Review: Phantasma by Kaylie Smith
Blurb:
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.
Review:
I picked up Phantasma from a recommendation and was told it was similar in structure to Stephanie Garber’s Caraval, but darker and more sinister. This book absolutely delivers on that promise, and I actually really enjoyed it from start to finish.
Characters
Ophelia Grimm has recently lost her mother to death, but being the child of a Necromancer, she gained the abilities her mother harbored, and with it the ability to see ghosts. She has every intention of keeping up the family business in New Orleans, but a shock to her family (her sister being all that’s left of the orphaned girls) has brought them to a devastating brink. When she discovers her younger sister, Genevive, has entered into the deadly game of Phantasma, Ophelia doesn’t hesitate to follow her through the gates of hell.
I like Ophelia. She is headstrong and not scared of much considering she has been surrounded by death her whole life. Does she come up against surprises? Absolutely. But she pushes forward, saving her sister from the deadly games, the only thing keeping her going. She doesn’t expect to meet Blackwell – a Phantom who she can’t seem to escape. Trapped in a manor with all kinds of hellish beasts and demons, she has to make some dangerous decisions (ones I might have made myself given the circumstances.) While some of her choices are…less than desirable, she does what she must to stay alive and make it to the end of the horrors. I can’t say I would have survived the first night, but then again I wouldn’t have entered the gates without good reason.
Atmosphere
Dark, demonic, and sinister is the embodiment of Phantasma – a travelling manor of horrors that await any willing to endure the tests to win a devil’s boon. Their next stop: New Orleans which is a spooky place in reality let alone in a dark fictional fantasy. Inside the manor is even worse, filled to the brim with demons, ghosts, and participants that are just as dangerous as their hosts.
I am not usually one for horror, but it has been growing on me lately, and the gothic feel of this story pulled me in from the start. Everything felt as though it should have been draped in an ominous fog with an unsettling silence to accompany it.
Writing Style
Kaylie Smith writes with an ease that any reader can appreciate and her dark mind will take you on a whirlwind. This is definitely more geared towards adults, with some explicit scenes. Overall, it’s a dark horror fantasy that will pull in any adult reader looking for something they might have found missing in Caraval, and absolutely scratches that itch for something a little darker but similar. I don’t usually like to play so hard into a comparison of books, but in this case, it really can’t be helped – it has such a similar vibe.
Plot
From the start I knew this would keep my attention. From the spooky setting to the characters, I could barely put it down.
Before anyone can pass the gates of Phantasma, each participant is made to divulge their greatest fear – and they are preyed on from the moment they walk through the doors of the gothic estate. But besides the participants, the hosts are entangled in their own hell, there against their own wills thanks to the curse placed upon the owner and ringmaster of the entire operation.
When Ophelia enters, she is bombarded almost immediately, but she soon discovers she has a unique advantage, being paranormal herself. It’s when she meets the Phantom Blackwell that things get even more interesting. He vows to help her complete the nine levels that would make her the winner of a Devil’s boon, but he has his own insidious agenda.
Needless to say, the ending (while I picked up on it pretty quickly) still had me a little shocked and I was surprised to say the least at how it actually ended – THAT I certainly wasn’t expecting from a novel that had proven to be so demonic and dark.
Intrigue
I read this almost straight through, hardly able to put it down. It is absolutely a page-turner for those familiar with the genre and interested in something of this nature. From one level to the next, I was rooting for Ophelia to make it through and reunite with her sister.
Excitement
The burning question: Would I recommend this book? Yes, I definitely would. Again, it is certainly for an adult audience, but a good read indeed. I’m eager for the next installment of this duology as well, where we will be taken for a ride with Genevieve Grimm.
