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.
Going into Doon, I will admit that I— foolishly — did not expect all that much. I am a fan of all things Irish, mystical and broody, but the synopsis sounded a bit too Ella Enchanted for me to really think I’d get something worthwhile out of it. But, much to my surprise, and happily so, as far as retelling’s go, Doon hits the spot.
I’d heard of the famous musical (Brigadoon) staring Gene Kelly and Cyd Charrise, followed by the television version featuring the handsomely young Robert Goulet and Peter Falk, but have never actually sat through either, though I did know the general story. I’d always been fond of the idea of people stumbling into another dimension and falling in hopeless love with someone from the outer realm, but maybe that has something to do with the fact that as a kid my dad sat me through the 1960’s version of The Time Machine too many times for it to not eventually grow on me. In case you were wondering, it worked. I have been slayed by young Rod Tyler. Is it really so bad? Aside from those Morlocks, of course, because, really, have you seen anything this scary?
I sure as hell haven’t and I don’t want to, either.
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Moving on to other things that don’t involve Rod Taylor’s baby blues, Doon is just the kind of action packed romantic fantasy other books could only hope to be. There’s equal parts mystery, thrills, romance and it all blends together smoothly to form one great, eclectic story.
I know I said we were moving on from my The Time Machine trauma but can I just add on a sidenote that I’m not even looking at what I’m typing because the Morlocks are staring right at me good lord someone help. Do you see the second one to the left? Do you feel those blood red eyes staring into your soul? Because I do so I’m going to keep typing until that picture disappears from my little space box completely.
Back to business, my favorite thing about Doon? You guessed it: the culture. Doon manages to stay true to it’s Brigadoon origins but finds it’s own originality in the midst of this quirky retelling. I loved the twists put on the tale along with Kenna and Veronica’s differentiating traits. It kept Doon levelheaded and made it easy to relate to the two girls who’ve practically been thrown into Oz.
Something else we don’t get much of? Womances. In case you’re wondering, a womance is the equivalent of what is a bromance except it involves woman and is, therefore, much more awesome than a bromance has the potential to ever be. I will also not tell you that I have always known womances existed, except I always referred to them as bramances and now I feel like a total idiot for even thinking there was something okay about that.
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Veronica and Kenna’s personalities are both so unique and even though I’ve never been a fan of dual same-sex point-of-views, Corp and Langdon found a way to work things out so that no one side of the story was ever dull. Their dedication to each other against all odds was beautiful and sisterly from all angles, which in turn has led Doon‘s womance to be one of my newest faves. Don’t fret, though, because we’ve got a real deal bromance brewing, too! Both Duncan and Jamie, princes of Doon, we’re lovable in their own odd little ways and I really seemed to favor scenes where both of these two happened to be standing in the same room, which mostly involved bickering and a few thrown punches, but still, an awesome bromance is an awesome bromance, and what kind of bromance is better than a bromance between two actual brothers?
That was a mouthful, now wasn’t it?
Romance was swoon-worthy and the countering love stories happening between the two best friends and the princes had me losing my mind with all the feels. Yes, all of them. Mostly anxiety, but this isn’t unusual for me and books I tend to fall in love with, so don’t worry about it. Too much. I’ll just stop talking now.
Slang. I LOVED this. I know one or two little Irish lads and the way these ladies conveyed their unique ways of conversing was too much fun, and right on track. Who can’t help but love authors who go out of their way to make everything they write as genuine as possible, really?
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Doon‘s writing was seamless and original, building and breaking at just the right points to leave readers wanting more, more, more. My only complaint about this one?
That the sequel has yet to be listed on Goodreads.
I am my own special brand of crazy, obviously.
Rating: 10/10
Extra special P.S:
GO BUY THIS BOOK WHY ARE YOU STILL READING THIS REVIEW IT’S JUST ME RANTING. BE GONE MINIONS.
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