I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I enjoyed this book and think you will to. I love this author and she has done it again.

I really liked this sapphic Dracula retelling centering on Lucy’s character. It’s been many years since I’ve read Dracula, so I honestly don’t remember her story in the classic book, but the story told in Lucy Undying is so entertaining and enjoyable.

Lucy Undying takes place in three different time frames. Present day, the time before Lucy is changed, and the time after she’s been changed. Told in multiple POV’s, even Dracula has his POV told. Aside from Lucy, Mina plays a large role in the book. And finally, there’s Iris, a character present day Lucy knows, whose story is also a huge part of this book. How all of their stories converge is an intricate and fantastic journey.

Overall, Lucy Undying is a great read. I really enjoyed reading it, and totally recommend to any vampire/Dracula fans. Now off to reread Dracula and see how the story holds up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a little hipster about vampire fiction. I like to say I was a fan before it was trendy to be one. That being said, I never could read Dracula. I started and stopped several times, but it seemed so dry and taxing to read. I'd seen Gary Oldman play the man in my teens, why is the book the movie it was based on so BORING?!

Kiersten's telling of Lucy's version of the story was SO much more captivating and riveting. I could only only put the book down when it was time to sleep, and only because I couldn't keep my eyes open any more!

I loved the parallels between Lucy's story and Iris's, and even Lucy's and Mina's to a certain extent, trucking along, side by side to their eventual merge. There was definitely reflection amongst all the female archetypal characters regarding the ongoing misogyny of the times they all lived in, and we continue to live in. It was so relatable and understandable...the obvious treatment of the women by the men, but also the treatment of the women (Lucy) by the other women (Mina). My heart swelled at their evolution to become fully rounded people who accepted, supported, and loved each other. It gave me warm fuzzies.

But! We must not leave out the Bad Ass Heroineness of them all! They all came to kick ass and take names and it was glorious. The scene with the final confrontation of Dracula...*chef's kiss.*

I have always loved vampire stories and especially Dracula's stories. While I was extremely excited to read more about Lucy, I must admit I found the changing in language maddening. It went from such lovely prose (Lucy Wstenra's journal) to using so much of today's nuances (Iris). I even loved the client transcript more than Iris's POV, because I preferred that language. Nevertheless I loved the love story, it was amazing and so heartwarming, I was expecting the plot twist, but I enjoyed watching it develop.
For the story, the characters and the worldbuilding, this is a 5 star book, but the language switch has made it go to 4.5.

𝘈𝘳𝘤 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

4.5 stars rounded up

𝙇𝙪𝙘𝙮 𝙐𝙣𝙙𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 delivered on its promises of an epic & seductive gothic fantasy story on self-discovery & true love.

Kiersten White very gracefully pulled off multiple POVs & timelines all while keeping the reader going back for more with each chapter. White also brilliantly created & contained several separate atmospheres according to each POV; all of which I loved.

This sapphic reimagining of Bram Stokers Dracula/Lucy Westenra was everything & more.

So gay, and vampires! I loved this book so much. White did just an amazing job taking familiar legends about vampires and giving them twist that were perfect. I gushed to so many people about the takes on Dracula lore. I have always loved vampire stories and I feel that this is a book my teenage self would made their whole personality and as an adult loved it

5 STAR BOOK! Love this book so much, everything was exactly as I'd hoped (including the ending!). Love all the different perspectives and how they eventually came together!

** spoiler alert ** Thank you so much to Random House and NetGalley for a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review!

N.B. - DRACULA purists will note that the family name Godalming appears in my review as “Goldaming” instead. This is an artistic choice made by the author to change the spelling of the surname and not an error of mine. Whether you agree with that artistic choice or not, I leave to you!

LUCY UNDYING feels like three different novels barreling toward one another at breakneck pace; one is a beautiful epistolary adaptation of Dracula from Lucy Westenra’s point of view. Another, a 21st century Lucy processing her afterlife of loss and grief with her therapist. The third, from the POV of Iris Goldaming, whose family and destiny is as much entangled in Lucy’s past as it is with their futures.

I wish I liked this more than I do. The cover art is stunning and the idea of a sapphic retelling of Lucy Westenra's life, death and afterlife appeals. I will say Kiersten White has a really poetic touch at various points of the story, but it's clunkily juxtaposed to a lot of modern jargon that takes me out of the story. The story drags at various points and the convergence of the different stories suffers from this as well. I found myself favoring Lucy’s diary entries the most. I think Lucy’s storyline with Vanessa could have used some editing, and I think Iris’s chapters could have used a LOT of editing. The two contemporary storylines get bogged down by a lot of modern conversation that makes the characters sound terminally online. I guess that’s bound to happen in a premise where vampire Lucy Westenra processes her various traumas with a therapist and Iris Goldaming is her 20-something year old love interest, but it just really took me out of the beauty of their love story when they had a conversation about the age gap between Lucy and Iris and discussed the semantics of Lucy’s sexual identity.

I want to thank Del Rey for giving me a copy of the ARC. This was a solid retelling that I think is enhanced if you read the original Dracula (that part is probably obvious). I absolutely loved the first half of the novel where it’s essentially three POVs: Iris Goldaming (an ancestor of Arthur Holmwood a.k.a Lord Goldaming Lucy’s fiancé), Human Lucy writing in her diary (pre-vampire), and Vampire Lucy recounting her first days as a vampire to a human therapist a la Interview with the Vampire.

I think I could have lived without Iris’ POV? I was much more invested/interested in Lucy as a character.

The MLM vampire scheme was interesting? I LOVED the framing of Mina as the Big Bad.

Overall would def recommend. It was a fun ride 🩸🖤

Great concept with some missing beats, so giving this one a 3.5 out of 5. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I am always going to be a sucker for a feminist vampire story, so I was excited to be invited to read this ARC. However the overall story feels imbalanced in terms of character development and story pacing. Understandably, a lot of the focus is on Lucy as two of the three character perspectives are hers, so she is a really nuanced and complex character. You get to watch her gain agency over her own life literally through decades which on its own would be an amazing story.

Unfortunately, Iris's side of the story falls a bit flat. Compared to Lucy, her character development falls a bit flat. Without giving the story away, her part of Lucy's story feels a bit too much of a stretch of reality, given the context and mechanics presented in the story. In a lot of ways, I feel like there were two separate stories being told that yes did overlap, but at the end of the day could've been separated.

I generally speaking still enjoyed Lucy's story and would love to read more about her.

killer cover. but ugh i didn't like this one. it's unfortunate that to center lucy in a dracula remix kiersten white chose to do that to mina. i liked iris plenty but this left much to be desired.

There is something enticing about vampire stories and especially Dracula, so I was excited to dig into Lucy Undying. There are several interesting themes throughout which I loved about the story. There is a strong feminist tone, and I enjoyed Lucy and Iris’s relationship. I found the story occasionally disjointed, however, and the pacing slower than I would have liked. While Lucy felt well developed I wanted to see the character of Iris expended on.

Thank you NetGalley and DelRey for the advanced reader copy.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
I found "Lucy Undying: A Dracula Novel" by Kiersten White to be an exciting, unique, sexy, suspenseful & addictive take on the original story about Lucy from Dracula & what happens after the events of the original story.
I love watching vampire movies & I loved reading the original "Dracula" so this book definitely caught my eye.
I will be keeping my eye out for what Ms. White decides to write next.

This Dracula based novel was very interesting as it takes Dracula's first victim and brings her into the 21st century. I enjoyed the story for the slow burn that it was. Part action and part love story, this was truly an entertaining book!

Having loved Kiersten White's The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein and her The Conqueror's Saga trilogy, I was absolutely stoked to pick up Lucy Undying. She always does a marvelous job reimagining figures that we know well with a twist that makes them deeply human and compelling, even as they do terrible things. With this reimagining of Lucy Westenra from Bram Stoker's Dracula, White juggles several timelines and weaves the story of Lucy's undead life with 21st-century heroine Iris's journey as she runs from her past.

I love vampires, and the bittersweet musings of these immortal creatures of the night always strike a chord with me. Unlike in the original Dracula, this Lucy Westenra isn't killed by the heroes and instead spends the next century discovering herself. These parts of the story resonated with me the most, and White's writing was gorgeous, reminiscent of S.T. Gibson's A Dowry of Blood. I felt for her deeply, and I imagine that this would've been fantastic as an audiobook with how intimate Lucy is with the audience. I'll have to check it out on audio later!

That being said, the multi-pov structure of the novel gave me such stark tonal dissonance that I almost dreaded returning to Iris's perspective. A fair amount of White's humor, most present in Iris's irreverent POV, fell flat for me in this one, unfortunately. While certain revelations and parallels were cleverly done, the book felt like two very different books mashed into one.

Nevertheless a delightfully feminist reimagining of a beloved classic, Lucy Undying is the type of vampire story that I'd like to see more of in publishing!

The gorgeous cover and the author's past novels are what drew me in to begin with, then I found out it was a story about Lucy from Dracula and what happens after the events of the original story. Count me in! Unfortunately, this novel was a bit of a let down and the multiple POVs and timelines made for a confusing novel. It was also slooow. I liked that this was a feminine take on Lucy, but I also felt the author was trying too hard to make her a badass girl boss which ultimately made her character (and the other characters/dialogue) cringe. I can't say I ultimately recommend this unless you enjoy slow plots. Thank you to the publisher for a chance to give my opinion.

I absolutely loved Mister Magic, so I knew Kiersten White wasn't going to disappoint. I don't know what to talk about first. The incredible writing? The stunning cover? I loved all of it.

This book was impossible to put down. I will read ALL of the Dracula retellings, and this one is at the top of my list. I especially loved reading Lucy's journal entries. The suspense, mystery, and the romance sprinkled in were absolutely perfect. I wish I could read this book again for the first time.

What an intriguing addition to the Dracula legend. The cover immediately pulled me in and when I realized it was Kiersten White who was the author, I became very excited.
While although I enjoyed the story as a whole, I think my mind really struggles to connect with vampires in the modern world even with seeing how they adapt over time with their immortality. The dates were sometimes hard to track with how often they were switching around and although I learned to enjoy the journal entries and client intake forms as a vessel to showcase Lucy's emotional transformation over time, it took me a while to get there.
With it being a Dracula-inspired story, the cover, and the description-- I had expected it to contain more gothic and darker vibes than it did.

I wanted so much to love this. It had all the trademarks of female empowerment and gothic intrigue, but it couldn't quite stick the landing because the characters were disengaging, the revolving POV was clunky, and, at times, confusing, and the snail pacing dimmed the Dracula-induced stakes.

This one wasn't for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for my review.

For a fan of gothic novels and Dracula, this book really hit the spot. Switching the roles to focusing on Lucy and her complex character was just what the story of Dracula needed. I love when women characters from older classics or myths are given new light and expanded. This was so beautifully written and a feminist masterpiece.