Quick Synopsis

When Ophelia’s sister disappears, there is only one way to save her. Ophelia must enter Phantasma, a deadly contest across the nine circles of hell, and claim its prize—a single wish.

Publisher’s Synopsis

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

When Ophelia’s sister disappears, there is only one way to save her. Ophelia must enter Phantasma, a deadly contest inside a haunted mansion, and claim its prize—a single wish.

Phantasma is a maze of twisting corridors and lavish ballrooms, of demons and temptations. Ophelia will face nine challenges, each more dangerous than the last. There can only be one winner, and the other contestants will stop at nothing to eliminate their rivals.

Every day the house creates new monsters. But just as Ophelia’s fears threaten to overwhelm her, a mysterious stranger offers her a bargain.

Charming, arrogant and infuriatingly attractive, Blackwell claims he can guide her through the lethal trials ahead. All he asks in return is ten years of her life.

Ophelia knows she shouldn’t trust him. Blackwell doesn’t seem dangerous, but appearances can be deceptive. Worse still, she feels a dark and irresistible attraction drawing them closer and closer.

Her life is on the line. But in Phantasma, the only thing deadlier than losing the game is losing your heart . . . 

A Court of Thorns and Roses meets Caraval in this seductive fantasy adventure. With steamy romance, a sexy morally gray love interest, OCD rep and jaw-dropping twists, Phantasma is perfect for fans of Rebecca Yarros, Nisha J. Tuli and Carissa Broadbent.

Book Review

I am on a mission to read all of the 2024 Book of the Month Book of the Year Nominees. And Phantasma is the first book that has really taken me outside my comfort zone. I am not much of a fantasy reader, but that does not mean I will not dip my toes in the genre when a story interests me.

Phantasma is a romantasy/paranormal romance set in New Orleans. After finding her mother dead, Ophelia must figure out how to keep her family afloat. When her sister disappears, Ophelia realizes the only way to save her and the family is by entering Phantasma, a deadly contest in a haunted mansion. In Phantasma, contestants face nine challenges representing the nine circles of hell in order to claim the prize – a single wish. Just when Ophelia becomes overwhelmed, a mysterious and beautiful stranger offers her a bargain.

For me, Phantasma started off a little slow. I contribute this to the world-building that Kaylie Smith did along with establishing Ophelia and her sister’s back story. However, there was no real introduction to the novel’s version of New Orleans or the time period. And beyond setting up the game, the world building does not extend much past the first chapter.

Once Ophelia begins the game, I expected thrilling, edge-of-your-seat action and tension. While there were small bursts of excitement in and around the trials, each game was relatively short. In addition, the other contestants do not play a large part into the story. There are three contestants in Ophelia’s group that are really mentioned, but if you are anticipating a Hunger Games kind of game-playing, you will be disappointed. In fact, by the fifth trial, I felt like the trials were pushed to the wayside to solely focus on Ophelia and her mysterious stranger’s relationship and Phantasma’s final outcome. As a result, I felt that Smith did not balance the romance and fantasy elements of the plot. The novel definitely seemed more like a romance with an interesting set-up than one immersed in a fantasy world.

One of the more major issues for me was the lack of details. I am not sure if this is a side effect of Smith’s start as a young adult author or simply her style. But I desperately wanted to know more about the world outside the game and the other paranormal beings in the universe. I thought that each trial would have an elaborate, complex set-up that thoughtfully connected to the nine circles of hell. And even when it came to the romance, I looked for more emotions, chemistry, and build up.

While I did enjoy the romance portion of Phantasma, it was a bit insta-love, or at least, instant attraction. The sexual energy between Ophelia and Blackwell was easily pulp-able. The pair also had some fun verbal sparring. I also appreciated how accepting Blackwell was of Ophelia as she was, OCD and all. His treatment and acceptance of her OCD is definitely one of the high points of the book for me.

Where Phantasma really lost stars was the last 50 pages or so. The entire story has built to a climax over 400+ pages… only for the resolution to be completely rushed. I had to read parts over again to make sure that I was not missing something written in the text. And despite this second read, I still had unresolved, lingering questions that were vital to the ending making sense.

Overall, Phantasma is a fun romp through a paranormal game with plenty of spicy tension. However, I thought it lacked in details and scene development. Still, I would recommend this novel and plan to read the next in the series.

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