It’s October which means its spooky season! That’s why this month I’ve put Spinderella on a break and will be reading spooky or dark fantasy books. I’ve already read Alchemised, the review for this book is online already. I’ve tried Katabasis but that was a DNF. The next one I picked up and have just finished is Phantasma by Kaylie Smith and oh my god what a great book it is!

There are trigger warnings; Mention of deaths of family members, suicide, depression, corpses, assault and OCD / OCD ticks.

This book gave me Caraval (by Stephanie Garber) vibes but a tad darker and a bit spicier. I really liked the trails and how thought out it all was. Let’s begin!

Ophelia wakes up earlier than normal and feels something is off, when she gets out of bed to explore what it can be that gives her this feeling she finds her mother downstairs, dead. There are no obvious signs as to why or how, but with her mother dead that means Ophelia needs to do a little ritual to take her mothers powers and make them her own. You see, Tessie wasn’t a normal mortal. No, Tessie was a Necromancer.

A few bankers come to Grimm Manor to escort both Ophelia and Genevieve to the bank to discuss a matter of utmost urgency. Tessie took out a loan on the house but hasn’t been paying the bank back which means to bank is about to foreclose unless the sisters get the money in less than a month, but how?! And why did their mother take out a loan in the first place?

After a heated argument between the sisters, Genevieve takes off without telling Ophelia where she’s going. When Ophelia snoops around in Genevieve’s room, she finds a diary and one thing becomes clear. Her sister has entered Phantasma with the hope of being the last one standing and winning a grand price. Phantasma is a game with 9 levels, before a level begins you can forfeit by making a bargain with the devil because once you’ve entered you can get eliminated. Yes, you can actually die.

The thing is, level 9 will be played by 2 but only one can survive. The one who wins gets a wish granted by the Devil.

Ophelia has no other option then to join as well, hoping she’ll find Genevieve and get them both out alive. But once entered Ophelia isn’t in the same team as Genevieve and the contestants don’t get to mingle with other teams until after level 7. Meaning, Ophelia has to get past level 7, but the levels aren’t as easy as people think. When a handsome phantom is willing to make a bargain, Ophelia doesn’t want to but after finishing the first level she knows she’ll need help surviving.

Blackwell’s bargain is as follows; Help him find his tether that keeps him bound to phantasma before level 9 or he’ll take 10 years of her live and he’ll help her survive the levels and helps her during the haunts.

The bargain turns out the be a heaven-sent; him helping her through those levels but finding that tether is harder than she thought. Will she succeed? Will she find her sister?

I’m giving this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ stars! Loved it.