Phantasma
Wicked Games #1
Kaylie Smith
Publisher: Forever
Publication date: Sept. 3, 2024
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Rating:
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 . . .
My thoughts…
I have to be honest, I wasn’t sure I was going to like this book. The idea of entering a mansion that changes every night and there are trials inside of it just seemed like a chaotic mess to me. Plus, I was really bored at the beginning of the book when Ophelia was just living her life. However, once she signed up to take part in Phantasma and things started to happen, my interest got piqued.
The trials were by far the most interesting part. Each one was deadly with people either tapping out or dying left and right. The rest of the story, however, was just meh to me. For a necromancer, I expected more necromancy stuff…. but there was nothing, zero, zilch. I felt betrayed by that because it would have added an extra element. However, her necromancy seems to just be brought up as a cool party trick rather than an actual skill.
In the end, I enjoyed this. The trials kept me entertained, and the hunt to figure out how to save the phantom Blackwell kept me interested between trials. With that being said, I do not care to read about Ophelia’s sister who I really didn’t care for to begin with.
