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A review by brimelick
Lucy Undying by Kiersten White
4.0
First, I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to be an ARC reader and a profound apology for the review coming a bit late (my car got totaled, so it's been a month).
I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this book, even those I didn't love. Being a lover of the original Dracula by Bram Stoker, I always thought the character of Lucy was severely underdeveloped and could have added so much to the story than just being the sexuality aspect of the story. She was always the spoiled and petulant child, and I wanted to see her through a different lens; here, Kiersten White gives us that chance, and she does NOT disappoint. We follow a cycle of POV, including the present day, Lucy's diaries, Lucy's therapy sessions, and later on, some side characters POV's as world-building, but we also glimpse Mina and Dracula POV's. We follow primarily Iris, the heir to an MLM scheme in the United States, who is in England trying to escape the cult-like industry her mother left for her. Compared to most MLMs, this one runs on the life-enhancing and life-saving blood of the Goldaming family Iris was born into. Iris is saved by a lovely girl named Elle, who just so happens to work at a museum and can tell Iris what the home and old belongings are worth (or at least, Iris *assumes* that Elle works for the museum she called). Iris finds the diaries from Lucy and learns about her life, love for Mina, hatred of her overbearing mother, and the three suitors that her mother keeps throwing at her. She finally agrees to marry one of them, and the diaries follow the plot of the Dracula story, which I won't spoil for those who have yet to read the book.
The diary entries and therapy sessions give us a glimpse into Lucy's solitary and heartbreaking life and the undead story of her teenage years and her time before meeting Iris. The book's second half focuses on Lucy teaming up with two of the three leading figures in her life after death, trying to track down Dracula, who remains mostly a figure in the background until closer to the end of the book. While Lucy does that, Iris makes the people involved in the MLM think she is giving in to everything while biding Lucy more time. The last few chapters focus on the most complicated aspect and theme of the book: what would you do for someone you love, and what would they do for you if they truly loved you back? In the acknowledgments, White writes that Lucy deserved a girlfriend, and shes right. I always agreed that Lucy fit the characteristics of similar characters like her that were written at the time for many queer characters that were essentially forced or coerced into these straight romances and straight lives. In this story, Lucy, rightly so, finally gets the girl.
I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this book, even those I didn't love. Being a lover of the original Dracula by Bram Stoker, I always thought the character of Lucy was severely underdeveloped and could have added so much to the story than just being the sexuality aspect of the story. She was always the spoiled and petulant child, and I wanted to see her through a different lens; here, Kiersten White gives us that chance, and she does NOT disappoint. We follow a cycle of POV, including the present day, Lucy's diaries, Lucy's therapy sessions, and later on, some side characters POV's as world-building, but we also glimpse Mina and Dracula POV's. We follow primarily Iris, the heir to an MLM scheme in the United States, who is in England trying to escape the cult-like industry her mother left for her. Compared to most MLMs, this one runs on the life-enhancing and life-saving blood of the Goldaming family Iris was born into. Iris is saved by a lovely girl named Elle, who just so happens to work at a museum and can tell Iris what the home and old belongings are worth (or at least, Iris *assumes* that Elle works for the museum she called). Iris finds the diaries from Lucy and learns about her life, love for Mina, hatred of her overbearing mother, and the three suitors that her mother keeps throwing at her. She finally agrees to marry one of them, and the diaries follow the plot of the Dracula story, which I won't spoil for those who have yet to read the book.
The diary entries and therapy sessions give us a glimpse into Lucy's solitary and heartbreaking life and the undead story of her teenage years and her time before meeting Iris. The book's second half focuses on Lucy teaming up with two of the three leading figures in her life after death, trying to track down Dracula, who remains mostly a figure in the background until closer to the end of the book. While Lucy does that, Iris makes the people involved in the MLM think she is giving in to everything while biding Lucy more time. The last few chapters focus on the most complicated aspect and theme of the book: what would you do for someone you love, and what would they do for you if they truly loved you back? In the acknowledgments, White writes that Lucy deserved a girlfriend, and shes right. I always agreed that Lucy fit the characteristics of similar characters like her that were written at the time for many queer characters that were essentially forced or coerced into these straight romances and straight lives. In this story, Lucy, rightly so, finally gets the girl.