Enchantra (Wicked Games, 2)

It says something when you have an Early copy of the book but still go and purchase the finished version to have on your shelf. This was one of my highly anticipated books for 2025 and it did not disappoint!!Many times when I’ve read a fantastic book the second one goes through different levels of a sophomore slump, especially when the series is to continue on. Not only did that not happen this book surpassed Phantasma!One problem I had with Phantasma, which was one of my favorite books of 2024, and prevented me from giving it 5 stars was that it had too much spice in it. Now I didn’t mind spice but the plot and writing was so good it didn’t need as much as it had as it took away from the story.Thankfully, in Enchantra that did NOT happen. It was very well balanced where the spice supported and uplifted the plot appropriately. I loved the relationship between Rowin and d Genevieve and how it built throughout the book. The games were even more engaging than what she and her sister had to endure in Phantasma.I am so incredible thankful to have gotten a complimentary audio ALC from Second Sky, and particularly Noelle H through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.At first I wasn’t sure about the Narrator, Laura Horowitz but I couldn’t put my finger on why when I first started listening. I had been so excited to start it that when o got access at 5:15am I started it immediately. I made it to 20% and exhaustion won out so I went back to bed.I decided to start it from the beginning again when I was able to sit down and listen again. I am so glad so did because Horowitz did a fabulous job! It was such a great example of how your experience listening to a book can be completely transformed depending on your mood and tiredness or lack there of.Horowitz did a great job with all the different voices and I appreciate that she didn’t choose a high pitch for Genevieve despite her being a young woman. She also spoke a a fairly natural pace, a little on the slower end of typical, at the 1x speed. I did bump it up to 1.25x but no further as I didn’t want to rush listening.The book comes out on April 8th 2025 and I can’t wait to get my physical copy! I also can’t wait until the third installment which is expected the fall of 2025.My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars⭐️ Hated it⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

𝑬𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒂 by Kaylie SmithFalling right back into the 𝘞𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 series—on a haunted estate with hedge mazes, secret corridors, cursed families, a deadly game of supernatural hide and seek broadcasted by mirrors to a demonic audience—and I 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 it.“𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚. 𝙇𝙤𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙎𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨,” 𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧. “𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙬𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙙, 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠?”The atmostpheric vibe is 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 meets 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 & 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘦. The Silver family is gloriously dysfunctional, even more so than the Grimms—as in your family might murder you, but also kill FOR you, kind of dysfunctional. The sibling dynamics were one of my favorite highlights—the banter is deliciously & salaciously deviant.Genevieve Grimm is the heroine I 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥. She’s confident, curvy, stubborn, has the mouth of a sailor, damaged, and is still standing. She’s not the overwritten “chosen one” or a girl just waiting to be rescued. Her personality literally 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧 the page and I just couldn’t wait to see what snarky comment was going to come out of her mouth next.“𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙞𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙨𝙚, 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚.”Rowin Silver is our shadow wraith MMC— all grumpy tension and soft devotion once he decided Vivi was worth the risk. The romance is more central here than in 𝘗𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘮𝘢 (thought the spice isn’t as, well…spicy IMO) and while I didn’t 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 this book quite as much overall, the slow-burn, emotionally open dynamic between Vivi and Rowin was a standout. Not to mention, the fake marriage simmers until it explodes—𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺.“𝘽𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙡. 𝙄’𝙙 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩. 𝙊𝙧, 𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩, 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙚.”I’ll be honest—I have a personal aversion to the amnesia trope. It’s not my thing, and while it was handled decently here, it pulled me out of the emotional rhythm toward the end. I also just didn’t quite fall for 𝘌𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢 the way I did for 𝘗𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘮𝘢. I wanted a bit more about the history between the Silver family and their connection to the Grimms…maybe more of that in book three? Although, I’d wager that our new MMC will be none other than our favorite blood wraith, Sevin.That said—this book is full of magic, menace, masquerades, the weirdest found family, familiars, and banter. Definitely looking forward to the next Wicked Games book!- Fake marriage- Shadow wraith MMC- Grumpy x sunshine- Delicious banter- Deadly games- Enchanted mansion in Italy- Found family⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌶️🌶️