I entered PHANTASMA after having DNF’d a different fantasy book that also had trials – so I was really hoping to get a read that would reel me in all the way – and this absolutely did it for me.
Brief about PHANTASMA
Phantasma centers around a deadly, nine-day competition held inside a massive, ever-shifting manor known as Phantasma. Contestants enter of their own free will, each driven by something in their life they desperately want fixed – debt erased, crimes forgiven, loved ones restored. The prize is simple and terrifying: one wish granted by the Devil himself. The cost is survival – and before the game even begins, each contestant must divulge their greatest fear, a secret that can and will be used against them during the trials. Each day brings a new level, overseen by a different devil, and only one contestant can win.
The story follows Ophelia Grimm, the latest in a long line of female necromancers whose power is passed from mother to daughter upon death. When Ophelia finds her mother lifeless in their family home, she is forced to extract the necromantic power and assume responsibility for the family’s magic, and its morally gray business. Her sister, Genevive, has always rejected their supernatural inheritance and hoped Ophelia would do the same, ending the Grimm bloodline.
Grief, however, is only the beginning. The Grimm sisters soon discover their mother secretly mortgaged their home and left behind an unpaid debt, putting everything they have at risk. Unbeknownst to Ophelia, Genevive had already learned the truth and made a desperate choice: to enter Phantasma when it arrives in New Orleans, hoping to save their home.
After uncovering Genevive’s diary, Ophelia realizes what her sister has done and enters Phantasma herself – not to win, but to find Genevive and convince her to forfeit. In a game where only one contestant can survive, and where fears are weaponized, love and loyalty become just as dangerous as the trials themselves.
My Personal Thoughts