Veronica doesn’t think she’s going crazy. But why can’t anyone else see the mysterious blond boy who keeps popping up wherever she goes?
When her best friend, Mackenna, invites her to spend the summer in Scotland, Veronica jumps at the opportunity to leave her complicated life behind for a few months. But the Scottish countryside holds other plans. Not only has the imaginary kilted boy followed her to Alloway, she and Mackenna uncover a strange set of rings and a very unnerving letter from Mackenna’s great aunt—and when the girls test the instructions Aunt Gracie left behind, they find themselves transported to a land that defies explanation.
Doon seems like a real-life fairy tale, complete with one prince who has eyes for Mackenna and another who looks suspiciously like the boy from Veronica’s daydreams. But Doon has a dark underbelly as well. The two girls could have everything they’ve longed for… or they could end up breaking an enchantment and find themselves trapped in a world that has become a nightmare.
My reading queue has gone all out of whack! I can't stick with just review books or just new releases or even just old back titles. I am literally all over the place! LOL! I just finished Doon by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon and oh wow was that good! After a batch of so-so reads, this was most refreshing! It was the right blend of modernity and fantasy that I always enjoy seeing, but so rarely do (the fantasy part, like magical lands and whatnot). This was one incredible read!
Veronica has had it rough for awhile now. Her father left when she was twelve and her mother has been dating a sleazebag for some time and is now marrying him, her boyfriend cheated on her with her nemesis, and her best friend, MacKenna, is still miles away. To add to the crazy, Veronica starts to have visions or waking dreams almost, of this handsome Scottish fellow who keeps calling her name and vanishes. When MacKenna offers to pay for her to come with her to visit Scotland, it didn't take much convincing.
Veronica is soon obsessed with her visions and wants to figure out what they mean, while Kenna is just wanting to have fun and maybe meet some cute boys. It's not long before the two find themselves magically transported to the world of Doon. Doon is quite literally a fantasy world of magic. Veronica is amazed at all she is seeing because it calls to her. Kenna is amazed as well, but would rather go back home, she has an internship waiting for her once the summer is over. But their mode of transportation was taken, but if they wait two weeks, the "magical" bridge will open that connects Doon with their world. And it's not long at all before Veronica finds her mystery boy. Jamie is the crown prince and heir to the throne and at first sight he pretty much despises her.
It was quite the whiplash to see that happen honestly. Naturally, Veronica is confused by this because to her, Jamie felt so real in her visions. She kind of felt like he had to know her too. But ironically, this was done in a way that didn't annoy me like another read did where the heroine was so sure she was meant to be with the guy. When Jamie's cold and abrasive attitude is directed towards her, Veronica fights back with attitude!
In the meantime, we watch Duncan, Jamie's brother, become completely smitten with Kenna. Naturally. It caused a little eye twitch that the two best friends fall for a set of brothers. But I guess coincidences have to happen! I'll admit, their romance was pretty cute, because Kenna too, tries to fight it for she knows she can't stay here while it looked like Veronica was more than willing to leave her old life behind.
This book was told in both Veronica and MacKenna's points of view, but it was primarily in Veronica's point of view. This is her story, as I am finding out as I start book 2, that one is Kenna's story. I'll be interested to see what the next two after that will be like, but I liked this way of telling, because it lets you get to know one character more than the other, but then immediately upon starting the next book we're with that character! It's a crazy kind of twist, but I like it, for the other friend is never far from the scene either!
The girls' goal is waiting for the magical portal that opens once every one hundred years to open again in two weeks so that they can go home. But there's evil afoot. A witch that has plagued the citizens of Doon seems to have returned despite being banished centuries ago, yet they can find no physical trace of her. Except for her magic that seems to be eeking into the good of Doon. And since all was well before Veronica and Kenna's arrival, the citizens turn the ugly eye onto them!
Doon was a fun and interesting read! It's got a good deal of magic and mystery going on and of course romance! It has a simplistic nature to its story, yet it's still captivating in its execution! I never read the original Brigadoon that it is based off of. Never even knew about it! So it might be something I look into later on. I really enjoyed this one and can't believe I waited so long to read it! And with the way this one ended I am so glad I have the next two novels to read because while it was just about be all happily ever after, we get thrown a whopper of a curve-ball in the last few pages and I am itching to see where things will go next!
Doon is a read filled with magic, friendship, action, and romance, it's got great storytelling and the words and characters will have you gripping its pages to finish it!
Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars
I met these two authors at a Teen BookFest this summer. They were very nice and this was the first I saw of the series. I did read Doon afterwards and enjoyed it. The mixture of the two worlds with people from different time periods and places was very interesting.
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