Phantasma
Darkish Fantasy
Without end (September 3, 2024)
Welcome to Phantasma. There are solely two guidelines to the sport: Keep alive. And don’t fall in love.
When Ophelia’s sister disappears, there is just one option to save her. Ophelia should enter Phantasma, a lethal contest inside a haunted mansion, and declare its prize—a single want.
Phantasma is a maze of twisting corridors and lavish ballrooms, of demons and temptations. Ophelia will face 9 challenges, every extra harmful than the final. There can solely be one winner, and the opposite contestants will cease at nothing to eradicate their rivals.
Each day the home creates new monsters. However simply as Ophelia’s fears threaten to overwhelm her, a mysterious stranger provides her a cut price.
Charming, boastful and infuriatingly enticing, Blackwell claims he can information her by way of the deadly trials forward. All he asks in return is ten years of her life.
Ophelia is aware of she shouldn’t belief him. Blackwell doesn’t appear harmful, however appearances could be misleading. Worse nonetheless, she feels a darkish and irresistible attraction drawing them nearer and nearer.
Her life is on the road. However in Phantasma, the one factor deadlier than shedding the sport is shedding your coronary heart . . .
A Court docket of Thorns and Roses meets Caraval on this seductive fantasy journey. With steamy romance, an attractive morally grey love curiosity, OCD rep and jaw-dropping twists, Phantasma is ideal for followers of Rebecca Yarros, Nisha J. Tuli and Carissa Broadbent.
My emotions for Phantasma by Kaylie Smith should not simple to articulate. I’ll have to interrupt this down into sections; nonetheless, a very powerful factor to know is that this journey of a e book is a top-notch, 5-Star fantasy story. It’s positively supposed for grownup readers who don’t thoughts a morally-gray feminine heroine. #justiceformorallygrayfemales
First, let’s speak romance…
The spice stage was quite a bit increased than I’d anticipated from my first impression of the e book. Ophelia clothes and presents herself as a quaint girl of New Orleans within the first few chapters. She shoulders a lot duty because the elder daughter, and the subsequent technology necromancer when her mom dies. When she enters Phantasma, her true persona thrives! Her coronary heart’s needs are a lot darker than you’d assume, and she or he’s fairly a siren within the sheets. Make observe, I used to be totally entertained with the smutty aspect of Phantasma.
Now, onto the creativity of the sport…
The creativeness of Kaylie Smith is totally spectacular to say the least. There have been seven ranges of “h3ll” in Phantasma, every with its personal satan working the sport. Every of the challenges confronted by Ophelia and her opponents have been imaginative and fairly darkish. They have been meant to be scary sufficient for contests to give up, or make a take care of the designated satan. It introduced out the ruthlessness of Ophelia. In desperation to advance every stage she needed to make some bodily and emotional sacrifices. Every stage is extra intense and devastating than those earlier than.
What Makes Ophelia particular?
It’s clearly said to start with of the story that Ophelia is greater than an unusual human. Being the oldest in a household with necromancer magic, she has uncommon talents that set her aside throughout her challenges all through Phantasma. Her opponents might not perceive what she is, however they know she’s totally different and that provides extra obstacles for her. By means of all of it, Ophelia stays some of the assured, courageous, and smart-mouthed heroines I’ve ever learn.
This e book is the primary I’ve learn from these I bought at Romantasy BookCon 2024 in Orlando. Throughout a panel on the occasion, the authors have been requested what e book that they have been at present studying. Two of them stated Phantasma. That was all the advice I wanted. It was a bonus that Kaylie Smith was a signing creator on the occasion. I’m grateful for the possibility to talk along with her.
Congratulations Kaylie on a profitable launch!
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Kristin lives within the PNW along with her husband, and three children. She likes to learn YA fiction, fantasy, and romance. She enjoys a couple of side-hustles, together with creating bookreels/booktoks for authors. The one exhibits she watches are re-runs, and if she’s not studying a e book, she’s listening to 1.