Book Review: Phantasma by Kaylie Smith
- Megs
- Sep 27, 2025
- 2 min read
Phantasma
Kaylie Smith
Wicked Games, #1
Publisher: Forever
Published Date: September 3, 2024
Genres: Dark Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal, Gothic, Fiction
497 Pages / 13 Hours 14 Minutes
Date Read: Sept. 21, 2025
Format: 📖
Source: Pages & Playlists Subscription Box
As always, if you prefer a spoiler free review please read my quick review instead of the in depth review below.
About the Book
Ophelia must enter a deadly contest to save her sister. Phantasma is a traveling haunted mansion that hosts a contest in which the winner may receive a single wish. Each participant must face nine challenges, escalating in danger involved. Ophelia encounters a mysterious stranger within Phantasma who offers her a deal: he'll help her through the challenges if she gives him ten years of her life. Ophelia must decide if her life is worth saving her sister's and if she will lose her heart in the process.
Quick Review (Spoiler Free)
Wow. This was a cool story. I felt so many feelings for Ophelia as she progressed through the manor and with all the things that she discovered. The last 1/4 of the book had me on the edge of my seat.
The story seems pretty unique. I like the idea of the trials and using people's worst fears to make it worse. Ophelia is a pretty cool character and Blackwell... my goodness, sir.
While I don't think the romance is considered dark, I do think the themes of the plot are dark. With that in mind, I think anyone who likes fantasy romance novels would enjoy this whole series.
Now, let's get into my full review!!
(Note: Some text may appear to be blocked out, just highlight that text to read it.)
The story seems pretty unique. I like the idea of the trials and using people’s worst fears to make it worse. Ophelia is a pretty cool character and Blackwell… my goodness, sir. After reading this, I realized that I have a thing for nicknames in books.
The insta-love dynamic for Ophelia was okay for me given how sheltered and shielded she was by her mother growing up. The relationship still felt like everything was intentional. Ophelia is written to suffer with OCD and I felt like it was written well. It was not cliche or overdone and gave the character enough personal struggles to seem realistic.
The manor itself was such a cool and unique concept for me. It almost reminded me of Sword Art Online in a way with the way the trials were set up over time... like the concept of "beat the manor" to get out alive. And I really enjoyed that each trial in a way put the secondary characters against each other but still made them work together in a few instances to survive. The dark themes in the manor alone were enough that I don't think I could have survived Phantasma myself.
I also feel like some of these scenes bordered a horror genre. I would have absolutely died of a heart attack if it were me in Ophelia's place. The mix of the horror-ish themes, the dark fantasy, and the romance were all very well meshed together in this book.
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