I love these franchise tie-ins that provide a lot more depth to characters that young readers already love as well as something for fans as they age up, so essentially sequels for what are now YAs.

Bravely is about Merida, the protagonist from the Disney movie “Brave,” and her adventures several years past the movie. Many fans of Maggie Stiefvater will read this because she is the author, but it will also appeal to fans of the movie. Merida returns home after traveling and living away from the family to find her family in need of change, both because they have become too complacent but also because she has made a bargain with the god of ruin, Feradach, who will destroy DunBroch, the family home, if she is unable to facilitate their change. Merida travels to three different neighboring kingdoms, opening her eyes to the differences, both good and bad, between DunBroch and the governance of their neighbors. She begins to develop mutual respect and understanding of Feradach, his purpose, and why he may have a necessary place in this world. The ending was quite a cliff-hanger, so I’m hoping a sequel is forthcoming.

Stiefvater does a beautiful job with mythological world-building creating a unique tale that could’ve easily been a formulaic franchise extension.

I loved the book so much, I listened to the audiobook as well. The audiobook was fantastically narrated and I thought the narrator did a wonderful job with all of the accents. I'll probably listen to it at least a couple more times. The only thing missing was the author's notes at the end.