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Phantasmal
We all have our demons, but Hugo's may be real.
In the nine years since his older brother, Kasper, stepped out in front of a car during a ghost hunt, Hugo has been haunted by more than just questions about his brother's death. A hole in his memory and a burning in his right hand, Hugo is always angry and he doesn't know why. The reigning school bully at the dead end Juniper High, Hugo has his sights locked on one target: Salem Willow.
A darkly dressed young man who walks with the cadence of a funeral procession, it is evident in his eyes that Salem doesn't fear Hugo. But for some reason, he refuses to fight back.
After going too far, Hugo is mandated to attend anger management classes and given a choice: join a club or be expelled.
Finding himself in the midst of a skeptic, a wild card, a quiet kid, and an attractive occultist, Hugo opens the door that Kasper closed, restarting his brother's old ghost hunting club: Phantasmal.
Despite the uncertainly of redemption, Hugo is determined to find answers and defeat his demons.
But what will he do when he learns that they are real?
In the nine years since his older brother, Kasper, stepped out in front of a car during a ghost hunt, Hugo has been haunted by more than just questions about his brother's death. A hole in his memory and a burning in his right hand, Hugo is always angry and he doesn't know why. The reigning school bully at the dead end Juniper High, Hugo has his sights locked on one target: Salem Willow.
A darkly dressed young man who walks with the cadence of a funeral procession, it is evident in his eyes that Salem doesn't fear Hugo. But for some reason, he refuses to fight back.
After going too far, Hugo is mandated to attend anger management classes and given a choice: join a club or be expelled.
Finding himself in the midst of a skeptic, a wild card, a quiet kid, and an attractive occultist, Hugo opens the door that Kasper closed, restarting his brother's old ghost hunting club: Phantasmal.
Despite the uncertainly of redemption, Hugo is determined to find answers and defeat his demons.
But what will he do when he learns that they are real?
619 pages, Paperback
Published September 29, 2021
124 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 21, 2022
Phantasmal, written by ghost enthusiast and LGBT+ author Valentyne DeBudge, is the sequel to Ghost King (a story about this book's protagonist's brother. go check it out!!). Almost a decade after his brothers sudden passing this story is about our protagonist, Hugo Kloven, dealing with moving on and growing up. In his story we read on as he struggles with anger management, highschool life and falling in love with the boy of his dreams. Oh and a demon. At this point, just Kloven things, you know the drill.
It doesn't take long for this story to kick into drive and suck the reader into its world. Despite the few typos scattered about (like an easter egg hunt) the author definitely has a way with descriptive words that really help set any scene they throw at our rag tag group of ghost hunters. Every character in the main bunch (and some side characters too, i'm looking at you Miss Castle!) have a depth that help them feel real and easy to become enamored with, my personal favorite being Jack the resident Skeptic.
One of my favorite things between this book and Ghost King are the contrast theme the brothers have going on. I'm not totally sure it was intentional but it shows best with the two main characters of their respective book with Kasper being dark haired, blue eyed and introverted then Hugo being blonde, brown(?) eyed, and a bit more on the extroverted side.
It's not just their looks either, but certain scenes in their stories are parallels to eachother which I thought was super neat and fun to look out for throughout this book.
I will say, however, as a Kasper Kloven fan, I found myself defending Kasper to the words on the pages almost every other chapter. I rooted for him in his story and I'll defend him in his brothers.
Now, TLDR:
This story was a heart wrenching emotional journey that gave me alot of laughs, tears, and gasps along the way. There are a few plot points that lead to situations I didnt fully comprehend the meaning or depth of and some unanswered questions but hopefully we'll see some of the knot start to unravel in the next installment.
Until then though years from now I have no doubt that this book and it's prequel will shine like gold in my memories.
It doesn't take long for this story to kick into drive and suck the reader into its world. Despite the few typos scattered about (like an easter egg hunt) the author definitely has a way with descriptive words that really help set any scene they throw at our rag tag group of ghost hunters. Every character in the main bunch (and some side characters too, i'm looking at you Miss Castle!) have a depth that help them feel real and easy to become enamored with, my personal favorite being Jack the resident Skeptic.
One of my favorite things between this book and Ghost King are the contrast theme the brothers have going on. I'm not totally sure it was intentional but it shows best with the two main characters of their respective book with Kasper being dark haired, blue eyed and introverted then Hugo being blonde, brown(?) eyed, and a bit more on the extroverted side.
It's not just their looks either, but certain scenes in their stories are parallels to eachother which I thought was super neat and fun to look out for throughout this book.
I will say, however, as a Kasper Kloven fan, I found myself defending Kasper to the words on the pages almost every other chapter. I rooted for him in his story and I'll defend him in his brothers.
Now, TLDR:
This story was a heart wrenching emotional journey that gave me alot of laughs, tears, and gasps along the way. There are a few plot points that lead to situations I didnt fully comprehend the meaning or depth of and some unanswered questions but hopefully we'll see some of the knot start to unravel in the next installment.
Until then though years from now I have no doubt that this book and it's prequel will shine like gold in my memories.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 16, 2021
I've already read this book and I really can't recommend it enough. With each chapter, you can really picture the characters and the amazing story that ensues. This book is literally incredible and one of my all-time favorites!!!
January 22, 2025
This book is a great continuation of the first. The two books flow with each other seamlessly. One of my favorite parts is that you reexperience events that happened in Ghost King in Phantasmal from the perspective of Hugo instead of Kasper. Seeing how Hugo felt about everything, especially when getting the chance to confront Kasper in the end added the full picture we needed.
The change in Hugo's character from that sweet innocent child in Ghost King to the high school jock and bully was bittersweet. I did love seeing Hugo grow throughout the book and Nolan's growth at the end was both heartwarming and concerning.
The development of Les over the two books has probably been my favorite part aside from the main plot. I love how involved Les actually is without most of the characters even knowing. Les is also so accepting and the support system Hugo needed.
Finally, the romance between Hugo and Salem was so cute even though it was slightly toxic.
Overall, this book has great character growth, a great plot pace, and a hook that pulls you in. I could type so much more about this book, but I don't want to spoil it too much. I cannot wait for the next installment of this series to come out!
**This book does contain potentially sensitive topics so just make sure you check your trigger warnings. Also, this book is self-published, which is amazing, but my copy did come with some spelling and grammar mistakes. It doesn't happen often, but just something to be aware of.**
The change in Hugo's character from that sweet innocent child in Ghost King to the high school jock and bully was bittersweet. I did love seeing Hugo grow throughout the book and Nolan's growth at the end was both heartwarming and concerning.
The development of Les over the two books has probably been my favorite part aside from the main plot. I love how involved Les actually is without most of the characters even knowing. Les is also so accepting and the support system Hugo needed.
Finally, the romance between Hugo and Salem was so cute even though it was slightly toxic.
Overall, this book has great character growth, a great plot pace, and a hook that pulls you in. I could type so much more about this book, but I don't want to spoil it too much. I cannot wait for the next installment of this series to come out!
**This book does contain potentially sensitive topics so just make sure you check your trigger warnings. Also, this book is self-published, which is amazing, but my copy did come with some spelling and grammar mistakes. It doesn't happen often, but just something to be aware of.**
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews