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soft hearts don't survive here.
i always imagined ocd was just obsessively cleaning and keeping things neat and never gave it a second thought for almost two decades. for whatever reason, i also thought that a lot of the compulsions the mc was having were normal fidgets and thoughts. i need to talk to my therapist because what do you mean that isn't something everybody experiences?? this was an incredible reading experience. i love learning things about myself through books!
if it weren't for the ocd rep, phantasma would have been 4-4.5 stars. i found the mc unnecessarily harsh to kind characters at times and it wasn't helped by the audiobook narrator's sometimes whiny delivery. a few of the mc's decisions made no sense to me like when (((spoiler)))
if readers don't take the dramatic theatrics and romantic 0vertures too seriously, phantasma is a wonderful romp. i know smith said it's danny phantom fanfiction but i never watched it. to me, this book also exists for fans of astarion from baldur's gate 3 where they can imagine kissing him again in an alternate universe. it can be summed up by this image i made of the ghoul boys (watcher's recent livestream here of "ghost files").
i'm looking forward to where the wicked games will go next!
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cover artist: alexandra purtan
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Vomit, Abandonment
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Gore, Torture, Vomit, Death of parent, Alcohol
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, Misogyny, Cannibalism, Abandonment, Alcohol
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence
Moderate: Cursing, Self harm, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent
Minor: Confinement
I think this book may have done better if it presented itself as a gothic horror and really focused on that aspect, because the author did a great job and creating a dark atmosphere and playing into horror, and if she leaned more into than instead of the romance, I might have liked it even better.
That being said, the plot was a fun idea and yes, I did fall for a ghost in the end. My problem with the plot was that after a while, it ended up being repetitive. The character has to compete in a level of hell, it’s traumatizing, she distracts herself by spicy time with said ghost, she tells ghost no we can’t do this, then it’s level time again, and repeat. I would’ve appreciated more variety. And I guessed the plot twist but I never know if I should criticize for that or just call myself smart!
And to compliment sandwich this, though, the author did a really really good job at portraying OCD, and what it’s like. “You don’t need to be fixed but it’s okay to ask for outside help if it gets too loud” I LOVE that. Definitely points for this aspect.
Overall it was an enjoyable read and I’ll read the sequel, but it wasn’t a mind boggling life changing piece, and that’s okay! Still a fun jaunt for anyone interested in Gothic Fantasy mixed with Romantasy.
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail