Review--Destined for Doon by Carey Corp & Lorie Langdon

The second book in the popular new Doon YA series that takes on a classic story, Brigadoon, and spins it in a new way to give readers a fresh, modern experience.

In this sequel to Doon, Kenna Reid realizes she made a horrible mistake-choosing to follow her dreams of Broadway instead of staying in the enchanted land of Doon. Worse, she's received proof she and Duncan are meant to be, along with torturous visions of the prince she left behind. So when Duncan shows up and informs Kenna that Doon needs her, she doesn't need to think twice. But even if Kenna can save the enchanted kingdom, her happily ever after may still be in peril.

Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon are one dynamic duo! Destined for Doon was even more exciting than Doon was! I was completely enthralled from the first page! Still told in Veronica and MacKenna's points of view, except this time MacKenna gets the spotlight. I found I quite enjoyed her perspective. She's a little more wild and carefree, but alas, still broken inside for all that she's lost.

We pick up seeing Kenna in Chicago, it's been a year since she left Doon, and she's living her dream with her internship and starring in plays. But it's not all she could hope for. Especially since she had a Calling come to her pretty much on day 1 and ever since then has missed Duncan, for now she knows he's her childhood imaginary friend, Finn, and that she really truly loves him. Then after a show one night, Duncan is waiting for her in her dressing room to bring her back to Doon because Veronica requests it. Something bad is happening in Doon and Veronica believes she will need Kenna to save her beloved home once again.

Right away there's so much friction between Kenna and Duncan, and sadly none of the good kind. Duncan is still sore after Kenna left him on the bridge and Kenna can't bring herself to tell him the whole truth behind why she did what she did. It was kind of hard to read at times, I was totally smitten with the Duncan and Kenna romance in the first book and when Kenna left him, I felt heartbroken too. And ironically, now we watch Jamie and Veronica be the lovey dovey couple while these two struggle to work out their feelings. And let me tell you, it's a long struggle!

A festering sort of plague has come to Doon and with it are the deaded black flowers that signfy the witch. The very one that we thought was gone from the last time. But as I have come to realize, villains never truly die...unless it's the final book and then when they're dead, they're dead-dead. LOL! Never trust a dead body is what I always think! Anyway, Veronica and Kenna have to figure out a way to stop this darkness from taking over all of Doon and leeching itself into the normal world as well.

We do get a little more backstory to the history of Doon with a past queen and the witch herself. It was definitely eye-opening, yet I still couldn't help but be a bit confused with what was happening in the now. It's only suggested that this "plague" is caused by the witch. And yeah, I got that part, but I guess I was expecting more involvement from the witch instead of just seeing her ultimate power wreak havoc over the land and terrorize our heroines.

I've really come to enjoy the intense friendship between Veronica and Kenna! I love seeing that nothing will stop these two from doing what they want to do. They've just got that remarkable kind of friendship I always admired and wish I had myself with friends.

Sadly there wasn't much romance in this one, at least on the Kenna and Duncan front. Obviously, because they aren't together and Duncan is still angry with Kenna. Try as Kenna might, she just can't get over her own fears and to tell Duncan the truth behind why she left him. And this kind of thing always bugs me! I'm the one shouting at the book (or TV screen) for the heroine to just TELL HIM!! Agh! LOL. But thankfully, since we do get a few Veronica chapters, she and Jamie provide a good amount of swoony moments, so it wasn't completely without all the feels in that area!

The epic ending was a little bit of a letdown in a sense. I was expecting another rushing kind of battle with the witch, when instead it involved having to do some inner battling to defeat her. And then poof. It's done. But I will say that the aftermath was far more intriguing! And I really thought that this one would end all nice and happily and I would just be left to wonder what next adventure Kenna and Veronica would go on and then...BAM! Total cliffhanger ending! AHH! But thankfully I know that there are two books left and thankfully, again, I have the next book ready! Though there is that very real fear that whatever cliffhanger the authors to decide to throw at us next might just kill me. Especially since I don't have the next book at the ready. Ignore the fact that it comes out next week too. Because that's still several days away!

This series is seriously shaping up to be of the best series ever! I especially enjoyed the little bit of Harry Potter reminiscing in the final chapter as well! Just makes this book even more incredible honestly! If you're a fan of Fantasy YA, I encourage you to check this one out. It's got a different vibe than some of the other fantasy reads out there, but still an enchanting read! Yes, I like that word, enchanting! It's kind of got that fairy tale vibe going to it, which I guess comes from the original Brigadoon that I still must go research and read. Destined for Doon is the second book of the enchanting series called Doon and it's not one to be missed for fantasy fans and especially fairy tale fans!


Overall Rating 4/5 stars