Thank you Netgalley for this arc.
Full disclosure I did dnf at 17% so I don’t know if the rest of the book improved but I just couldn’t make it through.
I’m extremely disappointed with this book. It’s the first book I picked up after reading Dracula and I was so excited to read a retelling that centered Lucy since she’s absolutely amazing! Unfortunately this book did NOT do the novel Dracula justice at all. First of all, the characterization of all of the characters (including and especially Lucy) is so entirely inaccurate. I genuinely think that anyone who loved Dracula would absolutely hate this book. One of the first diary entries we get from Lucy describes her hatred for the characters who she did care about in the original novel. The romance between Lucy and Mina was also so poorly done in my opinion. The original book was a better love story than this. I did find the transcripts between Lucy and whoever she’s talking to extremely interesting. The descriptions of what it was like for her to become a vampire and befriend the wives of Dracula was super interesting. Unfortunately once she went on her trip to China (so random??) it kind of fell off and was no longer interesting to me.
Lastly I’d like to cover the Iris chapters. I get it, this is a gothic book full of mystery and intrigue but in order to have that you need to actually make your audience care about what the mystery is. Unfortunately for me I did not care at all over this weird thing going on with Iris’s mother. I found all of her chapters (except the one where she’s exploring the house) to be extremely dull with bad dialogue and cringy pop culture references. Also the line where she’s talking about the understanding between queer people is just weird. Also calling that girl from the train station her angel was honestly the last straw in making me dnf this. And the “my little cabbage” nickname?? Weird and unnecessary. Anyways!! If you are curious about this book please read it anyways and I sincerely hope you enjoy it more than I did.

DNF at 45%
Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the opportunity to read and review this book in exchange for my honest review.
Unfortunately, I am DNFing this book at 45%. This features 2 POV characters across 3 timelines. We follow Iris, a modern day woman dealing with the estates of an overbearing mother. She goes to London because she needs money and wants to raid two of the homes that are now hers after her mother’s death. Her only focus is on stripping the homes bare and selling as much as she can while flirting with a historian she has a crush on, Elle.
The other POV character is Lucy Westerna of Dracula fame. We see her human life through journal entries and we follow her vampire life as client transcripts as she pours out her story to a therapist. It seems as if this therapist is being held against their will while Lucy purges herself of her past.
The main issue I had with this book is that none of these storylines are at all interesting or new. Everything feels like an unfresh rehash of vampire stories that have already been out in the world. Ultimately I have no desire to keep reading this book past the point of DNF and won’t be sharing this book on my social media.

I did NOT think it would be possible for me to dislike a sapphic vampire novel but here we are. I was bowled over from the start by some truly atrocious dialogue and cringy cultural references, and struggled to recover from that point onward. I'm all for weird fanfiction of literary classics but this somehow pushed the envelope even for me. Lucy DOES deserve a girlfriend but what do you mean its not Mina Harker and also what do you mean she is a con artist? I really struggle with stories in which every character except the Beautiful Perfect protagonist is painted as a bad person and just couldn't get behind most of the characterization here in general.

Lucy Undying
By Kiersten White

I was not a fan of a lot things here: there were too many POVs and maybe 3 different timelines? It was hard to distinguish between the voices of Lucy and Iris plus Lucy’s journal entries and her client transcript. I think way too much was going on to the point where its so distracting and a reader it was hard to figure out what was going on. There’s something about the writing style that just didn’t work for me either. I really wish I had good things to say because the synopsis made it sound great but it fell very flat for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this gifted arc!

3.75/5 ⭐️
I don’t know how to rate this. The individual parts that made up this story were good. But it was overly ambitious and because of that it felt disjointed. It was like we had 4 different stories hodge podged together with some chewed up gum. A big problem was the multiple POVs. We had Iris in the present day, which gave more of the tone and vibes of Twilight. Lucy in present day talking about her past to her therapist that gave the vibes of St Gibson’s A Lesson in Malice and Dowry of Blood . Then pre vampire Lucy’s diary. The fourth story was the strange narrative that happened during the second half of this book that felt like it was going on for forever. Each of these parts on their own were excellent. Together it felt like you walked into a musical and the music style for each song would fluctuate between classic show tunes to rock n roll to opera. Each good on their own, slightly painful all together and gave me whiplash.
I liked this story and would recommend it. However, I really wish the author chose one style and one voice and tone and stuck with it. Either go with the traditional gothic with purple prose giving us Lucy’s life and journey, or give us the Twilight-Esq storyline stemming around Iris and her family’s cult. Lucy can still obviously be a part of the second option, but cut her pov chapters. At least the therapist ones.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing an advance reader copy of this book for my honest review.

I think Kiersten White is and audio only author for me. I loved her middle grade series, Hide, and Mister Magic. All but Hide I listened to, while Hide I read as a graphic novel. I love her ideas and characters, but I cannot get with her writing. I don't know why it just doesn't click and 10% in, I had to stop forcing the issue

drácula retellings WILL be my undoing, it’s true! i loved every second of this. from the captivating writing to the characterization of the women dracula has terrorized, i found this very reminiscent of s.t. gibson’s “a dowry of blood.” i think both explore the trauma the victims have gone through and the empowerment of overcoming it, as well as serving a sapphic story as well.

Lucy Undying has been an anticipated read for me since I saw it on goodreads. I love a good retelling, and was drawn in by the description and cover of Lucy Undying.

Lucy Westenra was one of Dracula's first victims. From reading Lucy’s POV, I was absolutely in love with how she was written. She had this raw sex appeal to her that I couldn’t really place, but I enjoyed it. Lucy eventually meets Iris, who’s family is hiding a secret and would do anything to stay in power. Lucy thought she would never find love again, until Iris seemingly charms her. Naturally, these two are drawn to each other and we start to get a romance element in this read. But their intense connection and blossoming love is threatened by the forces of Dracula and Lucy’s mom.

I loved the past and present elements in this book, especially because it allowed the reader to get Lucy’s story, Iris’s story, and then their story together. These characters were written with such genuine love and compassion for each other. While it was a longer read, I found myself struggling to put it down everytime I picked it up! Lastly, I agree, Lucy totally deserves a girlfriend.

Book: Lucy Undying
Author: Kiersten White
Rating: 1 Out of 5 Stars

I thank the publisher, Del Rey, for sending me an ARC. Kiersten White is an author who has been on my radar, but one who I have never picked up. I truly wanted to enjoy this one. It’s a Dracula story, and I enjoy it more than the original one. However, I could not get into this one.

In this one, we follow Lucy, who is one of Dracula’s first victims. Yet, her story does not end there. She became a vampire and has spent her life on the run. The events of that night still haunt her and she wants to keep moving so Dracula does not find her again. Years later, in London, she comes across another young woman who is also running from her past. Iris’s family is in the health business and has made a fortune from it. The problem is that it is all a lie and she wants to separate herself from it. These two women strike up a friendship. However, the past is coming for them and it will not leave without a fight.

The setup for this is quite good. We have two young women who have very different backgrounds and they find each other. However, it does not come out the best. I found these characters are a case of what could have been. This could have been a great character duo. We could have gotten so much out of them, but I did not. I found myself unable to connect with the characters. The truth of the matter is that I didn’t care about what was going on with them. I didn’t care about their backstories and what made them who they were. Whenever I cannot connect with the characters, it makes it very difficult for me to get into the book.

The plot is another thing that could have been there. We have a great setup and I can see it trying to come to life. Like with the characters, I found myself not being pulled in. I could not connect with what was going on. I don’t know why either. It has so much going for it that I love in books. I just could not get into the story.

The writing was okay. I know that Kiersten is mainly a young adult author and this feels on the adult side. The writing does come across as very YA, but that’s okay. I just had a hard time getting into it.

This is my issue with the whole book. I had a hard time getting into it. It does not mean that it is a bad book, but I was not the right person for it.

This book comes out on September 10, 2024.

Thank you, NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
When I was offered this book, I was actually hesitant to accept it since I wasn’t sure it would be to my liking. After finishing, I was right to be hesitant in accepting this book. The cover definitely drew me in and I typically love a good Dracula retelling. Both appealing to my inner emo kid.
Overall this isn't a bad retelling and I enjoyed the time jumping. But was left let down.

I was immediately drawn to this book - the cover, sapphic vampires, a Dracula reimagining - sign me up. Unfortunately, this book didn’t dazzle like I was expecting. This isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy it so let’s start with the good. This is an unconventional reimagining of Lucy from Bram Stroker’s Dracula. In this story, Lucy does not die but instead becomes a vampire and must travel all over the world searching for to find herself and where she belongs. The story also follows, Iris, in modern day London who must face her family’s legacy of a beauty cult. I love when female characters from classic stories are made into the main character so I was thrilled to see where White took the character of Lucy.

The book is told from multiple POVs and in multiple formats (journal entries, first person, therapy notes). I enjoyed the multiple POVs but felt like therapy notes really didn’t fit well with the story. It was a lot of Lucy just giving us her life story which I get but it was very slow at points. The character development was one of my favorite aspects of this book. I loved seeing Lucy as a human, in the early stages of being a vampire, and then much later in her life as a vampire. The theme of community and relying on others was woven through this story which I thought was beautiful.

Unfortunately, this story faltered in pacing and execution. The first half of the book was so slow and I found myself getting quite bored. Around the middle of the book, the pacing and story really picked up - I found myself so enthralled with the story but this only lasted for a few chapters. Then, the last 30% of the book was just odd. Overall I still enjoyed this book and found it to be an enjoyable reimagining - perfect for a spooky October read

Thank you to Del Rey and Netgalley for this ARC

DNF at 25%

I’m sorry but if you’re going to make a retelling of Dracula, don’t demonize every character expect for one. I am a huge fan of Dracula & is one of my favorite classics. I also really liked Lucy as a character in the book. I hated the main movie adaptation because they made her over sexualized. So I was excited for to see a story about her.

First off, I did not like the writing at all. It felt like immature writing. The flow of the book was already all over the place. We have 3 separate story narratives going on & it felt so choppy. This is a personal preference, but also did not like in the present day time period the over use of modern language. It felt very rom-com style.

Specifically the writing with the characters, I was not a huge fan. I need to, as a reader, to like the main characters. Both Lucy & Iris I could not give one care about. They were annoying & very unlikable. Which is crazy to me because Lucy in Dracula is a very likable character. With Iris, you still barely know anything about her at the 25% mark & the first experience you have with her is her telling her dad to screw himself basically.

Speaking of Lucy’s character, I did not like how the writer chose to explain why she lived on. It felt very unbelievable & a lot like fan-fiction. I would have liked a retelling of Mina & her together, rather than it be in present day.

At the end of the day it was not a book for me. I have too much love in my heart for the original work to like & continue reading this. If you are someone who is looking for gothic atmosphere, you will not get that. Although 10/10 for the cover!

Thank you NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really like the different time jumps, it's very interesting to me to see vampires in different times and how they get along with their eternal life. As a long time Dracula fan, I love and am obsessed with sapphic vampires. This really hit the mark but I think that one time period in particular was boring at times and I just wished to jump back into the more historical times. Overall, if you love sapphic vampires pick this up! Thank you so much to the publisher and netgalley for the arc!

If I could rate this book based solely on its cover, this would be an instant 5/5 stars. Look at it! It’s absolutely gorgeous. Lucy looks positively preternatural in the moonlight, with her hair made of wolves. She’s not the frivolous girl we saw in Dracula - she’s a feral force to be reconned with. 

Unfortunately, the rest of the story doesn’t quite live up to the promise of a seductive gothic tale. It was all a little melodramatic for my taste, with an odd mix of ideas that did not mesh cohesively.

I loved the alternating points of view with Lucy - going back and forth with the journal entries from her time as a 19-year-old girl in 1890 and her retelling her tale after becoming a vampire in a series of  therapy session transcripts in 2024. We really see her growth, and I enjoyed the homage to the original Dracula novel.

Iris’s modern day story, in comparison, is boring and kind of silly? She’s an heiress on the run from a corrupt multi-million dollar vampire MLM. It’s practically a cult, and the message is clearly that capitalism is the enemy. Money makes monsters of us all. It didn’t have the same feel as the rest of the story, which was truly a shame, because I really enjoyed Lucy’s story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for a free copy of the ARC in exchange for a honest review.

When I was offered this book, I was actually hesitant to accept it since I wasn’t sure it would be to my liking. After finishing, I was right to be hesitant in accepting this book. Please don’t get me wrong, this is not a bad book, really. This book has an interesting concept, and it is written in a unique way. I did enjoy myself for the most part even if the gothic feel for some of it isn’t my thing. A couple of things would have made this book exceptional for those who like this type of book, one being that it should have been a little less wordy and the other being it needs to be a little more…cohesive, I guess would be the word. This is a very interesting premise, and I think others will fall in love with this. I enjoyed it, but TBH, it’s not my type of book even if enjoyed it. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

3.5 Stars!

Lucy Undying is not your mother's Dracula novel! Sure you may know the story or be familiar with the tale, but I promise you, author Kiersten White put her own stamp and unique spin on this beloved paranormal romance.

Lucy Undying not only has a gorgeous and unique cover but also has strong female main characters and sapphic representation. While this story may seem a little slow at times, Lucy Undying has a lot to unpack and does a great job of worldbuilding and bringing this story to life. I loved the different timelines and points of view. The diary entries as well as the client transcripts added an additional layer of intrigue.

Overall, I was impressed with this gothic tale of romance and self-discovery.

wow what an interesting book about mina and lucy . 2 characters from the Dracula book. I like the 1st half of the book with the journals and letters and interview. I was curious on how characters of the past would be brought into today. I wasn't expecting the 2nd part of the book to be about MLM marketing and Utah. I also wasn't expecting it to go in that direction and dealing with crazy mothers. I'm gonna rate this book as a miss from this author.

Thank you, NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Lucy Undying Follows Lucy Westenra, one of Dracula's first victims, and her story through past and present experiences trying to deal with her new life as a vampire. She becomes infatuated with a girl named Iris. With sapphic and gothic vibes I found this book to be a thrilling tale about finding about yourself, finding love, and fighting the things that come back from our past. I found the cover to be so intriguing and just all out gorgeous.

This book in general sounded like something that I would enjoy reading but at times this did fall a little flat for me. The dialogue in places really took me out of the story and getting through Lucy’s life story at times was a bit of a slog. But the moody atmosphere really kept me reading and I did enjoy the MLM parts with some of the vampires. Definitely a first read from me for this author and I would be interested in reading her other books.

Absolutely LOVED this one! The writing was stunning, the characters were so real, and it was truly such a seductive and alluring story. I was rooting for Lucy and Iris the entire time!