I picked up Doon by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon based off of the cover alone. It is such a gorgeous cover and I had such high hopes for it. Unfortunately, I could barely make it to page 50 before I had to call it quits. I could not connect with either character, and had no investment in the plot to make me want to keep reading.
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 biggest problem with Doon was with Veronica, the main character, and her best friend, Mackenna. In a young adult book, it’s very typical for there to be lots of teenage angst. And I can usually read the angst. However, with Veronica, her entire life was causing her angst and she wanted nothing more than to be more like Mackenna. When we got Mackenna’s point of view, her life was a mess and all she wanted was to be more like Veronica. Neither girl liked themselves, and I didn’t like either of them.
Being so uninterested in either character killed any chance of getting me invested in the plot. Especially since the beginning was a slow world building/introducing the lives of the two girls. I didn’t care that Veronica’s boyfriend dumped her publicly, that her mom was dating a creep and didn’t seem to care about Veronica’s well-being, or that Veronica was so, so envious of Mackenna’s life. I did not care that Mackenna thought that Veronica was the most beautiful girl ever, and wished she could have Veronica’s life. Like I’ve said a few times now, I had to quit because I couldn’t take all of the teenage angst any longer.
With such a gorgeous cover, I had been drawn to Doon, hoping that it would sweep me away with a story full of magic, time travel, and that beautiful red dress. (What can I say? I really love that dress.) Unfortunately, I couldn’t get past all of the incessant teenage angst between Veronica and Mackenna.
Reading Order:
Doon
Destined for Doon
Shades of Doon