In the final months of 2024, Phantasma by Kaylie Smith got published. This is the first book in the “ Wicked Games” duet, centered around two sisters who are attracted by a haunted mansion that magically appeared in the streets of New Orleans. It’s another romantasy, but does this manage to stand out in this already quite oversaturated literary landscape?

About the book

Phantasma by Kaylie Smith
Series: Wicked Games #1
Published by Forever on September 3, 2024
Pages: 497
ISBN: 9781538769256
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romantasy
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Welcome to Phantasma.
There are only two rules to the game. Stay alive. And don’t fall in love.

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…

A Court of Thorns and Roses meets Caraval in this seductive fantasy adventure. With steamy romance, a sexy morally gray love interest, OCD rep and jaw-dropping twists, Phantasma is perfect for fans of Rebecca Yarros, Nisha J. Tuli and Carissa Broadbent.

Before reading

In spring 2025, I picked up Phantasma by Kaylie Smith after reading such positive reviews and many people mentioning this book as one of their 2024 favorites. At this point I read a lot of romantasy already, and was wondering what this book could add to this pretty oversaturated literary landscape. I dove in with the highest expectations, but had to DNF it halfway through. As this is a group read for January 2026 in a Discord server, I just knew I had to retry it. I decided to dive in with no expectations at all this time. Did it land for me now or was it still not my cup of tea?

My review

Characters: One of my main concerns the first time reading this book were the characters. Sisters Ophelia and Genevieve are pretty similar to a few other pairs of sisters in the genre, but that is not the only similarity I found. However, we mainly follow Ophelia here and I didn’t really like her. It’s clear she has been raised pretty protected which makes her a bit naive and otherworldly. For her 23 years of age, she was hardly able to hold her own, she relies heavily on other people. The fact she has to deal with OCD on a daily basis doesn’t really help her with her insecurities. Gradually we see Ophelia grow into a strong and more independent young woman, finally being able to stand up for herself. This can’t be achieved without Blackwell’s help. This character is quite interesting and we have to wait till the end of this book to learn more about him. Furthermore, there are several antagonists who either show up briefly or frequently, but we don’t get to know them that well.

Atmosphere: This book relies heavily on the setting and accompanying atmosphere. This story is set in New Orleans, most likely in the early 1900s. Cars were a sporadic luxury and people either had to walk or take a horse carriage to run their errants. Amidst all this, the atmosphere is quite spooky and tense, especially when Phantasma magically appears. This is a haunted mansion, full of devils. Its magical and no day is the same as the previous. It’s easy to get lost and magic influences the characters’ whereabouts. Routes can change any minute, rooms can appear and disappear again at any given moment. It was easy to get lost in this house as a reader, you never know what would happen next. The trials were creepy, but tension was lacking for me. Romantically, there was enough tension though.

Writing style/narration: The first attempt to read this book was as audio narrated by Laura Horrowitz. Although I enjoy this narrator, I just couldn’t get into her narration this time. I therefore switched to ebook. The writing style is fine, not too outstanding or spectacular. It’s best described as generic, but that doesn’t really matter. My latest attempt was the Dutch audiobook as I wasn’t even planning on rereading this so soon (actually not at all) and I happen to came across it. The narrator is good, but pronounces some character names the Dutch way.

Plot: This book doesn’t win the award for most original plot. In fact, it’s pretty similar to both Stephanie Garber’s Caraval (magical trials and mansion appearing somewhere) and Kerri Maniscalco’s Kingdom of the Wicked (hell and devils). These books seem to have been thrown in the mix to create Phantasma. The plot therefore unfolds pretty predictably if you have read both aforementioned books, as you can see how it moves forward from a mile off. The smut wasn’t really necessary either, even though I have to agree that this brings some tension and substense to the novel.

Intrigue: Unfortunately, the lack of an original plot affects the intrigue. I wasn’t truly captivated by this book, everything went down way too fast. The trials we have seen in multiple other books and the ease Ophelia completes them with is a bit too unbelievable. The quest to find answers to Blackwell’s “problem” is what kept me going. Even though I have to admit I didn’t really care for Ophelia’s character, the moment her character development kicks in, the intrigue picks up. As a result, it’s a bit harder to put the book down once the end draws nearer. The fact that this book is pretty predictable on multiple occasions doesn’t take away from the fact you just want to see whether Ophelia succeeds in her mission what she entered the game for.

Logic: Well, I’m not really sure what to say about this. I think most of the novel is believable as it’s fantasy. However, I found the attraction between Ophelia and Blackwell a bit too quick, it is kind of love at first sight. Towards the end we figure out more about what causes this all, but still. Flashbacks to prior events as well as mor difficulties in the trials would have made this book more believable, and more intriguing too perhaps. However, I earlier mentioned the OCD representation and although I’m not able to judge on this, the author uses her own experiences which makes this book own voices. People have different experiences with OCD in their day-to-day life and as someone who has no idea what life is like with this mental health struggle, the representation comes of as believable and handled with care.

Enjoyment: All in all, I’m glad I gave this book another chance. It lacks originality, but it’s kind of an easy read. I wasn’t too fond of the characters and plot alike, but I kind of flew through it in a breeze and had a few enjoyable reading hours.

Final verdict

Phantasma by Kaylie Smith is not the most original romantasy out there. It feels like Caraval and Kingdom of the Wicked got a baby, because there are many similarities with these two series. This is not inherently bad, but it’s tiring. Especially whenever you already read plenty of books within the young adult fantasy or romantasy genre. Main character Ophelia is a little too naive and dependent on others for a 23 year-old woman. She feels more like a character that fits in a YA novel perfectly fine. Gradually, we witness her grow into a strong woman who learns to stand up for herself. Blackwell is another interesting character, but their relationship feels forced and predictable. The writing is fine, not too outstanding. When looking into the plot, the ease Ophelia handels the trials with needs to be studied, because this takes away the tension. The worldbuilding is outstanding however. Are you looking for an easy read with little to no tension plot wise, but lots of tension romantically? This is the book for you. It’s definitely an easy read that could be finished within a matter of hours or days, depending on your reading speed.

Did this meet my expectations? Yes, as I had none really after my first attempt and DNF.

Did I regret picking it up? No, not really. It was a nice read to kickstart my year with. Timing indeed is crucial.

Would I recommend it? Maybe, if you’re not too experienced within the romantasy genre and if you haven’t read many books with magically appearing mansions and trials in hell. Also, you shouldn’t be too picky with the characters, plot and smut.