I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the BRAVELY by Maggie Stiefvater Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Bravely by Maggie Stiefvater Published by Disney Press on May 3, 2022
Genres: YA Fairy Tale, YA Retelling
Pages: 367
Source: the publisher
Format: Hardcover
My Rating:
Goodreads
Find it:Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org
Blurb:
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.
My Review
When I saw that Maggie Stiefvater was doing this I knew that I had to read it and that I would surely love it! I do love retellings, and a Disney retelling, set in Scotland, which I am currently obsessed with because of Outlander, was sure to be right up my alley!
Now, I assumed that the story would just be a retelling of what the Disney movie was. But it wasn’t. It was set in the future after what we know happened in that movie. And that is something that I loved! Using Scottish mythology and historical/geographical types of landmarks and bits in the story was the perfect way to get it all set up and pull me in right from the beginning.
So Merida had to try to save her family’s castle from ruin, and she made a deal with the gods who were the ones who decided about whether it would happen or not. And even though part of the deal was keeping it a secret, something else happened that spurred her family into giving her the opportunities she needed to travel and figure out how to change her family to save them.
I loved how each of the places she went there was something learned, and definitely someone in her family changed. While she may not have seen how she changed, she learned and of course was changed along the way as well. I mean, yeah, that’s the point of a fairy tale, right? But I am really simplifying the whole thing with my explanation unfortunately.
As usual, this author does a great job of not only describing the world and the people, but giving the characters a voice, as well as infusing humor subtly, and in just the right ways. She brings to life this family many may know from the Disney movie, giving them so much more of a three dimensional personality than even a movie could do. As much as I could, because reading a Stiefvater book does require attention to all the vivid and beautiful details she weaves throughout the story, I sped through this story, barely able to put it down when I had to go back to work, or to sleep. A wonderful new story and one that again, I can’t wait to share with my students!
About the Author
Maggie Stiefvater is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Raven Cycle, the Shiver trilogy, and other novels for young and adult readers. She is also an artist, an auto enthusiast, and a bagpiper. She lives on a farm in the Shenandoah Valley with her husband, two children, and an assortment of fainting goats.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub
Giveaway
- 1 winner will receive a finished copy of BRAVELY, US Only.
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
| 5/1/2022 | The Reading Devil | Review/IG Post |
| 5/2/2022 | YABooksCentral | Excerpt |
| 5/3/2022 | Nonbinary Knight Reads | Review/IG Post/TikTok Post |
| 5/4/2022 | Kait Plus Books | Review/IG Post/TikTok Post |
| 5/5/2022 | A Court of Coffee and Books | Review/IG Post |
| 5/6/2022 | @jael_and_jenessa_reads | Review/IG Post |
| 5/7/2022 | ChristenKrumm | Review/IG Post |
Week Two:
| 5/8/2022 | Nagma | TakeALookAtMyBookshelf | IG Review |
| 5/9/2022 | Fire and Ice | Review |
| 5/10/2022 | onemoreexclamation | Review/IG Post |
| 5/11/2022 | Quill Tree Fox | Review/IG Post |
| 5/12/2022 | My Fictional Oasis | Review/IG Post |
| 5/13/2022 | Lisa Loves Literature | Review/IG Post |
| 5/14/2022 | @coffeesipsandreads | IG Review |
Week Three:
| 5/15/2022 | Mallory Books | Review/IG Post |
| 5/16/2022 | BookHounds YA | Review/IG Post |
| 5/17/2022 | History from a Woman’s Perspective | Review |
| 5/18/2022 | Pages_and_Procrastinaton | Review/IG Post |
| 5/19/2022 | A Bookish Dream | Review/IG Post |
| 5/20/2022 | A Backwards Story | Review/IG Post |
| 5/21/2022 | Karen Dee’s Book Reviews | IG Review |
Week Four:
| 5/22/2022 | @drewsim12 | IG Review/TikTok Post |
| 5/23/2022 | @thebookishfoxwitch | IG Review |
| 5/24/2022 | Momfluenster | IG Review |
| 5/25/2022 | The Momma Spot | Review/IG Post |
| 5/26/2022 | onemused | IG Review |
| 5/27/2022 | Nerdophiles | Review |
| 5/28/2022 | zaineylaney | Review/IG Post/TikTok Post |
Week Five:
| 5/29/2022 | @lexijava | Review/IG Post |
| 5/30/2022 | The Bookwyrm’s Den | Review |
| 5/31/2022 | The Clever Reader | Review/IG Post |
0
0
0
20
Terrific review!! Wow, this sounds more like a sequel to the movie!
It definitely was kinda like a sequel!
I love Stiefvater’s books, and I’ve been wanting to read a fellow blogger’s review of this! It sounds so good😁
I’m behind on her last series, but I’ve always loved her books so jumped at the chance for this one!
[…] Tour Review with Giveaway: Bravely by Maggie […]
I absolutely loved the movie and enjoy this author’s writing. You’ve made me excited to read this novel and I know my daughter will also enjoy it (she loves the movie and characters too).
Definitely recommend it highly!