Doon by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon: Book Review


Hello everyone!

Today I am reviewing the book Doon by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon, which I received from BookLook Bloggers. I was so excited to receive this book because I have seen many reviews on it and heard wonderful things about it. I couldn't wait to pick it up and start reading.

Doon is a fantasy novel that takes place in Scotland. The story follows two American girls who just graduated from high school named Veronica and Mackenna. While Mackenna is from a rich family and is very outgoing, Veronica lives with her mother who drinks a lot and her pervy boyfriend. Mackenna has just inherited a cottage in Scotland, and the two friends go there to spend the summer. However, Veronica is having visions of an attractive, Scottish boy calling to her. Once arriving in Scotland and learning some of the local legends that she is sure is connected to her mystery man, she sets out to find the truth. Along with Mackenna, she soon finds herself in the mystical world of Doon, where all kinds of heroics and struggles ensue, laced with humor and romance all along the way.

On Goodreads, I gave this book 3/5 stars, though I would actually give it closer to 3.5/5. Since I've finished the book and am thinking about it more, it is growing on me more. 

One thing that I liked about the book is the fact that it gets into the action right away. The authors did not spend a lot of time working up characters and background information before getting into the action. Sometimes, it takes authors a long time to get into the actual story while they're giving background information, which can get to be pretty boring, so I was very glad that this book didn't do that. I also really like the characters. Both Veronica and Mackenna are very believable and realistic. The authors didn't give them a ton of unrealistic flaws or quirks, or try to make them perfect. They are just normal girls who are very likable. I particularly like Mackenna, simply because I love her sarcasm and fiery spirit.

One of the main things that I disliked about this book is all of the teen romance cliches that are in the book. For example, the main male character is very hot and cold, which has gotten really old in teen romance. Mackenna describes this as an "Edward Cullen act", which I think is the best way to describe it. This behavior almost always immediately turns me off to the character, and usually also turns me off to the female who is so in love with them. Also, as in a ton of books, the main character knows important information that would help everyone, but keeps it to herself to "protect everyone". This leads to even more trouble every time, and I just don't get why authors keep writing that situation into books, when it seems to unrealistic to me.

I think that one of the reasons that I didn't enjoy the book as much as I had hoped was because I read it as an ebook, and not a physical copy. Ebooks just don't feel legitimate to me, it feels like I'm reading fanfiction off of Wattpad or something and not an actual, published book. I really think I would have liked it much more if I'd read a physical copy, but that's just a personal preference.

Overall, I did enjoy the book. I realized how much that I liked it when I was reading and all of a sudden I realized that it was 3:00 AM and I hadn't put the book down in hours. I am still trying to decide if I want to read the next book in the series. I hadn't been planning on it, but then Doon ended on a note that intrigued me and made me want to know what happened. Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who loves teen/ YA romance and fantasy adventure. It was also really cool to see a book that takes place in Scotland, as it isn't a place that I get to read about often. It makes me want to visit the beautifully described country!

Have you read this book?
What did you think?
xx
Heidi

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