I was so excited to read Lucy Undying, the idea of Lucy existing beyond the original Dracula story sounded amazing. Unfortunately for me, the pacing was off and I struggled to connect with either of the main characters, Elle and Iris. Their relationship seemed to progress very quickly from one of platonic need to a consuming obsession, which didn’t fit the slow pace of the actual story.

I felt that the use of diary entries and therapist transcripts made the plot too confusing. A prologue with some background to Lucy’s story or her chapters featuring snippets about her past might have made the story flow better. I constantly found myself going back and rereading passages to try and figure out which character was the focus of each chapter.

I so wish that I had enjoyed this more as Dracula is an absolute masterpiece and a female lead spin-off was such a great idea. Overall a nice concept but needed a few modifications to help the story.

This was definitely an interesting book. I loved the format and perspective giving a new insight to the story of Dracula and a the feminine voice. I loved the gothic premise and the blurb was very exciting. I enjoyed the historical switching to present day and how White utilised source material and delved deeper. Dracula’s first victim in the UK was Lucy and this story spans decades and surmises what could have befallen Lucy as a turned vampire herself. Everything about the story was incredibly promising.

But for me it just didn’t deliver, maybe expectations were too high but the story fell somewhat flat, especially the second half. I tray wanted to enjoy it more, maybe it’s me and the tale just wasn’t my sort of story in the end.

Many thanks for the opportunity to read this as an e-archive. I much appreciate it. I’m just sorry I didn’t get on better with it.

Alright, let’s talk about this Carmilla-inspired retelling because wow!🖤✨ From the very first page, I was hooked on the way it wove together Lucy and Iris’s stories through diary entries, therapy sessions, and multiple POVs. It’s like peeling back layers of a dark, gothic onion (but make it sapphic and sexy). The format? Genius. It kept me on the edge of my seat, constantly guessing how everything would connect—and when it did?

Lucy and Iris? My new favorite duo. Their chemistry was electric, even when they were separated by time and tragedy. And the queer yearning? Chef’s kiss.💋 Iris pining over Lucy through her diary while navigating her feelings for Ella in real life? That’s the kind of emotional rollercoaster I live for. The ending totally caught me off guard, but in the best way possible. I was like, “Wait, what? Oh my god, YES.”

As a self-proclaimed Carmilla stan and sapphic vampire enthusiast, this book hit all the right notes. Dark, romantic, and unapologetically queer it’s everything I want in a retelling. I’ll definitely be rereading this one and shoving it into the hands of anyone who’ll listen. 🖤🧛‍♀️

Liked it . Due to health issues cannot not but will write a proper review at a later time
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mineA more extensive review will follow

First of all I wanted to thank Netgalley and the Publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

If you loved A Dowry of Blood, An Education in Malice (or the opposite) Lucy Undying is absolutely the story and the book for you!

This is a book full of resentment, love, passion, revenge and many memories, in a revisitation of what is this figure of Bram Stoker's literature in a certainly modern key but that remains very faithful to what is the Draculian figure and what is the vampire world of reference. I absolutely appreciated this element that creates a bridge between literature and fiction, between past and present soaked in an exceptional prose that lets the feeling and every type of sensation leak out from every line you read.
The book was very interesting for me because in addition to the slightly more romantic narrative line, it goes over the life of these women, what they have experienced, what they have suffered and endured, in a plot that is divided between past and present, between manipulation and revenge, between victim and executioner.
If you love this type of story, it is absolutely for you, also adding the fact that the author has created an exceptional prose that is perfect for this type of story.

DNF @ 43%

This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024... give me anything vampiric / camilla retelling / gothic and I'll be there expecting to absolutely adore it. One thing I cannot fault about this, was the atmosphere. The gothic setting was dreamy and was exactly what I would expect from a novel like this, however when it came to the characters and plot, I felt as if it could've been 100 pages shorter and would've portrayed the story perfectly. This unfortunately started to drag slightly for me and as it is not the shortest read, I struggled in wanting to finish it.

In Lucy Undying, Kiersten White gives Lucy Westenra, one of Dracula's first victims in the classic novel, her agency back.

The story intermingles journal entries of a young Lucy with transcripts of therapy sessions and a modern-day narrative perspective, in which our protagonist Iris travels to London to try and escape from her family and her expected future as a pawn figurehead in their health empire. I liked that the novel mirrored the epistolary format of the classic and very much enjoyed reading about how Lucy adapted to life as a vampire and how her fate has been linked to Dracula's, alternately trying to find and escape him.

I enjoyed the nods to the classic and the sapphic twist to the story - definitely on to pick up if you were outraged at how Stoker's tale discarded Lucy.

This story is a spin on a Dracula retelling with characters well known by Dracula fans.
For me I did not enjoy the historical element of this but that is definitely a me problem.
The story is engaging and has all the elements that a Dracula fan would appreciate. I will say there are moments where the pacing feels off.

I have been anticipating this read for such a long time and i finally got to it.

This was very lyrically written and not what i expected- in a good way!

Absolutely devoured it, beautiful.

Dracula but make it gay!

The first half of this book is dreadful to read. It’s so boring and nothing much happens. The second half is where everything gets super interesting and cool. And being such a long book, that first half is a killer. But please stick out for the second half (if you have the time to). It’s so worth the read. The twists and revelations in the second half took me by surprise and I enjoyed each and every one of them.

As for the characters, I loved both Lucy and Iris. Some people seem to love one and hate the other, but I really enjoyed them both. It’s been a very long time since I read Dracula, and I liked how this book focuses so much on Lucy and her story as I always felt it was lacking in the original. Lucy Undying added the right layers to keep her story fresh and interesting.

The setting itself is really intriguing. The world is gothic while remaining present day. There’s just something so atmospheric about the writing style.

I think this book is perfect for those who haven’t read Dracula in a while or those who’ve never read it to begin with. I believe a lot of classic enthusiasts won’t enjoy this as much as someone who’s just reading this book for fun.

This is poetic, gothic, and long. This is a sapphic story. I didn’t feel connected to the characters or story but this was not bad. It could appeal to readers who like sapphic romance with gothic twists. Thanks to Publisher.

Not as dark as I expected from the awesome book cover design but an enjoyable read.

Loved the gothic, sapphic vampire vibes of this. Lucy was an interesting character and I found I read through this quickly to see what happened next.

Overall some interesting twists on a classic vampiric story with added sapphic romance.

Sadly ,I've had to do a soft dnf for now and come back to the book in the future. I think the writing was very good. Based on what I've read so far I would still recommend this to people I know would love this type of story.

That was absolutely mesmerising! The story of Lucy Westenra is told through her diary entries during the events of Dracula and therapy session recordings that detail what happened to her in the decades that followed. These are seamlessly interwoven with a present-day perspective from another character in Lucy’s house. The writing is great and structure brilliantly crafted, and I adored all the distinct voices and sapphic touch.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for the digital ARC it has not affected my honest review.

Dracula is one of the greatest books I've ever read and I had such high hopes for Lucy Undying. Unfortunately this book wasn't for me, I couldn't move past the voice of the main character and struggled with the storyline.

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was a really interesting retelling of Dracula, even though it took a while to understand what was happening as jumped around a lot. The characters were likeable and did have some depth to them which I enjoyed.

The plot itself was not particularly memorable, and for me this book didn’t stand out massively. Towards the end I was just looking forward to reading something else.

I was really interested in the idea of a sapphic retelling of the female vampires that were clearly present within Draculas little harem, but were mostly hidden. And I found the book to be a brilliant foray into this theme; one that is well executed. Lucy's relationship with her therapist is one that I particularly enjoyed and couldn't help be amused by the things she disclosed!

The writing felt a little dry in places and it feel like there were some areas that could easily have been completely removed, BUT, on the whole I quite enjoyed the book. You can't do 3.5 stars on here, but that is my rating.

This was an interesting story!! I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one! I would recommend this book.

Amazing dark and creepy book. I loved seeing Dracula's story in a way from one of the wive's pov and all the struggles she goes through to get where she is.

A superb retelling of one of the most classic stories that has ever been written. This unique spin really lets you see things from a different view and therefore it becomes such a more powerful read.