Doon: Book Review

Usually I pride myself on giving critical, literary-based-ish reviews. Sometimes, I warn you that I’m a sucker for this or that and a review might be a tad biased. This is not either of those. This is an unbridled love-fest for the new Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon novel Doon.

Doon is based loosely off of the Musical Brigadoon, where two young American lads traveling through Scotland cross a magical bridge that appears only once every 100 years. That bridge leads to a magical Scottish town where everyone sings and stays young and the two adventurers must chose whether to stay or go.

Replace that with two young women, and you have the loose framework of Doon. Those two women are  Vee and Kenna, best friends and while not total opposites, they certainly have their differences. Vee’s boyfriend turns out to be a total tool, going the way of most of the men in her life. And her mom, if you can call her that, is more concerned about her boyfriend than anything Vee wants or needs.

So when Vee starts seeing a mysterious blonde boy wearing a kilt and bearing a heavy Scottish accent, well, she could just be going over the psychological deep end. Somehow, she doesn’t think so.

Then there is Kenna, passionate about theatre in the way that Vee breathes dance, she thinks she has everything worked out: Drag best friend on an epic summer graduation trip to Scotland, return home to a dream internship that begins her road to Broadway… if she can keep her best friend from hallucinating  men and go after some local ones of their own.

If I continue on with the summary, I will spend another three pages writing about it, because I haven’t yet finished my love affair with Doon to properly chop things out for an actual summary. So if you haven’t read the book, here is a link to the author’s site, complete with music playlists for inspiration. Also, don’t let the book trailer deter you. You need to read Doon.

Doon fits into a lot of the popular nows: a book series (There will be four books in all, and the wait will be agony!), fantasy/adventure/romance  genre (Romance–there is a lot a romance, which normally isn’t my cup of tea, but more on that in a moment), and it is told from the point of view of more than one narrator (Right now those are Mackenna and Veronica, but I have a feeling the men will make an appearance later). The girls are each written by a different author, so the voices remain mostly distinct. However, as they are best friends, sometimes the two blur a bit in the chapter beginnings. Luckily there’s a handy name at the top of each chapter that lets you know whose head you are about to enter.

Then, there are the Scottish boys –ahead are MILD SPOILERS, so be warned. Jamie–for all the bad boy lovers (me! me!) is tortured and conflicted. He’s a master at sarcasm and cocky as any prince would be. Duncan on the other hand–well, he reminds me of a less obnoxious  Emmett Cullen. Duncan is the boy next door, all smiles and sweetness. Don’t let that fool you though, he can still match wits with his brother, and take on more than a few men in an unfair fight.  Oh, did I mention the boys were brothers? So why have I just spent more than enough time describing the beautiful and lovely male characters when I typically dislike reading books with a romantic focus? Well, the question is all the answer you need.

And honestly, there is plenty of adventure to balance out the romance. The girls cross a magical bridge into a mythical land that is protected from a witch’s curses. But, as signs of the curse begin to creep into Doon, the people become suspicious of their two visitors. Cue the spooky music. Not that I didn’t figure out most of the mysteries at the beginning of the clue dropping, but there’s a twist at the end that will probably leave most surprised, and this book is more about the journey. Which happens to have an enormous payoff. Plus, I read a lot. It spoils me for most surprises.

One mild surprise is the obvious… belief system present in the books. Although I don’t know why that surprised me (pleasantly), as  the book deals with ancient, medieval-ish history. It is clear from the Doonian belief system that belief in a higher power is integral in the author’s lives. Not that that’s any of my business, and Doon in no way shoves religion, organized or otherwise, down the reader’s throat. It felt a part of the book in the way it is a part of the character’s lives, and that serves the overall themes of the book well.

And, as I said, there’s plenty of romance and action and adventure woven into the story along with all the other elements. Not to mention getting to know the authors’ version of Brigadoon, which holds just enough description to make the place easily appear in your imagination, but not enough to prohibit free interpretation. Speaking of musicals, there are plenty of references for the MT geek like myself, but not enough to be annoying or deter a casual reader. And before you ask, you don’t have to know Brigadoon before reading. You don’t have to like Brigadoon before reading. It’s never been at the top of my “to see” list. But now? I kinda want to watch it.

Then there are the side characters. The King McCrae makes just enough appearance as a strong, wise ruler. But the true sidekick awards belong to Fiona and Fergus, members of the royal household and guard respectively. They act as the balance in Doon. When everyone is rotten, they are nice. When the romantic tension between Jamie and Vee made me want to shake the book, they diffuse it with their flirting game. They are developed enough to become whole, yet they do not take over the story.

Yes, this book truly belongs to Vee and with her, Jamie, who is just so deliciously tortured. But Mackenna  and Duncan also diffuse some of the Vee angst. and if you’re into the boy next door, don’t worry. MacKenna and her Duncan will own the next book.

I literally could not put Doon down. I went to the movies with a friend and brought the book, even though I knew I wouldn’t have time to read it. After the movie, I went home to finish reading. And I did. At 1:38 AM.  It might have a flaw or two, but they’re not important ones, and probably have more to do with my personal preference than anything else.

It’s been a while since I have been inseparable from a story (Harry Potter aside. That never leaves my life). It’s been a long time since a book had mad me shake with excitement and literally sweat with anticipation. Doon is every wish fulfillment I imagined as a kid, is intensely creative, and I cannot wait for the next installment. It’s right in the in-between of everything: Between YA and the new New Adult, between fantasy and adventure, between the bad boy and the boy next door, between two best friends, and between worlds.

The final message is for the authors: Thank you. Write well. and please, write quickly. Like running-across-the-brig o’ doon-scarily-close-to-midnight quickly.

What are you still doing here…. go read Doon!

Oh, and if you’ve finished Doon, you could always go back and reread your favorite parts like I’ve been doing. Or, you can head over to Carey Corp’s Amazon page and check out her self-published works.

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Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief

Ever since a middle school student with ADHD told me about these books–told me how awesome they are and positively devoured them during his free time in class–I’ve been meaning to read them. Life just got in the way.

So when I saw the preview for the film version of the first book, I knew my time was running out. I wanted to see the film but I must read the book first. (Yes, I’m one of those.) Seven dollars and forty-nine cents later, I was the proud owner of the first book in the series by Rick Riordan.

Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief mixes modern-day society and the world of the Olympic gods. Riordan rationalizes their existence by claiming that Zeus and his large extended family never left, they simply moved to follow the booming society of the time. Now they reside atop the Empire State Building and occasionally come down into the mortal world to romance a human. The result is a demigod child, pegged as an ADHD, Dyslexic troublemaker, these children are either killed by monsters or sent to Camp Half-Blood, where they learn of their parentage and how to become a secret Hercules, battling the monsters that threaten their lives without revealing too much to the humans.

Enter twelve-year-old Percy Jackson, who gets kicked out of every school he attends.  While on a field trip, his teacher turns into a Harpy and attacks him. His best friend and another teacher mysteriously claim to have never heard of the teacher. And so his adventure begins. Percy begins seeing monsters everywhere and after a particularly vicious monster attack, he finds himself at Camp Half-Blood, learning about this Mythological world that hides inside the one we know. He makes some new friends, quite a few enemies, learns sword fighting, plays an interesting game of capture the flag, all while trying to discover exactly which Greek god fathered him. Even after this, he still has an across-country quest to keep him busy.

This book written for children wraps adventure, Greek mythology and everyday human concerns in a classic quest tale. Riordan manages to make mythology more than just an exciting story believed by dead people–he makes it relevent in the modern world and thrilling in a new way to younger readers.

As an adult, the book held my attention. I wasn’t desperate to read more, but I was more than generally interested, and I definitely felt that certain ‘cliffhanger’ pull toward the novel. I also really enjoyed decoding all the clues about the gods and monsters before their identities are revealed. This and references to the Odyssey as well as other famous mythological tales would have been enough to hold my attention. Combine that with a very realistic narrative and you have another quality read added to the list of children’s literature, great for classroom and adults and children alike.

My favorite thing about the book thus far is that it turns ADHD and Dyslexia, normally viewed as ‘disabilies’ or detriments into power. Percy is Dyslexic because he his brain is hardwired to read ancient Greek. He has ADHD so that he can be hyper alert and take in multiple stimuli at once while fighting off monsters. Bad things in our world are converted to talents in his. This boy who is not valued discovers how to use his ‘weaknesses’ as talents. This is a fabulous message, unintended or not, that can hopefully help motivate children who sympathize with Percy into working toward discovering their own strengths.

Verdict: Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief is well worth the read. I’m working on the second book now (The Sea of Monsters), so I’ll reserve judgement on the series as a whole until all five books have been read.

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