This eARC was courtesy of Disney Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Date Published: May 3, 2022
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Goodreads Link: Bravely
Summary
“What if you had one year to save everything you loved?
ONE PRINCESS. Merida of DunBroch needs a change. She loves her family—jovial King Fergus, proper Queen Elinor, the mischievous triplets— and her peaceful kingdom. But she’s frustrated by its sluggishness; each day, the same. Merida longs for adventure, purpose, challenge – maybe even, someday, love.
TWO GODS. But the fiery Princess never expects her disquiet to manifest by way of Feradach, an uncanny supernatural being tasked with rooting out rot and stagnation, who appears in DunBroch on Christmas Eve with the intent to demolish the realm – and everyone within. Only the intervention of the Cailleach, an ancient entity of creation, gives Merida a shred of hope: convince her family to change within the year – or suffer the eternal consequences.
THREE VOYAGES. Under the watchful eyes of the gods, Merida leads a series of epic journeys to kingdoms near and far in an attempt to inspire revolution within her family. But in her efforts to save those she loves from ruin, has Merida lost sight of the Clan member grown most stagnant of all – herself?
FOUR SEASONS TO SAVE DUNBROCH – OR SEE IT DESTROYED, FOREVER.” (Disney Publishing)
Review
This book was so beautifully written! I’m always skeptical of these kinds of books because there’s always a chance that the author will ruin the character or just go in a direction that I’m not fond of. This book, however, kept the wholesome and loving feeling that the movie contained. I was gripped by just the writing style alone and that was a huge reason that I kept reading. The story is great, but it wasn’t one that would’ve been good enough to hook me in, though.
In the movie Brave, we see Merida mature and realize so many new things about herself and her family that makes her appreciate and love them. In this, we see her mature even further and understand that other people have a different way of life than her and different goals. I think a lot of stories have a hero that is so dominant that their way is the right way so it’s so refreshing to see her accept the fact that not everyone wants her easygoing and adventurous lifestyle. She’s so mature in acknowledging that, while she thinks they’re crazy, she loves them enough to understand that it’s their choice. I absolutely love her!
We also got more secrets into the royal family of DunBroch that I’m pretty sure (if I heard correctly) is canon in the Disney universe. I don’t want to spoil anything for you guys but what you learn will definitely help you better understand the characters that we met in the movie! The author did such a great job incorporating new aspects of this world into the existing one we’re familiar with. She kept the feel of the story while adding her own bit of talent to it and I just admire it so much. I may start looking into the other books she’s written because my interest is piqued!
Age Rating
12+
Language: None present
Sexual Content: Other than talk of marriage and relationships, there is no real romance in this story.
Violence: There is a lot of destruction in this book. Talks of someone’s hand getting crushed and whole towns and kingdoms getting destroyed. There are images of people dying but blood and gore aren’t too graphic.
When you read this book, tell me what you think in the comments below!
CatNips Corner 
Leave a comment