A review by probablyjenna
The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

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!