Magz Reviews

Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison Lang

Cover image for Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison Lang. The letter O throughout the title and author are formed by pencil shavings.

16 April 2025

Written by: Magz H

Disclaimer: I received an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. This is spoiler-free and focuses on the reading experience.

Synopsis

Monica Tsai just wants to reconnect her grandmother to her estranged cousin, Meng. Using her software engineering knowledge, she finds Meng through another college student's social media activity. What starts off as a desire for reunion unveils a family secret that Monica now has to learn before her grandmother, Yun, loses her memories to a devastating diagnosis.

Told through epistolary format (journal entries, letters, and notes), readers are treated to a story spanning two wars, the rise of the digital age, and how pencils somehow last them all.


Thoughts

Seeing both Monica's and Yun's stories interwoven to show how the past informs the future was an emotional rollercoaster. You can sense Yun's desperation to record as much as she could remember. You can feel with Monica of how she's handling everything, from the family secret, the diagnosis, and even budding feelings for a girl she just met. Both character voices were distinct and I could believe that these entries were written by real people.

That's saying something because I didn't like Monica and Yun was long-winded to the point of affecting the pacing. But their stories, their reactions, and the events that play out couldn't stop me from finding out how they grew as people. This is a heavy read at points and I did have to take breaks. But once I got to 70%? I was blowing through, wanting to know the ending.


Overall

I give this book 4/5 stars.

There was a lot of relatability, even with the speculative nature. The reason it's not a 5/5 stars for me is due to pacing and some of the subplot beats felt thrown in as minor commentary than serving the overall story./p>

However, the themes of human connection and importance of sharing your truth (no matter how ugly it may get) resonated with me. So while it may not be a 5/5 for me, it might be for you.