The Eyes are the Best part is a brilliant contemporary horror following the decent of a troubled young student into an unhinged serial killer with a growing, insatiable hunger inside…

I thought this book was brilliantly written and gripping from start to finish. I thought Ji-Won was a very real character, her problems start off as being quite relatable- everything around her seems to be changing, people are moving on with their lives and she still seems stuck and unable to cope with her new situation. As readers, we get to see her slowly being overwhelmed and unraveling and her decent into a young woman filled with nothing but rage and hunger. I thought it was so well done, despite everything we still end up rooting for Ji-Won throughout the book!

I also really enjoyed the themes in this book. It perfectly shows how misogyny is subtly ingrained into everyone’s lives so much sometimes you don’t even realise until it’s clearly pointed out. Also, speaking as an Asian woman myself, touching on the fetishisation and racism against Asian women hit quite close to home- Monika Kim integrates it in a disturbingly realistic way which I hope resonates with all the readers!

As for the horror aspect of the book, there are plenty of revolting gory horror scenes but there was also a more psychological aspect which made the book a bit deeper. I think some of the true horror comes from how accurately she has written some of the characters- the realism of the terrible people in her life is a contrast with the Ji-Won’s serial killing, eye eating tendencies and it gives makes the book an absolutely mesmerising read! Now, my one criticism would be the ending. There was a lot of build up but I feel like the ending itself was rather abrupt and could have been a bit more fleshed out! However, I was still satisfied with it and the overall book is still a horror masterpiece!

Thank you to @erewhonbooks and @netgalley for an advance copy of what I think will be one of the best horror releases this year!
The plot follows the making of a female serial killer through the eyes (ha) of Ji-won, a Korean-American college student.
It's got an unhinged narrator under intense pressure, divine feminine rage, and the demise of toxic men.
I loved this like I loved Maeve Fly but it's actually a book I can recommend to other people whereas Maeve Fly is... decidedly not. I also think The Eyes would make a fantastic movie or series so I hope to see it get picked up somewhere in the future!
I couldn't put this down once I started. Pre-order a copy, it releases 6/25!

A read I devoured in one sitting. I wanted a little more from the ending, THE EYES ARE THE BEST PART delivers exactly what it promises with no qualms; sharp, succulent, flush with character, grief and anger.

2.5 stars

I don't read a ton of horror but after reading a few last year I remembered why I liked them and I'm an eye doctor, of course I'm fascinated with eyes, so I thought I'd give this book a try. I'm not easily grossed out, but eating the eyes were described more in depth than anything else in this book, not once, not twice, but multiple times. I often read while eating lunch. It ruined my lunch more than once. Lesson learned.

The story was okay. Ji-won seems to be having a mental breakdown, spurned on by her father leaving their family and filing for divorce from her mom. Ji-won seems like a typical college age person, but we get little insights to her past that makes me think not all has been well with her for a while. Lying, stealing, trying to create rifts between friends, etc. When her mom gets a new boyfriend, a white man who seems to be obsessed with Asian women, something in Ji-won's psyche breaks. She becomes fascinated with his blue eyes and even more so, fantasizes about eating them. Yes, eating eyeballs. Ji-won continues her downward spiral until a revelation late in the book made me wonder if there was in fact a medical reason for her issues...apparently not, because the author didn't make any effort to connect the two things.

My biggest issue was this wasn't deep on character development. There was a real opportunity here to flesh out (pardon the word choice, lol) Ji-won's character and really make this make more sense as to why she spiraled and started doing the things she did. Unfortunately, most of the characters came off as caricatures to me. There are a lot of important issues here (Asian marginalization, Asian fetish, feminism, cultural pressures, identity exploration, cultural and female degradation, etc.) but everything is just surface deep. The only place it really resonates is with Ji-won, it gets under her skin causing her to lose touch with reality and essentially become a serial killer, exacting revenge on those who have wronged her. The writing was kind of clunky, the pacing disjointed and unfortunately what I'll take away and likely remember is the gore factor and not the messages behind all the gore. My eyes are brown so I think I'm safe.

This book was hard to put down. Our main character Ji-Won has a growing hunger for eyes… In this book we get to see the development of a serial killer from a young Korean-American girl struggling in life with things just really not going her way. The ending was genius. Ji-Won is smarter in more ways than I expected in the end. How she handled the Geoffrey and George situation really put the cherry on top! Thank you NetGalley and Kensington publishing for this arc!

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!

I really liked "The Eyes Are the Best Part". I think it delivered what it was trying to achieve: the story was fast-paced enough, the characters were likeable (well, at least the protagonist was) and the dialogues didn't feel so repetitive. Maybe it's just my impression but some of the scenes felt over the top for me, but maybe it's just because I'm not a personal fan of the female rage trope.

Still would recommend.

A very bleak look at the making of a serial killer. The characters are believable, the writing is brilliant, and when it gets down to business it does not blink.

I really enjoyed this feminist psychological horror thriller by Monika Kim. Such a unique portrayal of the making of a female serial killer.
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I found myself enthralled in the main character’s story. There were some intricate descriptions and imagery of her killings that I found perfectly disturbing and awesome.
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Definitely recommend if you like horror thriller! The story follows Ji-won, who tries to keep her family together as her mom goes into a spiral of depression after their dad leaves her for another woman. Ji-won descends into a dark place herself and her behavior escalates when her mom starts to date George (a very misogynistic and racist man). Ji-won begins to have dreams of eating his blue eyes.

I love horror where we witness the mental decline of our MC, where we're unsure what is real and what's in their head, culminating in a total, usually violent, breakdown (it's not as niche as it sounds).

This story follows a family as they deal with the fall-out after a failed business, and a failed marriage. The oppressive sadness, and the cramped living space were written so well I could actually feel the dispair. The horror moments involving eyes made me legitimately uncomfortable, but in a way that's enjoyable to those of us that devour horror to feel the thrill. Ji-won's pressure to succeed, her fragile mental health, and her resentment towards a mother who falls apart without a man in her life is so relatable. Her struggle to maintain friendships and her (self) destructive behavior gave me secondhand anxiety. It was like watching a car crash in slow motion. Ugh it's just so well written it's crazy. I just finished it, and am already wanting to read it again. Just like with Ji-won and the fish eyes, I'm hungry for more.

The Eyes are the Best Part was a wild ride, and one I'd pay to take again. I would absolutely recommend this book to fellow horror fans, and looking forward to more from the author, Monika Kim. Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Kensington Books for the e-ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 ⭐
CW: Visceral body horror, gore, murder

The book is set to be one of my favorites of 2024. While there are some minor plot holes that I think would only really bother me, this is a great dark story about second-generation immigrants, family, loyalty, and revenge.
We see all the instances and annoyances that lead Ji-Won to becoming a psychotic serial killer. Yet, this book is written so well that I never was against her. The character does horrendous things and I was routing her on every second.
I also appreciated the cultural perspective this story took. It did a great job of portraying the Korean-American experience and how that culture collides with others. It was particularly interesting to see the balance between being Korean AND American as a second generation.
The descriptions of the murder scenes were so visceral, and if you have a problem with body horror, especially with eyes, I would prepare yourself for some intense descriptions. While it grossed me out, it was so good!
I thought the guys were all horrible and deserving of their fates. George makes me feel disgusted, and his demise is so satisfying. There was also the fake feminist incel character who scared me the most just because of sinister someone like that can be in real life.
I thought the ending was a little confusing. This is where some of the plot points that didn't make sense came in. I also think the implied path that Ji-Won is about to follow doesn't feel as satisfying. But that could just be me.
Thank you, NetGalley, for an ARC.

I think the author was trying to make a point. I guess I really didn't get it. I found this just plain boring and repetitive. The sad diary of a teenage girl struggling with her parents separation. I think she added the weird dreams and the eyeball thing in for shock value but I wasn't shocked. The ending was just plain ridiculous. Everyone else seemed to like this; clearly I'm the minority.

Well if you are a fan of the unhinged female trope in horror. You can go ahead and add this to your list. Because I think it will satiate your appetite for that kind of horror.

Ju-Won is a unique addition to this particular sub genre in horror. It’s a pretty straight forward premise. A young college student overwhelmed with life. Her father walked out on the family and now her mom is working hard to support Ju-won and her younger sister. In walks George, mom’s new boyfriend and this ultimately sets in motion Ju-won’s “unraveling” as she grows a taste for human eyeballs.

This is a serial killer origin story that delivers stomach churning gore while still providing commentary on topics such as xenophobia and generational trauma. Overall I found the story to just be okay, it was unique enough to stand out amongst other books in this sub genre, but for my personal reading experience the pacing was a bit off which didn’t make for a particularly compelling read. Additionally, I found some characters to be a bit underdeveloped.

People seem to really enjoy this one, I think this book will appeal to readers who enjoyed Maeve Fly, completely different story but very similar vibes.

Thanks so much to #netgalley, and publishers for an opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

**please check for trigger warnings before reading**

THE EYES ARE THE BEST PART
Monika Kim

I’ve got a horror stunner for you today. I read it in early summer, and it might have been the highlight of my trip.

Let’s talk about it.

Usually, a divorce means separating from the spouse and not the children but when Ji-won’s dad left his wife he left everyone else. And in his place, in his wake a hole formed so deep and so wide no one else could fill it. And in that hole things started to fall in and become part of the darkness and the vastness of it.

Grief manifests in Ji-won as an obsession with the eyes. How they look, how they smell, the way they taste and feel between her teeth and going down her throat. Seeing everything they pass, somehow consuming all the while being consumed.

THE EYES ARE THE BEST PART is about what it means when someone could so easily up and leave you. How it affects the way you see yourself. The more Ji-won starts to feel herself disappearing the more she becomes obsessed with being seen.

THE EYES ARE THE BEST PART is the ultimate psychological horror book. Rarely do horror books come this polished with no confusion or meandering. It was straightforward and fantastic.

Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Books | Erewhon Books for the advanced copy and the opportunity to provide feedback!

THE EYES ARE THE BEST PART…⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Eyes are the Best Part is a short and fast paced horror novel about a young korean-american woman trying to navigate college in the midst of her parents separating. Her mom starts dating a new guy who does not seem like a great pick, she is starting to have weird dream about blue blue eyes, and her little sister is starting to notice something is not right with her.

This novel deals with how children deal with their parents separating and how it impacts them even if they are already adults. It also talks a lot about racism and the hypersexualisation of asian women. Queer characters are implied.

At the beginning of this book I was a little confused about why it was classified as horror but it is just due to a slow beggining (in terms of horror). If you are squeamish about eyes, please do not pick up this book, even the descriptions about eating fish eyes were a lot so I am warning you. There is not a lot of body horror besides eye stuff.

I think that the main character, Ji-won, and her mother are well written but most of the other characters are unfortunately very one tone. For the villains I don't really mind honestly as it drives the point home harder, but I was sad not to learn more about her sister or her friend Alexis. The ending was also veryyyy fast paced and there is huge reveal that is kind of brushed under the rug and that felt a bit weird.

Overall I like the gross body horror, the ending even if it was a bit rushed, and having an unhinged female character. It could have benefited from being a little longer but it is a fun short read and I would definitely recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Thank you NetGalley, Monkia Kim, and Kensington Books for the ARC! So I was initially really excited for this one because the cover was so gnarly. Upon getting around to reading it, I felt like was a very satisfying book, both in length and through the eventual actions of the main character Ji-Won. The spree of violence that Ji-Won embarks on is well written in regards to both gore and the commentary/motivations behind it. Still, I felt like a lot of the dialogue felted strangely stilted and lacked subtlety. I felt like George and Geoffrey were written in a way that was a little over the top. That being said though, I have to acknowledge that I do not have first hand experiences as a white woman with this kind of fetishization and racially motivated misogyny. Additionally, I felt like the constant dream sequences were a little much. Yes, I know this is to show her inability to discern her dreams from reality but again, it was a bit much. All of this being said, I'm a sucker for a good feminine rage book and I have to say this delivered.

This was a great fun book for me! It's an entertaining look at how a female serial murderer gets started. We watch timid Ji-won become into a murderer. I was enthralled with the family's bond and their genuine concern for one another. It's true that this book is about a female serial murderer who is fascinated with eyes, but it's much more than that. I was unable to put it down once I got going!

I started reading the first few chapters of this book at my first ever platelet donation– I didn’t get too far in before I put it down, deciding the uneasiness I was feeling might be lessened at home on my couch under the safety of a blanket. I also probably saved the people around me from having to watch my horrified expression as the novel unfolded before my eyes (no pun intended).

But seriously this book was fantastic! It’s a horror/thriller novel of course, but you have contemporary fiction aspects as you get to know Ji-won, her family and their motivations throughout the story. I can’t say I’ve read a lot of horror novels before, but I know this one was good because there were scenes that made me want to look away or that had me wanting to close my eyes and skip ahead. The short chapters also help the story keep pace as Ji-won digs herself deeper into her obsessions and acts on her impulse to kill. I’d also like to say that I don’t condone female serial killers, but in fiction, there is no greater feeling than women wielding power over men and giving them a taste of ultimate fear. :) Looking forward to a possible sequel for this novel!!

*Thanks to NetGalley for exchanging an e-ARC of this book for an unbiased review!

Wow, I can NOT stop thinking about what I just read. If body horror is not your thing, don't read this. However, if you are looking for an eerie, haunting novel, pick this one up. It was incredible and I will absolutely be looking for Monika Kim's future work too.

ARC Book Review | THE EYES ARE THE BEST PART by MONIKA KIM

4.5/5 ⭐’s | ARC Review | PUB DATE: 25 June 2024

Read if you're looking for:
- A young, Korean-American woman who starts feeling disturbing urges around blue eyes
- Major body horror & stomach churning imagery (a lot of eyeball stuff)
- Condescending men getting their comeuppance
- Themes of misogyny, racism, fetishization, & feeling like you don’t fit in
- A “good for her” ending

This book was right up my alley, and was a quick, short read. Our main character, Ji-Won, is a young Korean-American woman in her first year of college, when her father leaves her family for another woman, leaving Ji-Won, her mother, and her sister behind. Ji-won’s mother seems inconsolable until she meets a new man, a white man name George who fetishizes Asian women and expects them to be meek and submissive. George proceeds to be gross, while Ji-Won starts to have disturbing fantasies about his mesmerizing blue eyes. Ji-won starts to unravel, and begins on a journey of violence, concluding in a satisfying ending.

This book was very well-written and the characters were very realistic and relatable. Ji-won’s mother is painted perfectly as a woman who doesn’t know who she is without a man in her life, and Ji-won is angry and frustrated. I loved how the author mirrored the fetishization of asian women by the male characters with Ji-won’s fetishization of blue eyes. This was super gory, so if eyeball stuff grosses you out, this is not the book for you. Kim also includes a lot of dark humor, especially around the character of Geoffrey, who is another white man who becomes obsessed with Ji-Won while continuously attempting to convince everyone he’s a “nice guy” and that “he’s not like those other men.” This book is outstanding for a debut, and I would enthusiastically recommend it for lovers of body horror and revenge.

CW: Cannibalism, Body horror, Gore, Racism, Stalking, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Cancer, Pedophilia