Overall thoughts: I loved this story. 4 stars

I do have to say it was a little difficult to get into, but that could be because I am a mood reader, or it could be because the pacing was off with the different POVs. Starting out, is a POV from Dracula, one from the MC Iris, journal entries of Lucy Westenra, and a client transcript between a vampire and a therapist named Vanessa. I loved the different POVs, and mediums used to share them with the reader. That said, this was quite a long book.

Keep in mind I have not read Dracula and I'm probably going to fix that ASAP.

Later on there are a few POV chapters that felt unnecessary imo, and I'll be interested to see how the released copy compares. That said, I will definitely be purchasing my own copy on release day!

Rating the book:
1. Characters? 1
I loved the main characters.
Iris is a young adult dealing with the death of her abusive mother. And we also have Elle, who's an assistant to a museum helping her go through the items in the home. Iris plans to cut and run as soon as possible to avoid the legacy her mother's company is forcing upon her. I felt like the way their relationship progressed was beautiful.
BUT I did have issues with the characterization of Dracula.
2. World-building/setting? .5
I loved how White described the world through a vampires eyes in the transcripts. The names she gave to the other vampires she met, and how she experienced the world as a vampire.
3. Plot? .5
It was kind of meandering, there was two stories that felt like part one and part two with no distinction within the book.
4. Originality? 1
This is an authors take on the characters of Dracula. And I think White did a wonderful job.
5. Writing? 1
Beautiful writing, I loved the journal entries and the transcripts.
6. Pacing? .5
The pacing was a little weird, it took a bit to get into the story, but once I got to the 25-30% mark I couldn't put it down.
7. Themes? 1.
Identifying themes is new for me, it brings be back to high school language arts etc. but I feel like White created a story in which people can identify how difficult it can be to love oneself.
8. DID I CRY/WILL IT STICK? 1
9. Enjoyment? 1
I love epistolary novels, and essentially reading multiple stories in tandem and waiting for everything to converge. It's so much fun.
10. THE end. .75

8.25/10 = 4/10

Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of the book and the chance to leave an honest, voluntary review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an Advance reader copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really wanted to like this book. Im a huge fan of Dracula and works based off it. I also like Kristen White's writing, but something just went wrong after about 20% of this book.

Let's begin with the good. The concepts of Lucy surving what happens in the orignal novel, great fantastic idea. The early sections from Lucy's Pov are fasinating and enchanting. The idea of Iris is also a fun concept. But it quickly goes sour.
The plot is over complicated and bloated. The only twist that is actually unexpected it the final twist in the last 10% of the novel, but it is laughably bad. This book needed more editing and to have the plot slimmed and removing the frankly idiotic twists. I honestly wiuld have removed Iris and all of the plot tied to her and just let the book be Lucy's.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 and sadly I was left disappointed. It took me close to two weeks to finish this novel which is unusual for me, but the lack of interesting characters and plot could not hold my interest. I finally summoned enough energy to finish it and was relieved when it was over. If you like the original story of Dracula, as I do, I wouldn't recommend this. It comes across more like fan fiction on Wattpad than a published retelling.

I will always be Lucy Westenra's number one fan and this book only solidified my role as the head of her fan club! 👰🏼‍♀️🧛🏻🩸

Lucy Undying is a sapphic take on Bram Stroker's Dracula told in several perspectives across decades. The novel picks up the thread from several plot holes in Stroker's work and has a similarly epistolary feel that fans of the original Dracula will love! The new characters perfectly slot into the established world and. bring a fresh perspective to an old story.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you to Kiersten White, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review 🥰

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC

3.5

As a fan of sapphic gothic fantasy inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula, Lucy Undying immediately piqued my interest. The first few pages didn't evoke that genre however, since the first chapter made me wonder if I received a mislabeled file. Not quite the gothic I expected.

This is more of a mystery/romance epistolary novel rather than a gothic. Regardless of the error in book classification, Kiersten White's writing invited me in *cough* with the compelling plot. I can admit that a majority of the twists, such as certain character reveals were expected, but I'm not someone who tends to read in between the lines to figure out the end, and some still came as a surprise. It takes a while to build up, and after I thought the main conflict was over, there was more. I personally felt all the loose ends were tied, but that there were too many . Minor mentions of gore, nothing too crazy.

Definitely a read to redefine yourself as a person without limits of mortality, what it means to love, to be a woman, and understanding what matters most.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book early.

Lucy Undying follows Lucy Westenra from Dracula as she navigates the modern world and Iris, a girl on the run from her mother while inheriting a house in England.

This book should have been right up my alley with my love of sapphic vampires and Dracula but it kind of fell flat for me. I wish I had read more reviews before requesting this, because even though I was entranced by this gorgeous cover, the book was long, extremely confusing, and hard to follow. The point of view and time switches at the start jumped the story and made it hard to track what the plot was. And I couldn’t stand the way it shifted into the MLM section of the plot. But even though I really enjoyed Iris and Lucy’s story they felt very fast and rushed. I did enjoy the letters between them near the end of the book as that felt the most like the original story.

Lucy's voice in her diary as well as in “life” was my other favorite part of the book so if you're looking for a book that's big on Lucy's side of all the events, you would enjoy this. Even with all my criticism, I do appreciate White wanting to explore Lucy's character, as she is rarely discussed in a positive or interesting way.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley again for the chance to read this early.

I found the beautiful writing that I have come to expect from Kiersten White, lovely imagery all around. But the chapter jumps from one timeline to the next, while also remembering who we were reading about, unfortunately took me out of the flow of the story. All the inner thoughts that we get page after page of, were just not for me. As a lot of these are merely personal dislikes of writing choices, I still feel the novel is strong in the story it tells and will be an enjoyable read for others.

Thank you to the publisher for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.

I am just not enjoying this at 30% and I can no longer pretend to enjoy it. I know that there are others out there who will but it isn’t me.

A Seductive Gothic Fantasy. Dracula's Vampires Embarks On Her Own Journey of Self-Discovery.


Lucy Westerna is known as one of the earliest of Vlad Dracula's victims. What happens when she dares to dream beyond her creator, her captor? What if her blood sings to her to run, to find her own way in the world? This is the story of how Lucy finds herself, and discovers what is to truly love.

Lucy's undead life has been chalk full of escaping the ancient dead known as Bram Stoker's Dracula. The latest opportunity takes place in modern London, when Lucy comes upon a woman in unfortunate circumstances. Iris is desperately to leave her greedy and corrupted family, just as Lucy had pried herself away from Vlad's clutches.

Miss Westerna believes she can never truly fall in love again, and that she is impossible to be loved by others. She is too Other to tempt the likes of the loving, too strange to seduce the ones with blood pumping through beating hearts.

However, Lucy finds herself charmed by Iris, completely taken in and mesmerized. Automatically, the two are magnets drawn together, each being the others' True North. Chemistry and an intense connection grows strong between them, like a fated pair finding one another at last.

Two obstacles keep the two from finally achieving happiness, living without regret or restriction. One, Iris's mother will stop at nothing to get her back home, to keep her daughter locked up in a cage, there to sit pretty and smile for the stage, for social outings.

Secondly, Dracula is on the prowl for the One That Got Away. The old Romanian royal refuses to be left in the past, determined to cage his vampire Bride, slaughtering anyone who were to get in his way. Lucy Westerna cannot be bested by him so easily, though.

Lucy Westerna has led many lives: A murdered teenager whose life ended much too soon. An adventurer who travels the world, lonesome. A hunter who fears nothing and craves the taste of red, bright scarlet pools slipping from pretty necks. Good read! 🌟🌟🌟/5 Stars!

DNF. I truly don't get why I couldn't get into it. It sounded so amazing and the cover is to die for.

Look, I might not be as familiar with all the Dracula media and lore as some people, and I’ll NEVER be as familiar with it as Kiersten White, but even I know that Lucy Westenra has longed deserved her beautifully sapphic love story. And now that she’s finally getting it, she couldn’t possibly be in better hands

Told in multiple viewpoints and spanning oceans of time, Lucy Undying moves seamlessly from tragedy to humor to romance and everywhere in between.

I especially adored the detailed look at Lucy’s history between her “death” and the modern day, and the incredible trio of women she meets along the way. The Doctor was especially fascinating to me and honestly, I’d read an entire novel just about her.

They may be fictional characters, but I hope Lucy and these beautiful, amazing women have a great Pride Month. And to Dracula 🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻.

Lucy Undying is definitely going to be a bestseller, and one of the best and most anticipated books of the fall! I LOVED this book. I'm a Dracula fan in general, and this book is such a refreshing view of a classic story. Completely original and compelling!

I struggled with the back and forth narratives between time periods (I always seem to struggle with that), but I overall really enjoyed my experience of reading this book. I thought it was dark and funny and intriguing. I enjoyed that this book turned Dracula's tale in an unfamiliar way and held a good amount of originality to it.

I love vampire novels so I was super excited for this! It didn’t quite live up to my expectations as I felt the main character wasn’t really fully fleshed out. I did find it to be a fun easy read though and would recommend.

Wow! Lucy Undying was a gripping and unique reimagining of Dracula lore that had me hooked from the beginning. This story actually follows Lucy Westenra, one of Dracula's victims in the original Bram Stoker tale. I love that Lucy's backstory and ongoing story as a vampire is explored in this book. This book took turns I didn't see coming and I appreciated that! It's dark, it's smart, it's funny, it's feminist - wonderful! I loved the interweaving POVs and narratives, it kept the story moving at a great pace. At times, this tale reminded me of Interview of a Vampire, especially the chapters that are transcripts of a character relaying their history in therapy sessions. Because this tale takes place over years and years, it feels like an epic journey you are traveling on along with the characters. Don't skip reading the acknowledgements, either! I was just as entertained with those. If vampire books are your thing, if you love revisiting classic tales, and you love female-centric stories, this is a book for you! So excited that I was able to read this one.

I absolutely loved this book so much. I mean first let’s start with the cover! Gorgeous are you kidding me!! As a vampire loving girlie this was such a fun read that had me pulled in from the beginning!

*Post will be published on 9/10/24

I was so excited to request this on Netgalley. Kiersten White is one of my all-time favorite authors, although I have to say that it's been a while since I read a book from her that had both great characters and pacing. The story is told in alternating chapters from 3 POVs: Lucy when she was human, Lucy in the present as a vampire, and Iris in the present. The format worked nicely and gave a sense of progress because there was always more to uncover about Lucy or Iris's life no matter which POV you were currently reading. I was also highly invested in why Iris was running away and whether she would succeed. It was exciting and I couldn't wait for their paths to cross. 

Another element I really enjoyed was Lucy's diary entries. I loved her vibrant and witty remarks and how she popped off the page. She was smarter and much more thoughtful than people in her life gave her credit for, and so full of love. I felt so bad about all she went through (especially how her love didn't seem to be returned the same she wanted, and how she never felt like enough). 

The character development was also excellent. It wasn't just Lucy who grew up, but the other vampires she met and befriended along the way. Lucy touched everyone's life that she encountered and I loved her journey to find herself. I loved all the female empowerment in this book. 

The ending was also very satisfying. I think even though there was a sort of loose end, it was still perfect. It felt hopeful more than anything and I was happy with the character development. Overall it was a solid book that I highly recommended. This has to be one of my favorite books from Kiersten White!

I absolutely loved this book! As an avid Dracula lover, the concept is brilliant. That Kiersten was able to take Lucy's character and mold it into this amazing story. I have most definitely pre ordered this for not only my collection but for a re-read!

There were so many lines in this book that I highlighted — the writing was often beautiful and regularly heartfelt and impactful. The romance between Lucy and Iris was a bit insta-love which I actually enjoy in sapphic romances, and found it to be done well. It was really cool to see a twist on the Dracula story, giving a history and future to a character who’s pushed aside in the original.

I have always loved Dracula and in college I wrote a paper on Lucy Westenra. I thought her character was by far my favorite, and consistently overlooked. She was abused and taken advantage of in so many ways, and I really connected with this author’s take on her life, or afterlife I should say. I’m so glad she gave Lucy her own voice back, and in such a startling good way. I loved this book so much!!