Review: Legacy of the Claw

Legacy of the Claw by C. R. Grey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



REVIEW:

I was pleased to receive Legacy of the Claw - Animas book 1 - in this series by C.R. Grey free for himest review. this book is great for 8-12 year olds, so my son and I read it together. The idea of an Animas bond linking humans to animals was very exciting and opened up my son's imagination. My son also commented that the setting, Fairmount Academy, was similar to Harry Potter. The field the students played was also kind of close with the Harry Potter series for my liking. These similarities seemed to harm originality because I found myself thinking about Potter while I was trying to focus on Bailey.

Bailey Walker was a determined character I couldn't help but admire in his will to find out why he had an Absence, or lack of bond with an animal. Bailey makes some true friends at his new school while also hoping that an instructor there, Tremelo, will help him awaken his Animas bond - or find his kin. Bailey discovers that his kin - the animal he is to bond with- could be extinct.

Bailey and his friends go through many struggles trying to discover their own issues while realizing they may be in the middle of much more serious issues than just an absence, or lack of animal kin. I liked to read about children my own age doing things for themselves and taking on mature, independent roles in their lives when I was 8-12, and I think many kids that age will appreciate the various character's independence and ability to think for themselves in this book.

I enjoyed the suspense and mysterious unfoldings in Legacy of the Claw, but I did find it hard to read this book out loud. The sentences did not have a smooth flow for reading out loud. I'd often have to pause and rethink / reread a sentence to make it make sense, which slowed down the reading out loud of the story.

I very much enjoyed the revelations at the end of the book. I suggest if you get bogged down while reading a slow spot, just know that the pace of the story picks up tremendously.



BOOK DESCRIPTION:
To twelve-year-old Bailey Walker, kin means more than just family. It means being a part of the Animas bond, a harmonious link that connects humans and animals, and guides everything in his world. But Bailey hasn't found his kin yet, and without an Animas, he's destined to be an outsider-or worse, lose his mind entirely. So when he's accepted into the prestigious Fairmount Academy, he's determined to Awaken to his Animas once and for all, even if it's a measly worm.

But once there, Bailey can't resist the pull of the dark mysteries surrounding the kingdom. A bear has been viciously attacked on school grounds, and when he and his friends discover signs of a ferocious predator in the woods surrounding campus, he knows something's out there, something dangerous. And Fairmount isn't the only place where darkness is brewing. In the capital city, a new leader preaches that humans must assert power over their kin, enslave them instead of living as one.

Bailey can't shake the feeling that the root of the unrest, and the key to his Awakening, lies in an old riddle entwined around an even older prophecy-a prophecy that may reveal the truth about the rightful king of Aldermere. And Bailey may be the only one who can unravel them. The capital's dark forces will stop at nothing to prevent the prophecy from coming true. If they succeed, the Animas bond will be in peril. Can Bailey help protect the Animas bond while still trying to awaken to his own? In this first installment of the gripping ANIMAS series, the battle is just beginning.









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