Return to the world of Encanto and learn what happened all those years ago to poor Bruno.
Alex Segura uses his talent for writing to bring to life Bruno's heartbreaking past that forced him to hide within the walls of the family home. Fans of the film will fawn over the newest development in the family Madrigal.

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

Seeing the cover I was really excited about this book. The outcasts of the family can identify with Bruno. He doubts himself constantly, loves his family, and tries his hardest to fix Casita and himself to fit in.

You will have to have seen the film to understand parts of the book and for some it may be repetitive.

Thanks to NetGalley & Disney Publishing Worldwide for the copy in exchange for an honest review. Sadly, I DNF'ed at 20% of the way through.

This was incredibly dull and with very little world-building, it was mainly just depressing to see Bruno get worse and worse as the idiot village sees him as a monster for existing. I would've preferred to see a book from his point of view AFTER the movie and see how he adjusts after being alone for so long.

Unfortunately what works against this book is what likely attracted people to it: Encanto as a film already exists. Because Encanto takes place so far in the future, it removes a lot of stakes from the book, but also dampens a lot of the lighter moments.

Strangely it relies on the reader having watched the movie due to the amount of overt nods to the movie. This would otherwise be confusing to any readers that haven't seen the movie. Also the woman whose fish dies, her last name literally means dead fish, and...that's silly even for me. The prophecies don't line up with the established timeliness either, it really suffers from relying on the movie.

Worst of all is that it was very slow going, and I just didn't believe I was reading Bruno, but reading someone impersonating him. I don't know, it was jumbled and unfortunately I did not finish it.

Just saying…we NEED to talk about Bruno. No seriously, we NEED TO TALK ABOUT BRUNO. This is by far the best Encanto book I’ve read and it centers on my favorite character. Granted, Mirabelle, Isabella, Luisa, and their cousins are all fun, relatable and interesting but by far no one touched my heart in the movie Encanto the way Bruno did. Sad, lonely Bruno sitting on the other side of a wall in the dark and cob webs with the rats for his only company, eating his meals in Casitas hidden cervices, trying to pretend he is still part of the family. But in such a close knit family how did the only brother of the triplets end up this way, dejected, all but forgotten, his very name like a curse that can’t be uttered? This book fills that in wonderfully and makes us love Bruno even more as he struggles against a vision of peril to save Casita, his family and his town, thinking the only way he can do this is by utterly changing himself to be someone else, someone more upbeat and positive, by twisting his visions to be happy ones so he never has to deliver bad news. Maybe then he will be , dare he hope, loved and accepted by those he loves so dearly? Maybe by forcing a positive outlook on his dim prophecies he might someone make up for his disastrous comment at his sister wedding that she seems to have never forgiven him for? Maybe he can even be a hero and save the town from an unclear vision of the future that seems to spell doom, one where he sees his future life alone and loathed and hidden away? Or is his purposeful misuse of his gift the thing that will spell certain tragedy for him and the rest of the Madrigals? So engrossing, so much fun to read! And so deep and heartbreaking. I loved it.

I love retellings and stories the expand on Disney movies… but.. I didn’t like this one at all. I was looking forward to it and loved the concept. However, it basically felt super repetitive to me and like nothing was happening almost the whole book. Bruno was doubting his “gift” or not gift.. copy and paste through every page. He’d have a conversation with someone and here we go again.

I got to one point where I felt like I’d done good and read a lot, because I was kind of forcing myself to read, and looked to see what percent done with the book I was and it was only 36%. I was soooo bummed.

I did enjoy getting some background into Pepas wedding, Julietas husband choice, and how Bruno ended up in the walls, but overall was not enjoying this book.

I absolutely loved every word in this book. It was so insightful to get to know the beloved Encanto character from before his time in Casita's walls.: how he got there, how his family came to be, and the troubles they went through to get there. It added depth to a story I already loved. Now I'm going to go watch the movie again!

I think anyone giving this story a poor review didn't finish the book. Yes, the past of Bruno could get repetitive and it was very obvious who the bad guy was, but the dynamic of a family we grew to love in the film is worth it. I loved the ending and what Bruno does from afar for his family. If you've ever been curious about this character, I suggest a read. It's short chapters move quickly, making it an overall good read.

A prequel to the movie 'Encanto,' this book covers Bruno's development into his own powers. There were some parts that I kind of sped through. There are big chunks of the book where nothing really happens, which can be boring for a middle grade reader. The characters fall perfectly in line with their personalities in the movie, so Segura did an excellent job with that. However, the ending doesn't perfectly align with the Bruno we see in the movie. I'm sure it can be explained away by time passing, but it was a little strange to see the Bruno going into hiding be so different than the one that came out. This must have been a difficult book to write, because you can't have too much character growth, as that happens more in the more, especially with Pepa accepting him and his visions, but some of the character choices didn't make sense. The mystery is an obvious one for older readers, but could be surprising for young ones. A fun read for fans of Encanto, and a good addition to middle grade collections.

This book gave some great background and development to the original Madrigal children. While this book did center around Bruno, each of the girls got some needed character development that wasn't given in the movie.

I went into this book with high hopes of loving it because Bruno is one of my favorite characters, but I honestly didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped. I appreciated that we readers got more of a backstory on Bruno but overall the book and storyline was a bit too repetitive for me. I know it's more of a middle grade book, but as a children's librarian I do read plenty of middle grade. I also found it tough to get through the story where his family was more accepting of him because I know what comes later. Overall though the book was still fairly enjoyable.

I'm sure the kids in my community will love it so I will likely be ordering it, but I just couldn't bring myself to give more than three stars.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for honest feedback. I loved that Bruno got a bit more of a backstory but I think it’s so hard to write his story with his family accepting him while also knowing what happens later. I thought some parts were repetitive and it seemed to push the same 3 ideas over and over again instead of just showing you those themes throughout. I did enjoy reading about this family and Bruno more and I loved what they added at the end. Overall I think some stuff could be edited out (mostly the repetition) and this could be rated higher.

I love the idea of a backstory for Bruno since he was my favorite character in the movie, but this book misses the mark. It had moments that were repetitive and it couldn't hold my attention. I didn't finish it. I got about a third of the way through and just couldn't bring myself to finish it. I'm sure a child may enjoy it, however, so my library will probably end up ordering it.

Alex Segura is creative in any form. This is capable storytelling that builds on popular animation and also stands on its own. A book I would gladly add to my school library.

Very excited to acquire this for our children’s section being a huge fan of Encanto. Look forward to sharing a full review soon.

I generally enjoy the retellings from Disney stories, and this one you'll like if you liked the others. I will say it felt a little random, being about Bruno rather than like the grandmother.