This book earns 5 stars for originality (and somebody please tell me that there are really theater programs inside correctional facilities, because that is a brilliant idea!) Atwood is, of course, a master. Her modern-day "Tempset" is quite clever. Yet, somehow all the pieces here were less than the sum of their parts for me.

It could be that, in spite of his personal tragedies, I couldn't quite feel that the lead character Felix really had been professionally "wronged." It could be that none of the prisoners had different personalities and just seemed like an amalgam. It could be that I just never liked "The Tempest." Whatever it was, this book was merely "fine," though I seem to be in the minority on that opinion as several others are raving about it.

I thoroughly enjoyed [b:Vinegar Girl|27070127|Vinegar Girl|Anne Tyler|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1471553735s/27070127.jpg|46190740], another entry in this Hogarth Shakespeare series, and I'm looking forward with anticipation to Tracy Chevalier's upcoming Othello, in the same series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hogarth for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Spoilers ahead. Margaret Atwood seems to make a point to set up potentially powerful stories, only to disappoint you halfway through by turning an enticing, gloomy, slightly creepy premise into a fluffy carnival of unbelievable events rushing towards a molasses happy ending. That's when you understand that the slight creepiness of the protagonist and narrator (is he reliable? What horrible truth will we discover when someone else's point of view takes the stage?) is not voluntary. She DOESN'T SEE it. Ugh. All the creepy things the protagonist does and thinks are justified by the Omnipotent Author just like this, because, well, he is the good guy by default. For the same reason, all the flat, colourless characters he manipulates find that it is a great idea to help him stage a prison riot with real prisoners kidnapping many people just so he can have his vengeance. Of course. And you know what, what was I worrying for, since this thing ENDS WELL. How pessimistic to expect trouble. The end. Goddbye.
Plus, this being a modern version of the Tempest, what play does the protagonist, a theatre director, stage in the prison as a literacy project for inmates?
No joke. The Tempest. Margaret Atwood also seems to hate subtlety, together with believable characters who perform believable actions that are not dictated purely by the need to further a wreckage of a plot.
What is worse, the same review may be applied to her previous novel, The Heart Goes Last.
It is a pity, because The Handmaid's tale is one of my favourite dystopian novels. ( )

Alright, an easy read but the story didn't really grab me. I like other books she has written. ( )

I very much enjoyed this book. I'm not always a fan of revenge stories but the miserable part of the story isn't dwelled on over much, the bulk focusing on the main character's new agenda.

I'm the sort of reader that likes "brain candy," things like allusions or references to other works, literary devices, etc. This book has plenty, being a retelling of Shakespeare's the Tempest both within the book and as the book. I highly recommend it if you also like that sort of thing. ( )

"Hag-Seed" was my first foray into the Hogarth Shakesepeare series, but hardly my first encounter with Margaret Atwood, whose novels and poetry I enjoy. I am not the most loyal fan of Shakespeare's works, but this reimagining of "The Tempest" was quite clever, on the one hand, but, on the other, it not capture my undivided attention so I did not feel compelled to pick it up in every spare moment as I ordinarily do when reading a good book. I will chalk it up to the temporal demands of the holidays and hope that I fare better with other books in the series. ( )