Semester Aboard

More than Magic, Book 1

By: Elizabeth Kirke

Narrated by: Starla Huchton

Jen Maddox is a few days into her summer study-abroad program and has loved every moment on her cruise ship turned college campus. Everyone tells her the experience will change her life, but none of them realize just how right they really are.

One night, Jen goes out on deck and encounters five other students. She knows Charlie from one of her classes, and he’s a funny, friendly, regular guy. Picture-perfect Dani and his gorgeous wife, Mariana, live right down the hall from Jen, and she has seen TS, who’s built like a truck, around the ship, and recognizes the cute but quiet Thomas as well.

Then Jen sees something that isn’t humanly possible. Jen would have thought that it was all a dream if not for the fact that Charlie, Dani, Mariana, TS, and Thomas are making every effort to cover it up. Suddenly, the five of them are everything but normal, and Jen is determined to figure out what they’re hiding.

When she does, her life really does change. Jen expected to spend her summer studying the cultures of Latin America; she never dreamed she’d learn about a magical culture instead.

But Jen’s childhood fantasy come true is about to turn into a nightmare; there’s something on the ship. Something dangerous. Suddenly, everyone on board is threatened by a creature that Jen never even believed existed. Jen and her new friends might be the only people who can stop it!

Now Jen has to learn everything she can about her new world before it kills her. And her friends. And maybe everyone on the entire ship.

©2012 Elizabeth Kirke (P)2018 Elizabeth Kirke

An Actionpacked Start to a New YA Magical Series!

Jennifer is having the time of her life spending a whole Semester aboard a ship sailing down the South American Coastline stopping for trips and excursion as well as taking classes to keep up with their syllabus.
One night needing fresh air Jennifer witnesses something that shouldn’t be possible. To keep Jennifer from saying anything that tell her all will be explained at the next port. So for next couple of days she followed and becomes friendly with the most fascinating group on the boat.
No one is more surprised than Jen to find she is a witch. So Thomas starts training her, Jen is over the moon. Unfortunately as this is a first in a series there is a lot of magic world building. This is a fun paranormal adventure on board ship with great locations. The narration was excellent with all the voices that had to be done. A great start to a new series, and can’t wait to see how Jennifer progresses with her magic.
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Elizabeth Kirke. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Magic creatures galore

Jenn is a normal girl on a summer abroad program who suddenly sees something that she didn’t think possible. Than she’s faced with many different questions as she realizes that magic is actually real and that magic people hide in plain sight. She finds she is one as well and gets put to the test. Good book filled with all kind of awesome fantastic creatures.

Enjoyable Story

The story of Jennifer and her encounter with magical creatures is a fun, long, almost to innocent, story. She goes on twist and turns. By the end, you feel like you’ve been on the journey with her and you’ve come to know the characters.

The writer handled the age gap well and explained it to where it didn’t feel cringey.
What I didn’t like was how words were repeated… ‘Then” was used to carry the story forward. People sighed often. Dani ruffled everyone’s hair paragraph after paragraph.
I didn’t like how it seemed more like the characters were in high school at times and not college. They didn’t seem mature enough for college.

For the audible…

I liked the reader’s chuckle. She did a great job changing voices. Sometimes, though, it read flat, no emotions.

All around, I enjoyed the story enough to buy the next ebook and audible. I can’t wait to find out what is next.

Semester Aboard

If you saw something happen that quite frankly seemed impossible, would you believe your eyes? Would you question what you saw or ignore it and have your mind make up scenarios to what really occurred? For Jen Maddox, a boy from a class on the ship falls off of a moving ship into water fifty feet below and bounces back up like no big deal. How would you react to something like that? Kirke captivates the audience with intrigue, action and a world of fantasy elements. What you think that you know about werewolves, witches, elements of nature, and vampires…all stories that are told at bedtime and in movies, but the real deal may just be closer than we think.

Jen is coasting through her classwork on a ship and enjoys spending her time out on the deck. Late at night, when she just needs some air from the stuffiness of her room, in the pouring rain…she thinks that she must be crazy to go out. To her disbelief, others are out on deck. She thinks that they are asking for a death wish, being on the railing and when that boy goes overboard, they all try to cover it up! Jen refuses to believe that it is just weariness—she knows what she saw and she is determined to get answers—especially once the boy jumps back onto the ship like it wasn’t something that could have just killed him. These students, there is something secretive and different about them. Not one to ignore her curiosity, she won’t stop prodding them until she gets answers. Who are they? What are they? Those answers put her in danger, especially when they tell her that there is a vampire on the ship who is illegally feeding from her schoolmates on the ship. Learning a few things about herself along the way, she is determined to go to lengths to save these people, even if she doesn't know how. Can she help them in any way or is she completely useless and out of her element?

Kirke has one incredible first installment. This story has superb character development, an interesting take on fantasy, and is chalked full of creativity. Since this review is complimenting the audiobook, it appears that the story is well-written from the voice relay. Huchton’s narration is impeccable and enjoyable. The character vocalizations are all different and her relay is easy to follow. If you are a reader of young adult and fantasy, you may want to pick up this first installment. Since this is the first in the More Than Magic series, readers can simply jump right in. Fair warning though, you may find yourself filling your bookshelves or electronic devices with more from this series and/or author.

An audiobook was provided to Turning Another Page by Audiobookworm Promotions and in no way affects the honesty of this review. We provide a five-star rating to Semester Aboard by Elizabeth Kirke.

enjoyable read/listen

I really enjoyed this character based story. So many characters to get to know. Overall the story feels a bit young even though this is supposed to be college age, but other than that enjoyable. Seeing the world with new eyes and uncovering talents never gets old. Looking forward to the next one.