en-US Wed, 02 Jul 2025 20:19:40 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg ReadStatus9620112875 Wed, 02 Jul 2025 20:19:40 -0700 /review/show/7238182036 Rummanah (Books in the Spotlight) started reading The Antidote by Karen Russell
]]> ReadStatus9620080835 Wed, 02 Jul 2025 20:10:25 -0700 /review/show/6966375132 Rummanah (Books in the Spotlight) started reading It Rhymes With Takei by George Takei
]]> ReadStatus9619989720 Wed, 02 Jul 2025 19:44:42 -0700 /review/show/7705248754 Rummanah (Books in the Spotlight) wants to read Through Gates of Garnet and Gold by Seanan McGuire
]]> Review6984348506 Wed, 02 Jul 2025 19:05:23 -0700 /review/show/6984348506 Rummanah (Books in the Spotlight) gave 3 stars to The Phoenix Pencil Company (Hardcover) by Allison King
bookshelves: adult-titles, 3-stars, debut-author, diversity, family, gltbqia, magical-realism, romance, realistic-fiction, historical-fiction, immigrants
Part speculative, part multigenerational family epic, part historical record, part coming-of-age romance King's debut novel "The Phoenix Pencil Company" has an intriguing and original premise about a pencil company that creates pencils that can reveal all of the words its writer has previously wrote, through a process called reforging. The novel's themes of memory, privacy, ownership, history, techology, and intergenerational trauma are mostly well woven into the story.

In my opinion, I found the two primary points of view to be uneven. I was most certainly more invested in Yun's personal diary entries as she explores the pencil company, has complicated yet loving connection with her cousin Meng, and deceives her way out of Taiwan and immigrates to the U.S. I was less interested in Monica's contemporary storyline. Monica actually read much younger to me than a college student and I felt the aspect of her working on EMBRS and her budding romance with Louisa to be very underdeveloped and rushed. I did appreciate Monica's sweet devotion and care of her grandparents.

TW: self harm, Alzheimers ]]> ReadStatus9618885013 Wed, 02 Jul 2025 14:11:20 -0700 /review/show/7704478560 Rummanah (Books in the Spotlight) wants to read Aarzu All Around by Marzieh Abbas
]]> ReadStatus9618212932 Wed, 02 Jul 2025 11:02:12 -0700 /review/show/7704008400 Rummanah (Books in the Spotlight) wants to read The Moon on a Rainy Night, Vol. 1 by Kuzushiro
]]> ReadStatus9618203178 Wed, 02 Jul 2025 10:59:18 -0700 /review/show/7704001233 Rummanah (Books in the Spotlight) wants to read Is Love the Answer? by Uta Isaki
]]> ReadStatus9617638378 Wed, 02 Jul 2025 08:14:33 -0700 /review/show/7703594414 Rummanah (Books in the Spotlight) wants to read The Bloodless Queen by Joshua Phillip Johnson
]]> ReadStatus9617630515 Wed, 02 Jul 2025 08:12:22 -0700 /review/show/7703588594 Rummanah (Books in the Spotlight) wants to read Etiquette for Lovers and Killers by Anna Fitzgerald Healy
]]> ReadStatus9614236972 Tue, 01 Jul 2025 12:30:10 -0700 /review/show/7701156608 Rummanah (Books in the Spotlight) wants to read Hopelessly Teavoted by Audrey Goldberg Ruoff
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