Book Review: Doon by Carey Corp & Lorie Langdon

Despite outward appearances, Veronica Welling’s life is far from perfect. Her boyfriend is more into her competition, her mom treats her like a meal ticket, and the blond stranger who keeps appearing out of nowhere—well, he’d be darn near perfect, if he were real. After Vee catches her boyfriend cheating, an epic summer in Scotland with her best friend Mackenna Reid seems like the ultimate escape. Neither girl has any clue they’re about to step into a destiny bigger than they could ever imagine.

Through a series of clues left by Kenna’s aunt, Vee and Kenna open a portal and are transported to a thriving kingdom outside of time and place. For Vee, the land of Doon is the fairytale she’s always longed for, complete with the gorgeous blond stranger—who happens to be a flesh and blood prince. But rather than acting like her knight in shining armor, Jamie MacCrae treats her like a leper. Meanwhile, Jamie’s brother Duncan shows obvious interest in Kenna, but she shuts him down, fearing that a “love connection” will prevent her from returning to the modern world.

But the girls’ presence in Doon could break the enchantment that protects the realm. In order to save Doon, the girls must risk everything—life, love, and future—before the kingdom vanishes forever into the mists.

Doon is inspired by the premise of the musical Brigadoon, used with generous permission from the Alan Jay Lerner Estate and the Frederick Loewe Foundation. Follow the journey using the buttons to the right.

Genre: Young Adult

Rating: ⅘ KILT WEARING STARS!

Okay I was definitely late to the Doon party, but better late than never I always say! This book was really incredible and I was immediately drawn in by the dual POV which flipped back and forth between two best friends Veronica and Mckenna. How amazing right? Not a boy/girl dual but two best friends! That is something I haven’t encountered before and I really liked it a lot. It opens the door of relatability even wider being that there are two strong lead protagonists.

This story jumped right into the good stuff. I didn’t feel like I had to drag through tons of chapters before getting to the meat. Right from the start we have Vee’s (Veronica) visions, which get you pumped for the girls summer trip to Scotland, because these visions and the upcoming trip are obviously connected. The promise of adventure and answers to come really made this a page turner that I couldn’t put down.

It’s one of those fun reads where you can kind of start putting the pieces together little by little, without the predictability being over-bearing on the story.

Once we get to the Kingdom of Doon I was truly hooked. I Love these kind of fantasy-land stories where everything just seems so mystical and magical and beautiful! I envied these girls and wanted to climb into the pages and see this glorious green land and castle for myself-and I wouldn’t mind seeing the MacCrae brothers live and in the flesh either. Everything just jumped off the page in that really detailed way where you can feel like you're there without things being overly detailed or heading on boring. I mean learning about Doon and the people of the kingdom and the customs and HOW it all worked was really my favorite part...I mean really I could wax poetic about it for pages, but I’ll just let you read about all of Doon’s glory for yourself.

MOVING ON- It was nice having two couples to root for in such a strong way, as they were both primary in the story, and I really did like all of them, though if I’m being honest I guess my heart did pick up a little more where Jamie was concerned. Not that his brother Duncan wasn’t just as desirable…..I’m just a sucker for that “bad boy” attitude I suppose…You see one girl who wants to dive in head first, while the other is more reserved and logical, so there is something for everyone.

It was fun to see Vee pine away while Jamie tried to resist the obvious connection. Mackenna was super cute trying to be all headstrong while clearly unable to deny her physical attraction to Duncan-who seems like this incredibly soft lovable guy wrapped in the body of a hard warrior. I also totally called their “hidden” connection and was super happy about it!

“If you stay, I’ll give you my heart and never ask for it back.”

I felt a little laggy about ¾ of the way through but that was only because I KNEW something BIG was coming and I wanted to get to it desperately, not because the story was lacking excitement in any way.

The big climatic “battle” felt a little cheesy at times, but man I feel guilty even putting that in print because really and truly the story as a whole was so wonderful!

The ending?! Man...okay it’s not a “cliff-hanger” exactly, but the story is most definitely left wide open. I am so eager to keep going and see what happens to them all next. I’m like “Go VEE!!” and then I’m like “Mackenna WHAT???”

I mean there were a lot of feels happening. But that's what we look for in a good book right? And this book delivered in a big way! I was more than satisfied and would absolutely recommend this to YA lovers. On top of it all I have this new-found love of Scotland that I am really excited about!

For extras and more information about the world of Doon check out the series website here!