Review of Destined for Doon

Destined for Doon

Authors: Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon

Publisher: BlinkYA

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 978-0-310-74240-1

Other: Sequel to Doon

Summary

When Mackenna Reid left the land of Doon to follow her dream of a Broadway career, she thought she was making the right decision. But nearly a year later, Kenna still can’t shake visions of the prince she left standing on the edge of the Brig o’ Doon—a man who now must surely hate her. When Duncan shows up unexpectedly in her dressing room, begging her to return to Doon, she agrees to go, but only for the sake of her best friend, Veronica. She’s determined not to fall for Duncan again—or to let Duncan fall for her.

Back in Doon, Veronica is in over her head. Not all the citizens of Doon are eager to accept her as their new queen, and, worse, a mysterious evil has crossed the border, threatening the kingdom from every direction. Veronica longs to team up with Jamie for support, but lately she’s begun to suspect that he sees her as nothing more than a powerless figurehead—and an incompetent one at that. As Veronica and Mackenna reunite to save Doon from the growing darkness, they discover that the threat is even greater—and more dangerous—than they imagined, and a happily ever after might be out of reach. 

Review

Ever wanted to just accidentally wind up in a Medieval fantasy world? Best friends Veronica and Mackenna are vacationing in Scotland when they cross into a magical land called Doon, a land that is only open to the world once every hundred years. Destined for Doon picks up a year after Doon left off. Veronica is learning her new role as queen of Doon with Jamie at her side and Mackenna left her own love, Duncan, to return to the modern day world and pursue her career in Broadway. Doon soon faces a new threat, the litmus, from now on referred to as zombie moss, which is threatening to destroy Doon. Duncan brings Mackenna back to Doon because she is the one who is supposed to save everyone from the zombie moss. Veronica and Mackenna work to figure out how to get rid of the threat, and once they do, Mackenna is convinced she will leave Doon right afterwords even though she is upset at realizing how her actions have caused Duncan heartbreak. 

The story is told primarily from Mackenna’s point of view, interspersed with chapters from Veronica’s point of view. What I really liked about this format is that it really helps show how the two girls have very different personalities — Mackenna is afraid to love, makes snappy comments, and references musicals constantly; Veronica is a believer in love and fairy tales and just wants to do what is best for her new people — they are still best friends and nearly inseparable. 

Although Doon is about to be destroyed by zombie fungus, Mackenna spends a lot of time obsessing over Duncan. At times, that relationship could be very confusing with the whole they are on bad terms but now their friends but now their not talking and now almost kiss and now total strangers. The relationship gave me a bit of whiplash. Also, I get that Mackenna broke Duncan’s heart, and hers in the process, but I find if weird how much time she spend obsessing over Duncan when there is zombie moss. One relationship I wished had been explored further in the book was between Jamie and Duncan, who are two brothers. There is a lot of relationship development between Veronica and her love interest, Jamie, and Mackenna and Duncan, but little to no time is given to familial relationships. I like a good romance, but there was a lot of potential to really develop the relationship between the two brothers. 

Quick, fun read, but not much substance. The plot is pretty unexciting, though there is an unexpected cliffhanger at the end that left me in anticipation of reading the next book. After reading the first book, I expected much better from this one. 

Rating: 

Cover: 4/5

Writing style: 4/5

Plot: 3/5

Characters/Character development: 3/5

Overall Score: 3.4/5