Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

11 reviews

irmitcrab's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.5

the messages got a little heavy handed for me, like i didn't feel that it was necessary to have the feminist overtones spelled out so frequently and blatantly. i would rather have just drawn my own conclusions for ji-won's motivations bc they were pretty clear to begin with. BUT, all that being said, i thought it was a fun thriller with a fun killer protagonist to root for, and the heavy handedness of it made sense in that context. like yeah i'll root for the traumatized man killer, she deserves a little treat. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

sapphic_alpaca's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit and Classism

irenemarie's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Infidelity, Blood, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Vomit, and Alcohol

andiethegreat's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Just. Stunning. And upsetting. And incredible. I’m going to be thinking about this book for days. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Vomit, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

dsam9's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Finished the book because I had to but wasn't a huge fan. The gore was quite vivid which shows talent but the main character is not likeable in the least. It was a well written book in my opinion though because I have a lot of complex feelings which shows hiw amazing the author is. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

cloverandmoss's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

itsheyfay's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, and Abandonment

Moderate: Ableism, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Pedophilia and Alcohol

sol_journal's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

Posted to: Goodreads and The Storygraph
Posted on: 25 October 2024

3.5 (rounded up to 4) out of 5 stars.

Full review to come. I literally just finished the last page though and must drop my initial thoughts. 
This book was a horror in such a good way. I cringed and I tried to cover up the words while reading the gory bits. I *felt* Ji-won’s rage and kind of hate we were taken along the roller coaster of deaths and devours only because I realized I’m more squeamish than I thought. Still, I absolutely will be here whenever Monika Kim releases another book! There was something just wickedly gruesome and terrible about this that didn’t allow me to put it down. I loved the narrative we got to follow, loved the descent and the twists and the ending. Loved loved *loved* this little terror of a novel.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Drug use, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Medical content

uniquelymace's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

orasmis's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

One of the creators I watch on YouTube got this as an arc and they made it some so fascinating I had to go and get a copy of it myself. I was intrigued by the plot and I decided I had to read it. When I got approved for it I was beyond happy and jumped right in.

I loved this book. I loved loved loved this book. Ji-won is a fascinating main character. You really get to know her over the course of the book and get a very intimate look at her life, both inner and outer. I love her relationship with her family. Especially with her sister. I ended up deeply caring for every member of this family by the end of the book. Except George. George is absolutely terrible and I hated him but you’re supposed to.

The atmosphere in here was horrible in a good way. There is such a sense of creeping dread in the entire book and it ramps up so slowly that I was on the edge of my seat for the entire read.

The writing in this was absolutely beautiful. Some of the best lines I’ve ever read were in this book. And while the writing is beautiful some of the scenes were downright disgusting (again in a good way). The way that things were described made me ill at several points but I just couldn’t put this down.


Even though I loved this and I’m giving it 5 stars I 100% don’t recommend this for everyone. It’s chock full of very disturbing and graphic content. Please check trigger warnings before you read to make sure you can handle it. With that said this was amazing and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Stalking, and Abandonment

Minor: Cancer, Racial slurs, and Alcohol