3.5 out of 5 stars
E-book. Kindle Unlimited. 185 pages. Published March 25th 2021 by Reality Optional Press
Blurb:
The very last thing out-of-work theater technician TD Baylor should have done was blow his last ten bucks on a crapshoot. He was one couch-surf shy of homeless, for Pete’s sake. But as he was trudging along suburban Boston streets with all his worldly possessions in tow, the sign in the window of an over-the-top Halloween pop-up caught his eye: Marden’s Magic Emporium. With the way his luck was running lately, he figured magic might be the only thing that could fix his life, so… what the hell.
He didn’t realize that hell was an operative word.
Okay, maybe not hell, per se. But what TD thought were some unnecessarily kickass special effects (the three-headed dog guarding the door of the underground theater was a real winner) turn out to be…more.
Because now he’s helping to mount a musical production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Greek pantheon, and there’s more than bad reviews on the line for the performers. A good show could mean redemption for one of them. A bad show…
Yeah, did he mention that part about hell?
Purgatory Playhouse is part of the multi-author Magic Emporium Series. Each book stands alone, but each one features an appearance by Marden’s Magic Emporium, a shop that can appear anywhere, but only once and only when someone’s in dire need. This book contains a desperate theater techie, a production assistant who’s sort of, um, not alive, Greek gods behaving badly, and a guaranteed HEA.
Likes:
- TD and Lonnie, together and separately.
- TD thinking of the crew when he negotiated his salary.
- Lonnie’s personal journey.
- Lots of tidbits for Mythology and theater nerds.
- Made me think of the Greek myths in a new way.
- The ending was very satisfying.
Dislikes:
- Felt longer than it was.
- Would have liked for TD and Lonnie to have spent more time together.
- The reason why TD could do some special things wasn’t explained.
- The ending felt a little rushed.
This book is unapologetic about how nerdy it is when it comes to theater and Greek mythology. I’m not a theater nerd, but enough was explained for me to understand what was going on and why it was important. I do know a fair amount about Greek mythology, and the explanations of who people and gods were was enough without being too much.
While the story didn’t instantly hook me, I liked that TD encountered the Emporium right away. Did I know the reason he was given three dog biscuits? Yes, but I wasn’t mad about that. I liked how TC found himself working for the playhouse, and how quickly the plot got moving.
TD was easy to like, especially when he included the crew in his salary negotiations. Even thought he didn’t know most of the people, he cared enough to make sure they were comfortable. That care lasted the entire story, and it was definitely my favorite part of TD’s character.
Lonnie wasn’t as instantly likeable. He wasn’t bad, but it took a while for him to shine. Part of that was on purpose. Lonnie needed to finally step forward and fight for something he wanted. The journey he went through made me like him a lot.
The book as a whole felt longer than it was. Part of that was because there was a lot going on, and a lot of things pulling both men, especially TD, in many directions. The story makes it clear that a lot goes into a normal production, and that’s without dealing with interfering gods.
Speaking of the gods, I definitely will look at the Greek myths differently after reading this book. The gods really are assholes, and this book holds nothing back in showing it at every turn.
I do wish that TD and Lonnie had had spent more time together. Their attraction was quick and mutual. But I wanted to see them really get to know one another on a deeper level. Really see them fall in love. The spark between them was there, and I definitely felt that they were a good match. But with the looming deadline keeping everyone busy, they didn’t have much time to spare for falling-in-love moments.
I have one big question that was never answered or even addressed. TD could do some things that no one else seemed able to do. Even the other characters commented on it. I want to know why.
The ending was very satisfying in every way except one. Things felt rushed. One minute everything felt normal, like the story was building up to something big, and then TD was back in the human world and the story resolved quickly after that. It felt a little abrupt. I definitely wouldn’t mind a follow up story or novella showing how everyone’s doing a few months or even years down the road. Or even a story about some of the side characters.
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