Shades of Doon {Review}

Shades of Doon by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon

Doon #3

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Publisher: Blink

Publishing Date: September 1, 2015

Goodreads Summary:

After cheating death, Veronica Welling is determined to savor every moment in her idyllic kingdom with both her true love and best friend by her side at last. At the same time, Mackenna Reid is enthusiastically building her new life and a theater with her prince. But just as their dreams of happiness are within reach, the world Vee and Kenna have chosen is ripped away, leaving them to face their most horrific challenge yet—their old lives.

Thrust out of Doon, the best friends are confronted with tormentors from their past and no way to return to their adopted land. When the MacCrae brothers rush to their rescue, the girls' situation turns from nightmare to modern-day fairy tale. But their happiness could be short lived: unbeknownst to them, someone in their closest circle is aiding the witch of Doon in her bid to destroy the kingdom once and for all.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via BookLook Bloggers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Buy a copy today!

My Thoughts:
First, complete shock: WHA??!! There is going to be a FOURTH BOOK?! This was so unexpected. I was reading through this book expecting a complete ending and was left hanging, yet again, with a Doon signature cliffhanger. 

Second: As the third book in the series, this review MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS for the previous two books. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

So, just like book two 'Destined for Doon', this book has a lot of teenage attraction. I would even go so far as to say it is the main focus of this book. There is some mystery and intrigue as someone seems to be out to get rid of Kenna and Veronica, but still the majority of the time is spent on the girls' relationships with their Scottish hotties. And we FINALLY get something of an explanation as to why Veronica won't just marry Jamie already! Like, you are SO in love with him...just do it! Jeepers. 

As part of the witch's attempt to get rid of the girls, they are magically transported back to their homes in America. They were facing a big mountain: no i.d. cards, no money, and no boyfriends. I thought this would have been a great moment for the girls to really work hard together and overcome without the boys....false alarm. This section of the book contained two of the largest issues for me. One, Kenna and Veronica get out of their scrapes too easily and/or too quickly sometimes. Without time to allow the characters and the reader to wallow and worry, the plot just doesn't feel realistic. Second? This whole section of the book was basically just filler and fluff. Nothing notable gets accomplished in the 'real world' except Duncan and Jamie getting to go shopping and eat horrible American food. One whole dramatic scene is devoted to Veronica showing Jamie off to her high school enemy at some sort of fundraiser. Again: teenage drama. 

Once the quartet arrives back in Doon, things pick up and the story stays focused on the action. And it all leads up to another huge cliffhanger! Poor Doon! How will it all work out? And do Kenna and Duncan ever have a relationship talk?! So many questions and now I have to WAIT. Where is my TARDIS??

Overall, not quite as good as book 2. I can only rate this one with 3 stars as I am beginning to find the teenage angst to be a distraction. I love the action and intrigue and hope we get more of that in the final (?) book of the Doon series. I'll recommend this to anyone who loves the rest of the series or for readers looking for some angsty, teenage attraction filled fantasy that isn't afraid to go a bit dark at points.