A review by sproutedpages
Lucy Undying by Kiersten White

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Lucy Undying contains the more expected luxuriant prose typical of vampire novels, alongside a modern approach and setting. In how it chooses to explore its sometimes-epistolary narrative style, Lucy Undying falls somewhere between Interview with the Vampire and Dracula, and is similarly told through several perspective characters (accounting for the variance in prose and tone). At times the prose is very compelling (“I cannot bring myself to care about or trust in a distant God, fickle and unreachable and unknowable.”), but at other moments falls quite flat (“Calm your tits, Iris.”), generally faltering when attempting modern inclusions.

The characters themselves are incredibly charming— and in particular, Lucy and Vanessa. A novel with just the transcriptions of the faux-therapy session(…s?) with Vanessa, and entries from the journal of Lucy Westenra, would honestly have been captivating enough, narratively, to stand on its own. It is within these sections that (I think) author Kiersten White’s writing is strongest and most engrossing.

Thank you to Kiersten White, Del Rey, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel! All opinions within this review are voluntarily given and entirely my own. 
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