Cover Image: The Midnight Circus

The Midnight Circus

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

The stories compiled in The Midnight Circus were either a hit or miss for me; unfortunately, there were more I disliked than liked. I did like the darker, fairytale/fantasy aspects they carried, but some seemed a bit too disturbing to me. Some of the stories were also just...weird. I can’t think of a better way to put it other than I did not understand what was happening. But, there is no denying that Jane Yolen has a talented imagination and does a great job of creating worlds within each of the stories. Her descriptions were captivating, thrilling, and beautifully haunting.

At the end of all the short stories, is a section that has a poem and an explanation that assists in understanding the idea behind each story. I would have liked each of these to come after the story it was associated with rather than all at the end. This information helps with understanding the story and its background. I did find that I was more impressed with the poetry version than the short story version when it came to some of the tales.

Was this review helpful?

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book. All of these stories were interesting and I enjoyed every one. Look forward to reading more by this author

Was this review helpful?

Jane Yolen has written and gathered this wonderful anthology of stories.She always manages to make stories fresh and interesting with all of the "once upon a time" allure of the classic fairy tale. A delightful read.

Was this review helpful?

An interesting collection of dark, eerie stories that lean heavily on historical retelling, folklore, and fantasy. My enjoyment of the stories ranged from 2-4 stars out of 5. I grew up reading Jane Yolen’s fantasy stories of dragons & adventures, and I still notice the instructional tone to Yolen’s writing as in many stories in the fairy tale format. But these stories are definitely for an adult audience due some occasions of abuse, gore, and body horror in this collection.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader copy of this book. All views and opinions in this review are my own.

Trying to rate this book is like trying to rate a buffet. Some dishes tasted fantastic, some wanted to be spit back out, and others were just filler.

Jane Yolen's Midnight Circus is an anthology of fairy tales and poems, some newly created. Some heavily borrowed. Most quite dark. Yolen has been compared to a modern Hans Christian Anderson or Aesop. While some parallels are noticeable, I'm not sure, solely based on this book, that I would view her in that light. Also, it dawned on me while reading one of her stories related to the Jews and Nazis that I've read her work before (Briar Rose), which was DEFINITELY not in the fairy tale realm although it was called a historical retelling. It was a so-so read for me.

I feel like I'm painting her work in a bad light. So I want to make sure I make it very clear that I LOVED some of her fairy tale/fantasy stories. While dark, they are creative and have the feel of a new fairy tale. Truly, that's where Yolen shines. I could read boom after book of these stories by her. But I don't know that I liked any of her modern stories/urban tales. Horror can definitely turn your stomach, but rape and suicide turns my stomach in a different way. I especially didn't care for "Little Red." She's a gifted writer. But major trigger warning on that front. And then there were the "fillers"- some stories that were just there and simple enough to breeze through but felt a little recycled (e.g. she turned the Biblical story of the Israelites escaping Egypt into a myth/fairy tale by tweaking a few name spellings and adding in a bit about carnivorous angels).

One recommendation I may have for the author/publishing house would be to give the brief backstories for the actual stories immediately before or after the story it was written for rather than at the end of the book. They were enlightening and helped me appreciate the short stories more. I understand some of it would spoil the story, so maybe just a brief couple sentences explaining context before the story and the backstory/inspired by bits after. Just a thought.

Quite a few spelling errors, grammatical errors, and one paragraph that popped up repeatedly multiple times on accident throughout the book, like an accidental copy and paste. But this is all SUPER minor as I'm sure they'll fix that before it goes to print.

Overall, I'm not sure this was worth my read as a whole, but I wouldn't have found the few I loved without forging through the entire collection, so in that regard worthwhile. Some of the stories were five stars. A couple one stars. A smattering in between. I guess that averages to about three stars.

I'd rate this an R for rape, suicide, abuse, mild swearing, gore, violence, and disturbing imagery.

Was this review helpful?

The writing of this is really lyrical and pretty, but the stories are so short, that I literally don't care about what is going on. Once I start getting into the characters and the story, the story was over. It was haunting and I would have enjoyed had some of these stories been longer. But as it were, a lot of it was just meh.

Was this review helpful?

Holy shit! This was so atmospheric and interesting, a genuinely great collection of short stories. I love a book that gives off a seasonal vibe so I definitely would recommend this to anyone book shopping this autumn!

Was this review helpful?

The Midnight Circus by Jane Yolen is a collection of magical, witty, dark short stories which revolves around the time of night or Twilight zone.

The writing is very captivating, and the stories are intriguing. The author ends the book with personal notes and poetry which I really liked. I enjoyed reading the poetry more than the short stories.

This was my first novel by the author, and trust me when I say this, the book will drive you to a completely different world. It's a book which will give you beautiful fairytale dreams as well as nightmares at the same time.

The book has everything - Vampire, Werewolves, Serial Killers and others. The cover and the rhetorical title itself made me read this book! I recommend this book if you are into dark fantasy.

Was this review helpful?

As always, thank you NetGalley for this ARC! It's always such a joy to see that email saying I was accepted for a book I requested. Even after all these years, I love it!

The Midnight Circus, while nothing like I expected, was incredibly enjoyable. It's a book compromised of magical short-stories, some better than others, but all mystical and fairy-tale-like. So if your thing is reading books with either magic, lore, imaginative plots, you name it ... this may be a book you want to keep an eye out for, this year!

Although my "overall" rating is three-stars, I will say there were definitely stories that were in the 4.5-star range. So please be aware that my rating does not mean this whole book is average because that is certainly not the case.

Was this review helpful?

This was an enjoyable read, it didn’t evoke much emotions from me but I was entertained by the writing and story nonetheless.

Was this review helpful?

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The Midnight Circus is a lovely collection of dark short stories and it's perfect to read under your blankets while holding a hot cup of coffee.

The writing is captivating and engaging and all the stories are fascinating in their own way.

My favorites were Dog Boy and Names, they were so powerful and full of important lessons.

I recommend this to anyone who's a fan of dark short stories or is looking for a spooky read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an early copy.

Was this review helpful?

I just love Jane Yolen so much. Her stories are beautiful and strange in the most wonderful ways. I have never read a Jane Yolen story I didn’t like, and the ones in this book are as good as ever. They pull you in with their mix of magic and heartbreak and people you feel like you’ve somehow met before. Please, Jane Yolen, never stop writing.

Was this review helpful?

The cover had me intrigued and I I requested it. Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for an e ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a lovely collection of short stories. Definitely worth reading. It was an engrossing and a wonderful collection of short stories.
It was perfectly magical and eerie. A fantastic compilation. Full of magical world.

My favorite was 1.The Night Wolves and 2.The Snatcher. If magical creatures are your thing, do not miss this wonderful book. Perfect Halloween or a cozy winter read, huddled in a blanket with a nice cup of hot chocolate.

Was this review helpful?

I went into The MIdnight Circus by Jane Yolen, having never read any other works by Yolen. This collection of short stories felt like walking into a dream, or in many cases, a nightmare. As is typical with short stories collections, there were stories that I loved and others that were less to my taste, in this case, there were several stories that were simply too disturbing for my taste. However, all of the stories were beautifully written and well crafted.
Given the title and being a fan of circus-themed books, I had expected more of a dark carnival feel, such as "Something Wicked This Way Comes" however, this collection of stories had no connection to the circus. It was a more dark fairy tale than a dark carnival.

Trigger warnings: rape, self-harm, domestic abuse, pedophilia

Thank you to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for the eARC of The Midnight Circus by Jane Yolen. #TheMidnightCircus #NetGalley

Was this review helpful?

Ok, to be honest, anyone who is known to be Christensen of America, I’m going to want to read them. And the thing is I’ve read Jane Yolen before, I’m pretty sure, in various anthologies, the woman is spectacularly prolific, the book’s bio mentions something like 350 publishes works and sure, the author is 80, but still…that’s really impressive. But this is the first solo collection of Yolen’s that I’ve read and I must say it gave me a much more profound understanding and appreciation of her work than a random story here and there did. In fact it may have turned me into a fan. Mind you, I’m not going to go as far as Christensen comparisons, but some things are just not up for comparisons, fairy tales of Christensen, Wilde, Grimms…there is a dark beauty and an emotional connection there that just can’t be quantified. But I certainly get the basis for the comparisons, Yolen is indeed a fabulous fabulist, she gets the very essence of what makes a good fairy tale, she gets the very music of it. Albeit, much as Theodora Goss states in her foreword, Yolen’s fairy tales tend to not feature morals quite so heavily. Traditionally, the genre is a form of lessons taught creatively through allegory, etc., but Yolen’s tales are more subtle than that. Make of that what you will. At any rate, this isn’t just a collection of fairy tales, this book offers so much more. To my delight (because just fairy tales might have gotten to be too much and too much on the fantasy side for me) this collection (publisher’s third of Yolen’s work) featured her darker literary ventures too, some positively on the horror side, albeit, again, very subtle, no guts and gore here, just profoundly dark psychological literary disturbances. She’s a master stylist, she creates darkness as a multicolored thing and her stories are all the more striking for it. In fact, there’s this weird thing that my usually very good memory does where it forgets short stories almost as soon as I read them, very few stick around and they usually have to be exceptional to do so. Well, this collection features stories that stuck around, so that’s a high praise in and of itself. I very much enjoyed the way Yolen draws on her family’s past as Jews in hostile Eastern European territory and incorporates that past, historical and mythical, into her writing. Some of my favorite stories of hers featured those elements. She’s also a writer who’s equally adept at writing both short and long form, I actually preferred her longer stories. Yolen’s also a poet and each story gets an accompanying poem in the end, some of those were good too, though I’m not much of a poetry reader. All in all, this was a sheer delight. Lovely and very entertaining tales showcasing an abundant talent and a terrifically active imagination. Mind you, the title alone would have been enough to draw me in, I love all things to do with circus, but this collection (actually featuring no circus related stories) was well worth a read as it was and magical in its own inimitable way. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

Was this review helpful?

This collection is filled with stories that a have an eerie sort of vibe. Think fables with a Night Gallery or Twilight Zone type tone. Just like with those shows there is a pretty big variety in the themes and genres that fall under the dark creepy mood. The range is impressive considering it is all from one author and has certainly lured to me to read more from Jane Yolen.

I enjoyed every story but Little Red and The Fisherman's Wife were my absolute favorite. I also thought the end with story notes and poetry added a personal touch to the collection. The poetry shouldn't be missed so make sure you read on after the stories. The story lengths also have a nice range, some really brief and others a touch longer, though all of them pack a full experience.

Great collection.

Was this review helpful?

A wonderful collection of short stories! Each one is it’s own self contained story that is just perfection. I really had a fun time reading them! Something about each of them felt magical and just a little haunting. Definitely go check out this collection!

Was this review helpful?

Loved the originality of the stories here! The writing was beautiful and wonderful! And don’t let me forget to mention how gorgeous the cover is!!!

Was this review helpful?

Cue the Twilight Zone music!!

This was such an easy but compelling read that I could not put it down until I read the very last page. Jane Yolen does a fantastic job in compiling these short stories that hold so much in so few pages. There were eerie vibes to it as well nostalgic and often times nihilistic as well. They are not really fairy tales but more so tales you would hear in pubs or told by a fireplace or by your grandmother on a cold winters night. Mystical environments with magical people but mundane lessons. They star wolves and ghosts, witches and vampires, seals and selkies. They are magical in a sense and Yolen’s writing is enough to hold me in whatever story she was telling, no matter how short. My favourites have to be: The Snatchers, Requiem Antarctica, Night Wolves, Inscription and Become A Warrior.

Overall, the title ‘The Midnight Circus’ is apt because a reader feels as if they entered another realm at a otherworldly time like midnight where magic teeters at the line of fake and real, faith and doubt.

Was this review helpful?