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justinkhchen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Female Rage: The Novel, The Eyes Are the Best Part is a ferociously told, surrealist story centering around the female experience of a Korean-American collage student. As an Asian first-gen immigrant myself, I greatly resonated with Monika Kim's depiction of the breakdown of a nuclear family in a foreign land, as well as various forms of racism in America.
Even though it is marketed primarily as horror, the first half of the novel reads more like a brutally candid character study with a dash of the macabre. I've seen The Eyes Are the Best Part's marketing material mentioning Michelle Zauner's Crying in H-Mart, and that is actually a very spot-on reference point for this portion of the narrative. The horror and violence does amp up drastically in its later half, offering numerous instances of nightmare-inducing visual (I will not be seeing eyeball the same way after this).
The one critique I have is regarding its conclusion, which feels a bit like the author simply ran out of steam — various plot details are explained away in quick succession with great amount of convenience, and I would've preferred to have what was suggested in its open-endedness actually depicted on page.
Despite the slight premature ending, as a whole The Eyes Are the Best Part hits home emotionally, I sympathize with the rage and pain of its female protagonist, and they are expressed with blood-dripping style and gusto. Maeve Fly by CJ Leede comes to mind as a comparable (but also vastly different) reading experience.
Even though it is marketed primarily as horror, the first half of the novel reads more like a brutally candid character study with a dash of the macabre. I've seen The Eyes Are the Best Part's marketing material mentioning Michelle Zauner's Crying in H-Mart, and that is actually a very spot-on reference point for this portion of the narrative. The horror and violence does amp up drastically in its later half, offering numerous instances of nightmare-inducing visual (I will not be seeing eyeball the same way after this).
The one critique I have is regarding its conclusion, which feels a bit like the author simply ran out of steam — various plot details are explained away in quick succession with great amount of convenience, and I would've preferred to have what was suggested in its open-endedness actually depicted on page.
Despite the slight premature ending, as a whole The Eyes Are the Best Part hits home emotionally, I sympathize with the rage and pain of its female protagonist, and they are expressed with blood-dripping style and gusto. Maeve Fly by CJ Leede comes to mind as a comparable (but also vastly different) reading experience.
witchy_reads_'s review against another edition
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
Graphic: Murder, Gore, Torture, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Racism
skullfullofbooks's review against another edition
4.0
A twisting story of desire, obsession, and a woman slowly losing her sanity. The Eyes Are the Best Part keeps you on your toes as we follow a daughter trying to make sense of her mother's collapse after the end of a marriage and the beginning of a new relationship. It covers everything from the fetishism of Asian women to predators pretending to be allies. The descent into madness is brilliantly portrayed.
I feel like if you enjoyed The Vegetarian you will enjoy this. I did think it was a tad slow at times, given the overall mood of the novel, but I think it pulled itself together in a great way at the end. I give it 4 stars! It is supposed to be published on June 25, 2024 in the US.
Thank you Netgalley for providing a review copy!
I feel like if you enjoyed The Vegetarian you will enjoy this. I did think it was a tad slow at times, given the overall mood of the novel, but I think it pulled itself together in a great way at the end. I give it 4 stars! It is supposed to be published on June 25, 2024 in the US.
Thank you Netgalley for providing a review copy!
probablyjenna's review against another edition
fast-paced
3.5
Ji-won is not having a good time.
Her mother is spiraling after her father abruptly abandons the family. She does not get into her dream college, but all of her closest friends do - resulting in some manipulative actions on Ji-Won’s part caused by jealousy, and ending in a rift between her and those friends. She struggles deeply her first semester of college, and worries a lot about her 15-year-old sister.
This is all bad enough - but then, just a few months after the separation, her mother starts dating a racist, misogynistic piece or garbage named George. And George has the most mesmerizing blue eyes…and so begins the slow unraveling of Ji-Won.
The book opens with a fascinating scene where Ji-Won’s mother tells her daughters about a Korean custom of eating fish eyes for good luck. As you can imagine from the title, eyes are a very key motif throughout this book. Starting with this opening scene was such a smart choice, priming readers for what’s to come.
For me, this book has two issues. First, the pacing was far too slow. It was about halfway through before we really stepped into the horror elements; we spend a lot of time in Ji-Won’s head, yet it still felt a bit abrupt when things started picking up. Something about the pacing and character development didn’t match up entirely. My second issue was with the amount of dream sequences. I almost always skim dream sequences in books because they are so rarely needed (in my opinion.) I feel like they cheapen the actual plot a bit, and that there are more effective ways to show a character is losing it.
Those critiques aside, though, I really did like this book. Once the horror starts, the visceral descriptions are ones that will surely stick with you! I felt truly disturbed, and I really liked how the story was grounded in feeling as if your family is falling apart.
I will definitely read more from Monika Kim!
thewellreadmrs's review against another edition
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
Graphic: Grief, Cannibalism, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Racism and Toxic relationship
Minor: Pedophilia
sararose_cozy's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this ARC. This is my honest review.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 stars.
In this debut novel, we follow Ji-won who lives with her mother and sister after their father recently left his mother. She goes to college and seems to be your average young adult, until certain things seem to become more clear about her past and present situation. Their mother has a new boyfriend, George, and he’s a middle-aged, yucky, creepy and racist white man. This, in addition to her father leaving and some other circumstances, causes Ji-won to spiral.
This is a slow descent into insanity and reminded me of “The Shining”.
It’s like watching someone enter into a psychosis and you wonder with the MC if the situations you are reading are actually taking place or just a dream or a hallucination.
Basically, she becomes obsessed with eyeballs and the consumption of them.
Holy shit. This was a WILD ride. It was a bit of a slow start for me, setting the scene but not a whole lot happens right away which’s made it hard for me to pick back up. But boy, once it did pick up, I didn’t want to put it down. I finished the last half in one night because I needed to know more. It made me cringe so hard I had to avert my eyes for a second. The descriptive writing is commendable but also so gross. I wondered “why would someone think about writing this”. But I guess that’s the job of being a writer.
For a debut novel: GREAT BOOK.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 stars.
In this debut novel, we follow Ji-won who lives with her mother and sister after their father recently left his mother. She goes to college and seems to be your average young adult, until certain things seem to become more clear about her past and present situation. Their mother has a new boyfriend, George, and he’s a middle-aged, yucky, creepy and racist white man. This, in addition to her father leaving and some other circumstances, causes Ji-won to spiral.
This is a slow descent into insanity and reminded me of “The Shining”.
It’s like watching someone enter into a psychosis and you wonder with the MC if the situations you are reading are actually taking place or just a dream or a hallucination.
Basically, she becomes obsessed with eyeballs and the consumption of them.
Holy shit. This was a WILD ride. It was a bit of a slow start for me, setting the scene but not a whole lot happens right away which’s made it hard for me to pick back up. But boy, once it did pick up, I didn’t want to put it down. I finished the last half in one night because I needed to know more. It made me cringe so hard I had to avert my eyes for a second. The descriptive writing is commendable but also so gross. I wondered “why would someone think about writing this”. But I guess that’s the job of being a writer.
For a debut novel: GREAT BOOK.
laylar's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely loved the premise for this one, and it did not disappoint. Incredibly vivid and engaging, I meant to start it before bed and finish tomorrow but couldn't put it down! The characters felt real and distinct, and the body horror was subtle and well done. The way Ji-Won described George's eyes in contrast to him as a person, the beauty and disgust, it makes me shudder to think about it.
Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the ARC
Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the ARC
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Body horror, and Gore
Moderate: Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Racism, Stalking, Misogyny, and Cancer
ellulin's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Murder, and Gore
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Misogyny