Blog Tour: The Urban Boys: Discovery of the Five Senses by K.N. Smith

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Hello, reader!

I have another wonderful tour post for you today hosted by The Write Reads. Today, I’ll be sharing my review for a young adult fantasy that features five boys with super senses: The Urban Boys: Discovery of the Five Senses by K.N. Smith!

Before I get further into my review, though, I have people to thank. First, thank you to Dave @ The Write Reads and all of the crew for giving me a spot on this tour! Second, thank you to the author for providing me with a free copy of the book so that I could participate. It is, as always, appreciated 😊

And, one last thing, the author is running a giveaway in conjunction with this tour! If you would like to enter to win an e-gift card, just click here.

Now, let’s get to my post!

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Welcome or unwelcome. Fate has arrived.

“A captivating and poetic tale of mystery, fantasy, and reality tied together by action!” 5-stars, Lars Jackson, Amazon Customer

A suspenseful incident in a forbidden preserve heightens the senses of five friends. Sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell become super-gifts that forever change the world. But furious battles confront the boys as they try to understand their sensory super powers in a race to save mankind. With light beings and mysterious strangers complicating their plight, can the boys defeat the evil Druth before it’s too late? Get prepared for the twisting and grinding of this award-winning, action-adventure story — an edge-of-your-seat narrative for young and mature readers alike.

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Author Links

Website::Instagram::Goodreads

K.N. Smith is an award-winning author. She is a passionate advocate of arts and literacy programs throughout the world. Her lyrical flair sweeps across pages that twist and grind through action-adventure and urban fantasy in edge-of-your-seat narratives. K.N. has over twenty-five years’ experience in communications and creative design as an award-winning consultant. Reading is still her foremost hobby. She is also the founder of Mental Health California™, and creator and director of Brother Be Well, her signature nonprofit community initiative. Discovery of the Five Senses was awarded “Best of” in the category “Outstanding Young Adult Novel” at the Jessie Redmon Fauset Book Awards at the 10th Annual Leimert Park Village Book Fair. The event, voted one of LA’s best annual book festivals, attracts over 200 authors, poets, spoken word artists, storytellers, performers, and literary/ educational exhibitor participants, and boasts an audience of over 5,000. She is also a Readers’ Favorite “Gold Medal” honoree for “Young Adult – Mystery”.

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Thank you to The Write Reads and the author for providing me with a free book in exchange for an honest review! All opinions contained within are my own.

We all know that I’m a sucker for a good fantasy. When you throw superpowers into the mix, I’m almost always extra excited! That’s why when the email went out for this blog tour, I immediately signed up.

This novel follows a group of friends that find themselves mysteriously gifted with super senses after a night in a nearby nature preserve. Alex, Rhee, Jordan, Chase, and Kinsu are a tight knit group, but they find their bond put to the test when grappling with these new and confusing powers. Add to the mix a power hungry man named Druth that has his eyes set on their idyllic town and the stage is set for an intriguing adventure.

So, I’m just going to come out and say that this book was just okay for me. There were aspects that I truly loved and then there were aspects that had me cringing. Take, for example, the writing. The blurb in the synopsis does not lie when it calls this book ‘poetic’. The writing gets quite flowery and it distracted me from the story. There were passages that I thought were beautiful! But most of them time, all the beautiful descriptions and turns of phase felt like filler and like they weren’t adding much to the story.

On the flip side, the actual plot, when we got into it, was captivating! I flew through this book because I was eager to see what happened next. I was truly invested in the story of this fives boys and their mysterious powers. When it comes to the powers, however, I found the details either lacking or confusing. The worldbuilding just wasn’t quite there when it came to the magic, but there was enough of it to keep me curious and reading. I feel like I would have truly loved this book if there were less flowery descriptions and more focus on the worldbuilding and the mechanics of the main characters’ powers.

Overall, this is a fun and quick read that does contain some wonderful passages that will stick with you. It could have benefitted from some more worldbuilding, but I still had a good time with this one in the end.

Star rating: