I will start this off by saying that after reading Hide and Mister Magic I will absolutely read anything that Kiersten White writes. I had pre-ordered this one the second it was available to do so and I was not disappointed!
Lucy Westerna was done dirty in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. She’s written as a dumb little girl who gets sucked (ha ha no pun intended) into Dracula’s trap. White has taken the story we know and flipped it on its head. What if Lucy wasn’t a vapid young girl, but a queer woman who loved so hard she sacrificed herself to save the one she loved?
This book was such a fun ride. As in all horror novels there is a level of campy fun, the MLM business standing in as the true evil of the world. We meet Iris, our heir and woman out to run away from the responsibility of now owning an entire multimillion dollar wellness company that preys on people.
**************** POTENIAL SPOILERS *****************
So – Iris doesn’t care about making a difference, she just wants to rescue herself. Until she finds Elle and starts to fall in love with her through reading Lucy’s journals. In a way, Iris is the modern day version of Lucy, only willing to do the hard thing once a reason presents itself. Before Elle, she was willing to disappear forever. Now that she has a reason to stick around, she is willing to fight.
Lucy is wonderful – she’s still the silly 19 year old girl she was, but with the wisdom that comes from watching the world fight the same wars for a century. She is willing to light the match to watch her whole world burn as long as it means she ends the one who started this whole mess.
My takeaway at the end is this: Iris did not sacrifice herself for someone she loved. She chose to be made into a vampire to stay with Lucy with her typical “F You” attitude and I believe that part of her will be amplified in her vampiric form. Imagine the nightmare of terror that she will be with all the supernatural power she now possesses and with zero regard for anyone but what she wants in the moment. It’s a deliciously terrifying thought. She will become the new monster of the story.
I purchased Lucy Undying and if you would like to do the same please feel free to click on this affiliate link.
Book Reviews 