Bravely by Maggie Stiefvater

Description from Goodreads:

Merida goes on an all-new, life-changing adventure in this original YA novel set several years after the close of Brave!

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.

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My Review:

While not my favorite Disney princess or movie, I did really enjoy the story of Merida and had no idea a book was coming out about her that takes place after the movie. I, especially, didn't know it was also to be written by one of my favorite authors. When I stumbled upon this in the library I pounced on it immediately.

I will say the pacing is a bit slow. There were times I got a bit bored, but I enjoyed a lot of the personal moments Merida has with her family and getting to see them change through her eyes. I especially liked seeing more of her brothers and her father. Since the film centered around her relationship with her mother, we didn't get to see much of them. Here in the book Merida gets multiple scenes with all of them. I will say I wasn't a fan of the character Leezie. She was very annoying to me. Merida even points this out and how everyone writes off Leezie's actions and then she does it herself. Not that this was a mean character or anything but I felt her addition to the story was unnecessary.

My favorite scenes though were between Merida and the god Feradach. I loved how they played off each other. Feradach thinking he would get nothing out of this deal besides doing his job and Merida originally thinking him a monster because of his abilities and duties. Seeing them slowly learn from each other and understand one another was really great.

Overall, this wasn't a bad read. I did enjoy it. I just wished the pacing was a bit quicker. Even if you've never seen the Disney movie you can still definitely read this book. Prior knowledge is not needed but useful. I would still recommend this if you're looking for a cozy fantasy that has a twist at the end.