Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 461 pages
Author: Kaylie Smith
Publisher: Second Sky
Release Date: September 3rd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

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.

Thank you The Nerd Fam and the publisher for an ARC.

SPICE > PLOT.

I’m not a fan when that happens.

The initial idea of this story was good. I liked the idea of OCD rep within a fantasy world. I loved the deadly competition (gave me The Serpent and the Wings of Night x Caraval vibes – specifically for the competition). And, it turns out, this is a standalone for the couple with potential for another couple in the sequel.

The romance started off well. A human and a phantom? Sure why not? I thought there was good banter and I love a bargain. But then things started to lose me as the story went on. I spent more time in the second half skipping pages than I did reading. And while sometimes I don’t have a problem with that because the plot is next level, this was not the case. There was even one scene that gave me the ick.

I can’t pinpoint quite what was my issue with the plot. I think a lot of it felt…generic? Each character behaved specifically as planned. There weren’t any dynamic qualities to the side characters that added to the plot. I liked Ophelia’s sister, but she was hardly in the book. Mostly, this was unbalanced.

I don’t know that I’ll pick up the next book if the idea around spice over plot is the same.

Overall audience notes:

• Fantasy Romance
• Language: moderate
• Romance: 5+ open door
• Violence: high
• Content Warnings: elements of horror (gore, torture, blood), loss of life, OCD rep, alcohol use, suicide and depression

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