{"id":527,"date":"2024-09-30T05:05:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T05:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=527"},"modified":"2024-09-30T05:05:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T05:05:00","slug":"phantasma-by-kaylie-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=527","title":{"rendered":"Phantasma by Kaylie Smith"},"content":{"rendered":"

Phantasma<\/strong> by Kaylie Smith<\/a>
on February 27, 2025
Genres:<\/strong> Fiction \/ Erotica \/ General<\/a>, Fiction \/ Fantasy \/ Dark Fantasy<\/a>, Fiction \/ Fantasy \/ Paranormal<\/a>, Fiction \/ Fantasy \/ Romance<\/a>, Fiction \/ Gothic<\/a>
Pages:<\/strong> 304
Format:<\/strong> Hardcover<\/a>
Buy on Amazon<\/a>
Goodreads<\/a> <\/p>\n

\u201cIn a different life, in a fair one, I would\u2019ve kept you until my eternal soul withered away to dust.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u2019s sister decides to pay off the loan by entering Phantasma, a competition where most contestants don\u2019t 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\u2026 if her fears don\u2019t overtake her first. When a charming, arrogant stranger claims he can protect and guide Ophelia, she knows she shouldn\u2019t trust him. While Blackwell may not seem dangerous, appearances can be deceptive. But with her sister\u2019s life on the line, Ophelia can\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

While I overall enjoyed this book, I just wasn\u2019t in love IN LOVE with it. The beginning started a bit slow and some of the earlier trials got a bit repetitive. Though around 60%, the pacing really picked up, especially as secrets were unveiled and the stakes got much higher. I loved the gothic, darkish fantasy vibes and the emphasis on ghosts and necromancy. If you\u2019ve read a lot of this genre, the plot twist is pretty predictable. I guessed the big reveal right from the get-go, but there were smaller reveals that I didn\u2019t see coming. And I wish there was more chemistry and emotional development between Ophelia and Blackwell. It felt a bit insta-lovey. Also I didn\u2019t love how Ophelia relied so much on Blackwell during the trials. It felt too damsel-in-distress for my taste, and I like when FMCs solve these trials on their own. <\/p>\n

I rated this novel four stars. It was my first Kaylie Smith novel. \u00a0It seemed like there was going to be a cliffhanger ending + setting up the plot for a sequel. So the ending felt a bit rushed and tied up too nicely.\u00a0But definitely will read the next one\u2026so excited for Genevieve\u2019s book!<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The post Phantasma by Kaylie Smith<\/a> appeared first on Book Nook Buzz<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Phantasma by Kaylie Smith on February 27, 2025 Genres: Fiction \/ Erotica \/ General, Fiction \/ Fantasy \/ Dark Fantasy, Fiction \/ Fantasy \/ Paranormal, Fiction \/ Fantasy \/ Romance, Fiction \/ Gothic Pages: 304 Format: Hardcover Buy on Amazon Goodreads \u201cIn a different life, in a fair one, I would\u2019ve kept you until my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}