This was an interesting continuation of the story of Disney's underrated and (underwritten0 Princess Merida. Her original story/movie left me underwhelmed and feeling like she deserved more and this book picked up and tried to do just that. I do think it wasn't entirely successful though, at least not for me. I don't think that Fergus and Eleanor deserved the judgement brought upon them, nor do I think that book Merida was true to her movie counterpart. I liked the inclusion and interpretation of Irish folklore and ended up pretty happy with how everyone and everything turned out in the end, but having read it would I go back and do it again? Nope.

I <i>loved</i> the theme of Maggie Stiefvater’s <i>Bravely</i>. It is thoroughly unfortunate, therefore, that I just couldn’t get past how bored I was the entire time I read this book. For a story with such a promising message, it’s such a shame that getting through it was such a slog.

Giving the benefit of the doubt, this might actually be a me problem. I never liked Pixar’s <i>Brave</i> and in fact find it to be one of Disney’s weakest attempts at a princess story. I think <i>Brave</i> had a lot of promise and I know there are a ton of people, especially young girls and the aro/ace community as I’ve come to learn, who loved this movie. I’ve never done a deep dive into my dislike of it, but I’ve never much cared for mother/daughter stories.

So, because I loved the theme of stagnation=death and the importance of change, I figured I would give <i>Bravely</i> a try. But, since I was never truly capable of building a connection with these characters in the film, I found myself feeling similar struggles here with this book.

I should like to note, however, that the pacing of this story did feel very slow. And while I can attribute some of it to my personal lack of connection to the characters—I did adore Feradach, though!—I don’t think it’s fair to say all of it boils down to me. I just feel there should have been more action and substance to the interactions of the characters and less random interactions that felt as though they boiled down to nothing. For me, I think it felt as if there was added fluff between all the important moments and the fluff just bored me to tears.

So, in the end, I personally found <i>Bravely</i> was just okay. The message was brilliant and I loved it so much; the journey we took to get there was less so.

This was a new and fun follow-up to Stiefvater's previous work—a heroine I loved to root for and a fun, page-turning plot.

I absolutely loved this book! It wasn't just the fact that I got to read about one of my favorite disney princesses, but Maggie Stiefvater really knows how to write a book.
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book!

I thought I would like this more than I did. I had a hard time sticking to it. Maybe it was just didn't fit my mood. I didn't finish this one. I have so many other books to read.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book! I know I am late to the game, but I am extremely happy to have picked this up.

I don't gravitate towards young adult books as much anymore, but this book totally worked for me. I can honestly say that the movie Brave is... just okay. I don't hate it, but I definitely don't love it. It's okay at best, and totally forgettable at worst. This book however? This was lovely. In case, like me, you don't remember much about the movie, that's fine. This book isn't exactly a retelling since it takes place AFTER the movie.

I do think that in the movie, Merida was a baddie and the hint of romance here, while done appropriately, also felt a bit unnecessary since she is such a strong character on her own. The whole family dynamics from the movie still exists here and it is still just as sweet and playful.

It's been a long time since I have picked up a book by Maggie Stiefvater, and I only have a few books of hers left to read, but I definitely plan on getting to them because clearly her writing is still something I enjoy.

I'm late to write this review (very, very late) but I kind of enjoyed this book? It didn't exactly spark some deep interest in me, but it was fun enough to read. The characters felt very alive, and I love Merida's personality. Another thing I liked about Bravely was the world building. When the setting was being described, I truly felt like I was there. However, there was a romance that didn't quite strike my fancy so I'm going to have to rate this 3 stars.

Sorry Maggie. I love your writing and I thought I would read anything by you, but I'm just not a fan of this.

I loved seeing the growth of the character Merida throughout this novel. If you enjoyed the story and the world of Brave, I can't recommend this to you enough. Thank you to all for the opportunity to read this eARC!

Loved the character's growth from the movie in this book. The story itself was ok nothing to special.

I love Maggie Stiefvater's writing style, but I am just not interested in the world of Brave. I think this is a great book if you loved the movie Brave and want a continuation to the story. Ms. Stiefvater's writing style works really well for the historical and paranormal world of Brave. The character Melinda is true to her movie self, and she has great interactions with her family.

I very much enjoyed this!

Brave is one of those Disney movies that I feel is incredibly underrated, so I was thoroughly intrigued by this book, especially knowing that this was written by none other than Maggie Stiefvater!

Overall, I had an enjoyable experience. I loved the author's writing and how atmospheric this book was. It made me want to cozy up right next to a fireplace while drinking a cup of hot chocolate.

However, I did have a couple of issues with the story itself. For a book that's all about character growth, the obstacles that were thrown in our characters' way were easily overcome. I didn't see them "deserve" the development they got. Maggie Stiefvater did a fantastic job at portraying the characters we have grown to love in the movie, but I do wish she had made them work harder to get where they got in the end.

Also, I felt like the pacing was a little off. I was expecting a story filled with adventures, but I ended up a little disappointed by how uneventful they were.

That being said, I still believe fans of Brave will thoroughly enjoy this one!

I don't know if it's just because I kept subconsciously comparing the characters, style, and worldbuilding to the movie, but something in this just fell flat for me. I wasn't excited about reading it, though overall it was a decent story, and well-written in the distinct, echoing style all of Stiefvater's novels.

***Thank you to NetGalley and to the publishers for allowing me to access this book in digital form.***

“Around DunBroch, Merida was considered hot-tempered. She felt this was unfair and only because she was a girl, as she had three redheaded triplet brothers who were far more likely to pop off in anger than she was, and they never got called hot-tempered. What she was, she felt, was quick-witted. She didn’t take a lot of time to put her reactions together. Sure, sometimes that reaction was a blunt reply, but sometimes, that was what was deserved. For instance, sometimes you were a stranger in the night and what was needed was a fireplace shovel to the back of the knee and then a pursuit. In the back of her head, she heard a tiny voice that sounded a lot like her mother’s saying, Merida, princesses do not chase strangers barefoot through the night! Merida narrowed her eyes. She gave chase.”

This was a whole new story set in the future and I loved every minute of it. I waited in the longest hold list at my public library just to immediately buy the ebook with the audiobook. Worth it. Seriously, worth every penny. This audiobook is magical. Magic, magic, magic. I love Maggie Stiefvater’s way of writing, especially the way she writes young romance. It builds slowly but solid. It’s slow coming but then all consuming. And that twist!! I both loved and hated it. I’m still thinking about it and how unexpected it was for me, yet made complete sense. It hurt.

Back to the story, this is a story about two gods and a girl. And what a story it was. I adored the family and how much they changed. Leezy, a new character, was the much needed sister Merida always needed. The triplets growing into young teens with such different personalities. The concept of time and change and growth. Along with destruction and ruin. This book had it all and it was such a treat to listen to it. The two Gods, Cailleach and Feradach along with Merida and her secret quest made this book so interesting and full of action.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

This takes place about a year after the movie and DunBroch has fallen into stagnation. The castle and its residents are going to be destroyed by Feradach the god of destruction before Merida strikes up a bargain with the Cailleach. If she can change her family in a year she will save them from destruction, but can she change them all. I greatly enjoyed this book, it gave everyone especially the triplets more of a personality and backstory, and added in Leezie who was an interesting character. Maggie Stiefvater did a good job keeping Merida as the same character that the movie created.

I...enjoyed this book, I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it. I loved the Brave the movie and maybe I put to much into what this book was going to be and let my expectations get the best of me. That being said, what I enjoyed of it at first: the writing was fantastic. While sometimes it read a little MG to me, it was refreshing from the YA books I've been reading.

The story and plot where great, I enjoyed the characters and their story arcs that where more fleshed out and able to follow along with them. Something I wasn't a fan of was the ending. Merida was a strong and independent female. While I love a good romance, I don't think she needed it. She was fantastic on her own.

That being said, I enjoyed the book but didn't love it. I would give it a solid 3.5 stars.

This was a fun twist on the Disney classic. Brave is honestly one of my least favorite Disney Princess movies, but this book manages to steal my heart anyway.

I gave this a four out of five stars. I really enjoyed this retelling. I really like the characters. I love Maggie’s writing, she’s the main reason I requested this. I have enjoyed everything that I’ve read from her so far!

I just could not get into this book and ended up skipping to the end. I usually enjoy Stiefvater, but in this case, the characters felt too different from those established by the movie and it took me out of the experience. Had the girl not been named Merida and had the back story to Brave, I may have really enjoyed this book. Stiefvatar writes well, she creates great dialogue and action, I just could not get past characterization and did not finish.