Lucy Undying
Fantasy
Kiersten White
⭐️⭐️⭐️

• vampires • sapphic • gothic •

I liked the multiple POVs but the shifting timelines made it hard for me to keep track, sometimes.

The characters were ok but they felt a little flat and actually kind of boring.

I found the pacing to be very slow, which made the plot drag too.

While there were parts I did like, I didn't really enjoy this book as much as I wanted to but I'm sure other readers would like it.

Brilliantly woven story. Beatiful prose and gripping narrative. Can't wait to recommend and have more people read this one!

Absolutely adored this. Especially the reason it exists - "because Lucy deserved a girlfriend."

The mixed media is a little hard to get into at first, but it all feeds into the bigger picture. I loved that we as the reader didn't understand how the narratives would join. I think my only real comment would be that I think it should have been split into two parts. This is purely because everything seemed wrapped up at one point and then went in a different direction with the narration style and plot.

I enjoyed every single one of the characters and the world is beautiful. I loved the feminist vibes, and the changing villains.

I'm a sucker for a retelling and I couldn't get enough of this.

I didn’t really know what to expect when I started reading Lucy Undying, other than it was a Dracula story. I loved it. Perfect for spooky season, the story follows multiple POVs, in different formats, and in places, jumping between past and present. At first, it took me a minute to get onboard with what was happening, but when the penny dropped, it all made sense!

The story follows Lucy Westenra, one of Dracula’s victims, her life before being changed, her life after being changed, historic events scattered throughout, the vibrant characters she comes across and choices she makes.

I loved Lucy, I love that Kiersten gave Lucy a voice and control over her own story. It definitely made me reflect on Bram Stokers “Dracula”.

If you are a fan of Dracula, Vampires, and gothic writing, this one if definitely one for you!

Thank you NetGalley, Del Rey, and author Kiersten White for an eARC of Lucy Undying in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me this ARC. This review was posted on goodreads on september 16th.

I was so happy to get this book because I really like the author and ended sad because it didn't work for me. I'm always really sad to leave a bad review, specially for an arc.
It had everything I liked : sapphic vampires. Sadly it wasn't enough for me. I was soooo long and the three povs didn't worked out for me, it was sooo heavy and slow paced. This book was dragging on. When I saw I was at half of the book, I was just thinking about how far of the end I was and had no idea where this was going.

I do think this was more a me problem rather than the book mostly, I can't with books that are really long and heavy. Still I liked the writing and the character of Iris, I liked her pov the most.
But one thing I really didn't appreciate is the old immortal and quite young mortal (I really don't like this trope and there was so many old immortal vampires around why not choose one of them as a love interest) and the way it was written to not feel weird : it was weird. Trying to explain it and making it seems like it's not weird never work in my experience. And like the 150 + vampire saying she's still 19 even though she lived for all that time? This is not serious really. I was really surprise to find that kind of tropes in this book.

This book didn't work for me but I think it can work for someone else and I'll be reading Kiersten next book (which hopefully will work better for me)

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐯𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞. 𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭. 𝐍𝐨, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐞.


▪︎

It pains to say and do this to another novel that arc I manifested so bad. Not to also mention, the very first novel from the author I read.

The idea and concept are there. I have to acknowledge that a supposed to be gothic, dark, seductive, sapphic vampire story that features these elements alongside Dracula is something that die-hard vampire readers like me really want to read.

The first few chapters left me intrigued after that strong prologue, so of course, I had my expectations. However, the execution is just something that didn't work on this, nor the writing.

Not to mention the characters that I would say were so boring. There's nothing seductive about them nor the writing at all. It doesn't even feel like a vampire novel, nor anything Dracula like inspired story at all.

It honestly just feels like it's written just to be written, and the content here isn't something that's been thought well.

Long story short, I was disappointed. I wanted to DNF this many times, but I relented because who knows, it might even be a little decent past 60-ish?

Thank you, Del Rey, for publishing for the e-arc opportunity.

–-----

Date Released: September 10, 2024
Date Read: September 5- September 15, 2024
Ratings: 2⭐️

It really seems like Vampires are so back this year. And I certainly don't mind that.

Lucy Undying takes Lucy Westenra from Dracula and gives her more depth, more story and kinder treatment.

This book is mostly set in current times with two points of flashbacks. The current PoV is mostly told from perspective of Iris, a character who we don't know much about but there's plenty of hints that she's deeply mixed into the story of Dracula, Lucy and vampires in general. Then we have a PoV that's just Lucy's diary entries and another PoV that's Lucy in her "therapy session" telling a story of her life after Dracula.

This book was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I really enjoyed Lucy telling her story of travelling through world trying to find herself but I thought the bits of her diaries felt like a waste of time. Especially when we had Iris retelling some of those parts in her PoV and then giving us a whole chapter of the concussions we were supposed to reach from the diaries. It made me feel like the author didn't think the reader was smart enough to reach those conclusions on my own. I think it could have been done in a more cohesive way that didn't require so much repetition.

I really loved vampirism as a pyramid scheme and I wish the book spent more time on that aspect of the story. Actually I wish that was just a seperate book in itself since there really wasn't enough space in this book to tell that story properly.

At the end of the day this story was about Lucy finding herself and finding love and forgiving the lost, queer girl that she was for being blinded by love. And I appreciate that story too. The twists and turns were fun if slightly uneven addition.

DNF @ 23%

I really wanted to love this book because let's be honest, sapphic vampires? Sign me the hell up! And while I thought that I was going to enjoy it based off my initial reaction, the more I read, the more I was struggling to actually get through it. So I admitted defeat. The flow of the pace was all over the place and the three narratives made it hard to follow, I think it would've been much easier and better to only have the one narrative. Maybe I'll try again sometime in the near feature but with my reading slump, I don't think I'll be reaching for this anytime soon.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

2.5 Stars.

Thank you to Del Rey for sending me an ARC of this.

I'm truly gutted to be writing this review. I had every intention of finishing this before release day (only 3 days late) but I struggled so hard to get through it. I got 50% in and had to wait till release day for the audiobook just to help me finish this one.

The book started off well, I was confused but the different timelines and POV's but overall, I was very intrigued to know what was going on and find out what was happening and how everything linked together. However, it was really slow going, which may work for some people but just didn't for me. I also have to admit that I haven't actually read Dracula before (I intend on doing so now) so therefore am not familiar with Lucy Westenra which I feel is to my disadvantage going into this book.

I am an avid DNF'er so anyone who knows me will be surprised when I say it took me 30 days to get through this and I wanted to put it down and never come back 50% in. But on the basis I was sent the ARC and the book did start off intriguing for me, I was determined to finish it. Unfortunately, this just didn't work for me.

The cover and after reading the blurb this book immediately drew me in. I loved Lucy’s character, before she became a vampire and after, you didn’t get bored reading her story, her self exploration in finding who she is as a person, her identity and sexuality. Iris was a bit immature and boring to read about and some times it dragged too much to my liking.
Thank you Net Galley for the arc in exchange for a honest review.

Horror, sapphic, a sort of retelling but more of a spin-off? These have my name all over them.

The opening glimpse is from Dracula dated January 2025 so we know he's still up to his usual skulking and hiding but the bulk of the story follows Lucy and a 25-year-old runaway of sorts named Iris.

To start, I thought this was a really interesting story about Lucy Westenra, who many of us know from the original Dracula, and how things went before, during and after her run in with Dracula. I liked the alternative take on Mina, Jonathan, the group of men that hunt Dracula and how their stories intertwine. These were all really positive things.

I didn't even mind that Iris is a bit insufferable. She's the rich heir of a fortune she doesn't want, in a pyramid scheme/cult she hates and has generally been plagued by it all her life. All of that very likely means sheltered and coddled so of course she's not going to be particularly worldly.

How she, and Lucy who is well over 100 by this point, came to the conclusion they were in love after three days together I'll never quite be able to explain but here we are. Also, their pet names were super cringe. Not sure I can look at butter chicken the same way. And Iris needs to keep it in her pants. Calm down, have a glass of water, take a deep breath.

I liked the shift between diary-Lucy, interview/client transcript Lucy and modern Iris. It allowed for a very full picture that pulled the timelines all together. Lucy's stories had an excellent voice and tone. You could feel the naivety in her diary and the weariness and longing in her client transcript.

My issues overall come down to a few things. As usual there is a non-UK based or experienced author telling a story set in London and getting some key things wrong. As someone living in the UK, we do not use kilometers. We don't have rabies in our wildlife (generally). We don't have Animal Care and Control. The biggest issue was it went on for too long. There were so many natural end points in the book and instead it just kept going. And as it went on, it dragged and became too much. Not in a good way. Everybody returns, everyone reunites for better or worse, Lucy attacks Dracula. He's Dracula! You can't kill him in a modern kitchen! The characters just became unbelievable, and unrealistic (as much as they could in a book about vampires). Everyone just seemed to deviate from their established personalities and not in a way that made sense. All of this highlighted the things that stood out. The unbelievable nature of Lucy and Iris' relationship, Iris' role in her family and their company, the vampires we meet through Lucy's POV, etc. If it had stopped earlier, I think this would have been a much, much stronger book.

I’m still pinching myself—Lucy Undying by Kiersten White is my first ever physical ARC, and I’m beyond grateful! A huge thank you to Random House UK and the author for giving a small account like mine the opportunity to shine. This is an experience I’ll never forget!

Without giving too much away, here’s a brief glimpse into the story: Lucy Westenra, one of Dracula’s first victims, was written into someone else’s story—but her death was only the beginning. After rising from the grave as a vampire, Lucy has spent her immortal life running from Dracula’s shadow and trying to discover her true self.

In twenty-first-century London, Lucy’s life takes an unexpected turn when she meets Iris, a woman trapped by her own family’s dark secrets. The connection between Lucy and Iris is electric, but their blossoming love is threatened by forces from both their pasts. Iris’s family will stop at nothing to maintain their power, and Dracula has returned, still holding Lucy in his grip.

Will Lucy find the strength to finally defeat Dracula, or will her heart once again be her undoing?

This thrilling and emotional tale gripped me from start to finish, and I can’t wait for everyone to experience it!

1 star

Nobody touches me, I'm unwell.
The way this book was written is so convoluted that I reread chapters because I forgot who was supposed to be narrating.
I didn't enjoy Lucy's story or Iris' either or anyone in this book, for that matter.
This book was slow paced, and it dragged at times, and it affected the flow of the story, which, in the end, let me not like the storyline. It did have parts I liked but overall I'm very sad I didn't enjoy this.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Kiersten White has been a hit or miss author for me — the last time I enjoyed a book by her was in my early teens, and that was when I was reading her Paranormalcy trilogy. What an era that was! I’ve certainly dated myself there.

Unfortunately though, I haven’t liked much else — for some reason I couldn’t get in to And I Darken despite the concept being something I was really interested in, the pacing and structure was just really not for me. I despised The Dark Descent of Elizabeth
Frankenstein despite, again, this conceptually being something I should love. So this really was a gamble for me and I’m glad I took the bet. This is one of my favourite books I’ve read this year and one of the few out of the 100+ I’ve given a 5 star.

Yes, this book is quite slow paced but it takes its time well. It doesn’t take the pages for granted. Some chapters are short, and I liked that, it kept my attention, where others, when necessary, were longer. I liked the different types of chapters — interviews, diary entries, chapters set in the past…it was never just one thing and that was really entertaining and kept me engaged the whole time.

I also thought it was just a really beautiful story between Lucy and Iris and I just really love how they saw each other. I love the additions too of the Queen, the Doctor, the Lover and the therapist and how they all played their roles and intertwined. It was such a beautiful tale of womanhood and friendship and I truly loved it so much.

This review is for Lucy Undying by Kiersten White which was released in the UK on the 10th September! Thanks so much to Netgalley and Delray for giving me an eArc and a physical copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, Lucy Undying is a great sapphic novel and it was refreshing to read about women finding love without being punished for it. This book's cover also deserves more than five stars with the beautiful artwork that you can't take your eyes off!

There were a few small things that I didn’t enjoy as much when reading, and one of those was that it does feel a bit slower paced at times, and I really didn’t like the instalove aspect between Iris and Lucy, but apart from that I couldn’t put it down!

Another aspect I really enjoyed is Lucy Westerna as a character. She’s a well-developed character that draws you into her story so easily, especially when talking about her transformation into a vampire. I loved reading her POV of this point, it was so sad to see how alone she felt. I much preferred the diary entries as well as the psychiatrist sessions, as you got to see a lot more of Lucy, her many sacrifices for Mina, the struggles she faced with her mother as well as her upcoming marriage and her self-exploration in finding her place in the immortal world.
I didn’t find Iris' character development as well done as Lucy's which made it a little harder to understand her as a character. At times, I found her a little immature, but after finding out a little more about her childhood and how she was treated, it made a lot more sense.

Even though this is a really long book (and sometimes it can feel long too) you don't get bored! It’s a unique journey and l would highly recommend to readers, especially those who like main characters with fangs!

Dracula is my favourite classic novel, so when I read what this was about I immediately wanted it.

Kiersten White masterfully entwines the retelling of Dracula with new historic chapters and a modern day spin off,

We get a more in-depth view into Lucy Westenra whilst also meeting new modern characters like Iris Goldaming, and this is delivered across 4 timelines with each chapter being a new POV. This sounds like it would be complicated but the story flows well and is an enthralling read.

The characters were likeable, the story slow paced but enough to keep you wanting more and it was atmospheric which makes it a great autumnal read!

I really enjoyed the first half of the book, but I personally found the second half shifted gear and the pace went really quick which kind of spoilt it for me. However, I loved the first half so I will still be recommending.

3.5 ⭐️

Thank you for an ARC in return for an honest review!

Lucy Westerna had always had her life dictated to her and even in death Dracula still has the final say. But foe her death is only the start of a journey of self discovery.

Travelling through time to find answers, she meets some interesting characters along the way to discovering the truth of it all....why did Dracula chose her?

*Disclaimer/confession - whatever you want to call it...I have never read Dracula before...shocking...I know. BUT I have watched Gaty Oldman's rendition and loved it! So I do know the key players of the story.

Now we have the awkwardness out of the way...Lucy Undying is the perfect read for the autumn season, ready for Halloween and everything spooky.

I really enjoyed this new retelling and spinning the classic story on its head. With a new array of characters to get to know, like Iris, The Doctor, The Lover and The Queen, we see where Lucy's undead life goes after her initial human death at the hands of Dracula.

Even though I did guess the final twist at the end, I still enjoyed the lead up to it all and felt the author was very clever in her re-telling of events from the original story. Dripping with female power there was a lot to love!

I don't want to say much more but I loved how to travel through time - through Lucy's mortal diary, her therapy sessions and the present day. By the end of it I felt like I knew Lucy as I do a friend and rooted for her!

P.S I also loved the note from the author at the end where she says - "And finally to Bram Stoker: Sorry. But also thanks. But also sorry. But mostly thanks".

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for approving me to read this ARC. Lucy Undylibg is out today!

Favourite Quote:
"There's no elegant or easy way to cut off someone's head".

Lucy, Undying is a spin off re-telling of Dracula and follows Lucy and Iris on a whirlwind adventure of betrayal, love and vampires.

I’ll openly admit that Iris is not a character I enjoy. I did not like any of the chapters which involved her and found her very dull and odd. I did, however, very much enjoy the look into Iris’ back story and her family.

Lucy - I adored her character. She was witty, she was quirky. She was fun and exciting and definitely was the one who got all the character development from White - in my opinion.

I wasn’t keen on the multiple POV’s but I do understand why they were relevant to the story and can’t knock them for fleshing it out more. I also found that the first half of the book was very slow paced and it only got better around 75% of the way through.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read and it did shock me in areas, especially as someone who has read Dracula before. It is a book I’d easily recommend due to the interesting take on Dracula, and the interesting background for Iris.

Rating: DNF

A gothic, sapphic retelling featuring Lucy? Instantly I was excited for this, and when I saw it was available to request, I quickly did. 

Told from the alternating POV of Lucy and Iris, we travel back and forth in time to get a real picture of Lucy and her tragic death, as well as her rise from the grave. For Iris in the present, we learn of her family and their hold on power, but both of them have holds on them, keeping them from living and being truly free. 

Going into this so excited, it wasn't long before I was let down. The writing style is not for me, and comes across as whiny in places despite this being an adult book. I was quickly put off by the incredibly slow pacing, barely anything happens for so long, and when it does, it's not enough to keep interest. There's no way to connect with the characters who are incredibly dull, and there's minimal gothic themes (which is one of the things I was so excited for).

All in all it just wasn't for me, and I couldn't get past 130+ pages. I tried, I really did, but maybe this will be enjoyed by others.



Did I like the book? No.

Did I love it? Nope.

Would I recommend it? No.

This was a fantastic book, though a touch confusing at first. It plays out over four timelines/narratives - two modern day, one in 1890 and one in the early half of the 20th century, so until it gets going, you do have to pay attention to the when and where of your chapter.

White does a wonderful job of taking the well known story of Dracula, and twisting it to work alongside her own plot and characterisations. Using the journal/therapy transcript to tell Lucy's story was somewhat reminiscent of the original formatting, but didn't ever feel like a copy.

That said, I really felt like this could be cut into two books. The revelations about Lucy's death and the machinations of those surrounding her, felt like an obvious conclusion. I was very surprised when I checked my progress bar and discovered there was still 1/3 of the book to go. While I was still invested in the story, in the shadowy Goldaming Life, and how that interacted with Lucy, it almost felt like two stories. I had been so invested in Lucy's history to that point, that when her identity was revealed, it felt like a natural break, and I think it would have worked really well as an ending, before picking up the Goldaming threads in a sequel.

Adding to this, the last third of the book felt a touch rushed after the meandering back and forth of Lucy’s story. Goldaming had been a menacing presence in Iris’ chapters, but the take-down of the company was action-packed, with reveal after reveal coming at us in quick succession, and not a lot of processing time to understand the emotional impacts on the characters. The third act, in my opinion, let down the rest of the book with its pacing and didn’t pack the same emotional wallop as the rest of the story.
I’m recommending the book, and overall giving it four stars, but I think it would have been one of my top reads of the year if I didn’t have issue with the conclusion. With better pacing in the final act, it could have easily been a five star read.