Expected more from this author. She managed to make a Dracula spin-off boring. The cover is the redeeming factor that tricked us all into reading.

3.5/5 Stars
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Lucy Undying isn't your typical vampire novel. It reimagines some classic character arcs from the original vampire novel, Dracula, in a really interesting way. I loved the use of mixed media throughout the book, as well as the present day narrative. It was really interesting to see the way that the historical and present played off of each other.

I absolutely loved this Dracula retelling! I enjoyed the moving timeline. The flipping back and forth made things more interesting. I was shocked by the plot twist at the end of the book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this review copy. I ended up running out of time to read this early and borrowed the audiobook from my library. I am a fan of White's writing, but some of her books just aren't for me. I had concerns about that being the case for this book going into it considering I am not a big Dracula fan. I am a fan of vampires, but not historical fiction. I made it about 35% through the story before I gave up. I don't want to put myself back into a reading slump. Sadly, this one was not for me, but it was very much a me issue and not anything about the book or audiobook narrator.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this eARC. All opinions are my own.

This was an enjoyable reading experience.

This was a bit of a disappointment. I was expecting darker, more vampiric vibes, but something felt off about the narration style. I didn’t connect with Lucy at all; in fact I felt disconnected from her as a character. The writing was good, but the pacing was slow and inconsistent. A miss for me unfortunately, but the cover is gorgeous!

I actually ended up DNF'ing this book fairly quickly due to two things:
1. 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. It reads like a very weird and easily rectified mistake that should have been noticed considering the name comes up regularly throughout the novel.
2. The writing style was not for me. The dialogue was pretty stale and clunky (which is always a huge issues for me) and it unfortunately took away the chemistry between the characters.

DNF

Was drawn in by the beautiful cover but quickly realized that the writing wasn't for me and that the characters were not people I wanted to read about.

Kiersten White is one of my fave authors and I loved this Dracula retelling through Lucy’s perspective! It is gothic, thrilling and beautiful! Loved it

3.75/4 - rounded up to 4

This book had an incredibly slow start and picked up about a third of the way through. Given that it's a Dracula novel that lines up with the gothic story telling but it didn't quite work for me this time. I truthfully, didn't really enjoy Iris as a character or a narrator. The modern day portions of the storyline just didn't work for me. The best parts of the story were the insights into Lucy's long life, her toxic relationship with Mina (and Dracula) as well as the 'friends' she made along the way.

I LOVE Kiersten White, and I loved this book! Sapphic vampires and tragic loves and wellness cults? I WAS IN FROM THE FIRST PAGE!

My favorite sections of this book to read were most definitely Lucy’s journal entries; there was something so pure and beautiful in them, I could’ve read an entire book that way.

I loooooved this book! Lesbian vampires, trans representation, super romantic swoon-worthy love stories... I do think it would've benefited from a sharper edit (there was too much padding - was that Dracula POV really necessary?), which drags this down from a 5 star to a 4 star read for me. That said, I always love Kiersten White's writing, and I look forward to what she writes next!

Overall, I really liked this but everything took just a bit too long for me. I started guessing a lot of things early and then they were still spelled out for me in heavy detail in case I didn’t make ithe conclusions myself. I haven’t read Dracula, so I felt pretty unfamiliar with the characters which made it all a new story to me and I really liked the cast of characters.

I received a copy of the book from NetGalley, Random House - Ballantine, and Del Rey in exchange for my honest review.

This was a highly anticipated read for me. Sapphic vampires and a drop dead gorgeous cover. I adore Kiersten White as an author. Her writing and imagery are strong and she creates the vibe of a book very well. There were passages written like poetry. Despite that, this book as a whole just didn’t hit for me. I had some issues enjoying Iris’ point of view and how the points of view shifted. I think I would have enjoyed it more just from Lucy’s perspective. I will still read more from White. This is a solid book that others will find great enjoyment in.

Thank you to NetGalley, Del Rey, and the author for the advance copy. My opinions are my own.

I was obsessed with this story for the first 65%. It gave that The Substance vibe. There was so much going on and I was enjoying the back and forth of it all, trying to piece it together and stay interested.

However, around that 65% mark, there's something revealed, where after that, I was almost over it. There wasn't much intrigue left for me, and I struggled wondering where else this could go. Maybe how it could be salvaged.

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for the advance copy. My opinions are my own.

A lush, gem of a tale. I enjoyed this sapphic romance so much. You can feel the gothic ambiance through White’s poetic verbiage.

This handles abuse so well. Watching Lucy grow and rediscover herself while falling into healthy love was amazing.

I either love or hate White's books. I wish I could pinpoint why. I thought I would love this one. Queer, Gothic vampires?? Yes, please. However, I had so much trouble getting through this and decided to DNF at 50%. I hate to say it was boring because it's such a lazy way to describe a book, but I can't figure out why I was so bored. I just know I was.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

As a lover of Dracula, I was so pleased at how much of the lore of Dracula and its characters were in this book. I mostly enjoyed the story and the characters, and thought the way Lucy was pulled into the story was done well (though a bit obvious).

What didn’t work for me in this was pretty much the 2nd half. I thought the romance accelerated way too quickly and I didn’t love how things unraveled.

But overall I would recommend this story to any Dracula fan. My final rating was 3.5 stars!

This book is unhinged and delightful. I love Lucy's narration and how White handles her immortality. I find the MLM scam storyline oddly out of place compared to everything else in the story. It just doesn't connect and it feels like they're trying too hard to fuse the Lucy vampiric sapphic unhinged adventures to the anti-capitalism messaging. Admittedly, this is par for the course for White's storytelling choices where I love the actual writing but the social commentary never really hits. That being said, out of all of the author's books I've read so far, I think Lucy Undying is the best thus far. White really aces the emotional resonance of her characters as on the nose her messaging about gender and society are.