Thank you so much to Random House and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The feeling I was left with when I was finishing this book was that of having read bad fanfiction. Specifically, the kind of fanfiction where the author hates most of the characters of the original text and spends the entire word count establishing why her fave is actually the best and totally in love with their OC (who is actually the great-great-granddaughter of one of the other characters who is a terrible person really). It felt juvenile in all honesty, and I was so disappointed with it.
I considered myself a Kiersten White fan, I loved Mister Magic and the first book of hers I read was another gothic retelling, The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein, which I loved. That book also played fairly fast and loose with the original canon, but I felt like this was never detracted from the original characters, instead playing with audience expectations. Essentially, I thought it was well-written whereas this… was not.
The thing that bothered me most about this book, is its potential. There is a truly great novel buried in here, but it is marred by a meandering plot and a strange vendetta of the author. Lucy Undying reimagines the story of Lucy Westenra from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. What if she did not die? What if she lived as a vampire? This premise was why I was so excited to read this book, especially when I realised that the novel also intended to explore the homoerotic undertones that I and many others interpreted in the original novel.
Unfortunately, the strongest parts of the book were the diary sections that recounted Stoker’s novel. The other sections were much weaker. The ‘historical fiction’ of Lucy’s life from the end of the events of the novel to the present day was incredibly shallow while also being extremely frustratingly twee. She always does the right thing and is in the right place at the right time – even when it comes to literally ‘stopping’ World War One. The frustrating thing was that these sections could have been great! There are ideas there that work well but they are both shallow and underexplored making the overall impression one of irritation with the plot. It felt like historical fiction where the author could not be bothered to do any research to ground the setting properly. Instead, it was more motivated by what would be cool. The ideas toyed with, that of vampires on the battlefields of the First World War is an interesting enough concept for an entire novel about in and of itself but instead, it is merely a 'cool backstory' for Lucy.
Similarly the ‘modern’ plot line contains some really thought-provoking ideas! I loved the idea of linking the concept of MLMs with vampires, but it didn't go much further than the initial concept. White's original POV character Iris was similarly disappointing; with interesting aspects to her but then the implementation was so inconsistent and limp that I could not tell much difference between her interior narrative and Lucy’s. The weakness of the character made the love story seem rather contrived despite the author spending pages trying to pretend it is deeper.
But the thing I cannot forgive was the character assassination of Mina Murray Harker. White also completely underutilised Jonathan and the other men in the novel were certainly not portrayed kindly but to be honest, that did not bother me as much for the following reason. The novel’s very dim view of Mina was a fundamental disservice to one of the most iconic female characters in fiction and completely undermined the point White claimed to be making. Throughout the novel, ostensibly, White is concerned with interrogating and exploring the impact of a young woman who has been taken advantage of by those around her, especially men, throughout her life and the damage that can leave on one’s psyche. At times this is done very impactfully with a lot of sympathy and nuance being extended to Lucy (deservedly so!) but then it feels like whiplash when the narrative extends no such sympathy for Mina. Mina is portrayed as just evil, with no nuance to her own tenuous position within the same world Lucy inhabits, and there is very little acknowledgement of the additional aspect of Mina's vulnerability in this world due to her financial position other than as a motive to betray Lucy! If you insist on making Mina this evil caricature of herself, this intersection of concerns for Mina could have been used more thoughtfully to create a more compelling story, but instead, it was portrayed in a very black-and-white manner. Personally, I believe the novel would have been so much stronger if the role played by Iris had been played by Mina, with the narrative exploring the two women in the aftermath of Dracula rather than the convoluted messy story we got. I think there is a strong novel in here but is definitely not there yet.

I was immediately drawn to Lucy Undying because I adored the cover, and the premise of sapphic vampires was one that definitely appealed to me. This book certainly had its high points: the prose was gorgeous in places, for example, and I thought it was an intriguing twist on a classic story. The character arcs in this book are great; I thought the parallels between Lucy and Iris were fascinating, especially given the sheer amount of time and history that separates each girl, and they were SO well developed. However, this book felt like it was a tad too long for the story it was telling and, whilst I liked how each thread of the various stories were woven together by the end, the short chapters and their POV jumps made it initially feel quite disjointed. The gothic vibes were immaculate, though, and I did end up thoroughly enjoying this book.

Fantasy | Horror | Retelling
Favorite character: Iris
Favorite quote: I walk with the ghosts of everyone l've ever been, and I don't know which I am, or if I'm one of the dead that haunts me.

The heir to a cultish company with a pyramid marketing scheme is trying to flee from her alleged purpose and finds a Victorian diary of a girl who is desperate to do the same. Little does she know of their connection.
I really liked the idea of giving Lucy, Dracula's first victim in Bram Stoker's novel, a voice. You get multiple POVs, diary entries and therapy transcripts over the course of more than a hundred years. It's a book about feeling lost, yearning for love and a purpose. While it started strong, my biggest issue became the writing, especially the pace. It really dragged towards the middle, partly because it got repetitive as the main characters experience the same events just from different perspectives. Not a book for everyone!

Penguin Random House UK kindly sent me a free arc in exchange for an honest review.Das

This was very much a book of two halves to me. The beginning, with Iris in London intercut with Lucy telling her story, was fantastic and grabbed me immediately. Lucy was recognisably the girl from Stoker’s novel, bright and silly and lively, but with an added edge and a yearning heart that really gave her depth. Iris was a good protagonist, funny and warier of the house she’d inherited.

It was when the revelations about the Goldaming family started that White lost me. It all got kind of sci fi and silly. I get what they were going for- who hasn’t considered MLMs vampiric- and maybe I’m just biased because I’m also a Mina girl, but the ending just didn’t match the gothic suspense of the beginning.

So this book was so different from so many other Dracula retellings.

I wasn’t a huge fan, it seems like the historical research hasn’t really been done.

I was confused most of the time , sure it’s easy to read , it could have been better . I really didn’t like most of the characters.

I think if I hadn’t read a dowry of blood this book would have been a lot better but unfortunately I can’t forget that book !

The cover is beautiful just a shame about the content

Firstly, the cover for this book is STUNNING.
This was the first book I've read by Kiersten White, although I've been intrigued to read her others.
This seemed a good starting point!
Very pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this. A very beautiful book - inside and out - !
Will definitely be picking more of Kiersten's books!

An exhilarating blend of sci-fi, sapphic romance, and vampires! It’s a thrilling ride from start to finish. The world-building is immersive, the characters are compelling, and the romance is beautifully written. A must-read for fans of the genre!

I had, had my eye on this title for a while and when i was given a free eARC, the decision was made for me.

I really enjoyed how this was written and the way the story developed as it was flipped into Lucy's POV, which brought a whole new angle and sense into this story and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good Vampire novel to read

DelRey made my week when they sent me an eARC of this plus the ensuing interaction with Kiersten on threads was just so good. It hasn’t affected my opinion..

As soon as this was announced I knew we were in for something good. White already proved herself a very safe pair of hands with her outstanding feminist retelling of Frankenstein from Elizabeth’s POV.

Lucy Undying similarly spins the OG tale from Lucy’s POV through her diary and conversations with her therapist (can you imagine being a vampire’s therapist?! XD) which we get interspersed with the main action in the modern day. Iris is linked to Lucy in a way neither of them could imagine when they accidentally run into each other on a London street and Lucy saves Iris from being run over by a taxi. Iris is on the run from her families cult that are desperate to control her as her mother intended before she died. Iris and Lucy collide again when Lucy turns up at the door to help Iris assess what she can sell from her mother’s estate for quick cash so she can flee.

I love the way these two disaster sapphics slowly come together healing each other helping one another to truly live as Iris slowly unravels the truth of Lucy’s and they realise they’re fighting the same evil. The final show down is epic, bloody, brutal and so satisfying. It’s amazing to see Lucy who served little more purpose than to die in the original bloom with her dry, sarcastic, ambitious drive to live her loathing of the role Victorian society wanted her in and the way Iris mirrors and inspires her.

The cast of supporting characters is brilliant and Rahul and Alistair are to be protected at all costs.

This story refused to be put down and honestly, it’d make an incredible Netflix limited series.

🦇💉𝕷𝖚𝖈𝖞 𝖀𝖓𝖉𝖞𝖎𝖓𝖌💉🦇
by Kiersten White!

I actually can't sing my praises for this book enough - Dracula is my favourite classic novel by far, and this reimagining/retelling/reframing of it was done absolutely incredibly; once I had soke time to just sit and read it I got through it in two days 🥰
In this book we follow multiple sources of information, as in the original Dracula novel, and learn about Lucy Westernras experiences during the original book, how she felt being paraded around and presented to the men of the book who came calling, and how her life was irrevocably changed because of it. We also follow Iris Godalming in the modern day as she attempts to flee her oppressive families estate, and how the lives of these two women become entertained beyond anything I could've imagined.

This book was absolutely fantastic, I loved every single second of it. I loved how it used the source material completely accurately and still manages to pull aside the curtain and shock me when events occurred. I loved how it showed Lucy as her own person; someone who's deeply traumatised by what happened to her but works to take back her power and find herself again. The relationships and multitudes of the characters in this book were just a delight to read, I adored how the narrative changed from what had happened to how that effected the events in the modern day! I absolutely did not see any of the twists coming, and I was on the edge of my seat over the final paragraphs 👀
The way Lucy's experiences and feelings towards being queer (did i mention sapphic vampires? because sapphic vampires) in an environment that actively punished it was so poignant and well written, and I just loved it and her 🥹🩷
This is absolutely a book I'll be buying as soon as I can and frantically recommending to anyone who'll listen! It captured the essence of what made Dracula such a classic novel intimately well; while still feeling like an entirely new story.
I'd even go as far as to say this was one of my favourite books of the year so far, definitely top 3! The settings, the exposition, the characters, plotlines and descriptions were all just amazing.

Although not my genre of novels to read, this book is very well crafted to tell the tale of vampires and how they live and walk among the living. In a story, at least.
I did enjoy the jumping from one time in history to another and how those characters were bound together.
If you are a reader of this genre of novel, then I have no doubt you will really enjoy this novel and would therefore, recommend it to you.

I’ve had my eye on this book since the cover was released - I know you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover but I already knew I had to read this because I thought it looked so intriguing and I was desperate to find out about Lucy and who she was. Thankfully I didn’t have to wait long because I was approved for a copy by @Delrey via @Netgalley and when I found out I squealed so loud I’m sure my neighbours thought something odd was going!

It’s quirky, eerie and seductive - an absolute gothic masterpiece!

Once I started I had no intention of putting it down and this book held me in such a tight grip I already knew 16% in that I was going to rate it 5 stars. I loved the writing style, the POV choice, the plot, they mystery, the vibes. And who doesn’t love a creepy supposedly cursed old abandoned mansion with a library full of first editions that contains secret diary! I enjoyed it so much I was staying up late to read and getting up early to squeeze in a few more chapters before work.

Beautiful and very well written! I absolutely loved reading this one! Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for a copy of this book.

“I walk with the ghosts of everyone I've ever been, and I don't know which I am, or if I'm one of the dead that haunts me.”

Lucy Undying follows Lucy Westernra who was one of Dracula’s victims. Lucy rose from the grave as a vampire and has spent her life trying to escape from Dracula but also find herself. In twenty first century London she meets Iris who is trying to get away from her family who will do anything for power. Lucy is compelled by Iris but Dracula is on the prowl again and Lucy needs to find the strength to destroy him.

I am giving this 3.5 stars rounded down to a 3. This was just okay but I think it’s just a me issue with this author. This author has really intriguing ideas but I just don’t love the execution. I really liked the first 10% but I struggled with the whole book because it was just so long and meandering. I would recommend this for fans of vampire books and this did have some female female romance which I loved reading. So overall for the most part this was enjoyable but just too long.

A good addition to the Dracula lore but something that fell a little flat at times. There were points that felt needed to be stronger.

Not really my genre but ai couldn’t pass this one up! It just looks so interesting and the cover really drew me in! I will be adding a full review and thoughts very soon! Thx

DNF at 27%. Don't let the stunningly gorgeous cover trick you.

This had everything I thought I'd love but unfortunately it just didn't work. The book tries to deal with some really terrifying and traumatic things but it lacks the nuance and depth to do so successfully. Having the POV jump between Lucy in the 1800s, Lucy talking to a terrified therapist reminiscing about her past, and Iris in modern day was frustrating and not done very well.

Thank you to Del Rey for the ARC.

As my first Kiersten White book, and enthralled by the tale of Lucy Undying in a sort of modern day retelling that promised seductive gothic fantasy, I opened my whole heart to this becoming my personality for a while. Unfortunately I’ve come away with a metallic taste of disappointment for not delivering what I truly hoped it would (sorry I couldn’t resist a little pun).

Lucy Undying follows multiple time lines and characters all on the mission of discovering oneself and to try and destroy Dracula along the way. The first half of the book I loved the pace, the story’s I was following but as it went on it felt repetitive and that it could’ve been shortened whilst packing the same punch. I loved reading about the characters and how Lucy spent her decades in the lead up to ‘current day’, as well as learning about Iris the other main character in this story.

(*kind of spoiler*)
The later part of the book sadly had me eye rolling and wondering where the turn had come from and not in an ‘omg this is genius’ kind of way, but a ‘what in the Mona Awad is going on here?’ kind of way.

I feel really harsh, I did really enjoy the first portion and the ending felt right to the book but 3/4 section knocked it down for me a little. I got tonnes of the vampire but none of the gothic and seductive side that really had me wanting to grip the edge of my seat with blushed cheeks and thumping heart. That cover is gorgeous and I wanted a whole story that had me feeling that way.

I think there are people that would absolutely love and devour this, just not me! Sorry!

I really enjoyed this one! It was intriguing and I was hooked instantly, I was sucked in and I loved how it was written, I did feel like it was going on forever but I didn't mind too much as it was all crucial to the story, I did see the Elle thing straight away as she was introduced but otherwise it was a fantastic story especially if you love vampires, I cannot get enough of Vampire books.