A review by edgybutfemme
Phantasma by Kaylie Smith

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

🌶️🌶️🌶️3.5 / 5
The smut in this novel uses explicit language and a decent amount of detail. There is a good balance of plot and romance. There are several spicy scenes throughout the book, at least four but I wasn't keeping track. This was almost a 4 spice book but it's a very long book with quite a lot of emphasis on the plot so I split the difference.
The Smut / Kinks include: Praise kink, body worship, begging, danger is a turn on, ghost boyfriend's powers are very helpful in bed for teleporting between positions and removing clothing, that one scene where
a haunting causes blood rain mid sex and they continue to fuck drenched in blood
, probably more because this is off the top of my head and not from an official list.

TLDR
I'm on a really hot kick of 5 stars reads and I'm really dreading the inevitable crash, but for now it continues! This book absolutely slaps. Are you looking for a truly phenomenal gothic horror romance? If so, look no further. This book has everything. It's two competent people unraveling a mystery while surviving a murder house and trying not to fall in love while having really good sex. What's not to love?

The Romance
Ophelia gave me serious Crimson Peak vibes. She spends a lot of this book running around a cursed mansion covered in blood and her love interest is absolutely into it. She is a necromancer with a very cool power set, and she is my favorite type of protagonist: competent, smart (and also so incredibly driven to save her sister. I have a weakness for overprotective eldest siblings as one myself). Blackwell, her ghostly love interest, is such a charming asshole. I was pitched this book on the basis of Blackwell being similar to Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3 and that is totally spot on. He makes a pact with her where, in exchange for his help surviving, she needs to try to find the tether keeping him bound to Phantasma and free him. I enjoyed their dynamic very much. He absolutely worships her, loves to tease her, and calls her angel. They have a super spicy and satisfying dark romance that really leans into the gothic horror and aesthetic.

The Plot
Ophelia enters Phantasma, a competition in a cursed manor that just appears in different towns to torture a whole new group of people. She enters to find her sister, but can't reunite with her without surviving at least the first seven out of nine challenges. All nine challenges are themed around the levels of hell, and the devils and ghosts in the manor are free to haunt torture the guests in between those deadly challenges as well. The challenges are incredibly well constructed and compelling, and I was here as much for the plot and the horror as the romance this time. In addition, Ophelia spends the book overcoming her OCD and the impulses from her "Shadow Voice", which is based on the author's experience with OCD. It is really well written, and perfectly paired with the gothic horror and Ophelia's arc of learning she is worthy of love regardless of her struggles and impulses. Also, I love a good sibling dynamic, so Ophelia and her sister Genevieve made me feel so many feelings.

I don't want to spoil anything because the ending is so good, but please feel free to dm me on any of our socials to yell about this book or if you have questions because it's so fucking good. I cannot wait for the continuation of this series with Enchantra, which is going to be Genevieve's romance. I need it yesterday and can't believe I have months to wait yet.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings