I absolutely loved this book! It was so exciting and had such a unique storyline that I’ve never read before!! The characters were amazing and very well developed. I went in an amazing roller coaster ride with this story and it didn’t let up until the very last page!! I loved the challenges and the haunted mansion and all the Gothic vibes in the story! I would highly recommend this book if you enjoy Dark Romance with Fantasy . I will be reading more from this author!!

This story is a spicy gothic Caraval where the competition is based on the nine levels of hell. The characters were well developed and the overarching plot was, for the most part, well done. There was a steady pace of action and the mystery unfurled in a satisfying manner. The main issue I have is the ending. The execution felt clunky, rushed, and as if all the plotline strings didn't fully tie together. Overall, this is a fine story. Those who enjoyed the Caraval series and have a healthy suspension of belief and/or are just here for the vibes will enjoy this.

Thanks to Netgalley for the eARC!

“Death she was familiar with. Living would be the real challenge.”

OMG THIS BOOK!!! This is THE perfect witchy, gothic slightly horror book for halloween/october! But honestly, it read like a dream on the beach as well.

I’m truly obsessed with this book, I devoured it in two days as a matter of fact.

Phantasma is a Devil’s competition that takes place in this beautiful gothic mansion in New Orleans every once in a while. Ophelia Grimm is a Necromancer who’s only recently come into her role and her powers.
However, a dire situation regarding her family legacy and her sister’s well being, pushes her to do something she never would have done: entering Phantasma.

Making deals with devils or other paranormal beings is one of the many things her mother tought her not to do. However, that’s precisely what Ophelia needs to do if she wishes to find her sister and finish Phantasma in one piece.

And here enters ✨Blackwell✨. I think the best way to introduce his character is by quoting him directly:

“Incredible,” Blackwell echoed. “The audacity of men worth less than dirt.” but also: “Oh, bite me,” she deadpanned. His smirk grew wider. “Is that an invitation?”

He’s a new bookboyfriend for sure. I mean his wit, and brazen personality already had me but when he answered with “You called.” when Ophelia asked why he came or when he asked “who did this to you?” I was a goner.

However, funny and endearing and hot their relationship is, ultimately the most beautiful thing in this story is Ophelia’s arc.

“You have always contained your own worst enemy.”

I related to Ophelia on a spiritual level. The way she struggled with her family’s expectations of her, the burden of upholding her family legacy while trying to be true to herself and finding her place in the world was emotional to say the least.
Ophelia has OCD and while I’ve never had any personal experience with it, direct or indirect, I feel like it’s a representation that speaks true.

Metaphorically, it’s the embodiment of her fears and her self sabotaging. While I’m in way trying to belittling a serious subject such as OCD and mental illnesses, I do feel like the moral of the story is that sometimes we’re our own biggest enemy.

Ophelia had to struggle through many hardships and horrendous challenges to overcome the fear of living and finally acknowledging who she was and what she wanted to do in her life independently of other’s opinions. While our experiences don’t have sexy devils and paranormal beings I feel like it’s a lesson we should heed.

It’s a story full of action and plot twists and I truly truly enjoyed it.

In here you can find:
-gothic vibes
- paranormal beings
- forbidden love
- human x ghost
- sisterly love
- older daughter on the verge of a burnout
- horror vibes and competition
- riddles and plot twists
- who did this to you?
- you came? you called
- smoldering devotion
- 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

This was a lot of fun! I loved the atmosphere, I liked the writing and I love deadly games, especially when it's not just people-trying-to-kill-each-other and actually has some different dynamics. I would be excited and curious to see what the next level would be like.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for access to the e-arc

I was super stoked for this release, however it was such a massive letdown. I was so excited too like i pre-ordered this book.... i've never cancelled a pre-order so fast. The plot was interesting, i'll give it that, and i loved the idea of a deadly trial based competition themed around the nine circles of hHell. The pacing was well timed, the actual competition was horrible (in a good way like how horror movies are entertaining) and the mystery surrounding the main character's missing sister kept me interested. So plot, pacing, atmosphere all good!

So if i liked all that what could possibly be so bad as to give this book only 2 stars. The main characters 🙂 and how their "romance" and story progressed. It's instalove (3-7 days is apparently how long it takes to find true love) and I cannot stand it when a woman is a bitch to other women for no reason but an angel baby to her ✨man✨ literally makes me wanna puke. anyways....

Ophelia is overall a weak character. For being in her early twenties, she is incredibly immature, constantly blaming her younger sister for HER OWN CHOICES. I won't go into too much detail for spoilers but she is jealous of her sister for making choices in her own best interest that make her happy, when Ophelia had every chance to make those same choices but didn't. How are you gonna be made at someone else for your own decisions? Girl... whatever.

Worse is that Ophelia is so "not like other girls" in a way that is completely unjustified. She is needlessly rude to her female side characters that offers nothing to plot or her character development. Girl had a vengeance against Lucy for no other reason then they both were women and in the same room. I was hoping at some point it would be explained that Lucy deserved the hate from Ophelia but girl was innocent and her biggest crime was asking how Ophelia was feeling that day. Like justice for my girl Lucy damn.

In the next scene however after Ophelia got being a bitch to Lucy out of her system, she is all sweet and innocent whenever speaking with her love interest. I was so over her so incredibly fast. Blackwell (the love interest) gets creep of the year award. Everything was a sexual innuendo whether it fit the moment or not, and he was no help at all most of the time. The romance between them was especially heinous. You have this girl going through the most traumatic experiences possibly, literally witnessing the people around her dying in the worst ways imaginable, and the very next scene, before she's had a moment to process that trauma, is smut. There is no discussion about how to cope with experiencing that, there is no reflection on what just happened, there is no internal process of recovering. It's witness trauma right to having have sex. it's not even sex as part of a trauma response because of how disjointed the cutaway to the smut is. I get this is dark romantasy but like???? can we be serious for one moment?? like can we have a 5 minute debrief about x, y, and z being crushed/burned/split in half before he goes down on her? just a thought.

This is the part with spoilers so beware

Ophelia is OCD, and experiences pretty intense intrusive thought, and that is a pretty significant aspect to her character. BUT it is not so significant to her character because Blackwell cures it at the end, so all is fine and good again. im over it oh my god. also i took a star off for the "you're the devil and i'm your angel" bullshit that was pulled at the end. don't recommend. literally grab me a bucket im about to vomit.

this book made me feel so many things. The beginning had me fully hooked, and I love romantasy and dark romance, so combining this two were too much. It absolutely works though, and MMC was dark as hell, but was trying to care for the FMC in his own way. My heart has been stolen by this man.

I decided to travel outside of my reading comfort zone when I requested this. I have only read a few titles in the dark romance genre, but Kaylie Smith has me positively dying for more. Ophelia was an incredible FMC, the mansion, the competition, the ghosts, the romance... Holy Hannah this book had everything, and it was brilliant. I highly recommend!

I enjoyed this book and was looking forward to see how it all played out. Unfortunately I felt it was boring in places. And predictable. Although over all it was enjoyable!

"Welcome to Phantasma. there are only two rules to the game. Stay alive. Don't fall in love."

Phantasma is the perfect southern gothic romantasy where your wildest fantasies and terrifying nightmares become intertwined.

Phantasma is a deadly maze of desires, temptations, demons and death. If you survive the 9 trials of Phantasma, you claim its prize of a single wish.

The main character, Ophelia, enters Phantasma in hopes of finding her recently missing sister. With each challenge more dangerous than the last, Ophelia is given a choice to enter into a bargain with a mysterious stranger. The bargain? Help Ophelia survive the trials in exchange for 10 years of her life.

Themes:🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀
- Forbidden romance
- Phantom x Necromancer
- Trails inspired by the 9 levels of Hell
- Haunted, gothic mansion
- OCD representation
- Set in a magical fantasy New Orleans
- Spice and blood
- Secrets and lies
- Horror elements
- Badass FMC

Favorite quotes:🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀
"You are the closest thing I will ever get to experience heaven, and I'm not ready to let go."
"I want to taste your sins."
"If there were ever a divine entity I'd worship, it'd be you."

I went through an entire rollercoaster of emotions while reading this book! I couldn't put it down and stayed up until 4am to finish it.

Chapter 50 had me SHOOK! I was so engrossed in the story, I didn't even see the twists coming.

I also want to shoutout and acknowledge the author's note at the end of the book, bringing awareness to the struggles of living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and shedding light on common misconceptions.

This was my first read from author Kaylie Smith and it will definitely not be my last.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC for #Phantasma

This is one of my favorite books I have ever read in my life. Every single thing about it had me so interested to know what would happen. One of the coolest plots ever, its like if the Caraval series was set in Hell and its Adult instead of YA.

The book is set in New Orleans, and Phantasma just came to town. Phantasma is a haunted mansion where contestants enter to receive a single wish from the Prince of Devils. Our main FMC Ophelia, has to follow her sister into the competition once she realizes she's gone missing. They have to save their families estate and this is the only way to do it. As a necromancer, Ophie has her advantages in being able to speak with and see the dead. When she finds a Phantom, Blackwell, he seems to be her key in keeping her safe until she finds her sister. The only catch is she has to bargain 10 years of her life for it unless she finds the key that will release Blackwell from the mansion.

The trials are BRUTAL!!!!!!! Cade got everything that was coming to him.

BLACKWELL !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please, he really did satisfy all my Danny Phantom fantasies. Everything he said had me on my knees in love. Like yeah no wonder Ophelia folded for him, so would I! Their relationship through the book is soooooo hot. But also so real and delicate. I love them together so so much.

THE TWIST AT THE END WAS UNREAL!!!!!!!!! One of the best plot twists that I didn't see coming. And there was a HEA?!??! I mean kinda hehe.

Seriously I loved every single second of this and HIGHLY recommend. Please read trigger warnings before as this does have detailed descriptions of battling with OCD, murder, and speaking with the dead.

THANK YOU NETGALLEY FOR THE FREE ARC!!!!!!!!!

ARC Review:

Phantasma by Kaylie Smith is a seductive fantasy romance book. This was such a fun read. It felt like a spicy gothic Caraval. The plot of this book was so entertaining and I really liked the characters. I thought this book was very well paced. I loved that the trials were based on the nine circles of Hell. I liked the gothic and horror spin. There was always something happening so I was never bored. I was on the edge of my seat this entire book!

Phantasma is a gothic magical tournament with trials inspired by the nine circles of hell. This book follows Ophelia as she enters Phantasma to find her missing sister, Genevieve. While in Phantasma she meets a mysterious phantom named Blackwell and makes a bargain with him. Ophelia was a super interesting FMC! I loved her. She was funny and determined. Blackwell was also a great character! He was so mysterious that I was instantly intrigued by him. Him and Ophelia complimented each other really well and such great chemistry. I really enjoyed this book. The world and magic was easy to understand. The more I learned things throughout the story the more I needed to know more. I really recommend reading this book if you want a gothic romantasy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

HAPPY READING

Full disclosure, this is my first gothic romance book but my third book by Kaylie Smith. Did I read it purely because I love Kaylie Smith's writing style and characterization? Yes. Was I disappointed? Not even a little bit. There was enough mystery and thrills to keep the blood pressure up and a true love story between Blackwell and Ophelia. There was a touch of instalove in my opinion but the world building kept me engrossed in the plot.

The premise of this book sounded really interesting but I ended up not loving the execution. I had a hard time empathizing with the sisters.

The book follows Ophelia, who is desperate when her sister mysteriously disappears. To save her, Ophelia must navigate the treacherous challenges of Phantasma, a deadly contest set within a haunted mansion. Phantasma is no ordinary mansion; it is a labyrinthine maze filled with twisting and haunted hallways and lurking demons and phantoms. Ophelia will face nine challenges to find her, paying homage to Dante's nine circles of hell. She makes a deal with a phantom named Blackwell to help her through the trials for ten years of her life.

Is it a trope or just real life that sisters are opposites? The dynamic of the sisters being different helped in their character development and the understanding of why and how they reacted to the events in the book. Ophelia is determined and motivated to find her sister. Considering the loss of her mother, I could relate to her wanting to hold on to her sister no matter the cost. She pushes through many of her fears and complex emotions, challenging her and representing the bond of their relationship.

On the other hand, Blackwell blurs the lines between ally and adversary. Despite her instincts warning her of his hidden agenda, Ophelia is drawn to him. I was engaged in the tumultuous relationship between Ophelia and Blackwell. The book is centered on trust, inner turmoil, and betrayal. She finds out details of her family history and how the choices she must make could affect the fates of everyone involved.

The setting of the supernatural and gothic horror mansion added to the story's suspense and built a splendid dark fantasy tale. I love a book with a map. It's not a geographical map, but describing and classifying the demons and ghosts was very helpful. One more side note,
I loved that the characters talked about the struggle of curly hair in the humidity of the South. It was a nice touch, and I 100% related to it.

This book is a must-read for fans of deliciously dark fantasy romance and psychological thrillers.

I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley and Second Sky/Forever.

This isn’t the kind of book I’d usually read but the premise drew me in and it did not disappoint. I loved the characters and they kept me engaged and desperate to find out what would happen to them. The writing was stunning - eerie and built up this intense atmosphere that kept me immersed in the world. I’m excited to read more from the author in the future!

Thank you to netgalley for the arc! My full, in-depth review is up on my Goodreads!

“Welcome to Phantasma. There are only two rules to the game. Stay alive. And don’t fall in love.”

🕯️dark fantasy romance
🕯️forbidden romance
🕯️forced proximity
🕯️OCD representation
🕯️phantom x necromancer
🕯️trials inspired by the nine circles of hell
🕯️haunted/gothic mansion
🕯️who did this to you

I cannot begin to describe how much I love this book… hopefully this review will do it justice!

This book is one that I’ll forever think about; I have not stopped thinking about this story and these characters and I finished reading this book a while ago. As I was picking out the quotes for this review I felt every emotion that I did while reading and oh gosh I wish I could read this for the first time again! It was such an amazing reading experience! I laughed, I giggled (A LOT), I screamed (A LOT), and I cried I FELT EVERY EMOTION POSSIBLE WHILE READING THIS!!! I loved the feeling of escapism this book gave me, I was truly so invested in this story/plot and felt like I was transported into this world while reading. This book will forever hold a special place in my heart; when I tell you I sobbed at the end I mean I SOBBED because of everything that was happening and then I sobbed some more when I reached the end and read the authors note, then again when I read her letter, and then cried/laughed when I reached the acknowledgments… Kaylie Smith quickly became one of my new favorite authors instantly by the time I reached chapter two and everything at the end made me love her even more I WILL READ ANYTHING SHE WRITES AND I AM SO EXCITED FOR THE NEXT BOOK!!!! I am truly so grateful to have been an arc reader for this book, it will stay with me for a long time and I am counting down the days until the release date so I can get a physical copy, reread, annotate, and fall in love with this story all over again. (I’ll also be working on some fanart for this absolute masterpiece…) ;)

I love those books that feel self-indulgent while still being well-written, fun, and featuring a great protagonist. It was such a thrilling escapist adventure filled with ghostly haunts, magical trials and LIBRARIES WITH HIDDEN CORRIDORS!!!!!

What more do you want, honestly?

Things I loved: the atmosphere of the mansion, Ophelia's growth - embracing her flaws and darkness and standing up for herself - the romance, the pace of the trials balanced with character growth and the unfolding romance.

I loved the Gothic horror aspects, and YA-esque magical trials, and the hotter scenes made me feel something which is rare these days. I feel like a lot of books don't develop tension recently so it was great to find a story where the couple act like adults.

The spice was so good! This book is mysterious and dark and such a delight to read. I’ll always be down for competition type books and this one delivers in such a cool way.

This book is such a vibe!
New Orleans gothic Victorian vibe!

Kaylie Smith has given us a glimpse into her own struggles and inner demons. The main character (Ophelia) displays ocd like tendencies and Kaylie has written it so elegantly into the daily life of her character blending it beautifully with the theme of the book.

Sometimes we just need a little affirmation. Some times we just need someone to burn down the world for us. Sometimes we need to be told we are right even when we are wrong and this book is all of that and more!
Can we say praise kink????? 🥴😉

This is an example of fantasy done right. Perfect simple world building, beautiful story telling, character building, and foreshadowing. The words just flew off the page at me.

Ophelia is a sheltered but stubborn young woman who has recently come into her power. Now with the weight of her new responsibilities she must learn to navigate the world and not allow her inner voices to dictate her decisions.

Unfortunately for Ophelia her decision have always been made for her. Even now with all her new found power she must find a way to show everyone that she is capable of choosing for herself.

She set out to save her sister from a twisted fate and sure death. Along the way Ophelia finds herself, with the help of a devilishly handsome phantom “Blackwell” 😈👻

Ophelia strikes a deal with Blackwell to help her navigate the twisted game known as Phantasma. A game of nine levels each one intended to take her life. She must survive long enough to find her sister.
Little does she know…… Blackwell likes to play games of his own 🤤.

Navigating the maze that is Phantasma, the roller coaster of emotions, the agony of her inner demons and the freight train known as Blackwell Ophelia has a lot on her plate. But let’s not fret Blackwell is sure to lick it clean 👅.

I'm a sucker for trials, a gothic setting, and creepy characters. This was a hit for me, I loved the fmc and related to her. Blackwell, the mmc was swoon worthy and their banter was top tier. I loved the setting being in New Orleans as well. 10/10 would recommend.