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ketutar's review against another edition
1.0
So... I read it only because of bad reviews being so dang funny.
One thing, though. This is NOT science fiction. The presence of time travel doesn't make it scifi. For a time travel story to be scifi, there must be a scientific reason for it, like a machine or something. Here it's purely magical. Also, there is no time travel here.
This reads like fan fiction. It is very hard to believe that this is actually not self-published, but published by HarperCollins! 8-[
It's worse than Outlander and Twilight. Yeah... it's like fan fiction by someone who really liked Twilight, but didn't like the vampires, but wanted something supernatural, and also like Outlander, and musicals, so she chose Brigadoon, but then also loved these "prince meets an American girl" stories, so let's put that in, too, and then a sprinkling of God, because this is Christian fiction after all - there's no magic, just God and Satan working through people, which makes it OK for the good guys to use witchcraft, because it's obviously not witchcraft, but God.
It starts with the MC, Veronica, seeing her boyfriend snugging with another girl. Her "arch-rival". She asks him what he's doing and he tells her that Veronica treats him like he was a boy, and he wants more, that she's cold, and that he gets what he wants from the other girl. And MC goes to her car and cries her eyes out, not because her heart is broken, but because HER boyfriend cheated on her, everyone else knew before her, he humiliated her, with her arch-rival! And then she sees this GORGEOUS guy and her former boyfriend is all forgotten. How would I know? Let's say that she loved her ex so much than when this GORGEOUS boy finally kisses her and her best friend asks her if he kisses as well as her former ex, she seriously asks "who?". TWO MONTHS LATER. So much for her eternal love. No wonder the ex moved on. She obviously cared a lot.
Veronica is one of the most egocentric MCs I've ever read about.
Everything is someone else's fault.
She complains about everyone making decisions for her, but that doesn't stop her from making decisions for others. But that's OK, because it's her and she's doing it for the best of the others.
She assumes a lot, never discuss anything, never asks, never answers any questions, has her tear-jerker stories about her ex, her mother, her father, but doesn't care one bit about anyone else's stories. After all, they can't be as bad as hers. She doesn't seem to care much about her best friend, but as we are told they are best friends, and would do anything for each other, I suppose we better believe it. (To be fair, there IS some best friend behavior and reactions going on. Some. Not consistent.)
I am bothered by how she just snatches the friend's great-aunt's ring and puts it in her finger without even asking her friend, and then everyone just acts as if it was HER ring.
There is a lot of drama queenery here. Someone says or does something totally fine, and the girls get offended and all huff and puff. I don't remember anyone who has been this quick to react negatively, and getting all abusive and aggressive about it. The prince says something funny, but she isn't in the mood, so she is all snarky and mean to him.
And the name calling! The prince doesn't accept her help, so she is so angry she beats a pillow into feathers, and calls him everything between heaven and earth. He's an arrogant pig, a jerk, jerkwad, "a rude, egotistical pig" and "conceited jackwagon", and a lot more. And then they drool over the princes. "Yes, he's a jerk, but look at those abs!!!"
The magic kingdom is really stupid. It's open to the surrounding "real" world only once every 100 years, but that doesn't stop the kingdom to have been equipped with every modern comfort and nicety. Like fully equipped modern toilets, pizza, sushi, chocolate eclairs and cotton. There's oranges and lemons. (If you don't understand the meaning of this: this is a country with no connection to sea. Now, you can make sushi with salmon, but not without rice. And one cannot grow rice in Scotland. Now, think about all the other things you need for these things. Do cocoa grow in Scotland? How about oranges? Lemons? Maple syrup? Black pepper? And all the things one needs that don't grow in Scotland... you brought in the last batch 100 years ago. Not so fresh... And just imagine the volume of freight needed to bring in enough of these things for 100 years during one day... So, no. Might be a petty little detail for all who don't care, but a lot of people do care, and it would have been so easy to go around it. There's plenty of Scottish food that's delicious. You don't need to feed your American girls American foods, because you can't think of anything else. There's this thing called "research". Do it.)
The horses work like cars. You can't ride if there's no road. And you just park your carriage in some side street and take your things from the trunk.
And it is full of rather offensive stereotypes. I mean, they are dressed in like Halloweed Scottish outfits all the time, like peasant shirts, skirts and a tartan sash and tam. Also, most Doonians speak some sort of Brogue, when the author remembers to add it, so you have a character saying something like "ye are verra pretty, lass" and "I know you don't" in the same sentence.
The girls are complaining all the time, misinterpretating everything, angry with people for being nice, angry when they are not nice, they complain about everything, except the American food, expect people to read their minds, and when they fail, they get aggressive, even violent.
The author has no knowledge or understanding of most things, she sprinkles facts all over the thing to make it sound credible, but does it so crudely it's painful.
"A flock of birds shot from the canopy of the forest like they were bent on avenging their stolen eggs. Duncan pointed to them. “Crossbills. They’re a type of finch.”
If she doesn't know what a crossbill is, why do you assume she knows what a finch is? Besides, finches don't behave like that. But - the author has read that there are crossbills in Scotland, so she puts it in to add some local color.
And the ending... *rolling eyes*
It also feels like the authors had some sort of checklist there: "add comic relief", "add feminism", and then they just ticked these items off their writing list. Totally gratuitous scenes with no other meaning than to "add feminism" or some other such.
One thing, though. This is NOT science fiction. The presence of time travel doesn't make it scifi. For a time travel story to be scifi, there must be a scientific reason for it, like a machine or something. Here it's purely magical. Also, there is no time travel here.
This reads like fan fiction. It is very hard to believe that this is actually not self-published, but published by HarperCollins! 8-[
It's worse than Outlander and Twilight. Yeah... it's like fan fiction by someone who really liked Twilight, but didn't like the vampires, but wanted something supernatural, and also like Outlander, and musicals, so she chose Brigadoon, but then also loved these "prince meets an American girl" stories, so let's put that in, too, and then a sprinkling of God, because this is Christian fiction after all - there's no magic, just God and Satan working through people, which makes it OK for the good guys to use witchcraft, because it's obviously not witchcraft, but God.
It starts with the MC, Veronica, seeing her boyfriend snugging with another girl. Her "arch-rival". She asks him what he's doing and he tells her that Veronica treats him like he was a boy, and he wants more, that she's cold, and that he gets what he wants from the other girl. And MC goes to her car and cries her eyes out, not because her heart is broken, but because HER boyfriend cheated on her, everyone else knew before her, he humiliated her, with her arch-rival! And then she sees this GORGEOUS guy and her former boyfriend is all forgotten. How would I know? Let's say that she loved her ex so much than when this GORGEOUS boy finally kisses her and her best friend asks her if he kisses as well as her former ex, she seriously asks "who?". TWO MONTHS LATER. So much for her eternal love. No wonder the ex moved on. She obviously cared a lot.
Veronica is one of the most egocentric MCs I've ever read about.
Everything is someone else's fault.
She complains about everyone making decisions for her, but that doesn't stop her from making decisions for others. But that's OK, because it's her and she's doing it for the best of the others.
She assumes a lot, never discuss anything, never asks, never answers any questions, has her tear-jerker stories about her ex, her mother, her father, but doesn't care one bit about anyone else's stories. After all, they can't be as bad as hers. She doesn't seem to care much about her best friend, but as we are told they are best friends, and would do anything for each other, I suppose we better believe it. (To be fair, there IS some best friend behavior and reactions going on. Some. Not consistent.)
I am bothered by how she just snatches the friend's great-aunt's ring and puts it in her finger without even asking her friend, and then everyone just acts as if it was HER ring.
There is a lot of drama queenery here. Someone says or does something totally fine, and the girls get offended and all huff and puff. I don't remember anyone who has been this quick to react negatively, and getting all abusive and aggressive about it. The prince says something funny, but she isn't in the mood, so she is all snarky and mean to him.
And the name calling! The prince doesn't accept her help, so she is so angry she beats a pillow into feathers, and calls him everything between heaven and earth. He's an arrogant pig, a jerk, jerkwad, "a rude, egotistical pig" and "conceited jackwagon", and a lot more. And then they drool over the princes. "Yes, he's a jerk, but look at those abs!!!"
The magic kingdom is really stupid. It's open to the surrounding "real" world only once every 100 years, but that doesn't stop the kingdom to have been equipped with every modern comfort and nicety. Like fully equipped modern toilets, pizza, sushi, chocolate eclairs and cotton. There's oranges and lemons. (If you don't understand the meaning of this: this is a country with no connection to sea. Now, you can make sushi with salmon, but not without rice. And one cannot grow rice in Scotland. Now, think about all the other things you need for these things. Do cocoa grow in Scotland? How about oranges? Lemons? Maple syrup? Black pepper? And all the things one needs that don't grow in Scotland... you brought in the last batch 100 years ago. Not so fresh... And just imagine the volume of freight needed to bring in enough of these things for 100 years during one day... So, no. Might be a petty little detail for all who don't care, but a lot of people do care, and it would have been so easy to go around it. There's plenty of Scottish food that's delicious. You don't need to feed your American girls American foods, because you can't think of anything else. There's this thing called "research". Do it.)
The horses work like cars. You can't ride if there's no road. And you just park your carriage in some side street and take your things from the trunk.
And it is full of rather offensive stereotypes. I mean, they are dressed in like Halloweed Scottish outfits all the time, like peasant shirts, skirts and a tartan sash and tam. Also, most Doonians speak some sort of Brogue, when the author remembers to add it, so you have a character saying something like "ye are verra pretty, lass" and "I know you don't" in the same sentence.
The girls are complaining all the time, misinterpretating everything, angry with people for being nice, angry when they are not nice, they complain about everything, except the American food, expect people to read their minds, and when they fail, they get aggressive, even violent.
The author has no knowledge or understanding of most things, she sprinkles facts all over the thing to make it sound credible, but does it so crudely it's painful.
"A flock of birds shot from the canopy of the forest like they were bent on avenging their stolen eggs. Duncan pointed to them. “Crossbills. They’re a type of finch.”
If she doesn't know what a crossbill is, why do you assume she knows what a finch is? Besides, finches don't behave like that. But - the author has read that there are crossbills in Scotland, so she puts it in to add some local color.
And the ending... *rolling eyes*
It also feels like the authors had some sort of checklist there: "add comic relief", "add feminism", and then they just ticked these items off their writing list. Totally gratuitous scenes with no other meaning than to "add feminism" or some other such.
mysticmarisa's review against another edition
4.0
When I first started reading this book, I didn't really like it at all. It was super cliché and I felt like I was reading a middle grade book. I really thought I was going to end up giving it 2 stars.
The thing is, I really hate world building. And it took me a long time to get into the world of doon. But everything took a twist towards the end and I ended up loving it. I think it was during the scene with Veronica and Jamie in that hunting cabin tbh...
I'm really eager to pick up the next book because I know it will be better since the world is already established.
The thing is, I really hate world building. And it took me a long time to get into the world of doon. But everything took a twist towards the end and I ended up loving it. I think it was during the scene with Veronica and Jamie in that hunting cabin tbh...
I'm really eager to pick up the next book because I know it will be better since the world is already established.
savandstories's review against another edition
5.0
Scottish accents, romance, danger, and handsome princess.. count me in!! Now, I will say, Jamie is super annoying for 2/3 of the books and I still don’t love his character, but Duncan is the goody prince we all need in our lives!! I can’t wait for the next one!
gginnola's review
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
kateycakee's review against another edition
4.0
Cute lil fantasy historic romance. Looking forward to reading book 2
arkascha's review against another edition
3.0
A quick and fun read with a nice story arc and a good cliffhanger. The characters are likeable, Doon a place I'd like to take a vacation at, and while there's a happy ending, there's also heartbreak. I am giving it 3 stars because after a while, the never-ceasing references to musicals started grinding on my nerves - and so did the inconsistent use of Scottish brogue. But, that's just me, and probably does little in terms of ruining this tale of magic, love, and loss for most readers.
melissaverasreads's review against another edition
2.0
Rainbow Readathon: Green.
Este libro prometía, nunca creí que sería una obra maestra, pero pensé que sería un romance entretenido, con príncipes y fantasías.
Pero todo el entretenimiento se evaporó porque Verónica, una de las protagonistas principales, no solo es molesta y quejica, sino que también es estúpida. Para que la trama funcionara, Verónica tuvo que tomar decisiones estúpidas tras decisiones estúpidas. Vamos, que un error lo comete cualquiera, pero ¿había necesidad de que el error se cometiera porque Verónica es corta de luces?
¡Y la villana! Vamos, que la sacaron de una película de Disney -_- Un personaje totalmente plano.
También pensé que el romance me iba a gustar, pero no. No fue nada del otro mundo, y el hecho de que haya sido "insta-love" le resta muchísimos puntos también.
Lo único bueno es que sí me pareció bonita la amistad entre las dos protagonistas, Verónica y Mackenna.
No esperaba mucho de este libro e igual logró decepcionarme.
Este libro prometía, nunca creí que sería una obra maestra, pero pensé que sería un romance entretenido, con príncipes y fantasías.
Pero todo el entretenimiento se evaporó porque Verónica, una de las protagonistas principales, no solo es molesta y quejica, sino que también es estúpida. Para que la trama funcionara, Verónica tuvo que tomar decisiones estúpidas tras decisiones estúpidas. Vamos, que un error lo comete cualquiera, pero ¿había necesidad de que el error se cometiera porque Verónica es corta de luces?
¡Y la villana! Vamos, que la sacaron de una película de Disney -_- Un personaje totalmente plano.
También pensé que el romance me iba a gustar, pero no. No fue nada del otro mundo, y el hecho de que haya sido "insta-love" le resta muchísimos puntos también.
Lo único bueno es que sí me pareció bonita la amistad entre las dos protagonistas, Verónica y Mackenna.
No esperaba mucho de este libro e igual logró decepcionarme.
sparksofember's review against another edition
2.0
I had high expectations for Doon. It's been on my radar a long time due to that gorgeous cover plus it's inspired by the old musical Brigadoon, which I've always had mixed feelings about. Not to mention several of my online friends have given it good reviews. So I was excited to finally get my hands on this book and be swept away on a romantic adventure to ancient Scotland.
Only - not so much.
The book started off interesting with Veronica having visions, jetting off to Scotland with Mackenna, discovering mysterious items relating to Doon - a land that shouldn't exist. I couldn't wait until they managed to cross over. I also thought the details about Doon's disappearing were much better that in the musical - time still passes while Doon is hidden, just slower, rather than a hundred years passing while they sleep. I liked that much better than the original concept - something about being locked in time, hundreds of years passing by, has always felt more like a nightmare than a miracle to me. The reasons behind Doon being hidden were better too, but I still wondered what made it so special that a witch would be obsessed with the place. The girls were often snarky and there were some hilarious references that made me laugh, especially with the friendship between the girls. There was a lot to like about the book.
However...
Doon's occasional contact with the outside world ended up being rather bizarre. They had it down to a science - spending the big day reading up on all the advances in technology and rushing back to implement what they could. (Yay for flushing toilets in ancient Scotland! Isn't that convenient for our two girlies?) And God randomly "Calling" people from all over the planet to come to Doon so they can have pizza and sushi? (I'm sorry but I just... I wanted to experience Scotland and instead they hung out with Italian restaurateurs!)
The magic-curse/evil-witch part just didn't flow right somehow. Maybe because while I heard about it constantly, there were no real, obvious indications of it until suddenly at the very end. I kept feeling like they were jumping to conclusions and overreacting based on little to no information. Worst was the one time there really was an obvious sign but it happened off-scene and we were told about it much later. That would have been a powerful, downright creepy moment that would have really enhanced the story and I was flabbergasted it was not shown. I had issues with the big climactic ending too - I tend to get annoyed when I feel like a story goes all "girl power" for no reason - and some of the magic battling made me laugh which I doubt was the desired effect during the tense showdown. I also had a hard time telling the girls apart - their voices were the same and I couldn't keep track of who was who and whose perspective I was currently reading.
But none of the above would have mattered - I can overlook a lot - if the romance had been decent. Firstly, Jamie acted like an extremely angry jerk for 90% of the book which I didn't understand - for a people that place so much stock in soulmates, he sure didn't seem to behave that way. Meanwhile Veronica just drowned in teen angst over the soulmate part. I'm all for two people being perfect for each other but I need to see the reasons why, not just have them be instantly, desperately, in love for no reason whatsoever other than they just have to be. There was a lot of told chemistry, physical tension and eventual kissing but I didn't feel any of it because there was no groundwork laid to get us there.
(On a side note, there was a lot of fuss made about Veronica's father disappearing when she was younger. On her birthday. Which had scarred her for life. I can see where some of that was to explain her character - but the fact he "abandoned" her on her birthday just made me extremely suspicious and I kept waiting for him to turn up for some magical, mystical reason. Except he never did. Maybe I've just seen the Alice miniseries one too many times but I was irritated at the "gun on the wall" that never got used. It's the only thing about the sequels I am curious about. But not that curious.)
Only - not so much.
The book started off interesting with Veronica having visions, jetting off to Scotland with Mackenna, discovering mysterious items relating to Doon - a land that shouldn't exist. I couldn't wait until they managed to cross over. I also thought the details about Doon's disappearing were much better that in the musical - time still passes while Doon is hidden, just slower, rather than a hundred years passing while they sleep. I liked that much better than the original concept - something about being locked in time, hundreds of years passing by, has always felt more like a nightmare than a miracle to me. The reasons behind Doon being hidden were better too, but I still wondered what made it so special that a witch would be obsessed with the place. The girls were often snarky and there were some hilarious references that made me laugh, especially with the friendship between the girls. There was a lot to like about the book.
However...
Doon's occasional contact with the outside world ended up being rather bizarre. They had it down to a science - spending the big day reading up on all the advances in technology and rushing back to implement what they could. (Yay for flushing toilets in ancient Scotland! Isn't that convenient for our two girlies?) And God randomly "Calling" people from all over the planet to come to Doon so they can have pizza and sushi? (I'm sorry but I just... I wanted to experience Scotland and instead they hung out with Italian restaurateurs!)
The magic-curse/evil-witch part just didn't flow right somehow. Maybe because while I heard about it constantly, there were no real, obvious indications of it until suddenly at the very end. I kept feeling like they were jumping to conclusions and overreacting based on little to no information. Worst was the one time there really was an obvious sign but it happened off-scene and we were told about it much later. That would have been a powerful, downright creepy moment that would have really enhanced the story and I was flabbergasted it was not shown. I had issues with the big climactic ending too - I tend to get annoyed when I feel like a story goes all "girl power" for no reason - and some of the magic battling made me laugh which I doubt was the desired effect during the tense showdown. I also had a hard time telling the girls apart - their voices were the same and I couldn't keep track of who was who and whose perspective I was currently reading.
But none of the above would have mattered - I can overlook a lot - if the romance had been decent. Firstly, Jamie acted like an extremely angry jerk for 90% of the book which I didn't understand - for a people that place so much stock in soulmates, he sure didn't seem to behave that way. Meanwhile Veronica just drowned in teen angst over the soulmate part. I'm all for two people being perfect for each other but I need to see the reasons why, not just have them be instantly, desperately, in love for no reason whatsoever other than they just have to be. There was a lot of told chemistry, physical tension and eventual kissing but I didn't feel any of it because there was no groundwork laid to get us there.
(On a side note, there was a lot of fuss made about Veronica's father disappearing when she was younger. On her birthday. Which had scarred her for life. I can see where some of that was to explain her character - but the fact he "abandoned" her on her birthday just made me extremely suspicious and I kept waiting for him to turn up for some magical, mystical reason. Except he never did. Maybe I've just seen the Alice miniseries one too many times but I was irritated at the "gun on the wall" that never got used. It's the only thing about the sequels I am curious about. But not that curious.)
caitlinxreads's review against another edition
3.0
Want to say that I have read Outlander. If you have read any of the Outlander books, you may want to stay away from this.
This book was not what I was expecting. It was also written at a lower level than I currently read, so I found myself growing frustrated with that as well.
There were 2 main issues with this novel.
The biggest for me was Kenna. She was awful. I have not read about a more superficial character in a long time. First off, she referred to Prince Duncan as an 'ogre' for most of the novel. As a person who does not care much for Broadway or wannabe actresses in my novels, I disliked her immensely. She was rude, annoying, and over the top in every sense of those words.
The second huge issue was the amount of stereotypical YA themes thrown into this novel. I don't mind a love triangle, in fact, I kind of like them. This did not have a love triangle. No. This novel had two best friends (who had NOTHING in common) who go to a mystical land and discover two hot princes. One for each. Seriously, not every character needs to have a match and especially not two best friends falling for two brothers. Could it get any worse? This read less like a romance/fantasy and more like the authors were writing about their school girl crushes and how their lives would be in a perfect world. This also had the YA insta-love that I absolutely detest.
A lesser issue for me was Veronica had unbelievable character development. I saw other reviews mentioned this, but having every person she loves walk out on her and then instantly falling for a prince seems highly unlikely. Also, the end of the novel seemed like a pity party for one.
This could have been amazing. It really could have been a great novel. A few improvements that I would make are having only Veronica's perspective, have her go to Doon by herself, and basically pretend Kenna does not exist.
I am not sure if I will continue this series.
This book was not what I was expecting. It was also written at a lower level than I currently read, so I found myself growing frustrated with that as well.
There were 2 main issues with this novel.
The biggest for me was Kenna. She was awful. I have not read about a more superficial character in a long time. First off, she referred to Prince Duncan as an 'ogre' for most of the novel. As a person who does not care much for Broadway or wannabe actresses in my novels, I disliked her immensely. She was rude, annoying, and over the top in every sense of those words.
The second huge issue was the amount of stereotypical YA themes thrown into this novel. I don't mind a love triangle, in fact, I kind of like them. This did not have a love triangle. No. This novel had two best friends (who had NOTHING in common) who go to a mystical land and discover two hot princes. One for each. Seriously, not every character needs to have a match and especially not two best friends falling for two brothers. Could it get any worse? This read less like a romance/fantasy and more like the authors were writing about their school girl crushes and how their lives would be in a perfect world. This also had the YA insta-love that I absolutely detest.
A lesser issue for me was Veronica had unbelievable character development. I saw other reviews mentioned this, but having every person she loves walk out on her and then instantly falling for a prince seems highly unlikely. Also, the end of the novel seemed like a pity party for one.
This could have been amazing. It really could have been a great novel. A few improvements that I would make are having only Veronica's perspective, have her go to Doon by herself, and basically pretend Kenna does not exist.
I am not sure if I will continue this series.