Kiersten White’s Lucy Undying is a fresh, modern twist on the classic Dracula story, breathing new life into the often-overlooked character of Lucy Westenra. By imagining Lucy’s survival and her quest for identity in a modern world, the novel balances gothic atmosphere with sharp humor and feminist undertones. The exploration of Lucy’s power and agency—something stripped from her in Stoker’s original—adds a layer of depth and intrigue, especially as she grapples with her lingering obsession with Mina. The parallel narrative between Lucy’s past and Iris in the present day unfolds slowly, with diary entries, therapy transcripts, and shifting POVs creating a story that feels immersive but at times disjointed. The gothic vibes are rich and compelling, though the book’s pacing struggles in the middle, making the eventual payoff feel both satisfying and long-awaited.

The dynamic between Lucy and Iris, along with the sharp critiques of the men from Dracula, make for a fascinating examination of gender roles, autonomy, and love. While the book leans heavily into “girlboss” themes and occasionally stumbles with its modern-day quirks, it shines brightest when it gives Lucy room to reclaim her story. The sapphic romance feels heartfelt, and the MLM vampire cult twist adds unexpected humor and originality. Though the pacing and tone may divide readers, Lucy Undying ultimately delivers a unique and engaging take on gothic horror, offering a mix of dark, dramatic tension and moments of lighthearted wit. Fans of feminist retellings and atmospheric gothic fiction will find much to appreciate here.

Loved this book! There are some Dracula retellings I’m not a fan of but I think this one did it really well! I already liked Kiersten White as an author so this was really good for me, really atmospheric!

Lucy Undying is a miss for me. I had the hardest time staying interested in what I was reading. I enjoyed the different viewpoints and the premise of the story, but it seems to not be executed as well as I would have like.
I also listened to the audio book hoping having someone read it to me would help, but sometimes a book just doesn't register with everyone. That 's what this one is for me.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the dARC of this work in exchange for my honest review.

What Worked For Me

Characters

I loved the characters in this book! I thought they were great, and they definitely kept me engaged in the book. I loved how different they each were, and how they each brought a different vibe to the story. While Iris and Lucy were my favorite perspectives to follow, I loved seeing the supporting characters, in particular The Lover, and The Doctor, and the people Iris met in London along for the ride.

Genre

As someone who is new to the horror genre but loved Dracula, I wasn’t sure I would enjoy this book. I loved the gothic atmosphere and thought it was a great story element. We have time jumps throughout the book, and I thought the gothic atmosphere was carried throughout the book. This book taught me that I would enjoy more books in the gothic areas of the horror genre.

Writing

This story was both linear and non-linear, which I enjoyed. The character names at the start of each chapter helped me keep track of where we were in the story and what character we were following. The writing style was easy to follow and read.

Plot

I ended up enjoying the story of this one. I wasn’t sure where it was going until it all came together at the end of the book. About halfway through, I thought I could see the end of the story coming, however; the twists and turns of the story kept me engaged. I loved the bit of mystery to this story.

What Could Have Been Better

Pace

For me the only issue I had with this book was the pacing, Some chapters were longer, and some were shorter. There were things I wished were explored more before moving on to other elements of the story.

Unfortunately I DNF'd at 50% in. I found myself bored and waiting for something to happen, so unfortunately I think this was a case of this was just not for me (it's very character driven) or I just wasn't in the proper mood for a character driven novel. It's extremely well written and the premise is there, I just found my mind wandering too much.

This paranormal, gothic tale unfolds in a dual POV spanning across two timelines. I loved following these storylines and speculating on how they would eventually intertwine. Both MFC characters within this story are on a journey to escape oppression and embrace their true selves, each harboring similar secrets. I was deeply invested in their stories and appreciated how they discovered purpose and self-love along the way. However, the pacing felt uneven, with the first 75% and the final 25% of the book feeling somewhat disjointed, almost like they belonged in separate stories. If you enjoy dark, gothic love stories, this one is worth checking out!


*Thank you to Kiersten White, ​​Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey and Netgalley for the ARC copy. I am freely leaving my honest review.

As a massive fan of the OG Dracula, and Lucy in particular, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this ARC. Plus, I've been a fan of Kiersten White since her Paranormalcy days. But, honestly....I struggled to get into Lucy Undying. It wasn't the subject matter--like I said, such a huge Lucy fan over here that I literally did my thesis on the queer subtext between her and Mina. It wasn't the writing--White's writing remains a fluid and subtle delight as always, morphing to fit each of the characters' POVs here perfectly. It wasn't even that the characters weren't hitting--they definitely were; Iris is a sharp-eyed and hilarious Zillenial counterpart to seductive, powerful Lucy, and the feminine rage that both MCs felt about the roles they were trapped in was brilliantly done.

I guess it's just...you know when it's the last day before you go grocery shopping, and you just kinda throw together whatever's in the pantry and hope it's edible enough to pass for dinner? This kinda felt like the literary equivalent of that (no shade, Kiersten! Mister Magic and And I Darken still remain god-tier).

But yeah. There's a lot going on here: a present-day plotline about Iris, the daughter of a vampire MLM founder, who's wrestling with her complicated legacy; a canon-adjacent plotline told through Lucy's "diary" that details the events leading up to her vampiric transformation; and a series of transcripts from Lucy to her therapist explaining exactly what she got up to from vampiric rebirth to present day. Separately, I think all of these plotlines are great. I vibed really hard with diary-Lucy, whose voice felt just this side of anachronistic -- chafing against the constraints of society enough for me to side-eye her a bit, but capturing the language of Stoker masterfully enough that I could let it slide. I LOVED the vampire MLM. I liked Lucy's adventures through history, but also found this one required the most suspension of disbelief (there's a World War I scene in there that made my eyes roll so hard, I may have broken something).

But all of these things...together? It just didn't work for me. Especially since the chapters were so short, it was difficult to get a good narrative flow going. Things came together much more smoothly for me in the second half of the book, but for a book pushing 600 pages, that was a lot to slog through to get to the good stuff. I just wish that this book had had a bit more time to cook, a few more rounds of editing, etc, because the bones are really phenomenal. Unlike other reviewers, I LIKE her take on Lucy. I didn't mind that she slandered all 3 of Lucy's admirers because, not gonna lie, they were kinda trash in the OG, too. I LIKED her take on Mina as the villain. I fully bought into her vision for Dracula and felt that Lucy, in particular, was so remarkably in character, and that's why it makes me sad that I didn't enjoy over half of this book.

Anyway, if you've never read the original, you might really vibe with this. It's got a The Historian or Interview With the Vampire-esque feel to it in the Lucy parts, and a contemporary fantasy feel to it in the Iris parts. For me, though, it was unfortunately less than the sum of its parts.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Del Rey, and Kiersten White for gifting me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Lucy Undying is a very loose reimagining of Dracula. This adult gothic paranormal novel had me so excited because who doesn't love sapphic vampires?! Unfortunately, this book dragged and was so hard to get through. It wasn't terrible, but I just didn't feel like it was my cup of tea.

There were so many parts of this book that I enjoyed – the queerness, the vampires, the journals, but this story felt like it should have been a duology. Fitting it all into one book made the timeline drag on and I feel like the plot changed a couple of times as we went on. Had it been split up, I feel like the story would have built better and we could have spent more time developing the relationship with the characters in the second half of the book. I still enjoyed the story, but I felt like it needed some editing.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for an E-ARC copy of this book.

An interesting re-imagining of a classic, as White does so well. The story is interesting, if a bit transparent at times, but overall it makes for a fun read.

This was a nice twist to the Dracula story, and I loved that it had it's own vampire lore as well. The fact that we get to see through Lucy's eyes throughout her life (and unlife) was a lot fun. I appreciated the use of interviews, diary entries and flashbacks to really make this story come to life. I'm a vampire story addict, I admit it. I've read a lot of books that fall into this category. But there was something special about Lucy. She made me want to keep reading.

My only gripe was that the story moved a bit too slowly at times. I know that we were covering large periods of time, and that's part of the issue. It was necessary to drop the historical context for the times that Lucy's character was living through. It just felt like it lagged at times. However the end of the story more than made up for that. The twists near the end were especially welcome. The book finished strong, and all in all I had a great time reading it.

My book club read "Dracula" together and Lucy was one of our favorite characters. It was so much getting to read this creative take on the vampire mythos with Lucy Westenra at the center. This book was deliciously dark and sultry, perfectly paced, and the perfect spooky season read!

This book is a captivating and immersive read that hooks you from the first page. The writing is beautifully crafted, with vivid descriptions and strong character development that makes the story come alive. The plot is well-paced, balancing moments of tension with quieter, reflective scenes that allow the characters to grow. The themes explored are deep and thought-provoking, resonating long after the final page. Whether it's the emotional depth, the twists and turns of the plot, or the unforgettable characters, this book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys rich, engaging stories. Highly recommended for fans of fantasy.

What an absolutely brilliant retelling!! I really loved the setting and fresh take on Lucy. It was kind of chaotic but I loved every second of it haha!

This was exactly what I wanted and was looking for in a retelling/reimagining of Dracula. I do suggest reading Dracula before diving into this, only because it makes the flashback scenes more understandable and more enjoyable. But this is mixed media, dual timeline and point of view, and it's sapphic - it's perfect! There were some parts that dragged on a bit, and I felt like it could have been a little shorter, but overall, I had a good time with this. Definitely one of my favorites from Kiersten White.

Really enjoyable characters/premise but the story did drag on a for a bit longer than I felt necessary! Overall a nice Halloween-y vibes read and would recommend for fall time!

Lucy Westenra was Dracula's first victim in England. A beautiful and tragic death that's glossed over. But she is so much more than that and she's spent her vampiric afterlife traveling the world in search of who she truly is and wants. When she finds herself drawn to Iris in twenty-first-century London, there's more than just attraction binding them together and the bigger fight of both their lives will put everything they thought was real to the test.

I picked up this book and didn't put it down until I finished it. The story pulled me in and refused to let go. It's been ages since I devoured a book, but the way White slowly unravels the story is fascinating. Even knowing where a few things were headed before the plot got there, it was one surprise after another just from the way it's written.
Lucy has always been almost a throwaway character in Dracula, the pretty bauble with not depth. She's a powerhouse here. An innocent that gets pushed around until she realizes her true power and becomes the one to be feared. Iris isn't as entertaining, but they make quite a dynamic duo when together. The people they interact with play major roles and even those that we only get to see for small moments end up playing bigger roles than expected in ways that feel perfect for the story being told.
And major props to White for making it a single novel instead of dragging it out for a duology or something because it's just the right length to solve every single thread without wearing out the reader.
This is how to do a vampire story in the 21st century.

Delighted thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for the phenomenal read!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 stars)

Lucy Westenra is done being a tragic footnote in someone else’s story. In Lucy Undying, Kiersten White reclaims the vampire victim-turned-hunter, giving her a fierce, gothic makeover that’s equal parts vengeance, self-discovery, and forbidden romance. And let’s take a moment to appreciate that stunning cover—it’s as captivating as the story itself.

Lucy’s journey is mesmerizing. Once Dracula’s plaything, she has spent centuries trying to outrun his shadow—and her own past. But her undead life gets an unexpected jolt when she crosses paths with Iris in 21st-century London. Iris, heir to a sinister family empire, is yearning for her own escape. Their connection? Electric. Their romance? Sizzling. Their enemies? Let’s just say neither Dracula nor Iris’s terrifying mother are ready to let them go.

Kiersten White’s writing is lush and atmospheric, steeped in gothic vibes with a modern twist. Lucy is no damsel in distress here—she’s a confident, glamorous force of nature determined to carve out a life on her own terms. Yet, beneath her armor lies vulnerability, longing, and the weight of centuries of heartbreak. Watching her fall for Iris while battling demons (both literal and metaphorical) is as satisfying as it is gut-wrenching.

The blend of romance, horror, and empowerment makes this book a standout. It’s dark and seductive, with enough twists to keep you on your toes. And Dracula? He’s still haunting, still menacing, and still the ultimate predator, but Lucy is a hunter now, and the showdown is everything you want it to be.

Thank you to Kiersten White, Del Rey, and NetGalley for this captivating read. If you love gothic fantasy, vampires with a side of vengeance, and a sapphic romance that will leave you swooning, Lucy Undying is a must-read.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. Dracula is heavy in the zeitgeist for being one of the first vampire novels and pushing the seductive element. Lucy Westerna is always pushed to the side so this was a lovely way to bring her out from the background. The lesbian element reminded me of the Jonathan Rhys-Meyers take on Dracula from years ago with Katie McGrath as Lucy so I was not thinking golden hair. I really loved the Iris side of the story to hear how vampires were also a part of the family and how there were enough twists and turns that even if I thought I knew where the story was going, I was deceived enough to think I was wrong until it all came back together. Overall, this was an enjoyable read. 3.75 stars.

The Dracula book I never knew I needed. A story built around an incredible character from a gothic classic brought to the modern audience. The romance was swoon worthy, the mystery was twisty and intriguing. This book can be read without having read Dracula but it’s a great companion piece as well