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| Doon by Carey Corp & Lorie Langdon |
"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!"
| I think this book may have the most beautiful cover of any book I have ever seen. And it is set in Scotland and based on a Broadway musical, so really, what's not to like? I had really high hopes for this one. In some part, those hopes were realized. There was a lot of action and adventure, romance, princes, a castle, a romantic village, beautiful dresses, bad villains... All the right pieces were there, but it was a little too cheesy and corny for me a lot of the time. There aren't many people in the world who love Broadway musicals as much as I do, but I don't go around saying things like, "Sacred Stephen Schwartz!", "Holy Hammerstein!", or "Sweet Baby Sondheim!". I found that hugely annoying. However, all the other musical references brought pretty awesome visuals to my mind: "Like doing a mash-up of Spring Awakening and Spamalot ." "I always imagined I'd be like Betty Buckley, performing way into the sunset of my life." But that's just me. I can't imagine there are very many teenagers who would understand those quotes, but maybe it would inspire them to research and become interested in The Great White Way and that business we call show (I totally could have written Makenna's chapters in this book!). Another annoying thing was that the book was told from the POV of 2 best friends, and it seemed like every chapter one of the girls would be thinking or talking about how beautiful her bestie was and how she felt so plain next to her, and then the other one would say the exact same thing. So apparently they were both drop-dead gorgeous and didn't know it. But I read that the 2 authors voiced the different girls and I thought that was a good idea because you could definitely hear the different voice come through and there was no confusion as to which girl was talking. Even though things annoyed me at times, once I got into it I had to keep reading. It was exciting and romantic, the setting was gorgeous, there was a lot of humor, the secondary characters were interesting, and the whole premise was very unique. I think the target audience will love this book. As for me - on to the sequel! Areas of concern: 3 or 4 mild cuss words ("It hurts like hell"...) Some pretty serious kissing going on, but stopped before anything else happened. Suggested Ages: School Library Journal - Grades 7-10 |
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