Is there anything Kiersten White can't do? The author of so many novels is trying her hand at Dracula with the release of Lucy Undying: A Dracula Novel.
Published by Del Rey which is an imprint of Penguin Random House, White is taking on the tale of one of Dracula's victims: Lucy. Once you finish the book, you have to read Kiersten White's author's note as she goes into a lot of detail about how and why she chose to write Lucy Undying.
As someone who isn't much for reading fantasy, there was something about this cover that just called to me, luring me in to sink my teeth into this epic read. Maybe I'll stop with the vampire jokes but if not, it sucks to be you. Okay, I think I'm done with that.
Regardless, I have to thank Del Rey for providing me with an ARC so I was able to read this one early and share my thoughts with all of you.
Lucy Undying: A Dracula Novel is epic from start to finish.
When describing Lucy Undying as epic, it's a great description for multiple reasons. First, this book is long as it's almost 500 pages. Trust me. this is one you'll be reading over the course of a few days but not in a bad way. Second, this book is broken down into a few different timelines and while it might seem confusing at first, you quickly find out how everything is connected. Lastly, there is an epic romance here and as a romance reader, I was living for it.
If you've never read Dracula such as myself, this plot might not make sense to you. For those who have read Dracula, this is probably familiar. We're following Lucy Westerna's life before she becomes one of Dracula's victims. That story is told through diary entries that Lucy wrote as a teenager and those were easily some of my favorite moments. Seeing how things played out for Lucy was honestly sad but not surprising in so many ways.
The other timeline is the present day with Lucy talking to her therapist and essentially giving us the account of what happened after she became a vampire. Since she is hundreds of years old, there was a lot of ground to cover. I adored that Kiersten White chose to tell that story with a therapist as I can just imagine it so vividly. It makes for a fun picture although Lucy's story is anything but fun. Our girl is riddled with trauma that seems never-ending.
The third timeline follows Iris who recently lost her mother and has run away to England. While there, she ends up running into Elle, a gorgeous and mysterious museum worker. It's obvious the two have something there but Iris is determined not to have anything ruin her chances. As you can see, there is a lot going on in Lucy Undying but once you start reading, it's incredibly easy to catch on.
As you might imagine, all of the different timelines come together and Lucy Undying has everything you're looking for in a vampire novel. There is the sapphic romance between Elle and Iris, the mystery of what happened to Lucy, and if it's connected to Iris and if Dracula is really behind everything. The author did an amazing job of weaving everything together and making the reader question what they know and how it all comes together.
Since I'm not well-versed in the original text, I wasn't able to figure everything out until pretty close to the end. Even so, Kiersten White put a unique and modern twist on Dracula and it just felt right. I don't want to give too much away because once you start reading, you won't want to put this book down.
The final thing I want to note is that this is an adult book so there is plenty of blood, gore, and even, a few steamy scenes. If you're not down with that, it's probably best to skip Lucy Undying. If you are down with that, then Lucy Undying: A Dracula Novel needs to be on your spooky season TBR. As someone who isn't much of a fantasy reader, I can happily say that Lucy Undying was everything I wanted and more.
Lucy Undying: A Dracula Novel by Kiersten White is available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.