Ji-won, a young Asian woman, has a lot on her plate: She is failing college, her dad just left the family, her mother is distraught, her sister lost. Also on her plate – a fish’s eyeball, because eating the eyeball brings good luck, her Umma says. Luck that she will need, because her mother’s new boyfriend has the bluest eyes and they just look so tasty...

"The Eyes Are the Best Part" is Monika Kim’s debut, and what a bold debut it is! This horror book doesn’t hold back and really goes there (I’m not gonna say where exactly, you have to find out for yourself). But I’m glad it does.

What I liked most about this book is how real especially the protagonist Ji-won felt. As the reader, I truly understood her feelings and why she acted the way she did. I don’t have to agree with a character's decission to understand their motivation, and that’s how I felt about Ji-won.

This is a strong debut and in my opinion a strong perspective on not only horror but, like many great works of the genre, on so many other things, including racism, misogyny and more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Erewhon Books for the eARC.

This book was just so fun.

The main character is a teenage girl who has recently had some big changes in her life including her dad leaving, her mom dating a man that she hates, and navigating friendships at her first year of college. While there are good discussions on important topics, this seemed like a much more lighthearted take on weird girl fiction. It is still very gorey and quite graphic but I was able to read it in less than a day.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the advanced readers copy.

Thank you to Kensington Books & NetGalley for an e-ARC of The Eyes are the Best Part!

Okay, this book was something and that cover is phenomenal. I love eyeball horror so much (love? Or hate might be a better word — cause it creeps me out & absolutely disgusts me, however, a strong reaction is exactly what I’m looking for when it comes to horror.)

This book hits but also misses? & I think the best way to review this is to break it down.

Likes:
- The concept of The Eyes Are the Best Part is amazing. Love it & I even love the messages woven within, but we’ll get back to that later.
- The development of Ji-won, or more so, the degradation of her mental stability. One of my favorite things is watching a character lead completely fall apart & go wild by the end of the story.
- The slow pacing, which is not normally something I enjoy but with this it works (see above point.)
- Of course, gore & eyeball horror.
- The emotion. This book, especially when it comes to Umma, has some heartbreaking scenes. It’s easy to feel for Umma & her daughters.
- The amount of hatred I had for the men in this that kept me supporting Ji-won.

Dislikes:
- The writing. This is a huge one for me & is what dragged this rating down. It just didn’t work for me & I can’t fully pinpoint the problems (well, I pinpoint one of them in the next point), however, this is a debut book & will 100% try another Monika Kim book in the future.
- The messages that I brought up before were a bit too obvious. We are told these messages, instead of fully seeing them play out, allowing us to figure it out on our own. I think subtlety would have worked much better for this one.

In the end, I’m glad I read this. There was still a lot of good, regardless of my complaints & I am very much looking forward to Monika Kim’s next one

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-ended closing to be 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.

***This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!***

Psychological horror is not a genre I usually look for so I didn't really have any expectations going into this but as weird as this book was, I ended up really enjoying it! Ji Won is such an interesting character to me because I definitely did not agree with all of her actions, and sometimes questioning her decisions and behaviors but at the same time I was rooting for her? Seeing the way she unraveled definitely was hard to read. I loved the way the themes are incorporated into this such as racism, misogyny and Asian fetishization. This is definitely one I would recommend to people!

A dark psychological horror, female rage, and an unsatiable hunger for human eyeballs. Jiwon is having a hard time adapting to her new life after her father, who had an affair, left the family. It caused a huge despair to Jiwon's mother; she still believed her husband would be back and started to eat fish's eyes as it was considered to be 'good luck'. Jiwon and her sister are trying their best to make sure their mother is okay and happy. That is, until she brought a new boyfriend into their house. The new boyfriend, George, is a white man with blue eyes who is obnoxious, racist, misogynist, and has kinks for Asian fetishization. Ji-Won develops a fascination with blue eyes and wants to carve them from a man’s head, which leads her to instability.

This is such pure horror that does not shy away from the darker parts. Each of the scenes has its own purpose and is well crafted. While the story starts slowly, it is still fascinating how it slowly builds up the premise and the sinister part comes in so intensely. Jiwon's perspective shows us how she is slipping more into obsession, rage, and madness. 

The book touches a lot on racism and misogyny faced by Asian women and societal pressures. And I think the author did very well to portray that in our main character. The story was wonderfully written and thrilling! Jiwon is such a compelling character; she is morally gray and makes not quite the right decision. But it's really fun to stay in her head.

This was absolutely disturbing, feral, and gross (but my kind of gross), as well as somewhat satisfying and very entertaining. Giving this 4.3 ⭐️ Thank you Netgalley for the review copy.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC, in exchange for an honest review!

I LOVED THIS BOOK! As soon as I picked it up, I literally could not put it down. The chapters went by so fast, and I needed to know how it ends! I also really appreciated the parts about Korean culture, and how it ties into the title (and plot) of the book. I really don’t want to say a lot so I don’t spoil anything, but wow. Definitely read this!!!!!

This book had some very intense scenes and I loved it! One of my favorite parts was how the title was apparent throughout the book. Beware, this is also not for the faint of heart. Gory depictions of eyeballs galore. Just look at the cover, and you've got an idea of what your getting yourself into here. This book had a lot going on for being so short, it touched on misogyny, racism, toxic relationships, cannibalism, and violence just to name a few. This is a well written novel with a heavy character focus. I liked the book but I will admit that I did not love it as much as I expected. I just found myself not connecting enough with the narrative. This is a horror book where things get gory, and it made me cringe in the best way, though it isn’t one I would want to read while eating!

The Eyes are the Best Part by Monika Kim is an excellent psyhcological thriller that I absolutely LOVED.

This was so creative the way the story was told. CREEPY.

The twists and turns really kept me interested.

"How can you be an alpha male when you need your daughters to translate your bills for you, to make your doctor’s appointments for you, to help you read the billboards on the side of the road?"


Surprise, surprise! I absolutely loved this! (Which is high praise coming from a couple of lifelong haters.) I haven't had this much fun since reading Yellowface. The Eyes Are the Best Part easily became an instant favorite.

This is BIPOC thriller/horror at its finest. There's a satirical bent to this story that's the icing on the cake. *chef's kiss* I was expecting pure horror on a Hannibal type of scale, but in this instance, I was very pleasantly surprise that it didn't turn out to be what I'd thought it'd be.

It was more complex than just "chick goes on a killing spree and eats raw eyeballs." This story has a deeper layer and tackles both the micro and macro aggressions that comes with being BIPOC in the US, specifically being an Asian American woman.

And of course, with my buddy reader and I being Asian American women, we both related to Ji-won's struggles.


'Appa always said that Thanksgiving was the most American of holidays, and that we needed to celebrate to show everyone else that we belonged, that we were good Americans, too.

“It’s harder for us because we are Asian,” Appa said solemnly. “We have more to prove.”'


Like Yellowface, this story is full of marginalized anger, and is a revenge story of sorts. If you can't relate to the racism, misogyny, fetishism that BIPOC women face, or if you can't even sympathize, then I truly envy you. It's hard out here.

I loved this book for its witty lines, real takes on issues like WMAF relationships, being the elder daughter, and the struggles of being a young adult in a messed up family dealing with lots of trauma.

And of course, Ji-won's slow dive into insanity was absolute perfection.

There was a twist at the end that I liked. But just as equally, I also liked how it didn't explain Ji-won's... fetish for munching on blue eyes.

I'd highly recommend for horror thriller fans looking to diversify their bookshelves.

Thank you to Erewhon Books and NetGalley for this arc.

Obviously, pay attention to the "eye horror" bit in the CW, folks. I can do body horror, but eye stuff is... harder. And crunchier, apparently. I shudder, but also digress. This was quite an interesting story: it functions as a horror, certainly, but also a really compelling story about families and personal identity and such. For me personally, I had an idea where the story was headed (and I was correct) but that didn't really take too much away from it.

Ji-won's dad has left, and her mom is inconsolable. Instead of being there for Ji-won and her younger sister, she's busy wallowing. Of course, this all changes when she meets shitty white guy new beau George. Suddenly, Mom is back at life, only she cares less about her daughters than what George thinks. It's gross, obviously, and we hate to see it. Ji-won does not like George- and very rightfully so- but tries to tolerate her for her mom's sake. What evolves is a story of how Ji-won comes to terms with life at a local college, figuring out friendships and romantic relationships, and certainly, handling family issues.

At first, you're fully sympathetic to Ji-won's plight. George is awful, her friends have gone off to college without her, her dad left, and her mom likes to eat fish eyes. This is all bad news, right? But as the story goes on, you see how much more sinister it all is. Some of the people Ji-won meets at college are not great, George is worse than Ji-won ever imagined, but maybe there are a few things Ji-won is hiding, too. And you're going to see just how bananas things are about to get.

Bottom Line: It's messy and messed up, but in a way that you likely won't be able to put down.

Well someone’s finally done it. A written description has officially made me physically nauseous.
If I’d had the time, I would have flown through this book in a day. It’s fast and fluid, never letting up and constantly disturbing you with its harsh reality and uncomfortable scenarios.
This author has really used their experience to its full effect, and you can feel the emotions poured into it throughout. The only reason it isn’t getting five stars is because I don’t think I could read it again! In the best way possible.

The was an especially strong horror debut. Kim has an easy writing style and a strong sense of identity that makes this such an engrossing read. I loved how Kim touched on racism, misogyny, family trauma, and grief in such a relatable way. Descent into madness is a favorite of mine, especially with unassuming female characters, and this was so fun to read! You just can’t top a cannibalism book. I also loved the slow reveal of how conniving Ji-Won is. I liked how her love for her sister helped (failing) kept her tethered to her humanity. And I really loved how she recognized so many faults in her mother but had unwavering love for her anyways.

If you enjoy villainous female characters, I highly recommend!

Ick! The descriptions in this story are so disgusting, but in a good way. Eyeballs....ew. Such great descriptions! I thoroughly enjoyed this and would rate this a 4.25. The main character is very flawed and you can see that she tries to be what others thinks she should be. She's this way with her family as well as her past and current friends. At first you think she is just struggling a bit with the break up of her family after her dad leaves, but she slowly becomes more and more unhinged as the story progresses. I really liked what happens at the end, but at the same time, I was wanting more. I would have loved for the story to continue just for my own selfish reasons! Overall, I felt this was truly an original idea and I will for sure be looking for this author to be publishing more in the future!
Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Publishing for an early copy!

I really enjoyed this. A pure horror about female rage, that doesn’t shy away from darker parts or give them supernatural explanations. I think all of the scenes were very purposeful and well thought out, creating a cohesive storyline. There were a few points where I thought there were plotholes and the story was wrapped up a little too neatly and shouldn’t have been so smooth. I think Jihyun’s and both of Jiwon’s friends’ roles/storylines were a bit underdeveloped and could have been used to add further depth to Jiwon’s journey or the final climax. I did enjoy the tone of the ending and that dark twist that it leaves the reader on.

A great debut novel in a genre difficult to nail!

Female rage and horror at its finest, and good thing too because this genre is popping off. There was nothing bad to be said about this book, it was written so great. I enjoyed it immensely.

Add this to all your "weird-girl" and "I support women's wrongs" book stacks!

Ji-won is the eldest daughter and is full of repressed rage...until she isn't. She's sick and tired of the men in her, her mother's, and her sister's life being pieces of shit, and she's hungry for their eyeballs. This book had a semi-slow start, but the short chapters and building premise had me tearing through this in no time. Despite the prose being rather plain and certain plot points tying up a bit too conveniently, I thoroughly enjoyed this addition to the horror/thriller world of angry women taking revenge.

Also, I cannot help imagining this as an A24 film - I think it'd be spectacular!

One of my favorite reads of the year! This is everything I could ask for in a horror - set in LA, older sister mc, body horror that will make you squeamish but not for nothing… there’s so much and yet nothing felt off balance! I’m still thinking through the end though, and what the implications are.

For fans of the Good For Her literary universe/ the unhinged/female rage genre. This is more of what I want to see! This is what was missing!!

This book is Weird but I liked it

This does spend a lot of time being more domestic at first and discussing a lot of issues regarding racism and familial drama/emotional abuse. BUT then Ji-won hallucinates herself in a room full of eyeballs and things just keep getting weirder and that’s when we start to see the horror elements creeping in.

- Was Ji-won making good decisions? No. But was she wrong in her end goal? …….Also no?
- This was a very interesting Korean-American family dynamic, showcasing high expectations and parent-child or sibling relationships in their good and bad.
- This felt a bit like a thriller with horror elements, but I love both of these things so it was great.
- I will never look at eyeballs the same.

Absolutely devoured this book in 1 sunny afternoon. It was both disturbing and so interesting to read about the “making of” a serial killer. I should be writing a super intellectual review but all I can say its disgusting yet you keep reading, and then you keep thinking about it the next day.