Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Das Beste sind die Augen

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Das Beste sind die Augen by Monika Kim

84 reviews

moriahleigh's review against another edition

3.75

dark tense fast-paced

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

akira_outofthegravity's review against another edition

3.75

dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

My partner knows I love eye horror so they got me this ehehehe!!

AND I GOT WHAT I WANTED!

I love that you can just tell that Geoffrry is slimy but also that Ji Won is also just a fucking psycho and I Love Her

Also I love that they gave her a brain tumour to explain her weird behaviour and then just made her crazy anyway Girl Boss

Content Warnings

susiedoom's review against another edition

5.0

dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

As deliciously horrific is the cover! This tense literary horror tracks a Korean American teen's descent into a dark obsession after her mother convinces her to eat cooked fish eyes for good luck. It's not full of jump scares or creepy paranormal monsters, but it absolutely had me on the edge of my seat with my skin crawling. Can't wait to read whatever Monika Kim writes next!

Content Warnings

addie's review against another edition

4.75

dark funny sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

bookingwithjanelle's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The first half dragged a little bit, but if you can make it to there, it gets better. Enjoyed the ending & it was definitely gross in some instances.

Content Warnings

hanrutmoe's review against another edition

5.0

dark fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Could not put this down. It was so easy to read, and so difficult not to do “just one more chapter”. An excellent start to my 2025 reads.

Content Warnings

andiethegreat's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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

Content Warnings

dsam9's review against another edition

3.5

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

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.

Content Warnings

emilysshelf's review against another edition

3.0

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

It was a short read that I took longer to read than I hoped for just because it overlapped with socializing on the holidays. I do appreciate feminine rage books and usually enjoy horror/gore, I was very excited for this one based on recommendations I'd gotten. Without spoilers here are some thoughts: I feel this had a slow beginning and I can see how people may be bored and DNF early on. There's nothing super compelling about the MC's narration or life. The MC wasn't anyone I particularly cared for and come to think of it I felt this way for many of the characters. I was mostly apathetic towards Jiwon, (which may have been intentional? Unsure, the author didn't have me often rooting for her despite the obvious reasoning for us to be on her side.) Jiwon just came off as an emotionally immature and kind of jealous, pretentious asshole, especially when viewing her friends and other relationships. A lot of this could've been avoided if she just went to therapy, I get that she was a child of immigrants and her parents obviously weren't going to go be proactive about getting help themselves but for Jiwon and her sister's sake she could've TRIED. There was a bit of victimization on her part despite her "learning" to not think of herself that way and not wanting to continue that cycle like other women in her life. I do wish there were more male figures in her life that didn't suck, this book felt randomly "anti-men" in a similar way to Chlorine by Jade Song. I almost feel that the abuse in her life didn't equate her reaction, which I guess is explained a little bit at the end but I still didn't feel things were justified. Perhaps Jiwon was just a tad of a psychopath at the core or maybe she was always going to slowly unravel this way, up to you to decide I guess. I wanted Jiwon's implied attraction for Alexis to be a bigger point, I wanted her to sit with the possibility of her being LGBT and that maybe impacting her choices as well. I think we barely touched this topic and there was so much potential for their relationship to shape Jiwon's actions. As for the horror elements I think imagery wasn't too graphic and the descent into madness could've been longer, or just better executed. It wasn't super scary at all, or gross at all really, pretty tame on the cannibalism trope unless you're squeamish or new to the genre. I do wish we had a less rushed ending but I understand that it's meant to leave things open ended. Hoping this is a standalone novel and no one requests a sequel, the open ending was a good way to leave things ambiguous.

Content Warnings

lana72905's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Actually really good book! It definitely is a bit slow to get into but once it starts, it gets the ball rolling! The whole idea is so unique and we see Ji-won truly unravel at the end of the book. You also start to realize as she tells her story that she isn’t as shy and submissive as she appears to be, especially once we realize how manipulative she can be. It was also great to see her mind tricking her and her delusions, almost tricking me at times and making me think i’m crazy. Overall, really good book and a fun short read! Finished in two days.

Content Warnings

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