Caraval meets Throne of the Fallen in this spicy dark romantasy where a necromancer needs help from a dangerous phantom to win a deadly competition, only to find their partnership puts her at risk of breaking the game’s most vital rule: don't fall in love.
When Ophelia and her sister discovers their mother brutally murdered, there is no time to grieve: Ophelia has inherited both her powerful death-driven magic and enormous debt on their home. Circumstances go from dire to deadly, however, when Ophelia’s sister decides to pay off the loan by entering Phantasma—a competition where most contestants don’t make it out alive and the winner is granted a single wish.
The only way to save her sister is to compete. But Phantasma is a cursed manor, with twisting corridors and lavish ballrooms, and filled with enticing demons and fatal temptations. Ophelia will need to face nine floors of challenges to win... if her fears don’t overtake her first.
When a charming, arrogant stranger claims he can protect and guide Ophelia, she knows she shouldn’t trust him. While Blackwell may not seem dangerous, appearances can be deceptive. But with her sister’s life on the line, Ophelia can’t afford to turn him away. She just needs to ignore the overwhelming, dark attraction drawing them closer and closer together.
Because in Phantasma, the only thing deadlier than losing the game is losing your heart.
I waited too long to read Kaylie Smith’s adult debut, Phantasma! Honestly it was love at first sight once I saw that gorgeous cover! Then I read the description and immediately my brain was getting Caraval vibes, which you all know how much I LOVE that series! And then there are ghosts and I just knew this was a book I had to read!
Ophelia and Genevieve’s mother just died suddenly and now the girls own their family home, but they soon learn their mother had debts and the bank has come calling. If the girls don’t get enough money to buy back their home in a month, they will lose it.
Their mother was also a Necromancer—and don’t worry, Smith provides a hierarchy of the paranormal beings to give you an idea of who’s who and what’s what—and now that power has transferred to Ophelia since she’s the oldest. Her sister, Genevieve has never really shown that she has any gifts, so she’s been free to live her life as she chooses while Ophelia has had a more sheltered upbringing.
But when Ophelia learns Genevieve has run off to enter Phantasma, she makes the quick decision to follow her. Phantasma has always been a deadly game that moves around quite a bit. It will stay in one location for nine nights as players play the nine levels; nine levels that are meant to represent the nine levels of hell. There can be only one winner and that winner will have a wish granted by the end. (Sound familiar?) Clearly, Genevieve is doing what she thinks best to save their home.
Ophelia enters the game but soon learns that contestants are put into groups for the starting levels and she cannot talk or even look for her sister until after she completes level seven. It’s not long before Ophelia meets Blackwell, a Phantom of the manor who makes her a bargain; help him find his heart and key that keeps him bound to the manor and he will help her win the game. If she fails, she owes him 10 years of her life. Ophelia feeling like she will need all the help she can get to win these deadly games, agrees.
This book was so freaking awesome! The Caraval vibes were strong in this story and I loved it! It’s not at all an adult Caraval, so don’t think that. The fact that we have two sisters trying to play a dangerous game to win a wish is what gives it that vibe. But here there be ghosts a plenty from devils to phantoms to the regular evil old human beings! This book will grip you tight and not let go until the very end!
There was a bit of mystery to this book. Mainly with the game itself and Blackwell of course! Blackwell doesn’t have his full memories and by finding his heart and key, he’s hoping those will be restored to him. Then of course there’s the spicy romance! I wasn’t quite expecting the level of spice that we got, but then again, I probably should’ve. But there you go! Needless to say that the chemistry between Blackwell and Ophelia is intense! While things flare up between them rather quickly, I still enjoyed the banter between them that made for a different kind of relationship building.
The ending to this was pretty mind-blowing! I was wondering just how things would eventually wrap up as I saw the second book focuses on Genevieve, so I knew Ophelia’s arc would be concluding and it was astonishing! We do get some answers to the mystery that is Blackwell and it was astounding!
This was the first book I read by Kaylie Smith and it will not be the last! Her writing was a delight to read! Her characters are very relatable and real and don’t feel like overly perfect people. The plot was intense and the romance was spicy, and of course we had a good heaping of paranormal people within the story to make it a positively delightful read indeed!
If you’re looking for that spicy paranormal romance with danger and intensity of all kinds, then look no further than Phantasma!
Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars
