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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
I liked the dream sequences, and the overall story. But it did become quite predictable, leaving the end to be underwhelming.
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
dark
mysterious
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
Context warning: description of plucking out and eating eyeballs
-Beginning kind of slow. Then it builds up when you get farther in the book. It can get receptive because for a while the only thing that is happening is Ji-won hallucinating about eye balls. A lot of the book is disgusting.
-this book kind of reminds me of another book i read called ‘They Never Learn’. They both have female serial killers and try to be feminist. This one i at least liked it better. Like the other book it was a little in the face with how all men are bad. It still kind of bothered me but this one was better for a couple of reasons.
-one reason was there was a little bit more to add than ‘men bad’. They had a little bit of a discussion about race. There was the man that acts as a feminist to look good. There was also the man that acts cultured but really is not.
-second reason is the book does not make her into a good guy. Making all the victims bad people can make it seem like the main character is in the right because ‘sure she killed a bunch of people but those people were bad so they deserved it’. A lot of the victims were bad people but there was a bit more that was added that made Ji-won’s action’s disturbing. She is still not the best person because she has don’t bad things to people she loves.
The Eyes Are the Best Part was my favorite thriller of 2023.
This story is about Ji-Won, a college age Korean-American girl whose parents separate at the beginning of the book. Her mother is a sweet but naive older woman who begins dating a white man that fetishizes asian women.
While these changes are occuring in Ji-Won's life, she forms an obsession with consuming blue eyeballs.
This was so fresh and different from most of the thrillers I read. My favorite thing about a good thriller is when I am just as invested in the characters as I am the plot, and Kim did a GREAT job with this. I loved Ji-Won and reading about her relationship with her sister, watching her make friends, and navigating these new changes in her life. I think this shift she is dealing with is something MANY of us can relate to, and it only made the story more compelling.
The eye horror was incredible. It wasn't overdone, it wasn't masterfully sprinkled in just enough to leave you wanting more.
If you love unhinged women and want to diversify your thriller/horror reads in 2024, you need to add this one to your list.
(Also I loveddd the ending!)
*Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review*
This story is about Ji-Won, a college age Korean-American girl whose parents separate at the beginning of the book. Her mother is a sweet but naive older woman who begins dating a white man that fetishizes asian women.
While these changes are occuring in Ji-Won's life, she forms an obsession with consuming blue eyeballs.
This was so fresh and different from most of the thrillers I read. My favorite thing about a good thriller is when I am just as invested in the characters as I am the plot, and Kim did a GREAT job with this. I loved Ji-Won and reading about her relationship with her sister, watching her make friends, and navigating these new changes in her life. I think this shift she is dealing with is something MANY of us can relate to, and it only made the story more compelling.
The eye horror was incredible. It wasn't overdone, it wasn't masterfully sprinkled in just enough to leave you wanting more.
If you love unhinged women and want to diversify your thriller/horror reads in 2024, you need to add this one to your list.
(Also I loveddd the ending!)
*Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review*