Lucy Undying

Lucy Undying
by Kiersten White
 
Book: Stand Alone
Publisher: Del Rey
Pub Date: September 10, 2024
Genre: Adult, Vampires, Horror
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Book Links: Goodreads  Amazon
 
In this epic and seductive gothic fantasy, a vampire escapes the thrall of Dracula and embarks on her own search for self-discovery and true love.

Her name was written in the pages of someone else's story: Lucy Westenra was one of Dracula's first victims.

But her death was only the beginning. Lucy rose from the grave a vampire, and has spent her immortal life trying to escape from Dracula's clutches--and trying to discover who she really is and what she truly wants.

Her undead life takes an unexpected turn when, in twenty-first-century London, she meets another woman who is also yearning to break free from her past. Iris’s family has built a health empire based on a sinister secret, and they’ll do anything to stay in power.
Lucy has long believed she would never love again. But she finds herself compelled by the charming Iris, while Iris is mesmerized by the confident and glamorous Lucy. But their intense connection and blossoming love is threatened by forces from without. Iris's mother won't let go of her without a fight, and Lucy's past still has fangs: Dracula is on the prowl again.

Lucy Westenra has been a tragically murdered teen, a lonesome adventurer, and a fearsome hunter, but happiness always eluded her. Can she find the strength to destroy Dracula once and for all, or will her heart once again be her undoing?

 
My Review: A retelling of Dracula, a cover that pulls you in and it is written by Kiersten?! Heck yes, count me in!  

I LOVED Lucy.  

Lucy was born a long time ago, just like anyone else. When she was born the second time, you could say nothing was ever the same again.  

When Lucy woke up as a vampire, which did not seem so pleasant to wake in a coffee and an unsatisfied thirst. Worst of all is that Dracula wants her and Lucy will have none of that.  

Lucy is fun, Whitty, speaks her mind and overall, a well-done character.  

Then you have Iris. She is in England and on a mission. Gather everything left to her and get rid of it.  

She is not happy about what is going on and is not shy about it. She is happy her mom is dead (relatable) and cannot wait to be rid of the legacy she left behind. Starting with one of the houses of which is basically worthless inside. No jewelry, nothing of value to sell.  

Until the one room she forced her way in and found a diary belonging to Lucy.  

Overall, I like Iris. There were moments where I was a little annoyed with her. I could relate with some of rants/antics. No Wi-Fi or bars, yikes, bad time when you’re alone in an empty old abandon mansion. No outlets or light switches either?? Sheesh, what year was this house again? Though, it would not be too bad if the house were in a more livable condition. But oh well, the plan is to sell asap anyway.  

When Lucy shows up at the house, the pace picks up more and you become so immersed in the story that it is impossible to put it down.  

Another masterpiece by Kiersten.  

 

My Rating:

✪✪✪✪✪

Weekly Spotlight - Kiersten White Stand Alones

 “I didn't fall in love with you. I walked into love with you, with my eyes wide open, choosing to take every step along the way. I do believe in fate and destiny, but I also believe we are only fated to do the things that we'd choose anyway. And I'd choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I'd find you and I'd choose you”

― Kiersten White, The Chaos of Stars

Hide
The challenge: spend a week hiding in an abandoned amusement park and don't get caught.

The prize: enough money to change everything.

Even though everyone is desperate to win--to seize their dream futures or escape their haunting pasts--Mack feels sure that she can beat her competitors. All she has to do is hide, and she's an expert at that.

It's the reason she's alive, and her family isn't.

But as the people around her begin disappearing one by one, Mack realizes this competition is more sinister than even she imagined, and that together might be the only way to survive.

Fourteen competitors. Seven days. Everywhere to hide, but nowhere to run.

Come out, come out, wherever you are.

A high-stakes hide-and-seek competition turns deadly in this dark supernatural thriller from New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White.

My Review

The Chaos of Stars

Isadora’s family is seriously screwed up.

Of course, as the human daughter of Egyptian gods, that pretty much comes with the territory. She’s also stuck with parents who barely notice her, and a house full of relatives who can’t be bothered to remember her name. After all, they are going to be around forever—and she’s a mere mortal.

Isadora’s sick of living a life where she’s only worthy of a passing glance, and when she has the chance to move to San Diego with her brother, she jumps on it. But Isadora’s quickly finding that a “normal” life comes with plenty of its own epic complications—and that there’s no such thing as a clean break when it comes to family. Much as she wants to leave her past behind, she can’t shake the ominous dreams that foretell destruction for her entire family. When it turns out there may be truth in her nightmares, Isadora has to decide whether she can abandon her divine heritage after all.

My Review

Hide

Hide
by Kiersten White 

Book: Stand Alone
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Pub Date: May 24, 2022
Genre: Young Adult
Format: Print 
Source: Bought
Book Links: Goodreads   Amazon 

The challenge: spend a week hiding in an abandoned amusement park and don't get caught.

The prize: enough money to change everything.

Even though everyone is desperate to win--to seize their dream futures or escape their haunting pasts--Mack feels sure that she can beat her competitors. All she has to do is hide, and she's an expert at that.

It's the reason she's alive, and her family isn't.

But as the people around her begin disappearing one by one, Mack realizes this competition is more sinister than even she imagined, and that together might be the only way to survive.

Fourteen competitors. Seven days. Everywhere to hide, but nowhere to run.

Come out, come out, wherever you are.

A high-stakes hide-and-seek competition turns deadly in this dark supernatural thriller from New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White.

 

My Review: This isn't my normal style of reading, but I love Kiersten so I had to get it anyway. 

At first, I wasn't too sure what to really expect. I know Mack pretty much has nothing until this contest came up and she was invited to sign up. First, she was pretty much nope, but a chance to have money and start to make a life for herself got her to say yes. 

Now she's on the way to the location with 13 other people. There is a quick overview of who those other players are, but only a few of them are front and center in the book. Which for me was just fine. When they make a stop at a diner for breakfast, that was a scene I didn't like. Mostly because of the guy taking the order and he was so old school, stuck in the old ways and well, I could have dome with someone smacking some sense into him. But, alas, there are still people like that everywhere. 

Any who, now when they finally arrive they settle in for the night and then they start. From sunrise to fall they must hide and not be found. Which this whole time it seems like a big hide and seek game right? Oh no no no, there is something else going on. Another reason for them to be there and what really happen if you get found? 

Overall, I liked this book. It did keep my interest which is a big plus since this is not my usual genre.  

 

My Rating:

✪✪✪

Weekly Spotlight - Paranormalcy

“Bud, my self-defense and combat skills teacher, was still trying to get me to learn knife fighting. "Silver knives! Painful and sometimes deadly to nearly all paranormals!"

"Tasey!" I countered. "Hot pink and sparkly!” 

Paranormalcy  

Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie’s always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she's falling for a shape-shifter, and she's the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours, but still. Normal.

Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie's dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal. 

My Review

Supernaturally

Evie finally has the normal life she’s always longed for. But she’s shocked to discover that being ordinary can be . . . kind of boring. Just when Evie starts to long for her days at the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she’s given a chance to work for them again. Desperate for a break from all the normalcy, she agrees.

But as one disastrous mission leads to another, Evie starts to wonder if she made the right choice. And when Evie’s faerie ex-boyfriend Reth appears with devastating revelations about her past, she discovers that there’s a battle brewing between the faerie courts that could throw the whole supernatural world into chaos. The prize in question? Evie herself. 

My Review

Endlessly 

Try as she might, Evie can’t seem to escape her not-so-normal past. And what was supposed to be a blissfully normal school break is ruined when a massive group of paranormals shows up at her house, claiming that Evie is the only one who can protect them from a mysterious, perilous fate.

The deadly war between the faerie courts looms ever closer. The clock is ticking on the entire paranormal world. And its future rests solely in Evie’s hands.

So much for normal.

With a perfect blend of humor and suspense, Endlessly is everything readers could dream of in a conclusion—and the unexpected twists will keep them guessing until the very last page.

My Review

Weekly Spotlight - Mind Games

“And that he knows what I did and he still sat next to me and laughed and told me I had the prettiest eyes he'd ever seen but that I was far too young for him to kiss until he had had at least three more drinks.” 

Mind Games

Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future.

Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways… or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey.

In a stunning departure from her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, Kiersten White delivers a slick, edgy, heartstoppingly intense psychological thriller about two sisters determined to protect each other—no matter the cost.

My Review

Perfect Lies

The sisters have been manipulated and controlled by the Keane Foundation for years, trapped in a never ending battle for survival. Now they have found allies who can help them truly escape. After faking her own death, Annie has joined a group that is plotting to destroy the Foundation. And Fia is working with James Keane to bring his father down from the inside.

But Annie's visions of the future can't show her who to trust in the present. And though James is Fia's first love, Fia knows he's hiding something. The sisters can rely only on each other - but that may not be enough to save them.

My Review

 

And I Darken

And I Darken
by Kiersten White

Book: The Darken Trilogy #1
Publisher: Delacoret Press
Pub Date: June 2016
Genre: Young Adult
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Book Links: Goodreads  Amazon  

NO ONE EXPECTS A PRINCESS TO BE BRUTAL. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.

Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, who’s expected to rule a nation, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.

But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.


My Review: Kiersten is one of my go to authors. Every book she writes, I must have. So naturally I jumped at the chance to get this ARC.

Anywho...Lada is a princess. Lovely, kind, and everything you'd expect. Oh except for the fact that she's now a brutal princess. She wasn't always like that, things were better. Once I learned of her story, I couldn't help but feel for her and have an understating. 

So Lada and her brother Radu, play the game. Do what they need to, while also finding a way to get revenge. They want nothing than to go back home, take back what is theirs, and go back to a life they once knew. Lada is the rightful heir of Wallachia, she will get her home back, show them what a real ruler is and destroy the Ottomans. Because when you hear what the Ottomans did, well you'd want them gone in a heartbeat as well. 

But then you have a toxic triangle. Lada, Radu, and Mehmed. This can make or break the plan. Radu needs to not consider this place home, its not where they belong. Mehmed and Lada may have to hide whatever they may have. They belong to two different lands. They can't do anything, if they want any plan to work.

I can't even begin to tell you how on point the details are. The world building was done so well, you can tell a lot of time had gone into this. The characters are easy to like or hate. I loved this book and already want to read the next one!

My Rating:

✪✪✪✪✪

Supernaturally

Supernaturally
By Kierstin White

Book: Paranormalcy #2
Publisher: Harper Teen
Pub Date: July 26 2011
Genre: Young Adult
Format: Hardcover
Source: Bought
Book Links: Goodreads  Amazon

Evie finally has the normal life she’s always longed for. But she’s shocked to discover that being ordinary can be . . . kind of boring. Just when Evie starts to long for her days at the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she’s given a chance to work for them again. Desperate for a break from all the normalcy, she agrees.

But as one disastrous mission leads to another, Evie starts to wonder if she made the right choice. And when Evie’s faerie ex-boyfriend Reth appears with devastating revelations about her past, she discovers that there’s a battle brewing between the faerie courts that could throw the whole supernatural world into chaos. The prize in question? Evie herself.



My Review: Evie has the life she has been waiting for. She lives with her boyfriend Lend, goes to high school, and has the usual paranormal problems. She has just what she wants and now finds that being normal is just a tad boring. Evie takes each day one at a time and some days she wonders about IPCA. Soon IPCA arrives at her door with a mission, the only catch is, well there is none. This time she can do it on her terms, its all Evie's choice whether to help or not. Evie also gets to meet Lend's mom in this book. Lend's mom is different, you see she lives in the water. Lend's mom can not leave the water, but since she does know alot about paranormal's, she does agree to help Lend and Evie figure out just what Evie really is. With everything Evie now has on her plate, more news arrive. The faerie courts are at battle that can throw their world into some serious trouble.

My Rating:

✪✪✪✪✪

Paranormalcy

Paranormalcy

by Kierstin White

Book: Paranormacly #1

Publisher: Harper Teen

Pub Date: Aug 31 2010

Genre: Fantasy, Magic, Fae, Young Adult

Format: Hardcover

Source: Bought

Book Links: Goodreads Amazon

Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie’s always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she's falling for a shape-shifter, and she's the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours, but still. Normal.

Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie's dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal.

My Review: Evie works for IPCA (International Paranormal Containment Agency). She thinks she is normal. afterall her best friend is a mermaid, her Ex is a faerie, her "guardian" runs IPCA and she is falling in love with a shape-shifter. Yep totally noraml. Everything is going fine, just another normal day of catching paranormals, until one of them catches her eye. Lend is a shape-shifter who has caught Evie's eye and they talk about anything and everything. She falls in love with Lend's world how going to school seems so normal and cool to Evie she wished she could do some of the normal things a teenager does. IPCA gets hit and the place is in chaos, and now is the time to escape. Evie releases Lend and they both leave together and head for Lends world. A world of normal. What they don't know is that their journey has just began and it is a hard one at that.

My Rating:

✪✪✪✪✪