SOLVED. Middle Grade Fantasy. Similar to the Golden Compass. Read 2016-2019.

[Rey]

I read this when I was younger so I would assume it was for younger audiences, and it was in a series. One major part of the book was that there were like animal familiars and the main character was younger and I think had some sort of like wild cat like a leapord or smth as their familiar. The villain like plot point I remember was that there was some sort of black goo that if the animal ingested it it would make them like "evil" in a way and attack their owner and follow the bad guy. I don't quite remember the villain's name though. I remember that there was an animal on the book cover that I read but that is all I remember. It was really similar to golden compass I think but I haven't read golden compass so I could be wrong or it could be golden compass. this is all I can remember though so sorry.

[Ann]

This sounds like it could be one of the Spirit Animal series, the first book of which is Wild Born. The kids bond with spirit animals, and the enemy group has "the Bile" that if fed to a regular animal turns them into a monster.

[Rey]

Ann wrote: "This sounds like it could be one of the Spirit Animal series, the first book of which is Wild Born. The kids bond with spirit animals, and the enemy group has "the Bile" that if fed..."

Omg yes this is it, thank you so much!