As a lover of fantasy stories; mystical creatures, curiosities and an exploring the human psyche, this book fulfills all of your wildest most colourful dreams ...

The first story is a fairytale in the style of the Grimm brothers. Hearts that are like pets, that can be bought online and tended to like plants.

This is just the beginning. Twelve magical stories unfold is an easy to read but mind-opening way that leaves the reader stretching their imagination, curious of other realities and astonished at the fantastical wonders our author brings.

Highly recommended. Thanks goes to Two Roads and Jen Campbell for my ARC.

I ordered this to read as an ARC as I loved the synopsis and the cover was interesting. I didn't realise they were short stories. All the stories are fantastic, I just wished I had read them singularly, so that I could absorb each one, instead of back to back at times. Loved losing myself in the fairy tales! Very different to the type of books I would normally read, and great to have experienced a new style of genre

DNF at 68%

The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night is a truly creative collection of short stories. Each tale was peculiar in it's own way, but unfortunately they were not for me. The language of the stories didn't absorb me, and they lacked characters for me to care about or connect to. Short stories are often very hit-or-miss with me, and it seems this time it was a miss. But I'm sure plenty of others will find the magic in this collection that I couldn't.

Creative and quirky, these stories examine the grotesque and fairy tale like in the everyday. Compelling writing.

I quite liked these short stories, they were quite strange and different but very enjoyable! Really unique and imaginative they were fab! 😊

This short story collection is pretty short at just over 200 pages, but I found that it dragged as though it was four times as long, and I couldn't get into the stories, none of which I felt had enough plot or characterisation to be a story in their own right: even the longer pieces felt more like snapshots pulled out of a longer novel and every time I reached the end of a story, I found myself thinking ... that's it? None of them seemed complete to me, so I was thoroughly disappointed by the collection. The writing itself has potential, but the stories just didn't work for me.

The writing in this short story collection is amazing and the stories are fantastically inventive. Unfortunately, I do not respond to this format at all and did not enjoy my reading experience. I can appreciate it's quality however and would suggest that lovers of short stories explore it to decide for themselves.

The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night is a collection of twelve magical, mysterious and unusual short stories, featuring a coffin hotel, spirits in jars, and replacement hearts.

Now, I liked this book. I’ve never read a book of short stories before (and to be honest, I’m not really sure it’s my thing) but this was a good first experience. ‘Short stories’ felt like a bit of a stretch; the twelves in this book are actually more like snippets – short chapters of something bigger. The open-ended nature of the stories added to this, because they felt sort of unfinished. In some cases this was frustrating, but in all cases it made me want to read more.

Each story was weird and whimsical, with a dark and slightly sinister vibe. I enjoyed some more than others, (my favourites were Jacob and Aunt Libby’s Coffin Hotel) but they were all good.

Interesting, snappy, and thought-provoking, I would definitely recommend this one.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As with a lot of short story collections I've read, this was a very mixed bunch of good and bad. While I really appreciated the concept of 2 (Jacob and Animal), the rest of the stories didn't quite work for me. They are all strange and could be good ideas to develop on, they just didn't make me feel anything. I think I'm probably just too uneducated literature wise to be able to appreciate this more.

Dark, satisfying and right up my street. Possibly one of the best books I've read this year!

Jen Campbell’s new book, The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night, is a collect of 12 short stories. These are not just any short stories, though, they are very weird, yet surprisingly addictive. They also contain lots folklores and facts thrown in for good measure, like the first story telling you about the different types of swans there are.

I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to actually get on with the book, as the first story was completely strange. It is about a woman who orders a heart, a swan heart, that arrives via the post. The world isn’t loving enough so people’s hearts are dying, and they need to have them replaced; animal hearts are the new heart replacements. As I sad, baffling, though I did understand the concept behind the story.

I like short stories, I like the fact that I can pick up a book and within a short space of time I have read a full story. They are also quite fast paced as the stories don’t have the word count to ebb and flow.

Apart from being strange, the stories are all quite dark too. They are thought-provoking and at times take some concentration. The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night is a fantastic read, one that I would highly recommend.

I was sent a copy of The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night by Jen Campbell to read and review by NetGalley.
Firstly, I didn’t realize that this was a book of short stories and not a novel! Having said that I loved the stories, they were really well written and many of them had great philosophical ideas. I did read them one after the other but with hindsight I think I should have left more breathing space between each story to properly digest them.
My only disappointment was that the kindle version I was sent did not have the illustrations showing, only the word ‘Illustration’ at the beginning of each story to denote there should be one there. I found this to be very frustrating! I will just have to treat myself to a physical copy of the book to complete the picture, as it were!
This is a great book for anyone who enjoys the mystical, magical or theories of alternative worlds, just remember to take your time over each short piece to enjoy them to the full.

Very random and just couldn't get into this at all Maybe one for the alternative reader!

The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night is an enchanting and often dark mixture of fairy tales in the modern world. There are hearts purchased online, children who grow vines in their hair, and a mysterious new planet. There is also a young boy just trying to understand his family, a soldier who walks into a stranger's kitchen, and a couple who spend the night discussing how the world began. In other words, when reading The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night you never know exactly what to expect.

Each story in this collection contains its own little world, and while some of these worlds are stranger than others, each one feels as though it could exist within our own somehow. There is a sense of fairy tale influence in all of the stories but they each vary in how much or how little they depend upon this, and each story does feel very much as though the world within it exists on its own, drawing you into something different and new for a few pages before spitting you out again. The only complaint this draws is that some of the stories are very short, and the best ones leave a longing for them to be just a bit longer, so that more time might be spent getting to know these unique and fascinating worlds

As with any short story collection, readers will connect with some stories more than others. Personally, my favourites were 'Aunt Libby's Coffin Hotel' about a girl and her aunt who run a hotel on an island, where guests can rent a coffin to sleep in for a night, and 'Little Deaths' about a world in which ghosts are caught, bought, and sold in jars. I would have loved for both of these to have been a little longer so that I could have learnt more about those worlds and the people in them. There were, of course, some stories that I didn't like so much, but while I didn't quite connect with 'Jacob' or 'Plum Pie. Zombie Green. Yellow Bee. Purple Monster' I am certain that there will be plenty of other readers who will find those to be their favourite stories in the collection.

If you're a particular lover of dark, whimsical, fairy tale inspired short stories, then you definitely won't regret picking up The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night and with such a variety of different story telling techniques and subjects displayed, there is bound to be something here for any short story lover.

The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night - Jen Campbell

4/5

Fantastically weird,modern,fairy tales

Spirits in jam jars, mini-apocalypses, animal hearts and side shows.
A girl runs a coffin hotel on a remote island.
A boy is worried his sister has two souls.
A couple are rewriting the history of the world.
And mermaids are on display at the local aquarium.

I like fairy tales, especially modern ones with a nod to myth and legend. I do NOT like collections of short stories. Never had, never will do. Not even my faves like Neil Gaiman. I find it hard to get into a story only for it to end and start again with a brand new story and no chance of redemption or closure. Occasionally you’ll find a gem(s) amongst the collections that reinstalls your faith.
In Jen Campbell’s The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night, happily there were several and a few standouts.There are twelve short stories most solid, a few miss the mark, as would be expected but I will concentrate on the ones that were particularly effective.
The first story ‘Animals’ is my favourite and a strong start to the collection.
This story is set in a world where animal hearts are transplanted to keep people alive. The recipient takes on the personality traits of the animal it came from.
The fox heart made her nocturnal, the bear heart made her possessive and the wolf heart gave her rage. A Husband searches for a suitable heart for his wife or is it for him ?
This tale is suitably dark, surreal and bizarre. Well written, thought provoking and disturbing and thoroughly enjoyable, it left me wanting more.
I loved the short story ‘The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night’ - a bizarre conversation that we’ve all had with a friend or partner in the middle of the night. This story is written in a script style and this works well to convey that sleepy, half listening discussion about what it’s all about.
The other stand out for me was Aunt Libby’s Coffin Hotel. A little lighter than the others in the collection but great fun. It’s set in a hotel on a remote island where the family rents out coffins and the experience of death in an attempt to reconnect with their deceased loved ones.
I liked that it evoked a strong, almost gothic feel and was impressed that there was such sense of the characters and setting in such a short space of time. I do believe that this story could be expanded and would be enjoyable as a stand alone novel of its own.
On reflection I enjoyed this collection a lot more than I originally thought. It does suffer from the problem of all short story collections in that you are unable to settle and have say goodbye, too soon, to a story you’re enjoying. But hey, that’s why some people like short stories.
Some of the stories ideas are better than their execution and on occasion the well researched content feels like a list of facts with a story thrown in rather than the other way round.
However I thoroughly enjoyed reading these, I enjoyed the darkness, whimsy and magical realism and also the author’s observations on human nature. Recommended, probably in small chunks, for maximum enjoyment.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t read many short story collections as I generally find novels more rewarding. However, occasionally I do see one that looks worth taking a chance on. The first thing I liked about The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night was honestly the cover. It was colourful and gorgeous, and a little shocking. I also loved the title, I thought it sounded lyrical and intriguing. Neither the cover nor the title are things to really judge a book on but they are honestly what first attracted me to the collection. After reading the stories I am pretty tempted to buy myself a copy of this gorgeous book.
I was immediately drawn in by the first story ‘Animals’. It was shocking at times but it retained a certain beauty to it throughout. I loved how the author played around and twisted established fairytales. Fairytales themselves almost always have an intrinsic and surprising darkness to them which provides scope for really investigating what they mean and telling them in new and original ways. These short stories were not always immediately recognisable as fairytale retellings but they all had elements and twists to them that led straight back to these tales. My other favourite of the collection was ‘Margaret and Mary and the End of the World’. I liked the authors take on several of the issues that were brought up in the tale ranging from religion to eating disorders. It was dark and intense but also beautiful and heartbreaking. I actually liked most of the stories, there were no real duds in my opinion. The titular story was a great blend of sadness and unexpected comic moments. The author’s writing has a great mystical feeling to it which enhances every single one of the stories and there is some really effective imagery created. This collection’s main focus seems to be the fragility and meaning of human life, our mortality and the worlds obsession with defying death. It also proves how fairytales that have been around for hundreds of years are also filled with these themes. I am certainly no expert on short stories and I’m sure I have not grasped all of the subtext and meaning in these tales but I very much enjoyed reading this fantastical and strange book.

This book is magical, beautiful, breathtaking and wonderful. A perfect collection of short stories, set in worlds where magic is real and constantly rubs shoulders with the normal, mundane everyday aspects of life. Exquisitely written. I cannot recommend this enough, specifically to lovers of fairy tales and magical realism as this will tick all your boxes. Would also recommend to fans of Neil Gaiman and Kirsty Logan.

This is a collection of short stories that are slightly quirky - they are based around fairy tales and magic. They were a bit too strange for me - the first one especially about hearts and burying them in the garden! weird! Her writing is lovely and I imagine she loves fairy tales!

Having only read Campbell's non-fiction before and being aware of her fascination with fairytales from her YouTube channel, I was looking forward to seeing what she had to offer through this collection of short stories. The majority of the stories are inspired by or contain in one way or another fairytale elements with a dark and quirky twist. I found Campbell's stories wonderfully imaginative but in some of them I thought the idea was better than the actual execution. Some of the shorter ones gave the impression of extended poems in prose form, or perhaps they would work better as poems rather than short stories.

I very much enjoyed the overall dark and whimsical atmosphere of the stories and two of my favourites were 'Little Deaths' and 'Bright White Hearts'. While I appreciate and admire the author's research on various topics included in or touched upon her stories, one thing that really bothered me was the very frequent reference of trivia-like information which felt very redundant and rather unnecessary for me at times. I would have liked to see this information blend in the story rather than being cited out of the blue, even if it was pertinent to an event or theme contained in the story.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this collection of short stories and I do believe it is a very promising start in the author's prose writing.