Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this review copy of Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste.

I went into this book fairly blind. In fact, I mostly read it for the trippy cover art. However, once I discovered the plot was inspired by the untold stories of Lucy Westnera and Bertha Mason, the women wronged in Dracula and Jane Eyre, respectively, I was so excited! Add on the late 60s California setting and this really should have been my perfect book. But unfortunately, it didn’t quite do it for me. I wanted a lot more background on our heroines, and not the background we would have gotten from Dracula, Jane Eyre, or even Wide Sargasso Sea. I did love the setting though, and the attention to detail. Kiste did an excellent job setting the scene; everything had a Dark Shadows vibe and I would love to see this book adapted to a movie — I think it would really shine visually!

Overall, I feel like Reluctant Immortals tells a really interesting and engaging story, but it just wasn’t my thing. However, this is likely a matter of personal preference. I think it’s worth a read if you’re a fan of gothic literature.

In the world of "Terrible Men of Literature", Dracula and Edward Rochester rank VERY high on the list. In fact, I would put them in my top ten.

Gwendolyn Kiste seems to have the same feelings and turned that rage into brilliance with Reluctant Immortals, an almost revenge novel with Lucy Westenra and Bertha "Bee" Mason as the leads. Both women were wronged by these two men in their lives, and because of this, they are doomed to live forever.

"Now" aka, 1960s California, they have used most of their funds and are wandering Los Angeles, seeing old movies at the drive-in and driving a rusted Buick. Then Jane...yes, Jane Eyre arrives.

Jane, oh, dear, plain Jane. You see, Jane isn't the independent spirit from the novel that we have loved for so long. She and Bee were in love and it drove Rochester crazy and he tried to kill the both of them. Now, an angry gray tar runs through their veins, keeping them all alive to torture each other through eternity.

Jane leads the women to San Francisco where they meet Daisy. Jane then runs away. In their pursuit, they are taken to a house--where they are met with good old Edward, himself. Edward wanted a friend, and he knew that having Jane bring the women, meant that Dracula wouldn't be too far behind.

This is an epic battle of men vs. women, monster vs monster, man vs immortal. It's insane and fantastic and does require some suspension of belief. I loved everything.

(I did expect one last twist....I mean....Daisy....this is a book about terrible men....and the worst one of all IS Jay Gatsby....so....)

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste is a "modern" retelling of Dracula and Jane Eyre, from the perspective of the female characters who are often forgotten. The story revolves around Lucy and Bertha, who are now immortals living in the 1960's. They're friends, having bonded together over the decades that they spent hiding in plain sight and hiding from the toxic men who ruined their lives. What will happen when Dracula returns? Will they find a way to send him back, or will they become his next victims?

Here is an enchanting excerpt from Chapter 1:

"A sharp breeze cuts through the dusk, rattling the letters in the sign like restless bones. The air harsh and sweet, I close my eyes, the buzz of the city fading away. That’s when I hear them. All the sweet heartbeats in Los Angeles, thrumming inside me at once. They waft up from the valley like steam, and my skin hums, my teeth sharpening, reminding me of what I am, what he’s done to me.
The sound of Dracula rises again, almost singing now, and even though I still can’t hear him clearly, I can guess what he’s saying.
“Take what belongs to you, Lucy,” he used to tell me. “Take anything you want.”"

Overall, Reluctant Immortals is an innovative blend of history and fantasy that will appeal to fans of The Invisible Life of Addie Larue or Siren Queen. One highlight of this book is how groundbreaking the premise is. I've never wondered how Lucy and Bertha would fare if they were transported into the 20th century, but once I heard it, I knew that I absolutely had to read this story. I did take off 1 star, because not much happens until midway through. Once the halfway mark hits though, it became exciting and unputdownable. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of new takes on gothic fiction, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in August!

Cinematic, feels like a movie at every turn. Compelling but predictable and the story was a little too trite for me. Feminist lit nerds will enjoy it.

Reluctant Immortals follows Lucy and Bertha (of Dracula and Jane Eyre) as they fight to escape from the influence of the men who used them and made them immortal. Set in the late 1960s in L.A. and San Francisco, Lucy and Bee, who have been friends for most of their immortal lives, keep secrets from each other. However, when Jane Eyre reenters Bee's life, these secrets will be revealed, rather violently.

There is much to love in Reluctant Immortals for fans of both Dracula and Jane Eyre, especially those fans who aren't wedded to very literal interpretations of Classical works. Readers will find themselves unable to put this book down as the danger increases and Lucy and Bee strive to take power away from the men who made them immortal.

Reluctant Immortals takes two of literature’s mistreated women, and shows them on a Thelma and Louise style adventure to take down their abusers - Lucy Westenra, one of Dracula’s victims in Bram Stoker’s novel, and Bertha (Bee) Mason, the “madwoman” in the attic, and bride of Rochester, in Jane Eyre.

Lucy keeps the ashes of Dracula in various urns, knowing that he could re-materialize if those ashes were ever gathered in the same place. All the while, Lucy is constantly trying to fight her vampiric urges, and her tendency to spread literal decay wherever she goes. Bee, however, is not a vampire, but something much more mysterious, and definitely undead. As well as living with the repercussions of a tragic fire, her heart is still with Jane Eyre.

When Dracula and Rochester reappear, hell bent on ruining Lucy, Bee, and women in general, our heroines must revisit their past to rid the world of these awful men.

Gwendolyn Kiste has created a wonderful relationship between these two women, brought together by their shared suffering, brought on by the men in their lives. It’s a genuinely exciting story, and Kiste brings wonderful new dimensions to these well-known characters. It’s a fantastic idea to bring these ladies together.

It’s not a prerequisite to have read Dracula or Jane Eyre before tackling Reluctant Immortals, but if this book leads to more people reading those novels, that’s a wonderful thing. This is a story of female friendship, a love story to California, and is highly accessible and thoroughly enjoyable.

I received a reading copy of this title in exchange for a review. However, I had already pre-ordered the book and will be repurchasing it.Again, Ms. Kiste gives us a great example of why she is on both of my lists. For those unfamiliar with my lists (yes, capital L), these are authors whose books I'll buy as soon as I hear about them, and ideas I wish I had.Dracula's Lucy Westenra and Bertha Mason survived the horrific deeds done to them by the male characters in their book (Dracula and Rochester, respectively) to become immortal beings. Afflicted by the past and hidden from the forces against them, they find themselves in California during the Summer of Love. Here they must take a stand against the men who are pursuing them if they have any chance of survival.Elements of gothic romance and horror in the days of free love - it looks like it shouldn't work, right? In the hands of minor authors, this may be the case. However, we're talking about the author of The Rust Maidens, Pretty Marys All In A Row, and a number of other titles that garnered five out of five votes. Kiste intertwines elements of Dracula and Jane Eyre with more recent America of the late 1960s, illustrating that, despite years of progress, the advancement of gender relations leaves much to be desired. Reluctant Immortals sheds light on the treatment of women that is now especially important and does it all while telling a compelling, intertwined story that readers will hardly be able to put aside.

"Reluctant Immortals" is a smart, fresh, unique take on two overlooked characters from literary history. Lucy Westenra, Dracula's first English victim, and Bertha Antoinetta Mason, the first wife of Edward Rochester ("Jane Eyre") who was kept locked in the attic of his home for years before a fire killed her. These two women have died, in Lucy's case several times, but are still amongst the living. After finding each other in England at the turn of the century, the women eventually travel to Los Angeles, to escape the ghosts of the men who destroyed them. Unfortunately, their ghosts have finally caught up with them and hey must fight Rochester and a newly resurrected Dracula, hoping to end their reign of terror and take back the lives that were taken from them.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a nice balance of historical and gothic fiction. Author Gwendolyn Kiste is a great writer. This book is structured well, and flows easily. It was a quick read, yet was very engaging and plot driven. I loved all the time period references, especially all the movies and the drive in movie theater that the ladies frequently visited. I really enjoyed having the story set in the 60s. Kiste did a great job of using elements of the time period to help draw parallels to the "Dracula" and "Jane Eyre" stories. I especially thought it was clever drawing comparisons to the cult like atmosphere, and quest for knowledge of the world and universe of the Flower Child crowd to that of the followers of both Dracula and Rochester. They sought out figures who would help the enlighten their minds and bodies, and it really fit in well with the hippie culture of 60s San Francisco.

The biggest strength of this novel was the two main characters Lucy and Bee. These are two women who are important to the evolution and arcs of their male counterparts, yet in their own literary introductions they are never given the time or space to be developed. In "Reluctant Immortals" these women are given a voice and purpose beyond satisfying the male storylines or motivations. I especially thought Lucy was great. She is strong, smart, opinionated and is trying extremely hard to prove that even though she is a monster, she isn't evil. Her inner struggles with what Dracula made her were fascinating, and I found some elements of her identity crisis to be very relatable. My only qualm about these characters is that I do wish this book was told in alternating POV between Lucy and Bee. I would have loved to see the events through Bee's POV and know how she was dealing with everything that was happening. I feel like given that these women were already overlooked in their original stories, more so Bee than Lucy, it was a missed opportunity on Kiste's part to not incorporate Bee's POV more throughout the story.

Overall, I think this is an engaging and entertaining twist on some classic literary characters. And I recommend it to readers looking for a fresh, feminist take on characters that their original stories left behind. Thank you to Gallery Books and Net Galley for giving me an advanced copy.

RELUCTANT IMMORTALS features immortal besties Lucy Westenra, who was made a vampire in Bram Stoker’s DRACULA, and Bertha “Bee” Mason, Mr. Rochester’s first wife, deemed “the madwoman in the attic” in Charlotte Brontë’s JANE EYRE. The women live in 1967 Los Angeles where Lucy acts as caretaker of Dracula’s ashes and Bee fights the lure of Mr. Rochester’s supernatural call. Their lives have settled into a comfortable routine, which is shattered by unexpected visitors who set events in motion that require Lucy and Bee to travel to San Francisco and confront their pasts.

Kiste magnificently crafted Lucy and Bee while staying true to the source material. While other characters from DRACULA and JANE EYRE figure into the plot, new modern characters are introduced. The character arc for Dracula’s iconic minion Renfield was an unexpected treat.

I was delighted to discover several Easter eggs in the form of references to Lucy’s suitors and the appearance of a modern terrible trio of vampire brides. Those more familiar with the source books will likely discover more. While the world building includes the beloved vampire tropes, some are modified in wonderful ways.

This book was candy for my brain. I especially loved how the female characters drove the story and reclaimed their narratives. RELUCTANT IMMORTALS is as much a story about the strong bonds between women as it is about breaking free from the shackles of patriarchy. The power of Dracula and Mr. Rochester comes from the women they destroy. Lucy and Bee rise from this destruction like mythological phoenixes to extinguish the power those men have over women.

Not only is this a beautifully written book, RELUCTANT IMMORTALS is an important book particularly in a world where women’s rights are at the mercy of the patriarchy.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to Saga Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc., for providing an Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley.

I think this is a case of being the wrong reader for an objectively pretty cool book. Although I love the premise – two of classic lit’s most screwed-over women taking their agency back – and although I think it’s super readable, I’m just not very interested. I made it to 26%, and that’s further than I wanted to go.

But it does feel like an it’s-not-you-it’s-me. Kiste’s writing is great and her take is clever, but I like my reads with purpler prose and much more magic-heavy. This is a book I shouldn’t have tried to read, and I wouldn’t want my DNF to discourage anyone else from picking it up and giving it a go if it sounds like your thing.

Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste is so good. What an absolutely riveting tale with familiar characters behaving it slapstick quirky way. And bring in the Bee character from Jane Eyre was everything. Definitely fun read.

This book was amazing! I love retellings and I feel like this was such and interesting way to do one. Lucy and Bee are such interesting characters that fit into their world and the authors writing style so perfectly. The plot was engaging and the characters who helped them along their journey added so much to the story. Dracula and Rochester were such a creepy kind of powerful, and it was interesting how the author wrote them to both help and hurt each other. I would love a book on Lucy and Bees journey the 70 years before this story. The only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is because I didn’t fully understand the hand room or the ending.

What a very clever story! I have enjoyed all Kiste's books and this one was just brilliant. An intriguing take on vampire myth. I loved it.

Reluctant Immortals
by Gwendolyn Kiste
Pub Date: August 23, 2022
Galery/SAga Press
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
Reluctant Immortals is a historical horror novel that looks at two men of classic literature, Dracula and Mr. Rochester, and the two women who survived them, Bertha and Lucy, who are now undead immortals residing in Los Angeles in 1967 when Dracula and Rochester make a shocking return in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. This is not my regular genre of book but I found it enjoyable.
For Fans of Mexican Gothic.

This story was an updated version of Dracula which was told by a woman that he had power over. If you have never read Dracula books, I would not recommend starting with this one. There were a lot of characters and things going on during the story that were hard to follow but the main story about Lucy was good. The extra characters distracted me more than anything else.

My first novel by Gwendolyn Kiste and...

Wow.

The details through this book are like vivid neon for the reader. Kiste paints an absolutely wonderful picture for us, with copious details through the background, the surroundings and most of all the thoughts. This is the story of two women forgotten in literature, the forgotten immortals Berth Mason and Lucy Westerna. The same Lucy Westerna victimized by Dracula and the same Bertha Mason in the attic of Jane Eyre fame. This is a world where details matter and not a single one is wasted or spared by Kiste.

Lucy is our narrator, and her pain is given to the reader in vivid, haunting detail. The anguish of what she and Bee have endured permeates the novel, all while both women refuse to let themselves be broken or defined solely by their pain. Kiste honors the novels Jane Eyre and Dracula, following in a well-traveled literary tradition while managing to do something entirely new and fascinating with these characters.

It's a novel that also lives or dies on friendships between women and not only is Bee and Lucy's friendship a highlight, but Lucy's relationship with Mina Harker is pivotal to her. Her relationship to Dracula is also touched upon and Dracula and Rochester are presented as charismatic, monstrous predators throughout the novel. Well-dressed, handsome, likable...but wholly despicable beings who consume the women unfortunate enough to be ensnared by their charms. There is so much catharsis to see Bee and Lucy fight back against them and stand up to them and overcome their past to forge a future.

Brilliant novel, from start to finish

5/5

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Reluctant Immortals.

I'm all for retellings of famous classic stories so I was excited when my request was approved.

I was curious why the author chose the female protagonists she did; Jane Eyre is my favorite classic so Bertha was an intriguing character to select but why Lucy?

I guess Mina is very 'been there, done that.'

The writing is good, the setting an interesting choice though I'm not a fan of the 60s, but my biggest caveat is how dull the narrative was.

The underlying theme is how men control the narrative, how they control women, and all that stuff, but after living 70 years, Lucy and Bee are not very compelling characters.

In fact, they're pretty boring.

How did they survive the previous decades together?

Lucy doesn't eat but surely in the years since, there was a time (or two) when she may have lost control and was unable to contain her urges?

I'm still not sure of that ending; what is that in between place where Lucy finds herself and where she finally settles the score?

I'm not sure how to interpret that, and I'm not talking about it in a religious way.

Is it a purgatory/waiting room for vampires and the victims of vampires? Do all vampires and their victims go there? What does it represent? How come Lucy ends up there each time?

Even the bad guys were tropes of themselves; Dracula was not scary or menacing and Rochester was neither brooding or dangerous. Just kind of sad.

I was looking for despair, horror, bloodshed, all consuming rage and havoc, but all I got was flower power, hippies, enthralled maidens and a manly vampire and a broody aristocrat pontificating and showing off.

I wanted to like this a lot more but perhaps it just wasn't for me. I appreciate the opportunity to read it and my review is based on my personal opinion and reading experience.

This is a quick read and perfect to escape to on the beach, by the pool, or at an airport during summer travel this year. It also features two women that literature has, well, ignored in exchange for their more dastardly male counterparts. Notably, Lucy Westerna and Bertha Antoinette Rochester (but Jane Eyre is thrown in there for good measure, along with 1970s portrayals of Rochester and Dracua).

One thing I found strange is the choice to set this book in the 1970s. It seemed random and unintentional and the writing style kind of sometimes made me forget we weren't in the 21st century.

But, if you like feminist re-tellings (of sort) or diving deeper into side characters, you'll likely enjoy this book.

Although it was largely a quick read, there were some 'huh, why is this here?' moments, or pacing items that felt too short or too long. I was in an airport and a little bit focused on reading, so I'm not sure if these pacing issues would have been a bigger deal if I had not been so focused.

I received an advanced reading copy of this title in return for a review. However, I had already preordered the book and will still be purchasing it.

Once again, Ms. Kiste provides us with an excellent example of why she is on my two Lists. For those not familiar with my Lists (yes, capital L), they are Authors Whose Books I Will Purchase Immediately Upon Hearing About Them and Ideas I Wish I Had Come Up With.

Lucy Westenra from Dracula and Bertha Mason have survived the horrible deeds done to them by the male characters of their book (Dracula and Rochester, respectively) to become immortal beings. Plagued by the past and hiding from forces set against them, the end up in California during the summer of love. Here they must take a stand against the men who haunt them if they have any chance of surviving.

Elements of gothic romance and horror in the time of free love -- sounds like it shouldn't work, right? In the hands of lesser authors this might be the case. However, we are talking about the author of The Rust Maidens, Pretty Marys All In A Row, and a number of other titles which got five out of five ratings. Kiste weaves elements of Dracula and Jane Eyre with the more recent late '60s America, illustrating that despite the progress of years, the progress of gender relations leaves much to be desired. Reluctant Immortals casts a light on the treatment of women that is especially important now and does it all during the telling of a gripping, tightly woven story that will readers will have a difficult time putting down.

Highest Recommendations.

Rounded up to 4.5 ⭐️

What can I say about Reluctant Immortals?

Taking place in 1967 Los Angeles, Reluctant Immortals follows Lucy Westerna and Bertha Antoinette Rochester as they combat a life of immortality thrust upon them by their tormentors. Both women were side characters in their own stories, but here they take center stage.

The book is an addictively readable, defiantly feminist take on characters in Gothic canon that have undeniably been done dirty. The two women and their friendship is the through line of the novel, and acts as a tether for the rest of the plot.

While the novel is not perfect, a few plot lines seemingly shoehorned in, some explanations not fully completed, and the setting not utilized to its fullest capabilities, the book was still a fantastic read. It was everything that I had hoped for and more.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc!