Actual rating: 2.5

I feel like the only thing I can say about this book is that it was underwhelming. It wasn’t “bad” by any means. It was just nothing special.

If you’re just looking for something to read for the sake of reading, you can go ahead and read this.

If you’re looking for something that will be fun and exciting… this isn’t it.

WOW they really did that didn't they--they gave you 95% of a book that canonically follows the character's identity (Merida is the ONLY princess coded as asexual and it meant a lot to so many people) and then throw in a romance in quite literally the last 5 paragraphs because it's Disney. I'm actually disappointed that I expected anything more from this. Without this egregious misstep, the book was interesting but not amazing, but I still would have given it a decent rating because it was interesting. However, the writing was incredibly repetitive, there is inconsistency with characters, and the whole point of the story is never quite explained?There's a lot of talk about people not changing, and this causes the destruction from the Feradach, yet there are people burning villages to the ground and those people aren't destroyed? There's no consistency. For a book that took its time with pacing, a lot was left out in terms of explanations like this.

I loved the story of Merida when the movie Brave came out. Now we get to see what happens after she saves her family and becomes the independent young lady we fell in love with. Merida is given a chance to make a true change in her family but she must do it without telling anyone of the deal she made with the Gods. I enjoyed how Maggie Stiefvater stayed true to the characters. It is definitely one I would recommend to anyone who loved Brave.

I always liked the idea of Brave, but it was never one of my favorite movies. A sequel, rather than a retelling, of the original Brave story sounded too intriguing to pass up.

There was a lot I liked about this. Merida's older in this, so it was interesting seeing how her character was reimagined as much more serious and mature. The movie focused a lot on Merida's relationship with her mother, and in this book, though their relationship has improved, it's still not perfect. There's still some tension between them, which honestly feels realistic. I also liked that the triplets are no longer one unit and instead have more distinct personalities.

However, there were a few things that didn't quite work for me. The pacing was slower than I like. It was the slower, fantasy style pacing that I know a lot of people really like, but I typically find hard to follow or get into. Because of that, I sometime found it hard to follow the thread of the plot.

My take away is that Maggie's take on Merida rings true to the Disney original. This Merida is a bit older and wiser, having lived and traveled, but still has the wild heart and stubborn nature. Also, in true Maggie Stiefvater fashion I found the story deep and meaningful. I've read some reviews saying it's predictable, but I say it's more of a fairytale than anything, take that what you will because there are many facets to a fairytale. Even if it had its moments of being predictable it didn't take a second away from my enjoyment and even made those moments more bittersweet.

Thanks NetGalley for this e-Arc. I love the story of Merida and how her and her mom rekindled their relationship of being a mother and daughter but honestly this book just didn’t do it for me like I wanted to love it and to see where the storyline was going to go but honestly the two gods or in this case the one god Feradach was just too much for me like I really wanted this to be a honest sequel of the movie but it didn’t really seem like it. I wish it tied more with her mom or even a backstory of her father and how he came to become the king of Dunbroch or maybe a new ceremony for her kingdom and the other kingdoms to be more acquainted. It just needed a bit more action in my opinion

Bravely by Maggie Stiefvater
“Merida of DunBroch, of all the things I have seen you be since I have begun to watch you, a coward is not one of them.”
~~~~~~
Alright we all know the story of Merida from the Disney movie Brave. But this takes it to a whole nother level. Stiefvater filled this book with adventure, emotions, and love interest for Merida?
I will admit in the beginning and middle, it got really slow for me. There were also a lot of other characters to keep track of. But the storyline was thrilling and the ending, along with what the love interest did? I didn’t see that coming and it was *chef’s kiss*
I would like to thank Maggie Stiefvater, Disney Publishing, and Negalley for giving me access to an ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and Disney Publishing for providing me with an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I went into this. Bravely is the first Disney sequel novel that I've read and I have to say it was everything that I didn't know I wanted.

The proper etiquette for a review of this nature is to give a rundown of the plot, but I went in blind and I feel it's much better when you go in not knowing much about this book. I had never seen Brave, but watched it for the first time just before reading this.

My take away is that Maggie's take on Merida rings true to the Disney original. This Merida is a bit older and wiser, having lived and traveled, but still has the wild heart and stubborn nature. Also, in true Maggie Stiefvater fashion I found the story deep and meaningful. I've read some reviews saying it's predictable, but I say it's more of a fairytale than anything, take that what you will because there are many facets to a fairytale. Even if it had its moments of being predictable it didn't take a second away from my enjoyment and even made those moments more bittersweet.

Finally I think the most important take away of this story is the theme of growing up and changing which can be frightening but also exciting. If you're a fan of Maggie Stiefvater or of Brave, This is a great addition to your library.

How does Maggie do it. Everything she writes draws the reader in IMMEDIATELY. Absolutely love this telling of the Brave princess, Merida. As a mid-twenty reader, it was so nice being drawn into another story about my favorite Disney princess, but not feeling like I was reading something made for children much younger than me. I desperately hope that she continues following the theme of the princesses, I’ll devour them!

Young adults will feel immersed in this courageous tale where Merida strikes a bargain with an ancient god and goddess to find a way to look for allies in far away places to ensure the survival of DunBroch. Themes of family and community are tackled in a refreshing adventure story. The jargon was hard to understand but it gave the book an authentic vibe.

DNF @ 40% - this was too off of the original for me. I thought it was going to be more of a retelling rather than a loose interpretation.

I received an eArc of this work in exchange for an honest review, thank you so much to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher Disney Press for the opportunity.

This review will contain minor spoilers.

I wanted to start out my review with high praise for the absolutely gorgeous cover art by Charlie Bowater. It is stunning, and a wonderful compliment to the novel's focus - that of our brave protagonist princess Merida, and has a wonderful fairy tale feel which is true to the work's overall tone.

In this story, we follow a slightly older Merida as she runs afoul of more mythological entities on a different sort of hero's journey to save her family and her kingdom. Over the course of a year, we explore themes of cultural complacency and stagnation, growing up and finding purpose, and how the bonds of family can change over time.

I've read many of the Disney princess What If type stories and I was very curious about this take on the beloved Pixar princess of Dun Broch. I did end up enjoying this take on a moral fairy tale and the in depth exploration of the characters that we had been introduced to via the original movie. While it is not my area of expertise, the mythological elements felt appropriate for the period that the story is set in, and compliments nicely with the original themes of the animated work. I loved the new levels of darkness and the tone felt appropriately YA or older middle grade.

The worldbuilding was incredibly thoughtful and the exploration of the heroic tasks and themes related to the seasons was executed very well. The amount of tension was well handled and the amount of peril was appropriate. In terms of character development, we definitely got to explore this author's take on the personalities we met in the original property, and like all good "fan fiction" I enjoyed the additional depth and details provided even if at times the ideas presented didn't necessarily match with my own preconceived notions of character motivation or backstory - in particular Queen Eleanor's backstory was incredibly interesting and not at all what one might have expected (almost Arthurian). I very much enjoyed the original characters added to the narrative - I was rooting for Feredach and Merida's relationship for almost the entire book and the ending actually surprised me. I did not care for the maid-turned-sister character and felt that her addition was a bit out of synch with the other elements added.

Overall I think this story would have worked very well even if not related to the original property, but I enjoyed the additional context that it provided. A good story if you are in the mood for a strong female protagonist in a medieval fantasy setting.

Thank you to NetGalley, Disney Hyperion, and Ms. Stiefvater for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

I have seen -and enjoyed! – the Disney movie <i>Brave</i>. However, I would absolutely say that you need to have seen the movie to fully enjoy this book. The context of what happens to Merida in the movie and the worldbuilding details of her home and family is crucial to providing context to this story.

<i>Bravely</i> takes the vague, watered-down, Disneyfied Celtic mythological elements present in the movie and expands them greatly. Now instead of ambiguous “wisps” and undefined “magic”, we have the Cailleach (Celtic crone goddess of nature, growth, creation) and Feradach, her counterpart, a male/male-“ish” god of destruction/rebirth/renewal. A reader thinking back on the movie is left to wonder whether the “witch” is a Disneyfied version of the Cailleach. At any rate, the Cailleach, Merida and Feradach enter into a wager on whether DunBroch (Merida’s home castle) needs to be destroyed due to stagnation. Merida vows to ensure that all her family members “change” by the end of the year to avert Feradach’s destruction, with the Cailleach as the judge of her success.

Thus starts the beginning of the year, in which Merida learns about personal growth, learning from the past and working towards the future, the value and necessity of change, and her agency in the growth of others.

The beginning was really good and hooked my interest; the middle dragged a bit as Merida did some traveling but in general things seemed to move very slowly. I felt myself losing steam and, despite the beautiful prose, interest. The pacing picked up at the end, which was very exciting. The ending was a good one for Merida: like the movie, it left things somewhat ambiguous, and focused more on Merida’s mental and emotional growth. I especially enjoyed Merida’s brothers’ growth from “the triplets” into three distinct, recognizable personalities.

I did not know that Merida was (apparently) an ace/aro icon. I just thought she was (in the movie, at least) a young girl who was not ready to marry and/or not willing to pick one of the three spousal candidates. I mean – did you SEE her three suitors? Not a one of them was especially appealing. So it was a real surprise to me to read all these reviews in which people implored the author to leave Merida the queer icon of their imaginings. I personally was satisfied with the (very clean, very ambiguous) quasi-romance – and don’t be alarmed, it was the faintest romantic spark ever. Barely a chaste kiss. – in the book, but I don’t know if it will please everyone (not that it needs to). The attraction or pull or whatever you want to call it between Merida and Feradach takes a definite backseat to the historical-based fantasy story. I enjoyed it and would recommend it.

I wanted to love this book but I just couldn't. The story takes place around 4-5 years after the original movie takes place. Merida is now 20 and he been traveling around Scotland, still unmarried. She's been away and while she's been gone her family has changed, and not for the better. The triplets all have their own personalities, Fergus has mellowed and Elinor just does nothing? The author also added in a new character, Leezie, and she's become an integral part of the family somehow.

Around Christmas time, Merida chases a god of ruin from Dunbroch before he can set his powers upon the kingdom. Merida strike a bargain with his, mediated by another god who is his foil, to wait a year before delivering final judgement. Merida then has a year to change her family and her kingdom for the better. At first she's very stubborn about the kingdom not needing to change, but slowly sees through more travels
that the kingdom is a bit run down. Along with her bargain with the gods, there is an invading clan trying to take over that she makes a second bargain with? The whole situation felt very weak and confusing. Why would this invader make a deal with a 20 year old girl? I didn't get it.

The pacing overall felt very uneven. It would lull to a boring dragging pace, and then have a quick action segment where things would happen, but like 3 things at once. I can appreciate what the author was going for, but it really just didn't work for me. Merida still felt like a stubborn girl, the triplets matured in odd ways, and Fergus and Elinor did not feel like the characters I knew and loved. Elinor's connection to the Girl's Home just didn't fit. Why would the other clans (who aren't even mentioned AT ALL) agree to let their king marry a "commoner?" And Leezie felt like a very forced addition at times, other times I didn't mind her.

The ending was a little predictable and also somehow felt forced at the same time. I had SUCH high hopes for this novel and was let down unfortunately.

Merida is itching for another adventure and she gets more than she bargained for when she encounters Feradach, the God of Destruction. He is determined to destroy her kingdom. Cailleach, the God of Creation, intervenes at the last moment with an ultimatum. Merida has one year to get her family to change or her beloved kingdom will be at the mercy of Feradach to wipe it from the face of the earth. Merida must journey to other kingdoms as she seeks to change her family, but realizes that she must also change too.
The characters were boring, the story was eye roll inducing, and I just couldn't get into it. I don't think this needed to be written, unfortunately.

First line: This is a story about two gods and a girl.

Summary: Merida, the princess of DunBroch, challenges a god to save her kingdom and her family. She vows that if the god will give her one year she will be able to change her family and her home. With this mounting task Merida travels around Scotland with members of her family in the hopes that their adventures will lead them to live different lives than the stagnant ones they have so far led.

My Thoughts: I went into this expecting to love it. I really like the movie Brave and Maggie Stiefvater is a wonderful author too. But I was much underwhelmed. It seemed to drag on and very little seemed to be happening until the very end. I listened to the audiobook and I was not impressed with the narrator. They should have had a Scottish rather than English narrator since the events take place in Scotland. In all the story was fine but very slow going. But the cover is stunning!

FYI: Pretty cover but rather boring book.

Going into Maggie Stiefvater’s Bravely, I thought I knew what to expect. Billed as a sequel to Disney Pixar’s Brave, I expected something in the vein of a sequel to a Disney property. Familiar faces, familiar locations, the return of side character and animal sidekicks that culminates in the main character learning the same lesson, or something very much like it, as they did in the first.

To my utter and unexpected delight, I was so, so wrong about that. In fact, I think I can confidently say I enjoyed Bravely a good deal more than I enjoyed the movie. Brave was beaurtifully made, and a fantastic adventure story. But it’s Bravely that has stayed with me, ever looming at the back of my mind.

Bravely follows Merida a few years after her onscreen adventure. For all that this is supposed to be a sequel, I don’t believe it’s necessary to have seen the movie in order to enjoy the book. The events of the film are peripherally referenced, with sufficient context given, but they don’t really inform the new adventure Merida finds herself on.

On Christmas Eve, Merida hears a knock at the kitchen door. Intrigued, she ventures out into the courtyard to find no one behind the door, but instead sees a figure at the far end of the yard. She pursues the mysterious being out into the snow, eventually cornering them in the woods.

The being, it turns out, is Feradach, the god of ruin. His purpose is to destroy the obsolete and stagnant so that the Cailleach, goddess of renewal, can allow for growth to flourish in its place. Merida caught Feradach right as he was about to bring ruin to her home of DunBroch and in a bid to save it she strikes a deal with the gods: give her a year to bring about sufficient change and growth, and if she succeeds, Feradach will spare her home.

What follows is a year within Merida’s life, as she makes three trips to nearby kingdoms, accompanied each time by members of her family. Each trip is aimed as prompting growth within her complacent relatives, hoping to inspire enough change to get out from under Feradach’s promised ruin.

Though like many young adult novels, Bravely is a coming of age story, it actually takes things a step further. It is not just a coming of age story, but a reflection on the change that coming of age, growing older, or growing up brings. It forces Merida and her family to confront the discomfort and fear that comes with pushing past your comfort zone and embracing the necessary changes that life brings. Because without such changes, we are doomed to get stuck in our own cycles, spinning the wheels forever until stagnation causes us to lose a part of ourselves. It is only in embracing growth and change that we can hope to flourish and gain a new perspective.

As much as I enjoyed checking back in with all of Clan DunBroch, by far my favourite part of the novel was the dynamic and relationship between Merida and Feradach. If you know me at all, you’ll know there’s just something about the dynamic between a tough, fiercely loving and headstrong character and the tortured one who cannot help but bring pain and destruction in their wake that appeals to me personally. It’s two people who cannot help their nature, no matter how that nature might drive the other away. The angst and emotion in this one was strong.

The way Merida and Feradach fight for understanding in their opposing natures, finally meeting in the middle only for what could have been to be snatched away. The book begins by saying that together the Cailleach and Feradach are responsible for bringing about balance, and while I see the logic of that, it’s the balance Merida and Feradach find that was the true beating heart of the novel.

Their story was so achingly beautiful, well-written, and bittersweet. I couldn’t get enough of it. It moved me to tears, and I already know this is one of my favourite reads of the year. Is it any wonder I’m hoping Stiefvater already has a sequel in the works?

Even if she doesn’t (though again, fingers crossed she does), Bravely ends in the most satisfying way I think any story can and should end: with hope.

Bravely is available May 3, 2022. Special thanks to Disney Books for the advance copy for review purposes.

Thank you NetGalley and Disney Press for the ARC!

So, I have to admit I was disappointed by this book. I’m a huge fan of both Brave and Maggie Stiefvater, but this felt like neither.

I enjoyed aspects of the story, the god Feradach for one, was quite interesting to read about. But the Merida and her family I came to love in the Pixar movie, felt very foreign and stiff on the page in this story.

I’d say give it a read to see what you think, but it fell flat for me.

ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

This story picks up a couple of years after the Brave movie. Merida is a little bit older but still just as wild and makes a deal with one of the old gods to save her DunBrach and her family's fate. This book really brought you back that world and Maggie Stiefvater did a great job of describing it. I really enjoyed the premise and it felt like we learned more about this world and how it worked.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

For anyone that loved Brave and wanted to know what happened next this is the book for you, it has the same feel of magic and wonder that was in the original story but just has so much depth I found myself loving every page.

I always wonder what happens after the story, if the magic is still part of their worlds, or if it all just goes away once that big moment is over, if the turmoil is resolved, if they live a peaceful life, if all of the promises made are kept, for once I got the answers to those questions and I loved it.

This is more than the good versus evil story that is set up in the first few chapters, two gods, one good, the bringer of life and renewal, on evil (or so we think) the bringer of death, each has their own history and their own agenda. I had such a sway of emotions with the two gods, I thought I knew who I was rooting for in the bargain, but I have to admit I changed my mind so many times I lost count.

This story is the perfect example of how life isn't black and white, sometimes we have to make decisions we never thought we would make, we do and say things for the good of others, we learn to see a new side of what we thought we knew, it shows that the world is full of color, that there is nothing as simple as just good and bad. Sometimes we have to have the bad to appreciate the good, and sometimes the good turns out to not be the best option, it really makes you think...

Merida has long been one of my favorite characters, her wit, wisdom, and bravery are evident in every page of this book. The love she has for her family has never been any more evident., she's willing to do anything and everything to save not only them but the entire world she lives in.

The bargains she strikes, both with the gods and with Wolftail, she goes into both with her mind so set up, feeling like she's right and she knows it all, watching her realize that reality isn't always what it seems and realizing life isn't as simple as she thought.

In my opinion this was her true coming of age story, and while our favorite mama bear situation was mentioned a few times, this was in my opinion where Merida really grew into the woman I knew she could be.

Watching the Triplets grow up in this book was something that I didn't know I needed, the dynamic between Eleanor and Fergus, the relationship they had with the people of DunBroch, and with the people of the neighboring lands was amazing.

The world building in this one was some of the best I've ever read and transported me right into the castle, the food, the celebrations, it all took on it's own life and was so immersive I felt like I was part of it.

I seriously hope this is the beginning of a trend where we get to see what happens with our beloved characters after the happily ever after.