Let me start by saying that this book is not what I usually read. When a book is described as "dark" I typically shy away from it, but something about the synopsis of Phantasma had me intrigued. I'm glad it did.
This book throws you right into the story, much like Ophelia is thrown into Phantasma. You aren't given much time to get your bearings and the story just keeps moving from there. And I loved that about it. I felt the urgency, the darkness, and the tension of Ophelia's situation.
What shone the most, for me, was the mystery that unraveled bit by bit, giving more insight into Ophelia. A close second was the way OCD played into Ophelia's character and struggles. I would say more, but I think it's best just to read it.
My one qualm is that the ending felt a little rushed and easy, but I think that about a lot of books, so maybe it's just me.
The romance wasn't quite my flavor, but I have multiple friends who I know will eat it up. If, as a kid, you had a crush on Casper in the 1995 movie, and then you grew up to read dark fantasy and romance, this is a book for you.
I'm glad I took a chance and read this book, and I'm interested to see what Kaylie Smith does next.

Thank you to Second Sky and Forever publishing ,and Netgalley for the e-ARC.

The story of Phantasma follows Ophelia, a necromancer, who finds herself in a bit of a financial struggle and needs to pay off a debt that her mother had taken or lose her home! Ophelia and her sister Genevieve are not sure what can be done to ensure the Manor stays in the family. Phantasma is a crazy haunted house that appears in different cities as a competition mimicking the nine circles of hell. If you make it through and survive, a devil’s grant is gifted to the winner! Your wish is their command with no strings attached! Ophelia enters the competition last minute after her sister disappears, thinking that this is the only place she could have gone. She experiences a real nightmare of hell in this house and discovers truths that have been hidden for centuries. Will she find her sister and save her family from debt? Or will she succumb to the devils and their bargains?

The book was an interesting read and very different.. I liked the atmosphere and the writing! It had different dynamics and I was always curious on what the next level would be like in the competition!

However, the romance was disappointing. I did not feel any emotional connection to it at all! It was nothing but spice and lust for me! The story was good enough if a bit predictable. Overall, it wasn’t a bad read! 3.5 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and Second Sky/Forever for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I've been on a gothic romance binge lately, and this book is one of the best!
It was beautiful, sexy as hell, enthralling, and kept me up waaaay too late several nights in a row because I couldn't put it down. I was so invested in these characters, and couldn't get enough!
The world building was *chefs kiss*. Smith has an amazing way with words, and the imagery was perfect. I was addicted to this book from the first page.

Absolutely recommend Phantasma if you love anything dark, gothic and romantic!

Y’all,

This was a 5 ⭐️read.

First of all, romantasy. Sign me up.
But then, 9 circles of hell challenges?
Hell yes.
That means wrath, deceit, lust, etc.
sign me the F up.
Deals with devils?
I’m in!
Freaky house full of magic? Also yes.
The sex was hot. I was so into this book.

This story follows Ophelia, a necromancer as she attempts to find her sister in a house FULL of challenges that mimic the nine circles of hell. And the biggest rule of all? Don’t fall in love in Phantasma house.

Releases September 3rd.
Preorder today.

This is a 3.75 for me. I think the idea was a really cool idea, I think the writing overall was solid, and the trials were very interesting. In a way each trial reminded me of an escape room challenge.

But I wasn't able to fully connect with the book and that could be a me issue. It just felt at times surface level and never really delving into anything deeper. The challenges while interesting never truly felt nitty, gritty or scary. While there were bloody moments with the trials, they just felt like they were completed way too fast for me to become invested in what was happening.

The same could be said for the mission to help Blackwell. At times it just felt like an afterthought like oh yea I am supposed to find a way to help this guy escape and really all it involved was looking around in this creepy manor for no rhyme or reason. Just looking for anything that didn't look like it fit. I thought there would be clues or something that would add to the challenge like blackwell leaving clues behind as he has been at this for centuries with moments of gained clarity. Like when they were talking about Frankenstein in the library, I thought this would be a clue that would lead to another clue and then another. But nope just talk of going into rooms to look around with no luck. Also being done when there are supposedly ghouls and other beings or illusions out to hurt you but never really show up to deter you from your task.

I will say that I enjoyed the spicy chemistry between Blackwell and Ophelia, but I didn't believe the romance. They just felt like really buddies who had good spicy times. There was just no deeper connection that made me think that if they ever made it out of this situation alive that they would even stay in touch.

As individuals I did find Ophelia to be a complex character who I didn't like. Sometimes she just unkind to people for no reason but considering how she has never really been around other people or put into social situations and given the manor where anyone could backstab you, I guess I got the reason why but at times it felt like she was just kicking people when they were down when they were just trying to connect in a horrible situation. Blackwell was interesting at times but because he didn't know much about himself it's not like we could get to know him and become invested in him, but his actions and attitude did make him enjoyable when he was on page.

Overall, the story did entertain me, but it was not a story or set of characters that I became super invested in.

I did receive an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely loved this. So easy to get into. If you like deadly trials, romantasy and who did this to you vibes then you'll definitely enjoy this. Can't wait to see what else Kaylie Smith writes.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC of this book!

This isn't my usual type of book. I tend to steer clear of books that have horror elements in them as well as book that revolve around carnivals or circuses. This had book, but I was intrigued enough by the description to give it a try.

This definitely gave me strong Caraval vibes, and while I enjoyed that book, it wasn't an all time favorite and not one that I would probably ever go back to and reread. The entire time I was reading pretty much all I was thinking about as well as how much Ophelia and her sister's relationship reminded me of Scarlet's and Tella's from Caraval. And while I didn't necessarily mind it, it wasn't my favorite.

I also think that the book's horror and gothic elements threw me off a little. Those types of things are very hit or miss for me, and while they didn't miss, I wouldn't say that they hit for me either. There were some aspects of the book that I really enjoyed, but some that I wasn't the biggest fan of.

I definitely think that this book did everything that it needed to, but because it contained elements that notoriously almost never work out for me, I didn't enjoy it as much as someone else probably would have. I think if you like circus vibes as well as a dark and gothic atmosphere with necromancers, I think you'll really enjoy this book. But if not, I probably wouldn't read it.

This was fun! A mix of sexy romantasy and horror that readers are going to eat up. This takes the magical competition troupe to a WHOLE other love with the horrifying imagery and sexy characters. I honestly have never laughed and giggled and kicked my feet but also been scared while reading a book.

There were times when I had to put this book down because the scenes were gory and other times that I couldn’t put it down because the spicy scenes were getting HOT🔥! I think that’s what makes this book so unique and why I loved it so much.

This book also focuses on what it’s like to live with OCD. Our main character Ophelia has an extreme case of OCD called the Shadow Voice where she has to tap 3 times on something or the Shadow Voice says something horrible will happen. Ophelia has been plagued by this her whole life until she enters Phantasma, a paranormal competition and meets a phantom that can make the voice disappear.

This book is a spicy, unputdownable haunt or a read that will intrigue romantasy and horror readers alike! A unique and utterly fascinating story that will have you losing sleep to finish it. Just watch out, the number 1 rule in Phantasma is don’t fall in love or you will regret it.

4.5 stars (for those of you counting, that’s half a star for each circle of hell, because why not)

I was all in on this book and this world- gothic Louisiana!! Paranormal beings!! Deadly trials!! Circles of hell!! Ghostly love interest!! Mental health representation!! Mystery!! Murder!! And so so much more!!

Ophelia Grimm (one of the best named characters I’ve read all year) is a Necromancer, inheriting magic, a failing business, and crippling debt from her recently (like very very recently) deceased mother. To protect her sister and her world, she enters the mysterious world of Phantasma, a game run by devils that appears in a new town ever two weeks and is famous for more contestants dying than making it out alive as they battle through the nine circles of hell. Luckily (or honestly kind of unluckily) the house is crawling with devils, phantoms, and other demons willing to make bargains with contestants, trading years of life for help making it through to the next day- and Ophelia is sought out instantly by the phantom whose deals succeed most often, how lucky for her!! One might even say, meant to be (who me, would I say that? Who’s to say).

Every aspect of this book was so well-plotted, incredibly written, super visceral, and thoroughly entertaining. Once I picked this book up, I could not put it down!! Ophelia was a compelling FMC, and the way her OCD is represented in the story was absolutely genius. She’s strong, braver than she thinks, and is willing to maintain her soft heart in the face of those telling her to harden up. Blackwell, her phantom friend/deal-maker/maybe more than friend, may be missing his memories but he’s not missing his chance to keep Ophelia safe and in his life. The way he trusts her inherently and believes in her, letting her fight her own battles when she asks, is what we want to see in a MMC!! And holy wow the BANTER from these two, I was giggling every time they went back and forth! So in love and they don’t even know it!!

If more is created of this world, and I’m eyeing Genevieve for a future, I would be so SO excited to explore this incredible paranormal story scape!!

Thank you so much to Kaylie Smith and NetGalley for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review!

neither mind-blowing nor awful. it was mostly kind of whatever. but one thing that's genuinely funny to me is that his true name is blackwell. like hello? imagine a god named tommy. a fairy king named kyle. subhanallah, what happened to whimsy?

i did get what i came for (caraval), and while it was far better written (hence the extra half star), it was also far less creative, plot and worldbuilding wise. which is expected when half the trials are based on the seven deadly sins, i guess. also a very generic deal with the devil + instalove romance. she doesn't know him, he doesn't remember her, and they fall in love within three days of their first meeting, tra la la. however, going through the same trauma would probably make people closer, so they're slightly more believable than other instalove plots. and the curse and the ending do add a little more substance to their relationship. the erotica was nice enough, so people into dark fantasy romance will enjoy this, i believe.

as for the characters, they were very caraval coded indeed. ophelia is a domineering older sister and has an extremely rigid view of genevieve (and unlike tella, she's done nothing to be characterized the way ophelia thinks of her). genevieve is impulsive and independent and loves her sister, and these her only three personality traits. blackwell is the most generic romantasy mmc to walk the planet: hot, secretive, deep dark traumatic past, overconfident, good at fucking. all in all, i wasn't wowed by anyone, and i hated blackwell more than i hated julian and dante combined, especially with the twist at the end. (this is a normal occurrence for me with romantasy mmcs, so the rating is still three stars.)

thank you to netgalley for the advanced copy.

I’ve always had a morbid fascination for stories that fling humanity into fight-to-the-death scenarios as it's the perfect showcase of our species at its most spectacularly awful and occasionally best. And clearly, I’m not alone, given the massive success of Squid Game, Battle Royale, The Hunger Games, The Grace Year, The Scholomance trilogy, and even the Saw movies—not to mention several popular romantasies.

Speaking of romantasy, we all know it’s a bold move to compare an adult romantasy debut to crowd favourites—expectations go through the roof and disappointment is practically a given. But the publishers here went all in comparing Phantasma to the genre giants, so, I was bracing myself for a letdown. But Phantasma stood its ground and gave my unabashed love for ACOTAR’s under-the-mountain scenes a run for their money. Here’s why:

Firstly, while the romantasy genre often leans on familiar themes and tropes, and Phantasma feels familiar, it also innovates. We've got:

• A gothic, paranormal New Orleans
• A haunted house drenched in mind games, blood and terror
• A Necromancer FMC
• Hot ghosts
• Secrets-betrayals-lies
• Uniquely complicated family dynamics
• An endearing ghost cat
• Explorations on the afterlife, and Heaven and Hell.
• Own Voices representation for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

It’s fresh and compelling, and it worked for me. Your mileage may vary depending on how you feel about religious afterlife references in your fantasy—and gore that might make Tarantino look twice.

Secondly, the OCD and anxiety representation isn't just tacked on, it’s central to the story and handled with haunting, beautiful, raw vulnerability, using dark fantasy as a vehicle.

The games, akin to the grisly thrills of Saw or Squid Game, were a standout. With nine levels of twisted challenges, each one bringing its own brand of hellish horror, I’ll keep the details under wraps. But fair trigger warning for plenty of blood and guts, and more creative ways to die than you thought possible.

Now, about the romance. I thought it was good. Who did this to you and forbidden romance vibes. It’s not a slow burn, but it also simultaneously sidesteps insta-love. I know people will want to know about the spice. Phantasma has plenty of it. The story stays centre stage, so if spice isn’t your thing, you can skim those scenes and still keep up.

• Spice level: 🌶🌶.5
• Spicy scene count: 6 spicy, 2 mild
• Bonus points for everything being 100% consensual.

Quibbles? Sure, the prose isn't flawless and some foreshadowing is a bit heavy-handed, leading to predictability, but in no way did this hinder my entertainment or enjoyment. Literature is subjective, so you may perceive differently and that's all good!

Finally, the cherry on top is that Phantasma is standalone, so you’re not signing your life away to another never-ending series. However, the author did tease that she/they hope readers will “return for more deliciously haunting adventures in this world,” so Kaylie Smith, please take my money, I'm ready for more. I ended up having such a good time reading this that it's getting 5 stars!

My heartfelt thanks to NetGalley & Second Sky/Forever for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

“So, I made myself leave you, determined to give you space for the rest of the night—and then you found me. Because it seems that’s what we do. We find each other.”
—
Rating: 4.75✨
Smut: 🌶️
—
Ophelia, a necromancer from the Grimm family line, quite literally makes a deal with the dark in an attempt to save the person who means the world to her.
What follows is a gothic love story involving an adventure that Ophelia wasn’t expecting. It’s a romance that has you rooting for the main characters, despite the odds stacked against them.

To start, this is the kind of book that is way too easy to binge. The kind that transports you to another world completely and keeps you wanting more well after it’s over.

I found myself enthralled by Phantasma and it’s gothic splendour, despite the gore and hardships faced by the characters within its walls.
Kaylie Smith’s writing was intriguing and magical, making me feel like i was miles away from the plane I was actually reading this book in.

I loved the explicit and implicit nods to mental health, explored through Ophelia’s OCD. This character’s strength and selflessness in face of the absolute darkness her mind plunges her into made her such a likeable character.
Besides the mental health rep, my favourite part was her relationship with Blackwell. It was one that helped her through her struggles but Kaylie Smith ultimately conveyed the message that Ophelia didn’t need Blackwell to fix her because she wasn’t broken. As a girlie with mental health struggles, I loved this message and I found myself feeling seen within Ophelia’s intrusive thoughts and her spiralling. Having a mans like Blackwell to reassure her that she was more than perfect was just the cherry on top.

Speaking of Blackwell, there was this tether between the two characters throughout this novel which made Blackwell, in particular, SO easy to fall in love with right away. I appreciated how the author explained this tether at the end and how perfect he was for Ophelia😩
The man was ROMANTIC even though everything was falling apart around him.

This would have been a 5 star read, if not for my confusion over one aspect of the ending of the book. I had to re read it twice and still found myself confused 😅
I also would have liked a longer epilogue & more insight into Blackwell’s father!

Overall, if you love:
🥀 Gothic Fantasy Romance
🥀 Caraval meets Squid Game-esque trials meets ACOTAR
🥀 OCD representation
🥀 Complex family dynamics

Then this one is for you♥️

Massive thank you to Kaylie Smith, Second Sky and the NerdFam for sending me this e-arc 🫶

I’ve been so excited to read this book since Kaylie talked about it on her tour for another book. When she said think of Danny Phantom but put him in a fantasy New Orleans?!? I said Bestie pls say less and give it to me.

In the beginning we meet Ophelia and Genevieve who just lost their mother. After their mother passed they start to find out about things that their mother never told them. Lucky for them their fate can be changed when Phantasma comes to town.

I thought this book was so incredibly well written. I genuinely didn’t see the ending coming at me. There we several moments I was internally kicking my feet because of certain scenes. I do think that this kind of gothic, magic vibe that we get within Phantasma was an interesting approach to the 9 circles of Hell. I loved this book and reading it was truly a wonderful experience. I CANNOT recommend this book enough. You really did feel like you were living through everything with Ophelia.

I ate this book up!!! I could not put it down if I didn't have to sleep and go to work. I would have finished this book in one day. The way the author incorporated the OCD effect on Ophelia was great. I am not affected by OCD, however, I am sure that the people who do have it can relate to it a lot. I was a big fan of Blackwell, I could picture him in my mind so clearly. Let's not forget the twist at the end, I did not see that coming and I loved it even more. Typically I can figure it out and spoil the twist for me. With this book, I had no idea I was so enchanted by everything else. I didn't even think about that being an option. I have recommended to all my friends that they should read this book. I am so going to go out and get myself a physical copy of this book for my collection. I can't wait to see what else Kaylie Smith will be writing.

My review will be on Amazon, Instagram, and Goodreads


https://www.goodreads.com/nightlyreadingnook
https://www.instagram.com/nightlyreadingnook/

Thank you Net galley for this arc,

If Neceomancers, devils, ghost and a haunted Mansion are all things you like than you need to read this book.

Ophelia is a necromancer, whose mother recently passed away, her sister is missing and she has a voice inside her head. In order to find her sister she decided to participate in Phantasma a deadly game with trials that has 9 levels. There are two rules don’t die and don’t fall in love. She meets a sexy phantom and strikes a bargain with him. As the levels get harder the more attracted she is to Blackwell.

This story was so unique, bloody, dark and I love how it is set in Louisiana. If you love dark gothic paranormal fantasy stories you will eat this one up. This is perfect for fans of Caraval who want something grown, sexy and dark.

Perfect book to read this fall.

Ophelia was now the eldest Grimm. A dead mother made her much more than an orphan.

Phantasma opens with Ophelia's mother dying in the night, causing Ophelia to hurry and perform a ceremony where she is transferred her mother's magic. Her younger sister Genevieve, has always wanted to leave their family necromancy business behind, resenting how it tied Ophelia to Grimm Manor, their home. However, Ophelia won't turn her back on centuries of family history and intends to take over the business of helping people communicate with the dead. Until bankers show up and suddenly they only have a few weeks to pay off a severely due loan their mother inexplicable took out, before they lose Grimm Manor to the bank. Ophelia senses that Genevieve knows more than she's telling and when she leaves a note saying not to worry and she'll be back in a couple weeks, Ophelia just knows Genevieve has entered Phantasma, a haunted mansion just arrived in New Orleans, and plans on entering herself to find Genevieve.

For as long as she could remember, the voice had been there, in the darkest corners of her mind, telling her to walk through certain doorways or her entire family would perish.

This started off with a really cool concept, a traveling haunted mansion run by devils where contestants can enter and try to make it through levels based on the nine Circles of Hell, where if they are the last person standing, they'll receive a Devil's Grant (basically a wish granted). There's explanation of paranormal hierarchy, with Ghosts, Apparitions, Phantoms, Devils, Specters, and the like, which I thought was going to lead to a pretty detailed structured rich world. Ophelia even enters the mansion pretty early, around 15% to get the story rolling right away. However, I kind of found a lot of the elements added to create atmosphere ended up feeling a lot like window-dressing, leaving me ultimately disappointed in the lack of depth.

The golden bauble had been in her family for generations, enchanted with a powerful magic that bound it to its wearer.

This takes place in New Orleans but as the vast majority of the story is inside the Phantasma mansion, you won't get the feel for the city. I don't remember the time period being explicitly mentioned but with Ophelia riding in carriages and a motor vehicle being a sensation, along with her dresses and male attire of vests mentioned, it seems like it's supposed to be Victorian era. But the vernacular feels pretty modern, ex. - “I fucked his best friend on the back of a float”, “Who in the unholy fuck is knocking on peoples’ doors this early in the morning?”, and “For fuck’s sake,”. I'm guessing the clothes are Victorian era to help set the Gothic tone this was mentioned as having but Gothic stories are all about atmosphere, usually a big chunk created from the restrictions of the time, and well, language plays a decent part of helping to mesh the time period with the reader and I can't say I felt the Gothic atmosphere at all, the clothes were window-dressing.

Phantasma. The Devil’s Manor. A place often spoken about in whispered rumors and haunting cautionary tales in the dark.

The romance comes in when a Phantom named Blackwell, who Ophelia actually met before entering Phantasma, makes a bargain with her, he'll help Ophelia get past the levels if she helps him find a heart and key, what he told her needed to be set free from Phantasma when they first met but can't remember saying. Blackwell has no memory of existing outside of Phantasma but picks someone every time the mansion starts it's games to try and help him get free. A locket Ophelia wears around her neck that has been passed down through generations of women in her family warms when it's around Blackwell and she takes this as sign to trust him. She's also pretty physically attracted to him. You probably can tell where this is leading and a little before the half-way point, we start to get “Good Girl” scenes. The dirty talk was there but the emotion was not for me, there just wasn't enough emotional or relationship depth developed and as such, all those physical scenes may have used the trendy hot words but they were window-dressing and I found my eyes glazing over whenever the clothes came off.

“Ophelia,” he repeated, tasting every syllable. Her name on his tongue sounded like a wicked prayer. “You are exactly the person I’ve been waiting for.”

Along with being a lifelong romance fan, I've been a lifelong horror fan, why I was so excited for this but while the levels would occasionally have some gory descriptions of deaths, window-dressing in place of any actually feelings of horror, tension, or fear. This felt more New Adult to me, in regards to maturity of characters and tone and I'd put Christopher Pike books ahead on the feeling horror scale. The levels Ophelia has to complete don't last very long and while we get to know some other contestants and devils, they're more blip on the radar secondary characters. As we raced through the trials when it's time to complete them, lingered on Ophelia wandering through the mansion trying to find what Blackwell's looking for, and hopped from physical scene to physical scene between the two, I felt the middle second half started to feel stretched out.

A deep sense of dread began to sink into her gut that being within Phantasma wasn’t going to be the thing that broke her.

The ending really rushed Ophelia's and Genevieve's plot, but delivered on answers. Ophelia learns some family secrets and what Blackwell's story really is, and while it is pretty obvious (I would say blindingly obvious and Ophelia should have realized much sooner) what the answer was to what connects and could solve Blackwell's issue, it was an enjoyable plot thread. Once Ophelia and Blackwell figure out some things, the ending again feels a bit rushed as it jumps to give readers a quick look at where things are and are headed. One element that I thought worked really well and want to mention is Ophelia's Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, since this was a paranormal book, I was wondering where this element was headed. Ophelia hears a “Shadow Voice” in her head that causes her to have to do things in threes, otherwise the voice says her family will die. The story showed how this tormented Ophelia and the struggle of how living with such a form of OCD can effect people and I thought how Ophelia battled it showed a care and respect for this aspect of her character.

While I found a lot of elements to be window-dressing and the romance didn't have the depth to deliver the emotional connection I like to feel from my romance leads, others who like a little descriptive gore without the deep emotional horror feel, trendy dirty talk scenes, and a New Adult vibe, might want to give this lighter horror and romance mash-up a try.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

4.5/5*

So turns out maybe all it takes for me to properly enjoy a romantasy is horror?

I absolutely ate this up--it's been a while since I was constantly thinking about when I could next pick up this book, and as someone who wants to love romantasy so badly but just can't seem to do so, that's a huge deal. Everything in this book comes together so well to create this eerie, gothic atmosphere; it was so smart and so fun to set this in New Orleans and play up its paranormal reputation. Even the way OCD was portrayed--and I thought this representation was particularly well done--played into the dark tone of the book. Ophelia's character arc was so strong and it was so easy to root for her without it minimizing her flaws. The romance was a lot of fun, and while I don't like insta-love (the entire story takes place over 10-ish days which, to me, is still too insta-love) this was maybe the only case where I was able to ignore my dislike of the trope and just have fun with it.

Since I have such bad luck with this subgenre and thus am not super used to it, most of the (very few!!) things that bothered me are kind of just to be expected with romantasy (ie. it could get very cheesy) and so I'm obviously not going to hold that against the book. My biggest issue with the book is that the sentence structure was a bit rough--I'm particularly sensitive to this and usually switch to audiobook when I'm enjoying a story but the structure sometimes pulls me out, but I couldn't do that here. This, too, I'm not counting against the book because this is just something I'm personally picky about and I truly think if I'd had the audiobook I would have been perfectly fine, but still noting in case anyone else is picky like me.

This was such a wonderfully read but it was unexpectedly fun! I loved this book and the audio was a blast, the narration was a treat and filled with emotion.

Phantasma is a deadly game filled with demons and monsters, where you can win a prize from the demon prince of hell himself. Ophelia Grimm enters this competition hoping to find her sister. Despite being a necromancer, she struggles at the beginning within the challenges and ends up making a bargain with a phantom, Blackwell, for his assistance in the games. The relationship fostered between Ophelia and Blackwell grows from a hesitant agreement to a mutual respect. Then finally a hunger and need for each other's body and soul. The slow burn of need and wanting between the two was what got me. I loved the romance so much.

There were some things in the middle that just was annoying (Blackwell dealing with things for her off page) I like the chaos of the haunts and the games. The spice brought it back for me to keep interested. Kaylie Smith's writing in those scenes!! WOWZA

The Shadow Voice and OCD portrayl is beyond one of my favorite things within this story. This really helped give it the eerie gothic vibe without going fully into horror and gore. There definitely were some elements that may upset some, but they are spaced well between romance and other general scenes within this gothic setting. The end was a bit expected, but honestly, I'm not mad. Just because it is expected doesn't mean it is bad - I had a blast.

💝 Haunted House Competition
💝 OCD Rep
💝 Dark elements, demons & monsters
💝 Secrets galore
💝 Necromancer/Phantom Romance
💝 🌶️🌶️ Spice

cw: horror/gore elements

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture Audio & Forever Publishing for an ALC & eARC of <u>Phantasma</u> by Kaylie Smith

So I saw Kaylie Smith marketing this book in the early summer and KNEW I needed to get my hands on this novel. As a strong Dramione friend, it wasn't lost on me at how similar these characters looked and dark romance was just what I needed. NOLA was the perfect spooky setting and honestly so fitting considering the fall is coming up. I've never been to NOLA! But the way my parents described it, it honestly is so descriptive and matches their description to a T! Even before Ophelia enters Phantasma, considered me well spooked and invested in the mystery. Kaylie Smith did also super well minimizing the vague timeline which I think helped the mystery move along. The writing is clearly pre-modern, but this is definitely fantasy as we have always lived in a patriarchy and women/their sexuality seem more entitled than typical during that time period.

I am not new to having a competition at the center of the plot, however Phantasma contained mystery that had me hooked from the beginning. The high stakes and unknown of the competition kept me enthralled along with the writing egging me on. The challenges were unique for the typical fantasy competition. I love a good mystery, but I tend to stay away from horror; however this was a good mix and I did need to read some chapters during the day LMFAO. The challenges Ophelia and the others face made me feel like maybe they we were headed towards a HEA , but maybe we may see the FMC suffer first. Obviously I couldn't forget the SPICE! The romantic chemistry between Ophelia and Blackwell is PHENOMENAL- banter AND slow burn which led to some amazing spicy scenes I ate up immediately. Blackwell believing in female pleasure AND consent with a hint of possessiveness? Kaylie knew what she was doing. All the applause and all the snaps. The one thing I felt this book lacked was a more well rounded ending, FOR ME. Obviously mysteries always have the big reveal. Personally, I felt there was a chasm for one more challenge for the characters to go through, but the resolution happens off-page, which to be honest I would have loved to read and have a in person POV for. REGARDLESS PHENOMENAL BOOK AND PERFECT for when it arrives in time for Halloween/Fall/spooky season!

If you loved Caraval but wished it was darker with spice then this book is for you.

I enjoyed this book and it was a quick read. The gothic world that was created was a fun change and I really enjoyed the book being about the darker paranormal beings such as devils, necromancers, ghouls and ghosts.

The FMC growth in this book was great and her OCD representation was written really well.

I just found that I was lacking the emotional attachment to the characters and the story become very predictable for me.

This is still a book I would recommend to anyone looking for a dark gothic Romantasy.

I am interested to see how the author develops and will read her future books as this is a good debuting novel