Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Eyes Are the Best Part

I am not sure how the author made me feel sympathetic towards Ji-won. I can't say that the random people she killed deserved it. But George definitely did.

We watch the descent of Ji-won as her mental health spirals out of control, after her father leaves and her mother starts dating a new man. Along with that we see the familial drama between mother and two daughters, who seemed close but all become at ends with each other. We also see asian fetishism which is not a topic that is broached nearly enough despite being very prevalent.
This one can get a bit graphic with the body horror aka

tearing out and eating of human eyes.

The writing is also a bit choppy, which I feel like worked well for the story. But this writing style may not be everyone's preference.
Such a strong debut and I can't wait to see what else this author does!

Thanks to Netgalley and Erewhon Books for the copy in exchange for an honest review!

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not_another_ana's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher

When Ji-won's father leaves and initiates a divorce the nomal stable life she knew implodes. Between starting college, looking out for her little sister and dealing with a severely depressed mother Ji-won is at her limit. When her mom finds herself a boyfriend, a rude white american with a fetish for asian women, she starts to unravel and develop an obsession for eyes. Bright blue eyes specifically. Her hunger grows as her life unravels to the point where she cannot contain the compulsion to possess and devour.

Come for the horror stay for the family drama. A solid debut, the writing shines when focused on the family dynamics. I especially liked the relationship between the two sisters, it rang true and real. The relationship with the mother and the cultural baggage of an immigrant parent came across well, always present without being in your face. The other side characters outside the family needed more fleshing out. Some of the commentary on racism, xenophobia, and fetishization was a bit too on the nose but I understand that some people need to have it spelled out. Plus it is true and happens every day so I don't think there was anything wrong with that.

Now for the horror elements of this story. I didn't like them but I think it's a case of good book wrong reader. Body horror/gore isn't my cup of tea, it doesn't horrify me nor delights me, and that's a huge part of the book. Prepare to read long detailed descriptions of eyes and for cuestionable things to happen to them. This was a quick read that felt rushed at the end. A lot of what happens in the last 20% or so was very clear from the start and the ending itself was wrapped up too neatly and tidy. I thought this book was going for a more open ended finale or more of a downward spiral but it pulled back at the finish line.

I think this is solid, just not for me.

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fanni_ambr_'s review against another edition

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dark sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

👁 ARC REVIEW 👁

10/10 concept, the execution is ify tho. It's good enough, but you can tell that this is a debut novel.

There were more hard-hitting themes than I expected. The mother is such a deeply sad character. She sometimes felt more like folklore than a human for some reason. I struggled to see her as a real person. Her decisions and reactions are very much believable but there's just something cartoonish about her.

I related to Ji-wons academic failures more than I care to admit. Also, this might just be my opinion, because I didn't pick up on the author confirming or denying it, but her relationship with Alexis has undertones of a crush. Maybe in a next book we'll see (I assume by the ending that a book 2 is planned).

Ji-won's other uni friend however... The wayyyyyy Geoffrey irked me from his very first appearance is incredible.. Later the book makes it clear that his pretentiousness and surface level feminism are intentional, and he's meant to be a loser like that, but still.

George was also incredibly infuriating but I kinda skipped over some of his bullshittery because I figured that he's probably gonna die. And that brings peace into the reading experience ngl. Most of my annotations about him were simple like "JAIL" and "HELL NAH".
On the topic of disappointing men, it's ironic that the root of all troubles is the father and yet we never see him.

Ji-won's unreliable narration takes us on trips sometimes, made me question what's real and what isn't a few times. I enjoy lucid dreams in fiction, they have lots of potential.

The events that did happen were.. a choice. The rest of the book is so woven through with serious subjects that I can't not take the serial killing part also seriously. There's no way in hell that this girl got away with all that. The first kill is later in the book than I thought it would be, and sometimes Ji-won's violence is quite out of the blue. But that's all fine, the unrealistic thing is that on every scene there is her DNA, she pays no attention to hiding what she's done, and all bodies are found near to where she's been last seen. I get the part that the police is looking for a man and she probably won't be charged because they underestimate her. But even the book acknowledges that she could very easily be caught based on all the evidence she left behind.
In the end I think it's supposed to be a girlboss moment the way she ties everything together and pulls it off, but dude it was mere luck. If you wanna read her as a girlboss that's fine, but I just don't buy it.

It was still better than A Certain Hunger, this one has a lot more value and important themes, would recommend this one over that.

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frozenheartv's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

4.25 stars
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌘

Thanks NetGalley, Kensington Books publisher, and the authors for a great advance copy of the book in exchange for my honest review!

🧠 My thoughts
Wow, this book hooked me from the start to the end. This was one of the rare books that touched on the racial fetishism topic, especially the fetishization of Asian women. While reading, I couldn't help nodding along because what happened in the book I have seen in real life as well. After finishing reading, it took me a few days to really understand everything, especially the ending. The gore parts played a crucial role in the deep meaning layer of the story and it wasn't excessive.

On the other hand, since this is the author's debut, the writing wasn't that smooth. The writing style was a bit choppy to read at some points

👍 What I like
- Successfully portray the racial fetishization of Asian women
- Powerful story

👎 What I don't like
- Choppy and not smooth writing
- Rather weak storyline

Content Warnings

lauren_reads_outside's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

This book was hard to read, not because it wasn't good but because the characters and the imagery were so clear it was difficult to get through without flinching. In high school we dissected sheep's eyes and I've never wished more that I didn't know what it feels like to hold and cut into an eyeball as I did while reading this book.
I do wish the queer coded scenes with Ji-won and Alexis went a little bit further as they just sort of end up as an aside to the main story. The main story though really tells of a woman who simply has reached the edge and snapped and honestly who can blame her.

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shelbykate's review against another edition

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dark reflective 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

4.25

Ooooo this is delicious if I do say so myself!! If you are a fan of Bunny by Mona Awad or Maeve Fly by C. J. Leede this is the book for you.

The body horror/gore is so so good. detailed without being overly gratuitous. There’s much to be said about the MC relationships with either parents/friends/sibling and how those shape her. The flashbacks give just enough insight that by the end you are left with a complete understanding of her decisions as horrid as they may be (maybe that’s just me because I too am mad at men).

oh yeah this is very much a man hating book and not for softy ‘well, actually’ types. be warned!

overall a stellar debut and will be checking this author out again!

Thank you to Kensington/Erewhon books and Netgalley for the eArc for an honest review!

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woodsybookworm's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-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

4.0

Received as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher Kensington Books (thank you, both) in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

A deep dive into the hardships of a second generation woman struggling to keep herself and her family together as her mind unravels and begins to hunger not only for her own autonomy, but for eyeballs.

Ji-won’s life is crumbling around her - she's self sabotaged her relationship with her childhood friends, she can barely keep her grades up let alone forge new friendship or partnerships, her father abandoned the family for another woman, and now her mother is dating a man with an Asian fetish. Nothing could be worse, until she starts dreaming of eyeballs, hungering for eyeballs.

The gore wasn't overly descriptive, but it worked just enough to keep me squirming whenever it came up. I will most definitely be having nightmares about eyeballs after reading this book.

The first half of the book was a slow build up in which we learned about the characters, their background, how the family ended up in the position they're in now - and then it ramps up with Ji-won spiraling out of control until the end. But it ended rather abruptly and it left me wanting more!

Overall, it was a great read and a wonderful debut. I look forward to reading more from the author in the future.

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