vibes: Dracula but with a closer look at the sapphic parts, sometimes women just need to kill people, parallel narratives

Heat Index: 2/10

Lucy Westenra was famously a victim... But what if she actually did go on to "live" as a vampire throughout the centuries? She's been trying to evade her maker ever since her first death, which leads her to Iris in the twenty-first century. Iris has her own past she's trying to escape, and she and Lucy find a commonality in one another... and love. Yet neither of them are truly free, and without defeating those coming after them, they can never truly be together. A little easier said than done when one of those threats is... Dracula.

I was really excited about this one--that cover! Dracula! Sapphic vampire romance! And it's... a book I'd recommend to a certain audience, yes. Namely people who really enjoy retellings of gothic tales with a flipped lens, queer retellings especially. Yet, I don't think it reached as far as it could have.

There are several different primary narratives here (though they aren't quite the only perspectives you'll have). You have Lucy's diary from her human life, Lucy telling her story to a therapist, and Iris's much more straightforward twenty-first century point of view. Personally, I thought the diary entries were really interesting and indeed pretty tragic. Lucy's therapy sessions are both a cool tribute to Interview with the Vampire (or so they read to me) and like.. genuinely funny. I like her. I like Vanessa, the therapist. They're the kind of unhinged I believe Lucy, with everything she's been through, would be.

Then you have Iris.

So like--this book is in many ways a romance. Specifically the romance between Lucy and Iris. Obviously, I, as a romance reader, am so down for this. And I'm glad that White gave Iris a POV, as it can be so difficult to write a romance through only one POV.

The issue is that Iris isn't super interesting. In theory, her story should be--there's a lot of work done, and it's the kind of darkly comedic take with a decent amount of commentary on twenty-first century life that I would normally be down for. But Iris... just doesn't have a great voice? And her romance with Lucy is very instalove.

Instalove can be sold (controversial take, I know) but when you have the story splintered in so many different directions, you really can't settle into it. Because yeah--we get Lucy's POV, but much more so in the past, or in tellings of what she did in the past. Not so much when she's with Iris. Lucy is a compelling person, I just didn't really get why she was so into Iris.

Also, Iris really does seem to only exist in relation to Lucy, at points. In the sense that she's there to make sure we're interpreting everything else correctly. There's a whole section where she sort of summarizes reading Lucy's diary, and tells the audience everything we should take from them, basically? And I was like--cool, I did get all of those things when I read them. It was a bizarre moment, in a book that I would say is overall pretty well-written otherwise.

Some people won't like the humorous tone. I personally did. By and large, besides moments like the above in Iris's sections, I think the writing is pretty solid. There are some pretty turns of phrase, and a clear love for the gothic. I didn't agree with some of the takes on certain Dracula characters... both from a Dracula perspective, and a "sapphic retelling" perspective.

Like, this book is interesting, for the most part. And I don't think it's bad, per se. But it's definitely not everything it could've been.

The Sex:

The sex is by and large off the page or briefly summarized. Honestly, I kind of felt like the Kiersten White YA books I read way back in the day were... more explicit? I don't know. Kind of wanted more from a sapphic vampire romance, though of course that's all up to her and valid and so on. I just would've Liked To See It. Might've added some more bite (get it) to the story.

Overall--I'd say that this will be right for some readers. And I feel like I should've been among them? It just didn't quite work for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I like Kiersten White's retellings of Camelot and Frankenstein, and I enjoyed this one too. I would have liked more of Count Dracula in this one, but conversely, people who haven't read Dracula can probably still understand it. The original Dracula is an epistolary novel, and Lucy Undying is an epistolary novel in a modern format: told in letters and diary entries but also therapy session transcripts. This is a re-imagining of Lucy Westenra, a character from Dracula who is "innocent and virginal," with 3 suitors, before becoming a ravenous vampire. The original Lucy preys on children as a vampire, and many critics call her an example of the Victorian "angel/w***e" dichotomy. So, I liked how in White's re-imagining, Lucy says preying on children is taboo even among vampires. The cult was interesting. So were the explorations of Lucy's sexual attraction to Mina, which is present even in the original.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

As a huge Dracula and vampire enthusiast, this book had so much promise but fell so short.

First, the change of POVs and timelines was very confusing and hard to keep track of. Iris POV was always so dull and it dragged, making it so much harder for me to keep reading.

I can understand the twist the author was trying to give to this Dracula retelling but it just didn't work for me. A vampire MLM?

I really do appreciate that the author wanted to give Lucy a story since almost almost all of the books, movies and shows reduce Lucy to just Mina's best friend with absolutely no depth but this book missed the mark.

Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6445259751?book_show_action=false

Fable Review: https://fable.co/review/4eafffd9-a39d-4fcc-ba7f-4d073a049228/share

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

I feel very conflicted about Lucy Undying. The ideological framework of the piece has so much promise: White reimagines Dracula’s Lucy Westenra as a closeted queer woman in love with her governess, Mina. The narrative follows Lucy, and the modern heir to her fortune, Iris, from three perspectives: Lucy’s girlhood journal, a patient transcript of vampire Lucy’s therapy sessions, and Iris’ first-person narration of life as heir to the Goldaming fortune. It very much has the vibes of a modern sapphic Jane Eyre.

Both to its advantage and disadvantage, this novel has a lot going on. There are so many plots and subplots and side plots that it's hard to stay continually engaged because it feels like you’re reading multiple books at once. This also made pacing an issue for me: at about 25%, the novel turns into a teen romance, then at 50% we go back to the great vampire stuff, and then it feels like a new book entirely because we travel back to America to take down Iris’ mom’s MLM that has felt like a ghost throughout the novel. In my opinion, this book should’ve either had 200 pages cut out or have been made into a series. There is some really good vampire lore and world-building but it’s completely overshadowed by narrative fluff.

I think if I were more into sapphic novels I would’ve really enjoyed this novel. But it’s so much more romance than vampirism when I expected the scales to be weighted the opposite direction. For the right audience, this novel will be really good.

--This review will be posted to Goodreads today (5/10/24) and to my Instagram (either via stories or main feed post) the week of 5/13/24.--

Not only did this book have a beautiful cover that draws you in, but it also had an interesting description that drew me in. Sadly, I got about 66% through the book before I decided to DNF it. If there hadn't been a power outage, I probably wouldn't have read as much as I did. Not only did I struggle with this book being in first person, but because there were several povs it made it more confusing. There were also times that the main character sounded immature.

Thank you to @delreybooks for sending me an arc of Lucy Undying by Kiersten White!

I finished this behemoth 112 chapter book in two days. It held my attention and would not let me go. The characters, the different perspectives blew my mind, I found myself wishing for a physical copy because there were so many lines that reminded me of the first time I read Dracula & let me tell you the female friendships in this book had me giggling and kicking my feet. I loved Lucy and Iris so much that this book now rivals how much I adore A Dowry of Blood and an Education in Malice and I highly HIGHLY reccomend that you add it to your TBR.

Lucy Undying releases September 10th!

I've never read Dracula & I wonder if my rating would be higher if I had. I almost stopped reading after the armistice scene because it was just too over the top cringy but I pushed on. Later in the book it also started to feel like there was too much going on - that the story of Lucy's life could have been an entirely separate novel and I would have loved it. A lot of the time when books utilize multiple perspectives (especially when one is 130 years older than the rest) it gets confusing but White managed to make each character feel like an individual with their own voice. Though there were some elements I disliked, at the end of the day, I'm still just a huge fan of Sapphic romance, mommy issues and Kiersten White.

It sorrows me to give this review because I love a great many of Kiersten White's books. But while Lucy Undying has an interesting and ambitious premise, it falls well short of this goal. The book is somewhat of a Dracula telling, spanning the time during the original novel and after into the future. The story is broken up into different jarring perspectives, the diary of Lucy, a transcript with a therapist, and the main character Iris. This is at least partly done for a reveal that is both obvious and annoying since it does not add to the plot and makes it unnecessarily obtuse. The heart of the story and its characters gets lost in the mechanics of the story and while I pushed through to the end, I could have stopped well before the halfway point and been okay with never continuing. There are bits and pieces of greatness, but would have to be recrafted into a different package for the delivery to be more smooth and gripping. While I could appreciate what she was attempting to do ultimately, I found that by then I didn't really care. Overall, a huge disappointment.

This book felt too juvenile to me. The first person point of view definitely is part of the problem for me. However, there are other aspects of this book that did not work for me. It almost feels as if the author is trying too hard to be relatable or funny. Like, they’re not a regular mom, they’re a cool mom. In the first chapter, a character named Dick Cox and an ode to coffee almost feels like it’s trying to shove the humor in my face. And it’s millennial humor at that. A lot of the writing also feels stilted. “Fie! A curse on my earlier hopes. Author Hollywood and his flesh-colored mustache are coming instead. He sent a card asking to call on us this afternoon. I forgot he existed until he insisted on reminding me.” Apart from the first exclamatory, which didn’t make much sense to me, a lot of the sentences just feel the same. Many things in the book just don’t make sense. What is a “flesh-colored mustache”. Why is “butter chicken” used as a pet name NUMEROUS times throughout the book? One set of sentences early on in the book are “Breasts really are fantastic. I mean, just the best. Absolutely divine. I could live for a thousand more years and never tire of them” which is just really off putting, especially so early in a book. It was hard for me to continue with this book, so I will be DNFing.

However, I have seen through reviews that a lot of people thoroughly enjoyed this book! I would not base your decision to read only on my review. What doesn’t work for me may work for you! I really liked how the book was written through diary entries and different point of views. This book also has an AMAZING cover!

Please note any quote I used is a part of an ARC, so it is unfinished and may be edited or removed. However, I will not be publishing this review as I do not review DNFs.

Thank you so much for ARC!

I loved Dracula so reading from one of his wives' pov. This is another book to add for my spooky season list!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
The ideas at play here are so darn cool and as a long time Dracula fangirl I ate this book up. The writing and styling of the narrative weren’t exactly my cup of tea so docking stars based on that. But I enjoyed the elements of the story and the authors creativity in creating something so fresh and new from a classic.

All I have to say is that I knew it! I knew there had to be more to Lucy Westenra than Bram Stoker gave us in Dracula. This saphhic horror novel tells the story from three view points. We follow Lucy in the future, the past (via her diary) and from Iris Goldaming. Does that surname sound familiar? I've always been a Dracula girl, but now I realize he was just a bit player in something much larger! There are secrets, twists, a love story for the ages, and a shocking surprise visit that I was not expecting! This is a book that is going to be living rent-free in my head for quite a while!

A truly weird experience. I expected something different from this book. The multiple POVs weren't my favorite choice. I usually struggle with this author's books, which is a shame, because the ideas are great.

This book was pretty good. But I was not a huge fan of all of the points of view. The writing was not really for me. But I think other people would like it.

Lucy Undaying: A Dracula Novel by Kiersten White

Summary:
Lucy Westenra, an early victim of Dracula, found her end only to rise again, reborn as a perpetual resident of the vampire's realm. Through the ages, she sought purpose and identity, forever entwined in the shadows of her immortal tormentor. In modern-day London, Lucy's existence takes an unexpected turn as she crosses paths with Iris, trapped in her own family of deceit and power. United by a shared longing to break free from their haunting pasts, Lucy and Iris were drawn together. Their blossoming romance faces formidable challenges. Confronted with the past and the looming threat of Dracula, Lucy is at a crossroads between her love of Iris and hunting her maker, Dracula.

Review:
Let me start by saying this is a huge cult classic from my teenage years. I was obsessed with Bram Stroke's Dracula movie. I loved the love story between Dracula and Mina. So when I saw this book, the cover is hauntingly gorgeous; I was excited to read the point of view from Lucy. Lucy is a bird trapped in a cage. She is pressured to live by high society's social norms and her purpose of marriage to her demise. The character of Lucy is well-written and explores the innocence of a young woman thrust into a world she has to try to navigate. Her innocence allows her to be taken advantage of in multiple ways and end up in precarious situations. She meets other vampires along the way and learns more about herself. Lucy has a forlorn connection to the mortal world. The themes of self-discovery and found family are written throughout the book. The storyline creates an exciting journey for Lucy, and you experience her vampirism.

I was engaged throughout the entire book. There were no dull moments. Lucy's story takes place in multiple places and times. The themes of self-discovery and found family are written throughout the book. The storyline creates an exciting journey for Lucy, and you experience her vampirism. The story is told through dated journal entries and multiple POVs, but they are very easy to follow. The author did a great job exploring how society demonizes young women who do not fit the mold. Human, Lucy loses her autonomy from the men in her life and is seen as a possession more than a person. I loved this book and could not put it down. It was a fantastic adaption to Dracula's story.

In exchange for my honest review, I received an ARC copy of the ebook from Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group. Thank you for the opportunity.

Five stars for the gorgeous cover, one star for the rest. for an absolute train wreck of a book with too many plot lines/POVs that ultimately just come out as feeling disjointed.
Lucy Undying had too many plot lines/POVs to feel cohesive. The first half of the book, while we're learning Lucy's story through her journal entries, is okay, but once we fully switch to the present the book starts to really drag. I found the twists to be a little too predictable for my taste and that did unfortunately detract from the enjoyment. Romance-wise it was all very insta-lovey, which doesn't work for me at all (even somehow managed to make sapphic vampires feel unsexy). Furthermore, I found the inner monologue to be extremely immature even for the immortal characters and therefore couldn't connect with any of them (the pet-names, too, were certainly... a choice).
This book could be fun for some readers but in my opinion should be marketed differently to find them.


Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

OK so this wasn't as gothic as I was expecting and it took a minute to get on board with the pov's but once I got going it was great.
I loved the Lucy's journal pov the most, the style of writing was more the vibes I was after. The little found family in current day Lucy's pov was so good. And I did like Iris I'm just not an urban fan. They really gelled well together near the halfway point and it was exciting reading all the catch up reveals! The world building was fine, not confusing with the switching pov's and multi eras. It's very pro women and our fmc's and side characters were fierce. The 'twist' was good but I did struggle a bit with the believability of it all. There was quite a bit of hate in this that I found a bit jarring and a few 'iffy' bits that threw me out of the story but that could be me.
A fun read that's quite addictive, just go with it and you'll be fine.
Thanks to Random House and Netgalley for an arc, all thoughts are my own and left voluntarily.

I never liked Mina in the original Dracula novel or the movies, and I always thought Lucy got a really bad rap for no reason other than being posited as the whore archetype in contrast to Mina's saint archetype. And she wasn't at all. As a vampire, she preys on children - Stoker knew that at that time the abuse of children was becoming a concern in society, so this innocent society girl becomes an evil temptress who abuses children while boring old Mina is hailed as an icon of modesty and purity and everything a woman is supposed to be.

For that alone, I enjoyed this take on what would happen if Lucy wasn't ended by Van Helsing and her three former suitors. The story is interwoven with that of Iris, a modern girl who is now the owner, CEO, etc. of her family's MLM empire, and who is immediately besotted with a woman named Elle whom she meets by accident.

Lucy's journey takes us through decades and continents, as she meets other powerful vampires in her quest to find Dracula. Iris, meanwhile, finds Lucy's old diaries and as she reads them, uncovers a web of deception and murder that very much remind her of the many things her family have done.

I cannot say any more without spoiling a lot of the book so all I will say is that I absolutely loved Lucy Undying and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

DNF 20%. I immediately fell in love with the cover and was really itching for gothic vampire atmospheric vibes the blurb had been teasing about, and unfortunately, I had completely different expectations going into this book than what we ultimately got. It was hard for me to connect with the events of the story and the characters as I didn't expect the humourous with a lot of the inner monologue and a lot of the inner monologue was honestly just tough to get through too. I didn't feel invested in most of what I read because of this mismatch. I think if it was marketed differently it would have worked better. And while the journals and all was a nice homage to Dracula, it still felt very surface level to me. The dialogue also felt stiff and awkward at times imo.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this! Major spoilers below.

From the brilliant mind of Lada (Chest) f!Dracula, comes a flip to Lucy Westernra, beloved queer character once played by Katie McGrath. You might be better served by watching Katie McGrath's Lucy, even though she falls prey to all Katie McGrath character flaws. She dies, of course, because the original did, and more relevant to the gays, she's played by Katie McGrath, who looks at women, falls in love with her best friend/enemy/boss in such lesbian ways, and then dies. What else can you expect from Katie McGrath? Actually, I'd suggest Katie McGrath

If you're looking for a fun time where you're entertained and amused, I'd suggest the annual Dracula Daily on tumblr,

If you want to be rolling your eyes every couple chapters, Lucy Undying might serve you better.

First, Mina here is evil and in it to steal Lucy's money. This is presumably because she is straight and because she's not in love with Lucy, she must suffer, and be the absolute huge Big BAD. Lucy, of course, does not see this, because she is so deeply in love with her, and this must be pointed out by the modern main character, who reads it in Lucy's diaries, seeing it as obvious.

Yes-- diaries. The protag falls in insta-love with with Lucy, once by reading her diaries and gushing about how strong and smart and brave Lucy is, even as she "figures out" Lucy is her great-grandmother. And is still mostly fine with it. She spends a lot of time rhapsodiing about how poetic and an incredible writer Lucy is, which... loses a lot of appeal when you as a reader read it all some 15 chapters ago, and it was... fine? Nothing all that special. Just existed. She also falls in insta-love with Lucy in person, as Lucy is in disguise.
the diary, of course, also has Lucy's last dying words and thoughts, because that's the sort of thing you do when you're dying, you write out screeds of thoughts that very suddenly go into "i'm feeling tired, I must sleep".

Also, the protag knows about vampires, and is stalked by them. This is the ... 66% point twist! She is aware vampires exist! But that's never stated outside or considered until then, and everything else is just very strongly implied until then, with Iris's rules being to never invite people in unless they've already been inside. Most of the way through the story, she info drops that the REASON she works at a coffee shop and her mother hated that is because... the scent of coffee covers the human scent! wow! incredible! what is the reason to wait until then and not just mention it the first time she's talking about how she always smells of coffee!
(It's fairly obvious Iris knows about vampires from the beginning, but for some reason, possibly ~suspense~, pretends she does not.)

The couple nicknames too-- "butter chicken" and "cabbage" feel... extremely forced and eye-rolling. Maybe cute for my youngest students? but the remarks feel extremely chosen to just make the nicknames, which aren't as cute as intended.

Oh and also! We can't forget how basically half the vampires we meet want to kill Lucy because?.. . . because. because she is special. But she doesn't care. She helps them so, so much. she helps them so much that she actually stops WW1 and forces a treaty signed! That's right, she can stop WW1, but literally nothing else. :D

Read this book too, if you'll like sudden drops of Barbie monologues! including one that is almost sentence-for-sentence the main one!