Kiersten White's literary retellings are always so much fun. I particularly loved Lucy's diary entries and the back-and-forth timeline describing her life before meeting Iris. I wasn't expecting the cult-like setting towards the end of the book involving Iris' family, but I enjoyed that a lot too!

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Ray for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

If you haven't read Dracula in a while I would recommend at least reading the Wiki plot synopsis of the novel before starting this one. I read about thirty percent of the book before I read the synopsis for Dracula and after all of the characters made so much more sense and I really got into the novel a lot more than I had. This is a great read for Halloween because it expands on all of the classic lore surrounding Dracula while also bringing the evil into the modern world in a way that makes so much sense.

I thought that this was a really fun retelling of the classic Dracula story that we all know and love. It's a tale spanning one hundred and thirty five years that's told from three separate perspectives: Lucy's diary set in 1890, Iris's POV in 2024 and the transcripts of the conversations that Lucy has with her therapist in 2024. This was a very fast paced novel. Most of the chapters ended on cliffhangers to keep you reading.

I thought that Lucy's character was really well developed and it was great to watch her find herself and her purpose throughout the novel. She transforms from a meek and protected girl to a strong and independent woman by the end of the novel. I also fell in love with Iris' character throughout the novel as both of the girls help to find themselves in each other.

This was my first novel by Kiersten White and I will be adding more of her novels to my TBR.

There was a lot going on at first. The jumping between POVs/journals was a bit much but once it fully grounded itself. I was hooked.
Love the liberties that were taken. Lucy and Mina were always the most interesting part of Dracula.
I spent the last quarter in awe of how the story developed. A great read. So great that its made me want to re-read Dracula lol

I was very intrigued by this book and it is very much what it says it is. I wouldn't say it was my favorite book of the year but it was pretty good.

Finally a story of Dracula where Dracula is barely a footnote. Lucy has been given her chance to shine and grow and FEEL. This book gave me all the things I wanted in Dracula and then gave me some modern euphemisms for vampirism I didn’t expect but kind of appreciated. Overall a great read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts <3

Kiersten White heard the call for more sapphic vampires and said stand aside losers because I'm going to write the best sapphic reimagining of Dracula about Lucy Westerna y'all have ever seen. I would die for this book. I want everyone to read it. The gothic, romantic, brutally bloody, dark fantasy setting swept me up in the story immediately. Multiple POVs, past/present timeline, and a bit of epistolary/journal storytelling... everything about Lucy Undying worked so well for me.

Vampires + a MLM scheme straight from the streets of Utah + a sapphic romance + a mysterious set of journals, the plot was so intriguing. I adored the romance between Lucy and Iris and nearly died when they were apart. I would honestly read a million more books about their journey to take down Dracula once and for all. Honestly, I loved everything about this!!!

Read this if you like vampires, gothic romance, sapphic romance, falling in love in two timelines, destroying abusive and powerful men, learning who you really are, and stepping out of your parents toxic expectations.

The premise of this book is interesting but I found myself not liking the writing style and partial the characters I had to soft dnf this book because I plan to finish it eventually. I know someone else will greatly enjoy this book

3⭐️

This was an enjoyable vampire story! I do think it was not quite as gothic feeling as I would like, and a little long, but I will never say no to a queer vampire story

I am soft DNF'ing at 10%.

I am having such a hard time reading this. The chapters jumping POVs and timelines just feels really disjointed and clunky to me with the way that it is written. I had to force myself to read as much of it as I did.

The writing itself doesn't seem very polished in my opinion. I don't particularly like the voices of any of the characters introduced so far.

If I end up picking this back up, I will update my review.

For both fans of Dracula and vampires in general alike, I think this book will be a hit. This was definitely a unique take on Lucy Westenros’ character from Dracula and I hope to see more modern takes on these classic characters.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!

Lucy Undying is a Gothic Fantasy that reimagines the story of Dracula from a sapphic vampire’s perspective. I thought the story started off very strong with Iris and Young Lucy’s POV. The chapters told from Lucy’s interview with her therapist felt like a departure from the rest of the story. I understand that Lucy has lived for hundreds of years, but I could not wrap my mind around how unhinged she seemed to be. The dialogue also felt very cheesy and not at all how I imagine therapy sessions go. Then to throw in the weird Dracula POVs and the multiple twists- including Elle being Lucy which is definitely spoiled in the synopsis of the book. I think I would have loved this if it had been simplified and told only through Iris and Lucy.

I wanted to try, despite not being a fan of the original Dracula, having DNF'd it four times (no really). I thought maybe the feminism fanfic perspective might do something for me. It did not.

I will literally never turn down Sapphic vampires. This one reminded me so much of A Dowry of Blood in the best way.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book as it became a bit too confusing for me. The three points of view, while an interesting concept, weren’t executed in a way that worked for me personally. It just didn’t click, but I’m sure others might enjoy the unique storytelling style.

Good for fans of:
🩸Dracula retellings
🩸multiple POV’s
🩸insta-love
🩸gothic sapphic romance

In this gothic sapphic fantasy, Kiersten White reclaims the story of Lucy Westenra, the beautiful rich girl who garnered three proposals in one day, was turned into a vampire by Dracula, and was staked through the heart by the three men who loved her and Dr Van Helsing. Through diary entries and transcripts, White gives Lucy more agency, a queer identity, and a fascinating history through the years as a vampire. I really enjoyed these parts of the story. There was warmth and humor injected throughout the tale, and I cackled at the acknowledgement of how lame and creepy Van Helsing, Dr Seward, and Lord Godalming are in the original.

I was less enthused about the second half of the story which takes place fully in the modern timeline, and I felt that the narrative started to lag at times. Overall, this is a great example of how retellings of classic stories can breathe new life into those classics and speak to modern sensibilities. I previously read and loved 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝐸𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑏𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑖𝑛, which I highly recommend as well.

Thank you so much to Del Rey Books and NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for my honest review!

Lucy Undying is a retelling of one of Dracula’s very first victim: Lucy Westenra, a 19 year old from a wealthy family. Mingled into the story is a modern day original character, Iris Goldaming, who wants nothing to do with her family’s multi-billion dollar company. The book follows 3 separate timelines usually in a similar order: Lucy’s diary, transcripts of Lucy’s session with her therapist, and Iris’s current timeline.

The pacing of the book is so agonizingly slow. I felt like I was squeezing through the smallest crevice possible at the 60% mark before things really started to pick up (and I wished it did so a lot sooner). The multiple timelines made it difficult to capture my attention fully when my brain is trying to grasp at the previous one and in the next chapter it moves onto another. The disjointed pattern did not help with balancing the ideas that White had in mind which was to somehow interweave the gothic fabric of vampiricism with the new. And while I truly think that is commendable and interesting, it is also one of the biggest downfalls in the book. The two separate entities clashed often and left me puzzled with the direction and choices.

Admittedly this was a “cover pretty, must read it” book and I did not realize initially this was a Dracula retelling. So perhaps if I had known the original story the intent would be more clear and less confusing? But that tells me the book should rely less on Bram Stoker’s original Dracula and more on solidifying new ideas that help the book sing. Let Iris Goldaming have her own moment and leave Lucy Westenra to rest at her ancient vessel.

I really wanted to like Lucy Undying more than I did. As a fan of vampire novels and anything related to Dracula, I was excited to dive deeper into this world, especially with the promise of a Sapphic vampire connection and the all-female cast from the Dracula universe. However, the story felt scattered and halfway written to me.

There were too many points of view, voices, and timelines, which made it hard for me to connect emotionally with the characters or the plot. While there were moments of humor and I enjoyed Iris’ snarky comments, the story lacked the depth I was hoping for. Despite these issues, I would still recommend it to readers who love Dracula and want to explore more from that world, as the concept itself is intriguing.

Thank you, #NetGalley and #DelRey for the chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.

A bit like reading three books in one, but all interconnected together with the theme of vampire. I really enjoyed reading this book and took my time to savor this one. A wonderfully spooky, sapphic read perfect for fans of the O.G Vampire novel, haters of MLMs, and history buffs alike.

There were a lot of things I liked about this book; such as the beautiful sapphic love story, the themes of self-acceptance and feminism, and the way White successfully retold a classic story.

I just didn’t care for the way the characters were set up so black and white. White made sure you knew the antagonists were evil and the protagonists good in a very cartoonish way that, to me, took away some depth and believability. Lucy, in particular, was almost Mary-Sue like in her morality which made this book read like ya in spite of some more mature themes of the plot.
I also felt like this book tried to be too many things at once and had some elements of the story been cut out, I feel like the book would have been stronger.

So, this was not my favorite of White’s books. But I did enjoy it. I would recommend it especially to ya fans who enjoy retellings and sapphic romances.

Thank you so very much to Random House and NetGalley for allowing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this reimagining of Lucy Westenra's story, taking her from a side character in Dracula's story and making her the main character of her own. Kiersten White says in the author's note that she always thought Lucy deserved better, and I agree. Actually, I enjoyed how this book reimagined all of the characters from Dracula, especially the women, and created another bold and interesting story with them at the center. For me, that aspect of this book was beautiful.
However, I thought the writing itself was a bit overdone. There was a lot of rambling and repetition, melodrama, humor that didn't hit for me personally, and the plot and pacing was all over the place.
So unfortunately, the reading experience did drag for me a bit, especially in the present-day storyline.
However, I think the beautiful exploration and development of Lucy in her backstory chapters and journal entries was so worth it, and once the present-day plot picked up I think it went somewhere really unique and interesting, and very Kiersten White. It reminded a lot of Mr. Magic, which I loved.
So, even though I wish the writing and execution had been different in several ways, I appreciate Kiersten White for writing these kinds of stories, and look forward to see what she does next.

Thank you Ballantine for the ARC!