Time travel to ancient Scotland. Fancy dresses. Duels. Scottish accents. I've heard this book described as the YA Outlander. Seeing as I'm not actually that interested in Outlander, I don't know what drew me to Doon.
Perhaps the idea of a fated couple? OR maybe I was just convinced by everyone raving about it everywhere.
Doon follows two best friends, MacKenna and Veronica, as they vacation in Scotland. The two girls stumble into the world of Doon, which is basically medieval Scotland with a few twists on it. Veronica has been seeing visions-- visions of a handsome Scottish lad. Once they reach Doon she's able to meet him, but not in the way they might think.
This book had a lot of potential. It presented an interesting story, but the way it was executed was just plain out messy. The writing felt like something I would've written in the sixth grade. The writing style was messy, the actual words felt very young and not well thought out and just-- well, everything about the writing was poor. The dialog? Had me wanting to just put the book down and never look towards it again. And the way the relationships were written between the characters? Just no.
I have to say, I went into this book expecting a heart stopping romance. I came out with TWO romances that made me roll my eyes two hundred percent of the time. Was I attached to either? No. Just the way the story was set up, the way the characters were written and how they acted around each other just didn't make the relationships something to root for.
The entire book was actually pretty unimpressive. The plot? Easily predictable. I'm not sure there were any plot twists that I didn't predict one hundred pages beforehand. The characters? All of them seemed very flat and uninteresting to me. Really, there wasn't a single one that I was actually very attached to. Why? The writing was just so off-putting. These teenage girls are supposed to be practically adults, not thinking and speaking like they're in the firth grade.
Cliches? Yes I love my good old cliches. But really. This does actually feel like something I would've written in middle school. There are so many cliches shoved into EVERY PAGE.
The amount of angst was off the table and about as far from believable as it comes. And the reasons for angst weren't even good ones. Anyone who's read my past reviews knows if I had to pick one element that I absolutely despise in a book, it would be INSTALOVE. The amount of instalove in this book is OFF THE FREAKING CHARTS. You expect me to believe people are going to be so in love with each other after only knowing each other for two days that everything hurts when they're not with you and seeing them with someone else? Oh dear god. The jealousy and pain it causes. No. That's not how love works.
I was expecting a well written romance that would have me swooning, as well as some boys that would have me swooning. Instead I got a bipolar blonde (no matter what excuses the story gave, I don't see any of them acceptable excuses for the behavior that was shown) and an over friendly prince who's just all too ready to fall in love. Slash he already fell in love basically before he even met the girl. I guess it only took what-- a split second?
Not only is it instalove. It's instaeverything, including willingness to believe in things. Seriously, Veronica is willing to believe in Doon as soon as she hears it. Umm... I'm just going to say this, if someone told you a fairytale about a far off kingdom.. would you immediately believe it and go searching for it?
Pacing was also weak. I mean one second literally NOTHING is happening and it's boring as hell, and then the next everything is happening. This cycles through. And then the book is over. Really, just this wasn't really a well thought out book. Good idea, but bad execution. Will I be reading the next book? Eventually. But all together I was unimpressed and mostly irritated with the writing and how well the plot was planned out.
5.7/10 stars. It was a fun story, but just as I've said like a million times before. The writing. The writing, pacing and execution was this book's downfall.
Synopsis:
DOON…
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.
DOON is loosely based on the premise of the musical Brigadoon, with permission from the ALan Jay Lerner Estate and the Frederick Loewe Foundation. Follow the journey at http://www.DoonSeries.com
~Destiny awaits!
Thanks for reading,
-Anj
Perhaps the idea of a fated couple? OR maybe I was just convinced by everyone raving about it everywhere.
Doon follows two best friends, MacKenna and Veronica, as they vacation in Scotland. The two girls stumble into the world of Doon, which is basically medieval Scotland with a few twists on it. Veronica has been seeing visions-- visions of a handsome Scottish lad. Once they reach Doon she's able to meet him, but not in the way they might think.
This book had a lot of potential. It presented an interesting story, but the way it was executed was just plain out messy. The writing felt like something I would've written in the sixth grade. The writing style was messy, the actual words felt very young and not well thought out and just-- well, everything about the writing was poor. The dialog? Had me wanting to just put the book down and never look towards it again. And the way the relationships were written between the characters? Just no.
I have to say, I went into this book expecting a heart stopping romance. I came out with TWO romances that made me roll my eyes two hundred percent of the time. Was I attached to either? No. Just the way the story was set up, the way the characters were written and how they acted around each other just didn't make the relationships something to root for.
The entire book was actually pretty unimpressive. The plot? Easily predictable. I'm not sure there were any plot twists that I didn't predict one hundred pages beforehand. The characters? All of them seemed very flat and uninteresting to me. Really, there wasn't a single one that I was actually very attached to. Why? The writing was just so off-putting. These teenage girls are supposed to be practically adults, not thinking and speaking like they're in the firth grade.
Cliches? Yes I love my good old cliches. But really. This does actually feel like something I would've written in middle school. There are so many cliches shoved into EVERY PAGE.
The amount of angst was off the table and about as far from believable as it comes. And the reasons for angst weren't even good ones. Anyone who's read my past reviews knows if I had to pick one element that I absolutely despise in a book, it would be INSTALOVE. The amount of instalove in this book is OFF THE FREAKING CHARTS. You expect me to believe people are going to be so in love with each other after only knowing each other for two days that everything hurts when they're not with you and seeing them with someone else? Oh dear god. The jealousy and pain it causes. No. That's not how love works.
I was expecting a well written romance that would have me swooning, as well as some boys that would have me swooning. Instead I got a bipolar blonde (no matter what excuses the story gave, I don't see any of them acceptable excuses for the behavior that was shown) and an over friendly prince who's just all too ready to fall in love. Slash he already fell in love basically before he even met the girl. I guess it only took what-- a split second?
Not only is it instalove. It's instaeverything, including willingness to believe in things. Seriously, Veronica is willing to believe in Doon as soon as she hears it. Umm... I'm just going to say this, if someone told you a fairytale about a far off kingdom.. would you immediately believe it and go searching for it?
Pacing was also weak. I mean one second literally NOTHING is happening and it's boring as hell, and then the next everything is happening. This cycles through. And then the book is over. Really, just this wasn't really a well thought out book. Good idea, but bad execution. Will I be reading the next book? Eventually. But all together I was unimpressed and mostly irritated with the writing and how well the plot was planned out.
5.7/10 stars. It was a fun story, but just as I've said like a million times before. The writing. The writing, pacing and execution was this book's downfall.
Synopsis:
DOON…
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.
DOON is loosely based on the premise of the musical Brigadoon, with permission from the ALan Jay Lerner Estate and the Frederick Loewe Foundation. Follow the journey at http://www.DoonSeries.com
~Destiny awaits!
Thanks for reading,
-Anj
RSS Feed
