More than Magic: Semester Aboard by Elizabeth Kirke Review

Summary: College aboard a cruise ship, who wouldn't want to do that? Jen is doing a semester aboard and abroad. She is excited for this trip of a lifetime that takes her to several different countries. On a night she couldn't sleep, she wanders on to the deck of a ship. Then she sees someone pushed off the railing of the ship. Did she just see that? Then the next second he is back on the deck. Something weird is going on, and she intends to find out what is happening in this strange mix of friends. This happens to be the event that leads to her finding out what she really is, and she could not be more excited. Even with all this excitement, there is a threat to ship. Her and her friends are the only people that can keep everyone safe and alive throughout this trip.

Review: I had a hard time putting into words how much I truly loved this book. It has vampires, elementals, mermaids, witches, etc. I truly thought it was a fantastic blending of all these characters.

Jen was really likable.  I found myself rooting for her. She is a smart girl, with a good head on her shoulders. That is hard to find sometimes. I found it interesting how her personality was so open and understanding, I really liked that.

All the other main characters I loved as well. Kirke really made me love everyone in the book. The group of friends acted so much like a real group of friends; it made me feel like I was right there beside them watching this entire book take place. I tried to pick my favorite character at the end, but it was so hard. At first it was Charlie, but as the book progressed I started to get to know all of them and loved them all. I want to give a rundown of the characters, because I want you to be acquainted with them.

Charlie is a fire elemental, aka an imp. He is the funny man of the group I would imagine. He is super sweet. He is a gay character, which I found interesting. I loved how he was always there for everyone when he was needed.

Dani is a water elemental, aka nereid. If I had to pick a group leader, I would choose him. He seemed like he was the core of the group. He was the older brother figure, and very protective of the girls.

Mariana is a mermaid. She is the little sister of the group. On the outside she is very pretty and gorgeous. She makes sure everyone is getting taken care of.

Thomas is a surprise. I really do not want to ruin what he is, because I was kind of surprised myself. At the same time I should have saw it coming. He is definitely a protector.

Tethys (TS) is a werewolf. It is very interesting how Kirke has changed the typical werewolf stereotypes around a little bit.

I love how some of the characters have their own words that they used that went along with the type of magic they were. I thought that was very cute.

This is a fantasy novel if you haven’t figured that out yet. Everyone in this book is 18 or older. So I guess it falls in that New Adult age ranking? I am still confused about that whole new genre thing. It definitely has some YA crossover appeal I imagine. There’s nothing that I can think of that would keep me from suggesting it to YA. The only complaint I have about this book is that the book ended lol. The author has actually been to all these places which is a fun little fact. There will be a book two. When there is a solid confirmation on release date I will let you guys know. I really can’t wait to see what happens next.

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Paranormal Days Gone Awry (Amazon):

In this Anthology, there is actually a short story narrated by Dani. I can't wait to read it!!

Rating: out of 5

This book was given to me by the author for an honest review.