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taibreakfast 's review for:
The Phoenix Pencil Company
by Allison King
dark
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really interesting ideas being explored here about stories, sharing, vulnerability, connection, and consent. So often we conflate feeling close to someone with knowing everything they're thinking and feeling, but is that really what we're looking for? What if we knew what someone was thinking and feeling but without their consent? Would we feel closer to them? And what if we were made to know what someone was thinking and feeling for the purposes of the state and surveillance? For the purposes of data mining and the selling of our data?
This novel seems to argue that actually, we are closest to people when we can understand them. When we can see the unmoored or grounded qualities to them, can see the echoes of others in a person. When we understand each other's motivations. When, even if we don't speak the same language, we can piece together some shared words (and emojis!) and communicate.
At times, the pacing dragged a little, and I have some different preferences at the sentence level. I also wish we could have learned how the family first discovered their magical ability.
My favorite moments were when we get to see the relationship between the grandmother and granddaughter, including their text exchanges. And I appreciated getting to learn about Shanghai, Taiwan, and the surveillance of Taiwanese students in the US during this time period. Plus I definitely got inspired to use pencils more!
I'd recommend this to someone looking for an easy but interesting read. I read it relatively quickly!
This novel seems to argue that actually, we are closest to people when we can understand them. When we can see the unmoored or grounded qualities to them, can see the echoes of others in a person. When we understand each other's motivations. When, even if we don't speak the same language, we can piece together some shared words (and emojis!) and communicate.
At times, the pacing dragged a little, and I have some different preferences at the sentence level. I also wish we could have learned how the family first discovered their magical ability.
My favorite moments were when we get to see the relationship between the grandmother and granddaughter, including their text exchanges. And I appreciated getting to learn about Shanghai, Taiwan, and the surveillance of Taiwanese students in the US during this time period. Plus I definitely got inspired to use pencils more!
I'd recommend this to someone looking for an easy but interesting read. I read it relatively quickly!
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Trafficking, Abortion, Death of parent, Outing, War