Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Heroine archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Tropes
Themes
Synopsis
What if the witch gave Merida a different spell? If you could change your fate, would you? Merida understands that as princess of Clan DunBroch, she has certain obligations—but that doesn’t mean she has to like it. Especially when one of those obligations means losing her freedom by becoming betrothed to a man she has never met. Merida balks at this tradition, but her mother Queen Elinor insists that Merida must do this to embrace her role as future queen. Determined to chart her own path, Merida follows magical wisps to a witch’s cottage, where she is given a magic pastry and promised it will incite “a great transformation” in her mother. But instead of feeding Elinor the pastry, Merida eats it herself. Merida awakens in the past, a now-teenage Elinor holding a knife to her throat and accusing her of espionage. She’s been transported to a time when the Clans MacCameron and DunBroch are bitter enemies. And it just so happens that the timing of Merida’s arrival has kept Elinor and Fergus from meeting. Will Merida be able to bridge the rival clans, help her parents fall in love, and change her own fate?
Is Fate Be Changed: A Twisted Tale appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 10 and up.
A Disney-based retelling with time travel adventure, mild peril from clan rivalries, and a knife threat scene, but no graphic violence or mature content. Focuses on family relationships and personal growth.
What to know going in
This book has mild violence, no sexual content, and clean language. Content notes include betrayal.
Who'll love this
Fans of Brave will love seeing Merida's wild adventure through time trying to fix her parents' relationship and her own fate.