ABOUT THIS BOOK:
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.
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.
RAITING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ladies, lads, and all those in between: This book was awesome. You know how you finish a book that you really like and you think, “I couldn’t possibly like another book as much as I liked this last one, so I have to grade on a curve.” when starting a new book? That’s where I was when I started this book and it shattered the curve. I almost feel bad that all my reviews lately have been so high because I worry that it makes me seem insincere, but truly I absolutely adored this book.
I was really interested in Ophelia’s backstory and it felt very believable that she would react the way that she does to certain situations. Her tenacity in the face of a challenge really struck me and her intelligence is refreshing in a world of fantasy books where physical force still seems to be the main source of power for female characters. Did she feel historically accurate? Nope, but she didn’t need to be. Her character was interesting enough that it didn’t feel all that important.
And Blackwell? *Loud exhale of air through pursed lips* Dude…
The way I’ve been describing this book to people is that I picture the author sitting down and thinking to herself, “Ok, we’ve got a thousand books about people having sexy times with vampires, a thousand books about people having sexy times with werewolves, books about people having sexy times with monsters of all kinds…What should my protagonist have sexy times with?’ and then after a few moments of silence, yelling, “GHOSTS!”
And. It. Works.
He’s not exactly a brand new type of male protagonist, but his charisma is felt in every page. Sure, he’s obnoxious, but his chemistry with Ophelia is striking from the very beginning and does not let up.
And the spice?
My god.
I don’t want to oversell it or anything. There’s again no new territory or ridiculously kinky stuff here. If that’s what you’re into, maybe look elsewhere, but if you’re looking for some well-written spice that is…we’ll say compelling? Check this out. Perhaps I’m easily impressed, but I was literally clutching my pearls going, “Damn!” multiple times throughout the book in a way that I hope sounded cool but probably sounded more like Chris Tucker’s character from The Fifth Element. Like, there’s literally a part where they’re mid-spice and it starts raining blood (*metal riff*) and they continue to spice and I was honestly still fine with it.
But can I tell you one thing I really love about this book? As someone who lives with OCD, I could tell immediately that the author of this book also lives with OCD by how well it was written into Ophelia’s character. The Shadow Voice as it’s called in the book is such an honest and realistic way of portraying what it’s like to constantly be battling intrusive thoughts that I wanted to cry. It has always irked me how our culture views and treats OCD like a joke (Sweaters that say “Obsessive Christmas Disorder” or people who go “Ugh, I just have to put my cups in a certain order in my cabinet…I’m so OCD!”) that it’s so nice to see this kind of representation. While I do not have a Shadow Voice, per se, I feel it accurately represented that little part of your mind with OCD that tells you your compulsions are real and your fears are accurate and I find that as integral to this work.
I’ll say the ending did feel a bit rushed and muddled and there wasn’t much of a big twist for me (though there was a little one!) but it didn't take away from the story overall
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