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

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

16 reviews

sarrie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

TL;DR: Don’t like eyeballs? This one is going to mess with you! A revenge filled story about a girl obsessed and the racist and sexist people she targets.

Source: NetGalley, thank you so much to the publisher!

Plot: Ji-won’s father leaves the family and as her mother unravels then falls in love with an exceptionally disgusting man, she begins to fixate and… crave eyeballs. It gets real gross after that.

Characters: We focus in on Ji-won, and honestly everyone else was pretty unlikable except for a possible romantic interest (which I do wish had a bit more dimension).

Setting: Definitely not the focus of this, but I did enjoy the claustrophobia and dimness of what we got, it added to the overall feeling of it

Thrilling/Horror Aspect: Not nearly as intense as I expected, but if you’re squeamish about eyeballs and… well eating them this is going to gross you out

Thoughts:

The Eyes Are the Best Part is aptly named. This is the story of Ji-won and her slow decent into obsession over eyeballs, and let me go ahead and tell you that it get’s pretty graphic on the eyeball horror and… eating of things. Those bits by far were the best part of the whole novel.

That being said - don’t get into this one if you’re squeamish about people eating other people parts. It’s going to be a bad time. Ji-won falls fast into an obsession with blue eyes after her mother, still trapped in a cycle of grief at the leaving of Ji-won’s father, ends up dating and engaged to a truly repulsive white man with blue eyes named George. George clearly has a fetish and a type and is going after Ji-won’s mother for that reason. He’s that guy, racist but ‘Oh I know the language’ (when he doesn’t), or claims that 'No one appreciates the culture like him'. Ji-won sees through him, as does her sister, but unfortunately her mother is caught.

Blue eyes haunt her and she takes a rather abrupt and unexpected turn into the very gross acquisition of said eyes. There is also the boy in class with her who is not exactly who he seems, and equally as gross as George in his own way. The book targets these very clear and familiar types of people, showing them for how the really are and it can be infuriating at times. The racism, the gaslighting, and abuse is a lot but Ji-won gets her revenge.

The only thing that knocked this one down just a hair for me was that it read as a bit young, and everything in the end was exceptionally neat and tidy. I wanted just a bit more of a struggle or tension to the story, but I still enjoyed seeing her exact revenge and bloody hell on these folks. If you want some fun times like that - this is your pick-up.

4 out of 5 Blue Crunchy Balls You See Out Of

Content Warnings

libraryoflanelle's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

‘The Eyes Are the Best Part’ is a psychological horror novel following Ji-won through a tough period in life, during which things gradually become very unhinged.

Having read the blurb in it’s entirety after finishing the book, I am grateful that I started this book knowing very little beyond the title, cover, and the involvement of eyeballs. If you haven't read the description yet, I would strongly encourage you to do the same, provided it feels safe for you.

As expected, there are many eyeballs involved, usually in very gory ways, so consider yourself warned.

Beyond the absolutely unhinged spiral into madness and rage, I found myself truly appreciating the social commentaries, from critiques of the patriarchy and the family unit to the exploration of the fetishisation of Asian women and cultural belonging.

I will note that the book has a very slow start, where the pacing feels somewhat stunted. However, once it picks up, it REALLY picks up. I also found myself craving more detail around certain plot points but felt fairly satiated… ;) by the end.

I am already excited for whatever Monika Kim writes next. Her writing style is incredibly gripping and vivid—some might say even a little too vivid at times!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc. All opinions are my own.

Content Warnings

jackbifrost's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I really enjoyed the characterisation in this story, everybody felt believable and fully fleshed out. Ji-won was a really interesting character and I liked following her story but sometimes I felt like she switched personas too instantaneously which made it hard to suspend my belief during the more violent parts.

Weirdly, I just wish the book was longer to expand upon certain plot points, her father leaving, her relationship with her sister, and her growing compulsion, to allow for a more believable and gradual descent into her obsession. That said, I’d definitely read from this author again and recommend for people looking for a short horror/thriller read, though not to those easily grossed out.

Content Warnings

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.

Content Warnings

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.

Content Warnings

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!

Content Warnings