The Horn's Hoax

Thanks to the author, publisher, and BookSirens for this ARC book.
As it is with many authors' first books, this one was nowhere close to perfect. Of course, I understand, as I see the author never really imagined he would be one, so I gotta say he must be fairly new to writing. The idea was one that had quite some potential. I mean two brothers of different ages who go on this weird world and find out they're not just wizards but Spoilerdivine, which is higher than others, seems pretty cool. Also, the horns idea is pretty interesting as well. But, the execution is where it fails. The age difference is way too much, I mean Moris is only 10 while Henry is 18. It's hard to read from such different voices and Henry doesn't really seem 18, he is more like 15 or something. I didn't grow to like any of the characters much, let alone the side ones which were too many to even remember, and understand what's going on. I gotta say the names felt too odd to me too, I mean the fantasy world's names. It feels too childish, and the world-building is done rather poorly. I know this is the first one of a series so maybe the author will have more chance to develop it more, later on, especially Maya who I have theories is the Spear's user as there are mentioned to be three divine instruments. Also, the thing about their dad is left unclear. And the ‘plot twist' in the end was just not shocking enough for me, SPOILER and I feel like he shouldn't have been darkened so fast. A thing I thought was interesting was the use of energy and meditation and to forgive yourself and let go, which I thought was important. Anyways, if the author fixes some stuff for the second one, I'd give it a try, it would be interesting to know what happens next as the end here is nowhere to an actual end.

The Horn's Hoax is a fast paced fantasy story filled with magic, portals and good versus evil.
A few parts of the story that could have used more detail or included more of that particular story line, but overall this was a wonderfully told story. The author has left it with a cliffhanger and I can't wait for the next installment.

Fantasy isn't my usual go to, but I was drawn to this with our boys in mind and I know they will love it!

Thank you Hector Cantu Kalifa and Love Books Tour for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.