save this book for me. I do hope others might enjoy it more.

Kiersten White is back with her signature bite. LUCY UNDYING is an awesome expansion of White's canon that puts a thoughtful queer twist on what we think we know about Dracula's famous victim. Combining vampirism and an MLM scheme makes for a delightfully compelling read.

In short, I loved this book! Lucy Undying reimagines Lucy Westenra's story as a sapphic romance and features an imaginative vampire MLM plot, interjecting humor into a Gothic story. The story is told through therapy session transcripts, journal entries, and first person narratives as it oscillates between the past and present. The story is primarily related through the perspectives of Iris and Lucy (both past and present).

We see both past and present Lucy, a stark contrast between her nineteen year old self and her present day persona. Iris is scrappy and determined, and her narration reveals strong parallels between herself and Lucy. I loved Iris's chapters and her snarky commentary often made me laugh. I was enthralled by Lucy and fell in love with her just as Iris did, especially seeing how she evolved from denial of her sapphic feelings into a woman who fully embraced herself.

The plot hinges on a conspiracy and, as a reader, it's simple to put the pieces together because we have access not only to Lucy's past and present perspective, but also Iris's perspective. Importantly, readers are presented with Lucy's journal entries many chapters ahead of Iris's reading of the same, allowing us to draw our own conclusions prior to her. Readers learn about characters from Lucy's past long before Iris does, and Lucy is similarly ignorant to certain information. So while the reader knows what's happening, the the characters always several steps behind. However, I think the story is less about the conspiracy and moreso about the characters' journeys of self discovery.

I loved the way Dracula is incorporated into the story and the utilization of third-person narration (in contrast to all other chapters being first-person) for his chapters was an excellent decision.

It's been a long time since I've read Dracula so I cannot comment on any specifics, but I found this a fascinating reimagining of Lucy's story that integrated plenty of history and lore. If you enjoy books like Interview with the Vampire you may enjoy this one.

I received a copy through NetGalley for review.

This was a 4.5 for me, I actually enjoyed this one, knowing its a very loose retelling of primarily Lucy's story and what happens to her both before her mortal life ends, and after Dracula turns her and moves on. If you are looking for a true to the original retelling you're not going to be happy here, I'd advise those of you to skip this.
This is a story about Lucy and Iris, whose families and life experience had literally been disrupted and shaped by vampires- and finding one another.


Lucy was taken advantage of in her mortal years, plodded for being silly and beautiful by the people she trusted, and the one person she loved the most, Mina. As soon as Mina begins to pull away and move on, she finds herself and her increasingly ill mother by three men who would love to marry the soon to be alone heiress - just as soon as her mother kicks it and they can inherit a fortune through Lucy.

And it seems like they would have succeeded if Dracula hadn't showed up, taking an interest in Mina's soon to be husband Jonathan, and later Mina, and to try to protect her- Lucy.
Lucy's last mortal act was to step forward to protect Mina. The woman she loved.

It has timeline changes, going between Lucy telling her immortal story to Vanessa, a therapist who seems like she's dying. From Iris in modern times, running to see what she can sell off of the family's UK estates so she can get away from her mother's evil MLM and cult like followers- after the death of her mother. The third in-between is Iris reading mortal Lucy's teenage diary that she finds in one of the old mansions.

Lucy gains some agency over herself as a vampire, and runs into many of Dracula's 'Brides' over the century. Many are crystalized in personality after being turned, many don't remember their own names, or who they were. But the theme is Dracula doesn't look in on any of them after turning brides, they are nothing more than a marker for another grave he can sleep to rest in if he ever passes through again. Spreading his empire, he cares for the chase, nothing more.

Lucy, Dracula, Iris and her family were always part of a circle eating its own tail, a circle. Eventually it's going to meet again.

Mina and Dracula are absolutely the villains in this story.
I'd like to wack both Mina and Dracula in the nose.

In 1892, a young Lucy Westerna is a nineteen year old girl who has everything; she's beautiful, she's rich, and she is surrounded by men who are eager to marry her. Except that's not what Lucy wants, she's a bit strange for her time and what she'd really like is some bodily autonomy and someone who actually truly loves her and sees her for who she is.

In 2024 Iris Goldaming is also a little strange because she is currently doing something most people would never dream of; running away from inheriting a multi-million dollar corporation, because, quite frankly it's a multi-million dollar cult. In her attempt to through off the cults bloodhounds she heads to her ancestral home in London under the guise of an "emotional reset" after the death of her mother where Iris's story will collide with another young woman's who will give her the power to break free of everything holding her back. They've just gotta kill Dracula first.

I'm gonna tell you all a secret, I loved White's retelling of Frankenstein. Devoured it in one night it is still one of my favorite retellings of one of my favorite stories. So I did what any reader does and went and bought. And I Darken, been trying to read it for at least two years for now. So I was extremely hesitant when I requested this eArc. I figured The Dark Descent was a one-off; omigoodness was I wrong. This was phenomenal.

I have always believed that Lucy gets shafted, especially in retellings, hell I just read one where some sort of psychic ability between Lucy and monsters is what made her so susceptible to Dracula, good book but one more time Lucy is just a pretty twit with no substance and unable to control herself. And Mina is somehow always better. She always rises above Dracula and whatever other monsters are thrown in her path in numerous retellings and just like no. At some point, someone had to write a story where Lucy at least was something more than just some idiot and I'm so glad that White decided to take up her cause because this Lucy is amazing! White has not just humanized her she's given her so many of the same insecurities that numerous young women face that don't allow them (us, let's be honest) to see how amazing we are. Lucy changes people (vampires) for the better just simply by being Lucy, and she spent far too long around people who wanted her to be less to be able to see that for herself. And Iris is just absolutely amazing as well. But Lucy, omigoodness Lucy, I feel like I've waited my whole life for this version of Lucy. Okay and I have to give an honorable mention to Rahul, his husband, and fucking Vanessa the therapist as well. Vanessa may actually be the hero of this entire story.

The way this is told was really amazing as well. Switching between 19 year old Lucy, 130ish year old Lucy, and Iris's perspective allowed us to see not just the growth but the woman Lucy had always been to begin with. And I loved the twist with the vampire thing. For most of the story we have vampires portrayed in ways they usually arent; they are living alone on the fringes of society and they aren't multi-millionaires who invested in Apple at the right time. Which makes sense to me to be honest, I do get the whole if you live for centuries you're probably gonna make some good financial decisions once or twice but at the same time I've got seventy year old parents and I work in a call center I know how people shy away from change, especially technological change as they age. However, the most believable portion of this is the whole corporation thing. We live in a time of giant corporations making billions, hell Amazon cleared trillions, the fact that no one has ever thought of this before (although I do feel like there was a Supernatural arc that had something similar) is astonishing.

My only very tiny complaint is that it did start to drag towards the end. We spent way too much time laying the ground work leading up to the multiple big reveals at the end, especially when by that point is fairly obvious what those would be. I'm not saying it wasn't a fun ride getting to them but a couple of chapters I found to be almost fillers. But that is truly a small complaint.

Overall, this was excellent, exactly what I was looking for when I requested it, probably even more so and I'm so glad there is a Lucy is a strong, capable badass with a hot girlfriend.


As always thanks to Random House Publishing - Ballantine and NetGalley for the eArc!

I struggled to read this all the way through. The fast changes from Iris, to Lucy before she was turned, Lucy after she was turned, made it frustrating to really grab onto the characters, the world, etc. In the end, the conversations where Lucy is narrating to the therapist were my favorite chapters. I felt so engaged with her, always excited to hear what happens next, where as the journals and Iris's pov were fillers.

It started off rough and jarring when we flipped between the characters. I would have liked the diary entries of Lucy to start after Iris finds the diary, that way it connects the reader with Iris’s discovery of information instead of it being an info dump.

Overall, I expected more gothic vibes, but instead I was stuck inside of Iris's bitter head more than I'd like.

This was really fun! Kiersten White is a great writer, and I love a good vampire story. I have not read the original Dracula, however, so this was a great way to ‘dip my toe in’. I will add this one to my recommendation list!

I'd definitely agree with reviewers complaining about this being called an "epic gothic fantasy" and a horror novel. It's really more like Vampire Academy than any true horror book. Luckily, I didn't read the blurb before going into this, so I didn't have any expectations to be dashed. Overall, I found this to be a very entertaining and enjoyable book. It's a fun, romantic adventure with plenty of likeable characters and some interesting things to say about Dracula.

I did feel the storyline lagged a bit once it was all caught up to modern times though. The Goldaming MLM company and their secret overlord were built up to be the big bad, but we never really saw them do anything that terrible. Unlike many MLMs, the products they were selling actually worked, and while there are hints of them doing horrible things off-screen, in reality, the meanest thing we actually witness them do is boss Iris around about her hair and makeup and say some corny slogans. I also felt like the conclusion was a major cop-out. After chapters and chapters of debates about how to handle a major obstacle, they essentially just end with "eh, we'll figure that out later." It feels a bit silly to say when I'd already argue the book was a little overlong, but we really needed a few more chapters towards the end to address that whole issue.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for a copy of the eARC!

I wanted to love this. The cover is beautiful and the description is intriguing, but I DNF’d this book… I personally felt it read a bit too much like fanfiction.

I love reaching for a classic retelling and so when this title popped up on NetGalley, I was intrigued immediately. I was initially insanely confused by the multiple point of views and timelines. Eventually, I started getting more invested and understood why each timeline mattered. The timelines were still quite disconnected and just as one would get interesting it would change to the next not giving you time to fully appreciate each POV. I LOVED getting a new sapphic twist on the classic Dracula through Lucy Westerna. Overall, if read and enjoy the blurb, you’ll probably like the book, that is pretty accurate.

At times it felt like I was reading multiple books at once, so that lead me to a 3 instead of a 4 star! If you love sapphic vampire retellings with a non-traditional POV, this one is for you!

While it did take me a moment to get an understanding of the different povs and timelines I LOVED this book. I am a huge dracula fan and loved the direction of this story! I pride myself on seeing plot twists a mile away and did not see anything coming in this book, it was amazing. Thank you netgalley for the arc.

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I brought this on myself. I did not read the burb close enough. I only got 4 chapters in. It was so chaotic and all over the place. Then I realized it was about two girls and definitely not my cup of tea. Did not finish.