When I read the synopsis of this book and realized it is both historical fiction and magical realism, I was immediately intrigued!

Overall I thought this book was so well done! I loved the alternating POV and alternating timelines and felt equally engaged in both. The author did a good job developing each character and giving them a separate voice. I would have liked a little more background information on the character of Louise but overall was very satisfied when I finished.

I was so surprised when I found out this was a debut! It was written well and I cannot wait to see what the author comes out with next!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

I think this is super creative, well written, and original. But it just wasn’t for me. I couldn’t ever get all the way into it, and it just kind of lost me.

A different sort of read.
I didn’t really understand the entire nuances of reforging but it was something I’d never encountered before.
The most touching part was the care Monica gave to her aging grandparents with the impending failure of her grandmother’s memory.
Of only stories could be captured through reforging.

Impressive debut - well written and researched. I felt it was bogged down in tech details at times and quite honestly, I didn't really like Louise's character, but it's a highly engaging tale. I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.25🌟 rounded down

I was so torn on how to rate this one. It was a solid 4 stars for the first two-thirds, and then things declined a bit. Then I didn't care at all for the ending. I'll leave explanations for the biggest things that bothered me at the very end of the review, enclosed in a spoiler tag, so you don't have to read them if you don't want the story spoiled.

I would give Allison King another chance. It's not easy to tackle magical realism for a debut novel. I thought that the writing itself was good, but I hate being left with more questions than answers. And this wasn't intended; it felt more like storylines and ideas just weren't properly fleshed out.

Recommended for readers of sapphic magical realism novels.

Thank you to NetGalley & William Morrow for the ARC.

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***SPOILERS***
-What happened with Monica's mom? It's as if she were written out of the story with no explanation, which is a convenient move. Surely something could have been explained, even in passing. Did she Reforge pencils too? Is she mad at her mom/Monica's grandmother for that? Did something happen between them or when she Reforged? Why was none of this explained? This was baffling to me.

-The Louise & Monica storyline felt so forced. I started out liking it, and then it turned out that Louise had betrayed her pretty badly. Even after Louise's explanations and apologies, she didn't feel genuine to me. It felt desperate on Monica's part to forgive her. It didn't sit right with me regarding Monica's character. Monica was going through a kind of grief despite her grandmother still being alive, which can cause one to make irrational decisions. However, I don't know; I really wish I had liked Louise more. I thought Monica deserved better.

-Did anyone else think that literally every character in this novel was entirely too chill when they found out about the Reforging pencils concept? Especially when it was so rare (I think? It was not alluded to that other people outside of this particular bloodline could do this), and there weren't any other magical elements in the story. Frankly, I'm surprised the women weren't accused of being witches and summarily murdered.

I really enjoyed this book and the themes the author explored. Monica is searching for her grandmother’s long lost cousin and using her experience in tech and a new app is able to find her (and a new connection) via Louise. The book follows a present day timeline and her grandmother and her cousin’s timeline in Shanghai and Taiwan through wars and occupation.

This book is filled with pairs - friends, cousins, sisters, and romantic pairs. They explore what it means to know each other, how much we ever know each other, how our circumstances affect our relationships and what happens to those connections over time. There is a magical ability through the family’s pencils that was interesting and a new twist to the magical realism realm.

There are historical elements to the book and it was interesting to learn about the occupation and war through the POV of Yun & Meng. Other themes include memory, communication, trust, betrayal, courage, survival, forgiveness, our similarities and differences. In the end, it’s a story about love.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for early access in exchange for an honest review.

The Phoenix Pencil Company tells the story of Monica, a computer coding student, and her grandmother, Yun, a Chinese immigrant with a rich history from 1940s Shanghai. Monica sets out to help Yun, who is starting to lose her memory to Alzheimers, to find her cousin, Meng, who still lives in Shanghai. Along the way, Monica meets Louise, who is an acquaintance of Meng. The narration of the story is told through Monica’s online journal, and Yun’s handwritten letters to Meng. Along the way, we learn about the Japanese Occupation of China, discover Yun & Meng’s magical story, and witness Monica and Louise catch feels.

I could not put down The Phoenix Pencil Company. Allison King tells a unique, sapphic story from an unexpected perspective. I learned more about China’s history during WWII as well as culture, tied into a tale about magic and the power of love.

Allison King effortlessly intertwined Chinese history, supernatural elements, and sapphic romance in her storytelling.

An interesting and well written tale. Alternates between Monica, a computer coding student, and chapters from her grandmother who has Alzheimer's. Grandmother's chapters are written as a letter/history to her cousin, who she has not seen since they were young, about their time in China during multiple wars - their two mothers ran the Phoenix Pencil Company and helped transmit secret messages. The women in the family all have the ability to reforge messages written using the pencils.
Part history, part fantasy, lots about culture, but mostly about the strength of these various women and the enduring love of family.

This was a slower paced book about a grandparents/grandchild relationship that alternated between current day and 1940s Shanghai. The Phoenix Pencil company sold pencils that would store what was written with them in their "hearts" and certain women had the ability to absorb this and either keep the word for themselves or share them with others. There are several underlying stories to that as well. This book explores the intricacies of relationships, both familial and romantic, and the power these relationships have to shape who you are and who you become. There is also forgiveness in this book. While this story is unique and interesting, it took a weird turn about 70% in that I wasn't a fan of. Honestly, not sure who I would recommend this book to.

The Phoenix Pencil Company was a pleasant surprise with the unexpected twist of magical realism. Monica and her grandmother quickly found their way to my heart and watching their stories unfold on the page like it does in the book was a pleasure.

I saw buzz for this book on social media so decided to check it out without knowing much about it. I'm not normally a big historical fiction or magical realism reader, but I really enjoyed this book anyhow!

Split between two narratives, we get to know Monica as a college freshman and her grandmother who is 90 and dealing with early stages of dementia. As Monica works to connect her grandmother with her long-lost cousin, her grandmother begins to record her early memories while she can.

I started out enjoying the Monica parts more but as I grew invested in the story I really enjoyed all of it -- these is quite a bit of suspense and I wanted to just keep reading. I really enjoyed Monica's character as well as Louise -- and I enjoyed learning more about her grandmother's life and the pencil company.

I am impressed that this is a debut novel, the characters and descriptions were so lovely. I am excited to read more by Allison King in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

While this was a slow read, it was interesting to learn about Chinese history that I did not learn in school. The story line goes between Monica’s life in 2018 and her grandmother’s life over the years from when she was a teenager in Shanghai to her life in Boston. Monica is a college student who was raised by her grandparents after her parents both left when she was young. For her grandmother’s 90th birthday Monica started looking for her grandmother’s long lost cousin that she has not seen she left Shanghai by using technology that she started working with during her summer internship. In the process she learned to come out of her shell. I would give it 3.5 stars if I could.

Monica’s grandmother, Yun, asks her to help find her long-lost cousin, Meng. Monica utilizes a computer program to locate Meng and meets Louise, who is friends with Meng. Upon meeting, Meng sends a simple pencil as a gift. However, this seemingly ordinary gift holds immense significance in the history of Meng and Yun. The narrative unfolds through alternating time periods, revealing the profound connection between the pencils and the past.

I recommend this book, it has something for everyone- historical fiction of WWII Shanghai, fantasy elements, LGBTQIAP+, romance with some spice, family secrets, and redemption. It’s a multilayered novel with alternating timelines and stories that I was engaged to learn how it was going to end. The fantasy elements of the pencils is quite unique.

Thank you William Morrow and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

Allison King’s The Phoenix Pencil Company is a beautifully imaginative novel that blends historical fiction, speculative magic, and intergenerational storytelling with an epistolary twist. Set across two timelines of wartime China and modern-day Boston, the novel explores memory, connection, and the bonds that tie families together even across decades.

The story begins during the Japanese occupation of China, where a young girl named Yun uncovers a powerful family secret that the women in her lineage can “reforge” memories by injecting a pencil that someone else has written with into their veins. This magical, almost alchemical process allows them to relive the emotions and thoughts of the pencil’s writer. It’s a fun concept, and King uses it to great effect, especially in showing how deeply these inherited abilities shape Yun’s life. As she and her cousin Meng become each other’s emotional anchors during turbulent times, the gift of reforging becomes both a blessing and a burden.

Decades later in 2018, Yun’s granddaughter Monica Tsai is a programmer and AI researcher working on a project called EMBRS. This project is a platform designed to connect people through shared memories and personal histories. When Yun begins to lose her memory to Alzheimer’s, Monica uses the EMBRS database to try to locate Meng before it’s too late.
The dual perspectives of Yun and Monica are told through reforged letters and journal entries. This format works especially well given the story’s central themes.

Yun’s chapters are filled with historical detail, emotional depth, and a sense of resilience and tenderness. Her experience growing up during both the Japanese occupation, WWII, and the Chinese Civil War gives the book a powerful historical grounding that is often overlooked in Western narratives.

That said, the novel falters in its romantic subplot. Monica’s relationship with Louise feels underdeveloped and unsettling at times. Louise’s character raised red flags from the start, and events in the third act only confirmed those suspicions. The love story felt unnecessary in a novel already rich with emotional connections through family and memory. In fact, a deeper exploration of Monica’s relationship with her parents, or a parallel to Yun and Meng’s bond, would have been a more satisfying and thematically resonant choice.

Despite the love story, The Phoenix Pencil Company is a moving and original story. It’s a meditation on legacy, memory, and the power of written words to preserve what we hold most dear. Fans of speculative fiction with historical roots, multi-generational narratives, and emotional depth will find much to savor here.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this ARC.

A somewhat fresh take in the fantasy or magical realism genre. Personally, I could have used more of a background and explanation into the magic of the pencils.

Unfortunately, this was a mixed experience for me. What I enjoyed was learning about Shanghai and Monica's relationship with her grandmother. The parallels between the information stored within the pencils and the computer program Monica was doing the coding for highlights some of dangers that are becoming reality for all of us. The touch of magical realism about the pencils was interesting.

What didn't work for me was the formatting of the story either in computer posts or the pencil reforging. I was getting confused between the two storylines and, honestly, I never really understood the reforging process. For others, both of those were things they really liked about the story. So please understand this my personal response to the story. If I hadn't been given an ARC to review, I probably would not have finished it. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like maybe Reese's Book Club picks are just not in my wheelhouse. Magical realism is my favorite genre but for some reason, this story just didn't work for me. I had a really hard time visualizing the magic part (which never happens to me) and what the powers were actually used for. I loved the characters, but the jumping back and forth between time periods and POVs also fell flat for me. There were even a few parts that ended up feeling super cringey in a way that made me kind of glad when I was finished. I think it still deserves three stars because of the character development, but the ending felt somewhat incomplete, and I just can't give it more stars than that based on how hard it was for me to stick to this story. This could totally just be a personal preference because I can see how some people would flip for this - I'm just definitely not one of them.

This was such a wonderfully inventive tale that blends magic, curiosity, and heart. Set in a world where creativity quite literally comes to life, the story draws readers into the mysterious and enchanting operations of a pencil company unlike any other. King’s writing is vivid and playful, with just enough intrigue to keep you turning pages. The cast of characters is full of personality—each one adding their own charm and quirk to the unfolding adventure. I absolutely loved the authentic "text message" communications between Monica and Louise - and how their relationship unfolds.

What stands out most is the book’s celebration of imagination and resilience. Whether it’s the enchanted pencils or the secrets tucked away in the company’s storied halls, there’s a sense of wonder on every page. While the ending left me wanting a little more emotional closure, the journey itself is rich and satisfying!

Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

A very unique story. Cross-generational mixed with magical realism and truly well-researched for historical fiction purposes. I learned so much about Shanghai during the Japanese occupation as the story developed from multiple POVs.

This was both a sweet and heartbreaking story of family as well as a charming budding romance. I loved all the characters and was rooting for them from the start. Cousins Yun and Meng grow up together during WWII working at their family’s pencil company in Shanghai, where they learn the magical secret that the women in their family possess of being able to reforge the the words people have written with pencils. During the Chinese Civil War, Yun and Meng are separated and they never see each other again.

The book is largely written from the perspective of Yun and her granddaughter, Monica, with alternating chapters between them. Monica must take a semester off from college to help care for Yun, who is suffering from memory loss. While continuing a coding project for a professor for a journaling software program that is designed to connect people with things in common, Monica writes about her life taking care of her grandmother. With the help of Louise (who she connects with through the software), Monica is able to reconnect the long lost cousins. Yun’s chapters are devoted to writing the story of her life as an explanation for not trying harder to reconnect with Meng and find a way to bring her to the U.S. Perhaps my only nitpick in the book is that the amount of writing Yun does seems a little unbelievable for someone losing their memory, but this is a book involving magical pencil skills so I’m willing to overlook it for the sake of the story. It’s not meant to be completely realistic.

The story gradually unfolds beautifully and these women and their lives across time is truly uplifting. It’s a generational saga that grips you and keeps you turning the pages because you care deeply about all of them. The stories that we tell about ourselves and what we pass down are important and the magical way in which this family is able to share theirs encapsulates this theme. Before picking this book up, I had no idea there was a digital archiving angle to this novel, and was pleasantly surprised to see a nuanced take on the ethics and responsibilities around collecting and preserving stories, especially from groups historically underrepresented in the historical record. The author clearly did some research on this and it shows.

This was a poignant read and I really hope we get more of Monica and Louise’s story. They were incredibly cute together and I want to know what happens next with them. I’d be absolutely devastated if this is a one off. I need more books in my life with Arby’s runs, lessons in git rebasing, and mahjong. The details in this book were endearing. Also, the vibrant cover design with flowers made from pencil shavings is **chefskiss**. This book was clearly written and designed with love. I adored it from start to finish!