Lucy Undying by Kiersten White - ARC Review
Book Review:
Lucy Undying
by Kiersten White
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This is a story about a girl you might have read about. She was one of Dracula's first victims but that wasn't really the end of her story.
Lucy Westenra has wandered the globe in search of Dracula and a reason for her existence. A young woman who never fit into her place in the world or understood her own self. Now in her new life, Lucy seeks to help those like her.
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This story is an urban historical fantasy. Due to this, we will speak of the atmosphere rather than world-building. Possibly I am not the best one to talk on this either. The settings will jump from London to Asain and journey the lands of Europe through the great wars until we reach modern America. Most of the scenes in the book take place in the same or similar indoor locations. Even still the way the scenes were written still left me able to picture them playing out. All the characters were given life through the ways they moved or acted. There could have been more descriptors or depictions at times to fully bring it to life.
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While there are vampires there is no other type of creature or magic. The magic is solely what abilities vampires possess. In this novel, most seem to be able to change their form at will during the night. There also seems to be either a form of charming or beguiling mortals. Over time they are able to regenerate to heal. We will get to see Lucy display these for us throughout the novel. Also, they seem to have the uncanny ability to sense where their own grave was and it is the best resting spot for healing. Outside of these though nothing else is known.
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From the description, I really thought this was going to be a single-POV story. Then to start it and find that there are not only multiple characters but also several timelines as well. The elephant in the room is Dracula whose chapters are spread out. These are also written in the second person.
Our first main character we see isn't even Lucy but instead Iris Goldaming. Iris is on the run from her troubled family. She has come to London trying to sort out older properties to get a fresh start. While Iris seems to be an untrusting person and we do see her go on high alert later, pretty much everyone she meets at the beginning she trusts right away. Several things are alluded to about her family and the issues with them but you will not find out much until a ways in. Iris is a pretty self-sufficient and intelligent woman.
Then we get to see from Lucy Westenra. Lucy's perspective is different for most of the book as it is told in multiple ways. We are first introduced to her through her diary from 1890 before she was turned. These are the worries and trials of a young woman with a difficult mother who only wants to be with her Darling. Then we see Lucy again in 2024 through client transcripts where she is speaking to her therapist Vanessa. Through both of these, we get to see two very different times in Lucy's life and how she changes.
The plot without spoilers. Lucy has been living mostly alone through the centuries. She has had one driving purpose to find Dracula and get answers. Through the ages she has traveled the world and found more of herself along the way. Now in 2024 Londen, Lucy finds Iris, another lost girl running from her own demons. As information is uncovered can their growing feelings for each other survive the danger they face?
I find this book so hard to classify. The author wrote it as a horror romance so maybe that fits. It just didn't give me horror vibes, though vampires never really do I suppose. There was a romance and while it does get brought up a fair bit I feel that it wasn't too overdone. Did it happen really fast yes, however when you're in life-or-death situations that can happen. I felt that from Iris's side especially there was a gradual building due to how she is getting to know Lucy. Situations are mentioned without getting graphic or steamy. For the type of book this is, it worked well.
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There are a few drawbacks to the story. There was a bit of a slowness to the story outside of the scenes we see of the past. Normally I would say that the historical time this was set isn’t my favorite but I found those parts of the story more engaging. In our present timeline, things just didn’t mesh as well leading to figuring out the late-end plot twist early in.
Overall I feel that the story worked well, I really enjoyed the glimpses into the past to build Lucy into her present self. The ending left things in a way that this could maintain as a stand-alone but also leaves room for another entry which is always appreciated. Thank you very much to Netgalley for the ARC to be able to review.
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