If you're looking for a vampire story about obsession, love, and so many things in-between, this is the perfect book for you. The author pulls from the story of Dracula and twists it to her own beautiful devices. The writing style is unique, and incredible. You will be sucked in by vampire allure and bound to the crafty story this book contains.

thank you to netgalley for the opportunity to read the eARC.

i went into this fully expecting to love this book. sapphic vampires? they’ve always been a hit for me, but i just didn’t care for this one.

this book felt very slow to me. i didn’t think it picked up enough for me to want to speed through it until around the 55ish% mark and even then, i wasn’t that into the story. i often finish books in a little under a week, but this one took me a little over a week. i really had to push myself to finish it.

we followed three different timelines, two being less than two weeks apart, for about half the book which i normally don’t mind, but it really irked me when it switched. i often forgot what happened last when finally getting back to the timeline that ended with a mystery.

i was very close to DNFing this book at numberous points. at the 25% mark, at the 55% mark, at the 62% mark, even at the 91% mark. after finishing it, i almost wish i had.

i was thinking of giving this read three stars since i don’t often rate books lower than that, but i didn’t really care for this book much. i wish i liked it more.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Idk, something wasn’t quite clicking for me. It was different than I expected. Maybe that was my fault?

Thanks to NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing me an e-ARC!

**2 stars** I enjoy reading sapphic, gothic fantasies and I was a huge fan of S.T. Gibson’s, A Dowry of Blood but this one wasn’t my favorite.

We follow one of Dracula’s first victims, Lucy in two timelines; her journal that dates back to the 1890s and in the present timeline, 2024. On the other hand, we also follow Iris in the present timeline who stumbles upon Lucy’s journal. Lucy, having been betrayed by Dracula is enthralled by Iris and happens to fall in love with her. Things take a turn when Iris’ mother resurfaces and Lucy’s past comes to haunt her.

This book was more vibes than plot. It was unbelievably slow in the first 45% and this is a longer book being over 400 pages just to be vibes. When reading in Lucy’s perspective, it was sometimes hard to differentiate between the two timelines. I can see the attempt but often the prose was veering towards modern in her journal. There were times when we read Lucy’s journal and in the following chapter we switch to Iris who then proceeds to recap the journal. This was so unnecessary since we literally just read about it.

If this was much shorter, I could have overlooked the lack of plot. I didn’t mind the writing style but at times it did feel too modern, especially in this type of novel.

4 stars

This book was bigger on the inside than the outside. The experience was one of an epic story spanning centuries but was told in under 500 pages. It felt bigger and longer in the best ways.

The story of Lucy and Iris is told using multiple POV's and multiple timelines. The author made this very easy to follow by giving each POV and timeline separate chapters, so it was always clear whose head and time you were in. I particularly loved both of Lucy's timelines, one told from before her "turning" and one told after. This really allowed me to understand the way Lucy was changed by her experiences.

Iris's POV, the other main character, was grounded in modern times but Iris's return to her childhood mansion uncovers links to Lucy and her past which draw Iris back in time. I really loved the first section of this story. Perfect gothic vibes.

This could have easily been two books, in my opinion. The first part was gothic horror, a lovely, lush, romantic slow burn that had the bonus of LGBTQ+ representation. The last section of the book had a modern almost cultish story that was very different but wove the gothic characters into the storyline seamlessly. I really loved how the author brought everything together.

Overall, I love a good gothic, horror, slow burn story full of vampires, multiple timelines, sprinkled with blood and gore. Oh, and dysfunctional family drama and a weird cult. If you like those things too, then you should definitely give this a read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the eArc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

ARC Review

3/5 stars

DNF at 14%

I love Bram Stoker's original Dracula, and I'm a fan of just about every iteration and retelling I've read or watched. As such, I was extremely excited for this book. A sapphic vampire romance in an English Gothic setting? Yes, please!

Unfortunately, I felt that every time I picked up the book, I was forcing myself to continue. I loved the idea that in a retelling of what was originally a very male-centric story, the women would get their due. Ultimately, I found myself bored by most of the story and because none of the characters really grabbed me. Lucy intrigued me, but only by nature of being a newborn vampire; nothing about her actions or inner dialogue was truly captivating. Iris was also fairly dull, even with all the mystery about her mother, her blood, and her inheritance.

I also found the structure to be a little chaotic. Jumping back and forth in time and narrative style (diary entries, transcripts, 1st person POV) was a little jarring. I generally enjoy multiple perspectives, but something about the style didn't jive for me.

I will say, the prose was beautiful. I truly enjoyed the lovely yet haunting lines about time, death, and rebirth. If this were a shorter book, I probably would have pushed through just for this aspect alone.

In my final thoughts, I think the right person will love this book. There's a lot about it that I wanted to love, it just didn't work for me personally.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve loved this author’s other books, and I was really excited to read this one. I found the story to be quite long, but it deals with a LOT of time, and I found myself enjoying it quite a lot. I rated this book 5 stars ⭐️,as it grabbed my attention and kept it there for the entire book. For critiques, I find the chapter count to be daunting, and I feel like a couple chapters could be merged, although still with a Timeskip or POV change.

If we were going off of cover alone, this book would easily be a billion stars. Unfortunately the cover is one of the only things I liked about this story. Lucy Undying suffers from a serious case of doing too much. A vampire MLM had SO much potential, but is vastly overshadowed by the coinciding plot points and, as a result, the book was such a drag.

Kiersten White's prose was good, but the beginning especially felt disjunct. I feel like I say this in so many reviews, but this book definitely was better in theory than in actual practice.

I wish I had more to say about it but alas, I'm just wildly underwhelmed.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own!

I’ll start this review off by saying I despise the book Dracula. It’s tedious and boring. Yet somehow some of my favorite books in the world are Dracula retellings? I’m looking at you A Dowry of Blood and now I can add Lucy Undying. The *idea* of Dracula is a 5/5 but it needed a woman’s touch. Boy did this deliver.

The prose? Gorgeous. I have so many quotes highlighted. We flip flop between timelines (which I normally don’t like but it’s done well in the case) following Lucy’s journal entries of life as a queer 19 year old girl trying to navigate desire, identity and loss then we jump to modern day Ohio where Iris takes center stage and storylines begin to merge.

I really enjoyed how the plot was woven and I definitely experienced a few jaw dropping moments. Iris’ humor was brilliant and I love love lovedddd the bits about Lucy just being absolutely ruthless. The fight scenes were everything.

My only complaint is probably the last 30% of the book dragged for me. Things were taking too long to pan out and I just wanted a satisfying ending to the story. Which I think was delivered eventually ;)

Sapphic love, vampires, cool gothic vibes. Also the cover??? What’s not to like?

Thanks NetGalley for the arc!!

this was a really good read, especially for someone who traditionally does not like vampire stories. I appreciate the ARC and look forward to more by this author.

This was such a sweet story. Sapphic vampires with undying love (if you know, you know) for each other while fighting weirdo men? What more could you ask for?

I was a little hesitant about reading this book because of how disappointed I was with White’s Camelot Rising series but she didn’t disappoint here! She does have a tendency to drag things out and while that happened in Lucy Undying, it was egregious.

Iris and Lucy were just too cute and too sweet, I absolutely adored them individually and together. Lucy’s story read a little like The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue but I personally liked this better than TILAL.

🖤ARC Review🖤

Lucy Undying,by Kiersten White is a sapphic retelling of Dracula. The gothic novel is told from the Point-of-view of Iris who goes to London to sell her late mothers estates, and Lucy, a vampire who is trying to find herself.

Rating: 3/5 stars⭐️

✨I was instantly drawn in by the beautiful cover. I would give that a 5/5.

While this story is interesting, it was slightly boring. There was a few times my attention was just slipping away. This was also due to the three different point-of-views.

I didn’t care for Iris or her story. If this was just Lucy and her journal entries, I think I would have enjoyed this novel a lot more.

The writing itself is good and easy to understand.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Finally, a book with Dracula that is NOT dreadfully boring. Sorry Bram Stoker, but your book was a snoozefest.

This? A book about Lucy. Past, present. I was all here for it. This is told from transcripts from a therapist, Lucy's journal and from Iris.

It starts off a little confusing. But each chapter was quick and super engrossing. I found myself not wanting to put the book down. So I barely did.

Now I can't say much because this book is simply an experience. You need to read it. It'll all make sense. And honestly. Where the author took this, fully believable. I had thoughts while reading Dracula. It's nice someone talented did too!

I'll just say it was really nice to see Lucy through someone else's eyes. I loved her growth. I loved her. And now, we understand her.

The chapters are really short, I didn’t really get my bearings, and the writing itself isn’t as clean-cut and plays with point of view in a way I wasn’t up for today. I stopped 5% in. I think this will end up being pretty niche in terms of market/readership, not that that’s a bad thing, but probably not the right fit for our small libraries. I imagine this will be a 3-4 stars with 5 for the right readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC.

Finally, a really good telling of Lucy’s story. And it is everything I hoped it would be and more!



Lucy’s undead life is everything her mortal life was not. Exciting, Freeing,Full of Danger. In life she may have started as a silly girl, but in death, she is an amazing woman!

This is one of those books that you don’t want to give a thing away to spoil the next reader’s enjoyment, so let’s say I loved it. I will read it again. I have told everyone about it.

Brilliant!

NetGalley/RHPG/ Ballantine/ DelRey September 10, 2024

The writing was phenomenal. Plus, this book has got so many elements that I love in a book; an angsty sapphic romance, a fantasy world that will not leave my mind and characters that took hold of my heart. I just know I’m not going to get over it anytime soon.

Ebook received for free through NetGalley

Oh my gosh! I absolutely loved this book and couldn’t put it down. Didn’t even realized I needed to read a vampire book and it was incredible. Love the way it was laid out, the scene changes, the characters, and everything. Perfection.

first of all, this cover is GORGEOUS. genuinely so stunning and one of my favorite book covers ever.

I went into this knowing nothing about Dracula by Bram Stoker. i really wish i read the novel before Lucy Undying but oh well. i love that this is queer vampire retelling. i think we need to have more gay vampire books. especially sapphic ones. the romance was insta-lovey but i didn’t mind.

i feel like there was too many different POV’s and it made it hard to get into the book. when one person’s POV got good it would then switch to someone else. the switching also made it harder to follow the plot. the chapters of Lucy’s diary do not sound like they came from a girl from 1890. sounds more modern than old fashioned. no way she knows about gravity. another thing i didn’t love was that i felt like Kiersten White tried too hard to appeal to gen z. some of the phrases used made me cringe.

over all, i had things that i really enjoyed. Lucy Undying isn’t my favorite book in the world but i know people who would love this!

DNF first chapter.

I have been seeing quotes from my friends reading this book and was massively turned off of my initial excitement for this book. The cover is stunning and I love a good dracula inspired book but that couldn't save this for me. I had to reread that first chapter way to much for me to be interested in continuing this book. I think this could work for some people but I am not one of them by any means.