Book Review: Spriit Animals
First there was 39 Clues--the "Dream Team Middle Grade Collab." That was so successful that they created "Spirit Animals," another in the same vein. Now, while also continuing on with more 39 Clues spin-off series, and now Spirit Animals spin-off series, they have Infinity Ring, the same idea. I haven't read Infinity Ring yet, but I did read Spirit Animals.
First, what is a Dream Team Collab? Well, it's when a publishing company enlists already successful writers to write a manufactured series. Complete with online tie-ins.. It's very commercialized. The 39 Clues team consisted of writers like Margaret Peterson Haddix, of Shadow Children fame, Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and such), Jude Watson (of Star Wars tie in fame), Gordon Korman (of I have writer-ADHD-and-cannot-pin-myself-down-to-one-series-at-a-time fame), and others. Spirit Animals is similar and draws from writers such as Brandon Mull (Fablehaven series), Shannon Hale (Books of Bayern, and Princess Academy), Marie Lu (Legend series), and Eliot Schrefer (Endangered and Threatened).
This series takes place in the fictional land of Erdas, where some people form bonds to Spirit Animals. To avoid the bonding sickness--wherein a person can go insane or die from the bonding process that must happen if they are destined to bond--everyone is required to take the nectar at the age of eleven. The nectar forces the bond to happen instantly for those who would have bound naturally. Those who wouldn't have been bonded eventually are unharmed by the nectar. When four children from far corners of Erdas and vastly different backgrounds--Conor, Meilin, Abeke and Rollan--all turn eleven, they all bond and can become Greencloaks. But there is something different about their bonding. They each bond to one of the fallen Great Beasts. Conor to the Wolf, Briggan; Meilin to the panda, Jhi; Abeke to the leopard, Uraza; and Rollan to the gyrfalcon, Essix. With the Four Fallen coming back into the world unexpectedly, it is up to Conor, Meilin, Abeke and Rollan to find out what the meaning is and save Erdas. With the help of Tarik and his spirit animal, an otter named Lumeo (and he's just a normal spirit animal, by the way), and the other Greencloak friends, they set out save the world from the Conquerors, the Great Serpent Gerathon, and the crazy Great Gorilla Kovo.
Was the series fun? Yes. Would children love this series to death? Absolutely. (And I even have endorsements from children on that. I had kids that wouldn't stop talking about the series for about an hour at one of the camps I work with). Was it an amazing series that will live on forever? Probably not.
Just like 39 Clues, it fell into the problem of different writers doing different things differently. Brandon Mull wrote the first, and always, created unique, life-like and lovable characters. But, as always, he falls a little short on setting descriptions. Shannon Hale really caught Rollan's essence and built his character like none other, but she struggled to keep snotty-know-it-all Meilin likable. Eliot Schrefer thrived writing Conor, but couldn't quite capture Abeke without making her "woe-is-me." Marie Lu's descriptions were purely gorgeous, but she didn't manage to capture ANY of the characters at all.
But in all, there weren't any of the books that were bad, per se, and some of them were even purely good books for young children. I'd say maybe a third-grade reading level, for the most part. Some of the later ones, the villains start to get more evil (and manipulative), and you may have to have discussions with your kids about that, but they're never gory.
It's a 4 star series, with different books fluctuating greatly in their quality.
First, what is a Dream Team Collab? Well, it's when a publishing company enlists already successful writers to write a manufactured series. Complete with online tie-ins.. It's very commercialized. The 39 Clues team consisted of writers like Margaret Peterson Haddix, of Shadow Children fame, Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and such), Jude Watson (of Star Wars tie in fame), Gordon Korman (of I have writer-ADHD-and-cannot-pin-myself-down-to-one-series-at-a-time fame), and others. Spirit Animals is similar and draws from writers such as Brandon Mull (Fablehaven series), Shannon Hale (Books of Bayern, and Princess Academy), Marie Lu (Legend series), and Eliot Schrefer (Endangered and Threatened).
This series takes place in the fictional land of Erdas, where some people form bonds to Spirit Animals. To avoid the bonding sickness--wherein a person can go insane or die from the bonding process that must happen if they are destined to bond--everyone is required to take the nectar at the age of eleven. The nectar forces the bond to happen instantly for those who would have bound naturally. Those who wouldn't have been bonded eventually are unharmed by the nectar. When four children from far corners of Erdas and vastly different backgrounds--Conor, Meilin, Abeke and Rollan--all turn eleven, they all bond and can become Greencloaks. But there is something different about their bonding. They each bond to one of the fallen Great Beasts. Conor to the Wolf, Briggan; Meilin to the panda, Jhi; Abeke to the leopard, Uraza; and Rollan to the gyrfalcon, Essix. With the Four Fallen coming back into the world unexpectedly, it is up to Conor, Meilin, Abeke and Rollan to find out what the meaning is and save Erdas. With the help of Tarik and his spirit animal, an otter named Lumeo (and he's just a normal spirit animal, by the way), and the other Greencloak friends, they set out save the world from the Conquerors, the Great Serpent Gerathon, and the crazy Great Gorilla Kovo.
Was the series fun? Yes. Would children love this series to death? Absolutely. (And I even have endorsements from children on that. I had kids that wouldn't stop talking about the series for about an hour at one of the camps I work with). Was it an amazing series that will live on forever? Probably not.
Just like 39 Clues, it fell into the problem of different writers doing different things differently. Brandon Mull wrote the first, and always, created unique, life-like and lovable characters. But, as always, he falls a little short on setting descriptions. Shannon Hale really caught Rollan's essence and built his character like none other, but she struggled to keep snotty-know-it-all Meilin likable. Eliot Schrefer thrived writing Conor, but couldn't quite capture Abeke without making her "woe-is-me." Marie Lu's descriptions were purely gorgeous, but she didn't manage to capture ANY of the characters at all.
But in all, there weren't any of the books that were bad, per se, and some of them were even purely good books for young children. I'd say maybe a third-grade reading level, for the most part. Some of the later ones, the villains start to get more evil (and manipulative), and you may have to have discussions with your kids about that, but they're never gory.
It's a 4 star series, with different books fluctuating greatly in their quality.
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