Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste

Reluctant Immortals is a historical horror novel that looks at two men of classic literature, Dracula and Mr. Rochester, and the two women who survived them, Bertha and Lucy, who are now undead immortals residing in Los Angeles in 1967 when Dracula and Rochester make a shocking return in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco.

Combining elements of historical and gothic fiction with a modern perspective, in a tale of love and betrayal and coercion, Reluctant Immortals is the lyrical and harrowing journey of two women from classic literature as they bravely claim their own destiny in a man’s world.

 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio | Narrator: Carlotta Brentan  | Length:  8 hours, 43 minutes | Genre: Horror/Fiction | Source: Purchased | Rating: 1.5

Anything Jane Eyre or Dracula-centered is going to catch my eye, so when I discovered that this featured characters from both classic novels, I knew I had to give it a go. Yeah, I have regrets…so many regrets.

The quick of it is: Bertha from Jane Eyre and Lucy from Dracula are immortals living their best undead/immortal lives in Los Angeles hiding from the ‘bad men’ in their lives (Dracula and Rochester) while interacting with a bunch of hippies and accidentally setting Dracula free from the many urns he’s stashed in.

I wanted to like this, I did, but, honestly, I’m not even sure what this was supposed to be about other than unlikable women complaining about horrible men (not that I find Rochester to be horrible).  

The majority of the book was very repetitive and, sadly, the world building was lacking. There’s a lot of talk about the many urns that Dracula’s ashes are being kept in (until he’s let loose) and some talk here and there that Lucy created these urns but there’s very little detail about why. There’s also talk about this sort of vampire purgatory where vampires go when they’ve been killed but it doesn’t really go into enough detail and, honestly, it was one of the most interesting parts of the book.

What I’m a bit confused about is the way Rochester was presented in this book. I feel like the author is referencing more from Wide Sargasso Sea rather than Jane Eyre. For me, making Rochester into a monster just didn’t work.

After reading this, I have questions….lots of questions…

Why was this label as horror? I honestly can’t figure out why this was called horror. Where was the gothic vibe at? There was nothing gothic about this one. Why are people labeling Jane Eyre as horror? If you know, let me know because that’s a new one to me. Why do authors feel the need to turn Jane and Bertha into lesbians in just about every retelling? I just don’t get it. Lastly, who really ever found Lucy Westnera to likable? Yeah, no, she’s never been a likable character in my book.

I picked this one up on audio and the narrator was fine. At times, she did come off as annoying but I think that it was just the character of Lucy. And no matter the format, this book is going to be a slow start with a repetitive middle and end.

Overall, yeah, I really need to start reading the synopsis before picking up the book…I should have walked away after reading that this was labeled ‘feminist horror’ but, sadly, I stayed for the train wreck that was this book.

Who do I think would like this? If you’ve not read Dracula or Jane Eyre you might have a better chance with this one.

If you feel you need to read this book, I strongly suggest picking it up from the library rather than wasting your money.