1. Brave have fair amount of controversy[1]. But IMO it's still better choice than using Google Chrome and i may recommend it to non-technical people who don't want to perform manual configuration.
2. I never use DuckDuckGo browser. It seems based on Apple's Webkit/Safari, but it's feature is somewhat limited with little/no extension availability[2].
3. LIbreWolf should be good choice for you, with decent default setting. The only downside it's not popular enough.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/browsers/comments/1j1pq7b/list_of_brave_browser_controversies/
[2] https://www.privacyjournal.net/duckduckgo-review/