Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

37 reviews

witchy_reads_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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thewellreadmrs's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Such an enjoyable and unexpected “horror” book. I loved this horror as it was realistic. My only criticism would be the small detail the author added in the end that gave it a “if this wasn’t there would the whole thing have still happened” trick which I normally hate, but the last sentence of the book saved any doubts I had.

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hayliosreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

 
Monika Kim’s debut novel consists of an unravelling story of female rage, racism and the loss of sanity; all while adapting to new changes in family and education. The Eyes Are the Best Part follows Ji-Won – the older sister – navigating and adjusting to the collapse of her mother’s marriage and the emptiness her father has left. 

While her mother and sister try not to spiral from the abandonment, Ji-Won starts college. However, it isn’t her dream college where all her friends have gone to and this results in jealousy, manipulation and the loss of said friends. Due to this, Ji-Won struggles with her first semester, which isn’t helped with the worry of her mother and her sister. 

This is all bad enough, so luckily Ji-Won befriends Alexis and Geoffery. However, there’s more to Geoffrey then it seems. But there’s also more to Ji-Won so wouldn’t this be the perfect pairing? 

Ji-Wons’ mother now has a new boyfriend – George – who is a misogynistic and racist middle-aged white man. His fetishism of Asian women seeps through as predatory behaviour as the story develops. The only good thing about George are his mesmerising blue eyes. 

This issue is just the tip of the iceberg Ji-Won needed in order to spiral into a state of insanity. When her dreams turn into nightmares and hallucinations, Ji-Won decides to act on them. But has she gone too far? 

Monika Kims’ writing is somewhat of a masterpiece to me. Although I thought the spiral into madness started off a bit too slow, it almost made sense as it was the story itself followed the slow turn into madness that Ji-Won goes through in the novel. I do feel like the ending was somehow rushed as the readers to have a lot of information thrown at them all at once; but again this could be interpreted as the speed of how someones’ mind gathers information. 

I loved this book which is why I gave it 5 stars. It was such a rollercoaster of emotions that once it started picking up after the first couple of chapters, I couldn’t put it down. While the ending does make you question some things, this also gives the opportunity of a follow up book if Monika Kim decided to do one, but it also is a perfect stand alone book if you love slow release horror. 

I know it’s not even out yet, but I’m excited to see what Kim comes up with next. 


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bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

As an API woman during API heritage month, let me just say I again, support women’s wrongs, specifically Ji-won’s wrongs 💅🏽 

This horror/thriller novel revolves around Ji-won who begins to fixate on and dream about blue eyes, as she navigates college, her parents’ separation, her mom dating, sexism, fetishization of API women, racism, and more. I love seeing fictional yt men suffer tbh. 

Though it has a slow start, I ended up reading it in one sitting & would absolutely read from Monika Kim again! 

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ellulin's review against another edition

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4.0

The Eyes are the Best Part is a short and fast paced horror novel about a young korean-american woman trying to navigate college in the midst of her parents separating. Her mom starts dating a new guy who does not seem like a great pick, she is starting to have weird dream about blue blue eyes, and her little sister is starting to notice something is not right with her.

This novel deals with how children deal with their parents separating and how it impacts them even if they are already adults. It also talks a lot about racism and the hypersexualisation of asian women. Queer characters are implied.

At the beginning of this book I was a little confused about why it was classified as horror but it is just due to a slow beggining (in terms of horror). If you are squeamish about eyes, please do not pick up this book, even the descriptions about eating fish eyes were a lot so I am warning you. There is not a lot of body horror besides eye stuff.

I think that the main character, Ji-won, and her mother are well written but most of the other characters are unfortunately very one tone. For the villains I don't really mind honestly as it drives the point home harder, but I was sad not to learn more about her sister or her friend Alexis. The ending was also veryyyy fast paced and there is huge reveal that is kind of brushed under the rug and that felt a bit weird.

Overall I like the gross body horror, the ending even if it was a bit rushed, and having an unhinged female character. It could have benefited from being a little longer but it is a fun short read and I would definitely recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

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sidekicksam's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

🥢 The Eyes Are The Best Part 🥢

New unhinged girlie book alert!!!!!
I devoured this book as Ji-won devours blue eyes.


I loved how this book started off with me asking myself 'huh, this is not horror? where is the story i expected to get?' and it unraveled and spiraled quickly (but not too quickly!) into the most bonkers of stories. The Eyes Are The Best Part is a story of grief, complicated family dynamics, obsession, the fetishization of Asian women, immigration trauma, cultural differences, and of course: body horror!!!

George, and everything he stands for, was such a hilarious addition to the story. Both his misogyistic and fetishizing tendendies, but also his relationship to Ji-won's mom and the confusing relationship she has with him, made him such a great side character and clear cause (the catalyst really) of her descent into madness. I think this summarizes their rapport pretty well: "Oriental? What am I, a rug?"

God, I loved this book! Exactly my kind of weird, unsettling, far-fetched and gory story. If you loved books like Chlorine, A Certain Hunger and those written by Mariana Enriquez, get this on your tbr now!!!!

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lochnessvhs's review against another edition

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dark funny tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Add another incredible character to the Unhinged Women Literary Universe!

Ji-won is a first-year college student living at home with her parents and younger sister. When her father suddenly leaves the family, they are all set on a path none of them expected. Ji-won's mother meets George, a disgusting white man with an insidious Asian fetish and Ji-won does everything she can to hold what remains of her family together. Unfortunately the hardest person to keep in check is herself.

I loved every second of this book. The path to destruction Ji-won walks feels at once sudden and gradual. Her obsession with blue eyeballs rockets her into actions she would never have thought possible, but somehow I was rooting for her the entire way. 

I support women's wrongs, especially Ji-won's wrongs!

Thanks to NetGalley and Kengsington Books for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

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whatsbridiereading's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Both the plot and the horror aspect of this book kept me hooked from the start. This is one of my favourite ‘female rage’ books- the kind where the MC has a reason for her rage, and where even when she’s doing despicable things you feel for her. I can’t wait to see what Monika Kim does next!

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kristin_boren's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is a weird book for weird girls for sure. This touches on life as a child of immigrant parents, the struggles as a woman in society that is prone to being fetishized by men, and the pressure to reach parental expectations when their hopes rest on you just to name a few things. This is super dark, very gory, and honestly a gripping read. I devoured this one within a few hours. Lots of trigger warnings on this read but really good if you're not too squeamish and love a feminine rage story. 

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knightressx's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Eyes Are The Best Part is a gripping debut by author Monika Kim. Told from the perspective of eighteen-year-old Jo-won as she struggles to maintain a semblance of normalcy in her life following the abrupt departure of her father for his mistress, the novel initially teeters between the conventional and the surreal. 

Jo-won’s mother eventually finds comfort in a repugnant new boyfriend named George, her sister Ji-hyun is anxious regarding the state of their lives and her grades are dropping terribly. And then there are the dreams: the rooms with eyes on the walls that are are enticing and so very blue. 

A desire to consume those eyes has awakened within Ji-won-following her decision to devour a fish eye during a dinner to please her mother-but it initially remains a macabre fascination 

At least until the bodies begin to appear

The Eyes Are The Best Part is intense, engrossing, absolutely infuriating at times and very grisly. As a Korean young woman, Ji-won is forced to contend with the insidious intermingling of racism and misogyny: both depicted overtly by George, perpetuated subtly by Jo-won’s would-be “friend” Geoffrey and the latter even upheld by Ji-won’s  own mother. 

Jo-won is an intriguing and flawed protagonist: manipilative and envious, but also constrained by the expectations of and her desire to help her family. As Ji-won’s rage and desire to consume grew, I remained entranced and uneasy as I contemplated what would happen next.

The Eyes Are The Best Part is excellent novel and I look forward to reading Monika’s Kim’s writing in the future. Thank you to NetGalley, Kensington Books and Erewhon Books for granting me access to this ebook.

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