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.

I really enjoyed this gothic fantasy novel. Thank you so, so much to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for allowing me to read this title!

Blurb:
Her name was written in the pages of someone else’s story: Lucy Westenra was one of Dracula’s first victims.

But her death was only the beginning. Lucy rose from the grave a vampire and has spent her immortal life trying to escape from Dracula’s clutches—and trying to discover who she really is and what she truly wants.

Her undead life takes an unexpected turn in twenty-first-century London, when she meets another woman, Iris, who is also yearning to break free from her past. Iris’s family has built a health empire based on a sinister secret, and they’ll do anything to stay in power.

Lucy has long believed she would never love again. Yet she finds herself compelled by the charming Iris while Iris is equally mesmerized by the confident and glamorous Lucy. But their intense connection and blossoming love is threatened by outside forces. Iris’s mother won’t let go of her without a fight, and Lucy’s past still has fangs: Dracula is on the prowl once more.

Lucy Westenra has been a tragically murdered teen, a lonesome adventurer, and a fearsome hunter, but happiness has always eluded her. Can she find the strength to destroy Dracula once and for all, or will her heart once again be her undoing?

I liked that this story gave Lucy her own agency but kind of hated that they undid Dracula canon to make it happen and disparaged other characters I loved from the original story in the name of empowering Lucy. I think that could have been accomplished without that addition to the story.

I didn't get to finish this one. I do so enjoy the 1990's movie Dracula, and the original book. This had promise but I didn't get to dig in.

I love this author, and loved the prose and premise. However, as a lover of the original Dracula novel, it was really disappointing. The original novel, with all its faults, has some very feminist and queer themes. But this novel’s take, that Lucy hated men, that Van Helsing is a creep, didn’t sit right with me. I wish this novel had been written as its own thing, without being directly tied to Dracula. I love the idea of Lucy as a lesbian who survives, and wish it would have been done differently.

A beautiful gothic sapphic love story based on characters from Dracula. I always felt that the original Dracula had queer overtones. This book gorgeously brings that front and center. Lucy and Iris are both strong characters that come together to take down Dracula. I loved this story and am adding it to the canon in my head of the Dracula story.

Kiersten White is one of the most underrated writers and everything she writes is GOLD. This kicks Dracula's a$$.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Del Rey for allowing me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

As someone who unapologetically lives for vampire stories, I dove into Lucy Undying with excitement and high expectations. I’m still very much in my vampire era, and with Kiersten White at the helm, I was hoping for a fresh and gripping take on the undead. But despite my best efforts to fall in love with it, I found myself struggling to stay connected.
The pacing felt long and, at times, dragging. The constant shifts between past and present made it difficult to maintain momentum, and I often found myself needing to pause just to reorient where (and when) I was in the story. Iris, the protagonist, brings a fierce and unapologetic level of female rage—more than I usually see in characters like hers. While that kind of raw intensity can be compelling, it occasionally overshadowed my emotional connection to her journey.
That said, one thing I did appreciate deeply was the queer representation. It felt natural, inclusive, and vital—something I wish we saw more often in vampire fiction. That aspect alone gave the book a pulse I really valued.
I’m not writing Lucy Undying off completely. I’ve seen plenty of readers who absolutely loved it, so maybe it just didn’t land for me this time. I’ll definitely give it another chance in the future, hoping that on a second read, I might finally find what others are raving about.