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

Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

36 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

brea's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

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samantha_sahm_reads's review against another edition

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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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

blankpagepanic's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

3.75

This book is so freaking weird and not at all what I expected going in but that ended up being... better?
Other readers may disagree but I think the ending and overall pacing worked very well for the story. The first half is noticeably slower than the second, as we get to know Ji-Won, her family, and the harsh misogyny/racism she faces as an Asian woman, but once the 50% hits the story takes off at a break-neck pace that's about as

unhinged

as Ji-Won herself.
A lot of questions were left unanswered so if you're looking for a neat, closed ending this may not be the book for you (worked for me).

Thank you NetGalley/Octopus Publishing for the ARC.

Content Warnings

meltingpages's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-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

4.5

Whatever you do, don't read this book while eating! In this book we meet Ji-won who is struggling after the separation of her parents. Her mother finds a new boyfriend who gives Ji-won and her sister the creeps, not to mention her dreams about wanting to eat the new boyfriends' eyeballs. We see Ji-won have to deal with racism and misogyny from those around her and watch her slowly spiral out of control. The horrors of racism and misogyny aren't the only kind of horror though, we also have some good old-fashioned cannibalism, tons of gore, and a serial killer. There were so many good for her revenge moments too, I found myself rooting for Ji-won the more she gave in to her impulses. And the ending will probably stay with me for quite a while! If you enjoyed Maeve Fly like I did, I think you'll definitely enjoy this one as well, and I'm really looking forward to reading more from this author in the future!

Content Warnings

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

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

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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