When you look at the cover (and blurb) for this book, you are immediately intrigued by its peculiarity. When I saw it was on NetGalley I thought I’d give it a go and see what I thought. Campbell makes an interesting collection of short stories wrapped in magical realism; however, some were not my cup of coffee and I’m still trying to figure out if it’s a ‘it’s not you it’s me’ situation, or if there needs to be some editing.

Overall, this book is a clever idea but not completely fulfilling its potential. With exception to three stories, I was not that enthralled with the book. However, the three stories I did enjoy - I want to read over and over again.

For the full review please see my blog post: https://mythicreader.wordpress.com/2018/01/07/review-the-beginning-of-the-world-in-the-middle-of-the-night/

Jen Campbell's 'The Beginning Of The World In The Middle Of The Night' is a wonderful set of magical realism short stories suitable for many age groups. Fairytale essence mixed with the fun imagination of a talented author.

While some of the short stories were brilliant (especially 'Animals' and the titular story 'The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night'), there were a lot of stories that blurred together or weren't quite as developed as I personally would have liked. In the good stories though, Campbell's brilliance shone through.

Couldn’t put this one down. Had some really captivating stories that I know are going to stay with me for a while.

Dare I say it, a modern take on fairy and folk tales is becoming almost mainstream, and Campbell's collection isn't the best that I've read. There are splashes is originality and some nice uses of form but generally these feel a little mundane for all the magic realism and twists they show. Perhaps the language feels too pedestrian, perhaps I'm just fairy-taled out? Whatever the reason, this is slightly entertaining but not as innovative or special as I hoped.

This collection of modern fairy tales is dark, twisted and beautiful, and perfect for dipping into when you don’t fancy a full novel. The tales range from the macabre to the heart-warming. You’ll read about a mermaid in an aquarium, a boy who suspects his sister has two souls, and a man who uses animal hearts to keep his girlfriend’s love. There are elements of well-known myths and fairy stories, but this collection is more Brothers Grimm than Disney. Captivating.

Having just read a collection of Grimm tales I was excited to read this modern twist on fairy tales and overall I was not disappointed.  Having said there were some stories that just didn't do it for me but the majority were absolutely fantastic.  I especially loved Aunt Libby's Coffin Hotel which made me chuckle.  That's the other thing about this book, it has an incredible amount of wit.

I love watching Jen's videos on You Tube and I can honestly say she is an incredibly talented writer.  

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves fairy tales but also anyone who likes anything a bit unusual, a bit creepy with a dose of humour sprinkled in.

I received this book free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

(My book review of The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night is scheduled to posted on my blog, Why Words Work, on the 3rd January 2017)

After finishing The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night by Jen Campbell, I wandered, wide eyed and silent, into the kitchen. The kettle made its satisfying clunk as I pushed down the button and, as I leaned back on the counter, I struggled to formulate my thoughts.

Why?

This short story collection was a breath of fresh air. The stories were fantastical, magical and mysterious, yet strung together with an undercurrent of danger. Much like the fairy-tales that are interwoven throughout, the stories in this book use a layer of the mystical to hide the sinister ideas beneath.

Every idea found in this book is bizarre, original, and crafted with a quirky style that captivated me from start to finish. I dare even say that some of these stories - for better or worse - could have been the foundations of entire novels.

Yet, it is because of this bizarreness that I struggle to express my thoughts about this book. If you are a regular follower of my blog, then you will know I love strange stories. Kafka on the Shore, Fifteen Dogs, Of Things Gone Astray - raining fish, talking dogs, people who turn into trees. Books that successfully dabble with bonkers ideas, and do so in unexpected ways, are books I adore.

I know this isn’t for everyone. Many of the stories in this book are non-linear. The narrative style in others is stream of consciousness, or “slightly rambling” as my friends would put it. Real world facts are interjected into the middle of stories, fairy-tales are strung between the plot. Some stories don’t even feel like they have a definitive conclusion. One of the stories is literally a script of two people talking.

I love this sort of storytelling, especially in short story collections. For me, it makes every story distinct, and makes the reading experience as a whole varied and complex. Rather than feeling like I’m reading the same story over and over, I get excited watching a new story unfold.

For others, however, I can see this wild narrative style being frustrating. Consistency in a collection is important, after all. Too much variety and you’ll start to wonder if the writer shoved all of their ideas into one basket. It can break immersion, doubly so if you’re not a huge fan of this genre.

My final conclusion? If you really love fantasy, speculative fiction, or fairy-tales, then definitely give this book a try. As someone who reads a lot of the genre, I found these stories and their ideas to be a refreshing. If you’re someone who isn’t sure, then I recommend reading a few of the stories and seeing how you feel. If the style doesn’t click, I can understand why.

If it does click, however, then I’m sure you’ll lose yourself in Jen Campbell’s original, mystical stories for many, many hours to come.

Unfortunately this collection was not for me. I have read fairy tale stories before (ie, not the children's kind), and have quite enjoyed the slightly macabre or whimsical and magical elements. However, most of these stories I just couldn't get into, perhaps it's her style of writing that I just couldn't get on with. I preferred the stories where there was conversation and action - my favourite was 'Aunt Libby's Coffin Hotel'. Other than that, I skimmed through the others and did not get into them at all.

This is a collection of short stories all set in the same bizarre, enchanting world, there's a magical realism about each of them which makes them more like fairy stories.  I loved the way the world building was strung together throughout each tale, the further through you get the brighter, bolder picture you have of this alternative reality I didn't want to leave.

There's variety between the way some of the stories are written, one is simply a conversation which keeps up the pace of the book.  Some are left slightly open-ended and I kept my fingers crossed until the end that those ends would be tied up but alas I was just left to my own imagination to determine how the lives of those characters may have panned out - which is what I want from these kinds of stories.  Would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a bit of light-hearted escapist reading.

Love love love love this. The first story is probably my favourite but the entire collection is absolutely stunning.

I actually went out and bought the book before I received the review copy so this is based on the beautiful naked hardback that I enjoyed reading so much. I’d heard a lot about the book on booktube before reading it so knew what to expect but I was still surprised by how much I enjoyed it as I don’t always like short story collections. Each one has a unique take on a fairy tale or traditional story and many of them stayed with me after reading. The first story in the book all about hearts was by far my favourite but nevertheless I appreciated all of the hard work and detailed research that had clearly gone into the stories. Have bought several more copies to give as gifts this Christmas.

This collection of fantastic short stories is full of wonder and weirdness, whimsy and raw emotions. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all the stories in this collection, though some stuck out more than others for me which I think is fairly common with short story collections. Jen has a way of weaving fairy tales with modern life in such a refreshing way, and her characters are so full of feeling and thought that I couldn't help but care about them. Highly recommended for short story lovers!

I was attracted to this book of short stories by the title and the pretty cover. However, while I really enjoyed reading it, I can see that it won't be to everyone's taste. It's a mix of dark fairy tales, fantasy, and magic realism, and hits the ground running right from the first story, Animals, about a world where hearts (human and animal) can be bought online to transplant. This one is also a little bit gruesome, so be warned, but it was one of my favourites!

Some stories are quite short, just tiny snippets of the characters' lives or train of thought. In some cases these felt more like ideas than fully fleshed-out stories. Some I would have preferred to have been longer, and some I didn't understand at all! But what was never in doubt is how highly original they are. Jen Campbell has an incredible imagination!

The story I liked best was the ghosty/gothicky Aunt Libby's Coffin Hotel, about a woman who runs a hotel for those who want to experience a temporary 'death'. Another favourite was Plum Pie, Zombie Green, Yellow Bee, Purple Monster, about group of children who are half-human and half-plant. And Jacob, written in the format of a letter from a young boy to a TV weather girl, was funny.

I really liked this anthology, and absolutely loved the stories listed above, so I wavered between giving it four or five stars. I think it would appeal to readers who prefer more literary fiction, and fans of authors such as Angela Carter and Alice Hoffman.


Thank you to Jen Campbell, Two Roads, and Netgalley for my copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

This book is so frustratingly brilliant. 

I love every story in this anthology, I really do. These stories are short but they pull you in and make you care about these characters in such a small amount of time that you are left wanting more. I need to know what happened to Lily, I really do  (Plum Pie. Zombie Green. Yellow Bee. Purple Monster. is probably one of my favourite stories in this book, and I need more of it). 

How Jen brings in different legends and tales and draws it all in, is just sheer brilliance from the start of the book. How the writer uses these stories to reinforce what you're being told creates a more intense read. This in particular stands out in stories such as Bright White Hearts that just keeps you reading until the very end of this book - it's apt that this book was my read for December as I have been waiting all year for a book like this to come along. 

Just bloody brilliant.

Like many readers, it seems, I was suitably intrigued by Jen Campbell's first short story collection, <i>The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night</i>.  Fellow bloggers and BookTubers seem to have loved it, and so my hopes were high.  I was, actually, incredibly disappointed.  

I really like the use which Campbell has made of fairy- and folktales, but a lot of these seem to have been copied verbatim from translations of Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, and the like.  The prose which has been used to relay these often recognisable chunks of stories is rather simplistic, and not what I was expecting.  <i>The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night</i> did not feel like a cohesive collection to me, and I found myself disliking more stories than I enjoyed.  Campbell's style felt largely choppy, and a lot of the stories appear unfinished; there is very little polished prose here.  I found Campbell's short stories distinctly underwhelming, with the exception of the fantastic 'Plum Pie. Zombie Green. Yellow Bee. Purple Monster', which is a real shame.  I have detailed my reasoning of my overall 2 star rating below, with a short commentary on each story in the collection.

- 'Animals' (3 stars): I found the overall plot rather original, but felt that the prose was a little too abrupt to work.
- 'Jacob' (3 stars): The narrative voice felt authentic in its naivety and phrasings; I liked the fact that it was epistolary.
- 'Plum Pie. Zombie Green. Yellow Bee. Purple Monster' (5 stars): From the outset, this felt magical; I loved the nods to fairytales; the relaying of tiny details was executed beautifully; quite a poetic story; clever; definitely my favourite in the collection.
- 'In the Dark' (2 stars): An odd little tale; there was no context to it; the narrative voice did not gel well for me; I would have preferred it to have been longer and better developed, with at least some elaboration, if not an explanation, to it.
- 'Margaret and Mary and the End of the World' (3 stars): I liked the use of art here, and the transplantation of a biblical story into the present day was interesting enough; I did admire the fact that so many stories and slices of history had been spliced together.
- 'Little Deaths' (3 stars): A good idea, which seemed underdeveloped; I would have personally liked to see this as one of the longer stories in the collection; it had a lot of potential; ultimately, it seemed rushed.
- 'The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night' (2 stars): I liked the play format as something a little different here, but it wasn't really my style regardless; a lot of the prose felt banal.
- 'Pebbles' (2 stars): Again, this felt rather rushed; there was not as much of a point to it as I had anticipated when I began to read.
- 'Aunt Libby's Coffin Hotel' (2.5 stars): Quite an original idea; I liked the use of mythology; again, it ended really abruptly.
- 'Sea Devils' (1 star): Really strange; the accents felt quite overdone.
- 'Human Satellites' (2 stars): I enjoyed the prose; a little too embedded in science-fiction for my particular tastes; not really my thing.
- 'Bright White Hearts' (2 stars): Clearly well researched; I liked all of the factual details; the story which Campbell has created is rather strange, and a little jarring; it jumped around too much for me.

At the moment I have been readiing quite a few collections of short stories which i have enjoyed reading very much so a volume of short stories that are also fairy stories just felt like the perfect book for me. , the stories themselves were varried in content and all very original in plot The writting of the book is both beautiful and lyrical and I would strongly recommend this book as a really good read

The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night is a collection of short stories based around the concept of fairy tales and magical realism in the contemporary world. We have people who use animal hearts to gain love and affection, a mermaid living in a local aquarium and and a sister with two souls. 

It's obvious that the author has a strong fondness for fairy tales that shines through in each of the tales. The stories are all relatively short and succinct (like a classic fairy tale), and are often left open ended - which at times made them feel unfinished or disjointed as they stop rather abruptly. And most of the stories are really weird. Some in a good way (I loved Bright White Hearts and Aunt Libby's Coffin Hotel) and some I felt didn't really work (Animal Hearts in particular I found very confusing with little world building to support what was going on). 

As with most short story collections I've read, this was hit and miss. But all the stories were definitely a little bit different.

a nice collection of quirky little stories, bursting with imagination!

I’m a fan of fairytales and strange stories so was interested in trying this book.
It’s short stories and some are sweet yet melancholy and others are scary and filled with twisted things.
Some I enjoyed and some I was lost in the word play.