What are we hoping to see when we look in a mirror? 

 

Neither Lucy Westenra or Iris Goldaming had the pleasure of thinking for themselves what they hoped to see in a mirror while they were growing up, yoked to overbearing and exacting mothers who plucked, prodded, pinched, squeezed, and tried their best to mold their daughters into an ideal meant to uphold the family honor and name. 

 

You can trim all the thorns and burrs off of a person, but you can’t take away their dreams if you don’t know they’re there. Or their nightmares. You can’t see what they think of while alone in bed in the middle of the night or hear the secrets they whisper to animals while on a walk. People will always have their secrets. Lucy and Iris both had their own while growing up. Perfectly polished on the outside, perfectly furious on the inside. 

 

Lucy Undying was not only the best book Kiersten White has written yet (and I’m a big fan), but it was better than I could’ve hoped and nothing like what I thought it would be. White’s novels Hide and Mister Magic fall solidly and comfortably into the world of genre fiction, but there’s something so ethereal, even otherworldly about this book that it feels almost half literary fiction. (I had some passages highlighted but this morning the passages aren’t highlighted anymore so I’m bummed.) 

 

This book is marketed as gothic, but I disagree with this move (this was a poor move on the part of the publisher, in my opinion). I have an opinion they wanted to use the term “gothic” because people expect books associated with Dracula to be gothic, but gothic implies isolation and darkness, and there’s very little of that here. If anything, this is a vampiric trip of self-discovery over time: Lucy Undying is not only a title for the book but the overall theme for the book. The Lucy Westenra of Bram Stoker’s Dracula is naught but a footnote in the story: she is dispatched and that’s it. She’s dead and we’re not to think of her again. In this book, Lucy Westenra is dying a little every single day until the day she wakes up in her crypt after being turned and a one of Dracula’s brides says her name. With that seemingly simple act, the bride has given Lucy back her identity and memories from her human life that otherwise would’ve been lost like Dracula’s other brides. Brides of Dracula are supposed to think of him, only him. They are supposed to always wait for him, always long for him. He is supposed to be their entire existence. But Lucy has her name back, and with that she can start fresh and find out who Lucy Westenra really is. 

 

Lucy is Undying because there are three (plus two) Lucys in this book: The Lucy prior to turning inside a journal that Iris finds inside the mansion she’s inherited, the Lucy who’s telling her story post-turning to a psychiatrist, and two others that would be spoilers. Lucy is undying because her story never stops. Her human self dies, but is revived and she is given back her name. She travels the world, meets other people and other vampires, and tells them her name. Her name is repeated. Vampires don’t forget her. And one day Iris Goldaming finds the journal from her teenage years and reminds her of that Lucy too. That Lucy never truly died either. She’s somewhere too. The only thing both Lucys have in common is they always just wanted someone to love them for who they were. For everything they were. Without reservation. 

 

I’d like to say I thought a lot about Iris while thinking overnight about writing this review, but I didn’t. Iris is a great character, and I love her dearly, but she’s not the point of this book and I feel she’s best understood as not only a modern-day Lucy Westenra simulacrum but also as Lucy’s mirror, the one Lucy needs to look into to finally see who she really is after all these years and after all she’s been through. Also, one of the main themes in this book is Lucy’s queer identity, and we need a queer love interest for Lucy to root for. After all, vampires are about desire. After all this time, Lucy deserves to get what she’s always desired most. 

 

I haven’t touched my favorite other themes in this book: f*ck the patriarchy, MLMs are cults that prey on desperate women just like vampires do, the wellness industry is predatory and relies on fear to get you to buy their products, some women don’t want to be or can’t be saved from their choices, and organized religion is a scam. 

 

Did I miss anything? Because I could go on and on about how awesome this book is. 

 

Go read it. Go go go go go go. 

 

I was provided a copy of this title by the publishers and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you. 

 

File Under: 5 Star Review/Body Horror/Dark Fantasy/Historical Fantasy/Horromance/Lesbian Romance/LGBTQ Fantasy/LGBTQ Romance/Standalone Novel