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!

Review first posted on Lisa Loves Literature.