Short stories aren’t really my cup of tea. I really enjoy the author’s YouTube channel and hearing her speak about the history of fairy tales and the representation of deformed/disabled persons in fairy tale and other literature. But sadly, although I recognize the creativity and imagination in her writing (I did like her writing style) this collection of stories really wasn’t for me. I’m glad I read it; most of the stories were misses, and a few were hits. Overall just not my jam. YMMV.

These were weird and I can’t say I understood every one, but I loved reading this.

3.5 rounded up

" There isnt anything quite like holding love in your bare hands "
This book is a compilation of stories inspired by fairytales but dark and twisted revealing human nature when we are not constrained by the rules of reality.. Jen Campbell has written about people and word from a different view, and i would like nothing better than adorn that spectacle and see everything else.. Strangely weird and Weirdly beautiful is how i would describe this book.. Nothing More, nothing less..

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.

3.5 Stars

This is a collection of 12 short stories, each very unique and slightly bizarre, all inspired by folklore and fairytales but with modern and unusual twists. I have to be in the right mood for short stories, and fortunately I was for these – I really enjoyed them. I won’t detail each one, but here are a few of the ones that stuck with me:

The first story Animals: this is set in a world where animal hearts are easily transplanted to keep people alive, but also gives the transplantee a new personality from whatever animal the heart comes from. A man keeps his wife alive by choosing new hearts for her based on what he wants from her – a new look at the concept of consent.
In the Dark: this was particularly short and random, but a man walks into a woman’s kitchen one evening, doesn’t say a word, eats and leaves. It’s odd but entrancing.
The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night: this gives its name to the whole collection and was the one that made the most impact on me. It was sad and heartfelt but funny and personal. In the middle of the night, a couple discuss what beginnings are and what they mean, but there’s more to it than that as the story ends. Everyone knows that feeling of late night talks about nothing and everything.
Aunt Libby’s Coffin Hotel: this was probably the most fun story of all – a woman and her niece run a hotel filled with coffins where people go to experience death for a night. It was slightly predictable, filled with fun mythological references and probably the easiest one to read from the collection.

* I was sent this for free from the publisher *

This book is one I have been highly anticipating since I first followed Jen on Youtube as she's a wonderful lady filled with bizarre but beautiful ideas. I just knew this collection would be one I really enjoyed, and there was so much in this that I couldn't help but to adore. It's wacky, whimsy, and very wonderful too. Each story felt distinct and even the very short short ones had a story to tell. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys magical realism or poetry as these stories have a dream-like stream of consciousness flowing throughout them. I just adored some of them, and other ones made me really think. It was a great mixture and hopefully there's something for everyone here, as long as you like a bit of oddity.

I updated my thoughts for most of the stories as I went so I will re-list them below:

Pebbles - an LGBTQ+ story which related the chaos of the world with the love that can also be found. Fairly short but enjoyable and thought-provoking still. 3.5*s

Aunt Libby's Coffin Hotel - this one was steeped in mythology and deceit and I have to say I very much enjoyed (and was disturbed by) the idea of staying in a coffin hotel! 4*

The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night - a conversation between two people called Julian and Evelyn and the beginnings they remember and recreate in the darkness of night. Loved this one :) 5*s

Margaret and Mary and the end of the world - the amount of cleverly woven references and art work within this story was just superb. I think it is one of my favourites in the collection. 4.5*s and definitely a vivid one with some fun tongue-twisty moments and distribution on fairy-tales I know

In the Dark - a short tale about a soldier visiting a woman and her encounter. Bit odd for me and a bit short so couldn't take as much from this one 2.5*s

Plum Pie. Zombie Green. Yellow Bee. Purple Monster. - This one was a story about a camp where children can go if they've sprouted plants in their bodies. It was the most easy to visualise of the stories so far, and I would for sure read about entire novel on the theme as this felt like a snippet. 4.5*s

Jacob - a letter-based story from the POV of a young boy writing to a stranger, Miss Winter, who is the weather lady. This one felt very much like stream of consciousness and yet asked lots of big questions I too would have liked to answer to. A heartfelt story, if a subtle one. 4*s

Animals - Fairytale inspired, grim and peculiar. Curious and quirky. Twisty, turny. I really, really enjoyed this. It had a sense of familiar with a sense of strange. Definitely my kind of story 4.5*s.

There were three other final stories which I read at the end and didn't update individually on, but the final story in the collection felt so raw and real to me. I think if you know Jen at all you can see some of her in each story, but the final one felt particularly real to me and I definitely loved that one so I gave it 5*s - Bright White Hearts

Overall I would say this is well worth buying for the combined beautiful cover and marvellous stories. if you get a chance to meet Jen at a signing or anything else you should definitely get this one, it was excellent. 4.5*s

i absolutely love this book! I instantly added it to my favourites and I don't regret it. I loved nearly every single novella and I thought they were all so clever and well thought out. I adored how whimsical they all were and every single novella had potential to be a book on its own! This book is my exact kind of book, it was so interesting to read and full of facts which I ended up researching about. Would definitely recommend!!

Some of the best, most compelling and creepiest short stories I've read in a long while. There's a fairytale twist to all of them, though sometimes I was left with the feeling that I didn't quite get something. There are coffin hotels, mail order hearts, fish girls, devil crabs and apple trees from the beginning of time.