- Voice: Alessandra Eleonori brings a rich, immersive vocal quality to the Italian-language production, capturing Ophelia's desperation and the phantom's magnetic menace with equal skill.
- Big ideas: Gothic romance, survival competition, forbidden desire
- Atmosphere: Lush and menacing, with slow-burn romantic tension throughout
- Worth it?: If you are drawn to dark, atmospheric romance where the heroine bargains with a beautiful danger, Phantasma delivers on that promise.
Picture a ballroom lit by candles that never quite reach the corners, where dancers smile too wide and every corridor you turn down looks different from the one you entered. That is the texture of Kaylie Smith's Phantasma, and it is the precise texture that makes this audiobook work as well as it does. I went into it knowing the broad outline: a young woman named Ophelia enters a deadly competition inside a haunted manor to rescue her vanished sister, strikes a pact with a mysterious entity called Blackwell, and finds that the rules of survival and the rules of the heart are not so different after all. What I did not expect was how fully the production commits to that atmosphere from the very first minutes.
Narrator Alessandra Eleonori deserves substantial credit for this. Her voice carries a warm, slightly urgent quality that grounds Ophelia as a real person driven by love for her sister rather than just a gothic heroine moving through plot points. When she voices Blackwell, arrogant and devastating in equal measure, the contrast feels earned rather than theatrical. One scene in particular, set in one of the manor's secret rooms, translated imperfectly by the Italian synopsis but vivid in the audio, finds the tension between trust and attraction reaching a kind of critical mass, and Eleonori holds it with genuine control. This is not a small achievement in a story where the romantic dynamic asks the narrator to sustain that charge across over thirteen hours.
Nine Challenges, Each Testing a Different Fear
Smith is working in a tradition that readers of dark romance will recognize immediately: the heroine who should not trust the dangerous man, the dangerous man who makes trust feel inevitable, the external competition that functions as both plot engine and metaphor. What sets Phantasma apart from the more generic entries in this tradition is the specificity of its world-building. The nine challenges Ophelia faces are not interchangeable obstacle-course episodes; each one is designed to test a different kind of fear, and the haunted manor has an internal logic that rewards attention. The demonic ballroom scenes in particular have a fever-dream quality that the audiobook format actually intensifies, because you cannot flip back to reread the visual details, so the uncanny accumulates without relief.
The romance itself sits at the warmer end of the dark romance spectrum. Blackwell is arrogant, as promised, and the dynamic between him and Ophelia has the requisite friction. Some readers who came in expecting a higher heat level have noted that the explicit content is more restrained than the cover and marketing suggest, and that is worth knowing before you commit. What you do get is slow-burn romantic tension sustained with patience and care. The emotional stakes feel genuine, and by the time the pact's terms come back into focus in the final act, Smith has done enough work with both characters that the resolution carries weight.
Eleonori Slows Down in the Manor's Corridors
The audiobook format is genuinely the right way to encounter this story. Smith's prose favors rich, atmospheric description over rapid-fire dialogue, which can occasionally slow momentum on the page but translates beautifully into audio. Eleonori's vocal pacing matches the material: she slows down in the manor's labyrinthine corridors and picks up in the competition sequences, so the listening experience has a physical rhythm to it. The Italian-language production also gives the work a slightly different register from its English-language counterparts in the dark fantasy romance space, with word choices and sentence cadences that feel native to the tradition of Gothic European literature.
At thirteen hours and fourteen minutes, this is not a short commitment. But the length feels appropriate to the story being told. Smith takes time to establish the relationship between Ophelia and her sister before the competition begins, which means the emotional stakes of the whole enterprise are clear from the outset. The early reviewers are divided, as the mixed ratings suggest: some readers found the execution fully matched the concept, while others felt the premise outpaced the follow-through. Based on the listening experience, I land closer to the enthusiastic camp, with one honest caveat about the pacing in the middle section of the competition, which extends some of the challenge sequences slightly past their ideal length.
Ten Years for Guidance Through Lethal Trials
The story contains a pact with morally complicated terms, which the synopsis telegraphs openly: ten years of Ophelia's life in exchange for guidance through lethal trials. Smith plays this premise with more nuance than you might expect. The question of what those years mean, and what both parties actually want from the arrangement, evolves as the competition progresses. It is worth paying attention to how Blackwell's stated motivations shift, because the third act depends on you having tracked that evolution. Listeners who find themselves uncertain about a detail should trust that Smith is building toward something rather than leaving threads loose.
One more specific tonal note is worth flagging clearly for listeners who are sensitive to it: Phantasma walks the line between gothic horror and dark romance, and at certain moments it leans decisively toward the former. The demonic presences in the manor are not merely decorative; they carry genuine menace, and a few scenes have a visceral intensity that might catch unprepared listeners off guard. This is not a criticism. It is what the premise demands. But if you are coming purely for the romance and hoping the horror elements stay decorative, be prepared for them to have teeth.
Gothic Romance Fans Should Trust the Atmosphere
This audiobook is a strong fit for listeners who enjoy slow-burn dark fantasy romance with a Gothic European sensibility: think stories where the setting functions as an active force rather than backdrop, and where the romantic tension is built through danger and reluctant trust rather than meet-cute mechanics. Fans of the competition narrative format, which has had a strong run in fantasy romance in recent years, will find Smith working comfortably within those conventions while adding enough of her own flavor to make the familiar feel fresh. The Italian-language production makes it especially appealing to listeners who want to explore the international dark romance space.
Listeners who prefer their romance with a high explicit heat level, or who want a faster pace through the competition sections, may find Phantasma tests their patience in places. And anyone who reads Italian reviews before purchasing should note that the critical consensus there mirrors the English-language split: strong reactions in both directions, with the atmospheric elements drawing the most consistent praise across the board.
A Few Questions About Phantasma
Does the Phantasma audiobook work if you don't speak Italian?
Yes. The audiobook is performed in a style that makes the emotional and atmospheric content clear through Alessandra Eleonori's vocal work. The story's Gothic competition structure and romantic dynamic come through strongly regardless of language familiarity.
How explicit is the romantic content in the Phantasma audiobook?
The heat level is moderate rather than high. Phantasma focuses primarily on slow-burn tension and emotional intimacy. Listeners expecting explicit scenes comparable to the hotter end of dark romance may find it restrained, but the romantic charge is present throughout.
Is Phantasma a standalone or the start of a series?
Based on the listing and synopsis, Phantasma is presented as a standalone novel. The synopsis and structure support a complete story arc within this single volume, though Smith's broader catalog may include related works.
At over 13 hours, does the Phantasma audiobook justify its runtime?
Largely yes. The length serves the atmospheric world-building and the slow build of trust between Ophelia and Blackwell. The middle competition section extends slightly, but the final act delivers on the investment. Listeners comfortable with gothic pacing will find it well-proportioned.
