I love this! "Feminist psychological horror about the making of a female serial killer from a Korean-American perspective." The tagline alone got me interested, but this book really stuck the landing. The title and cover are evocative and perfect for the story. The pacing throughout is great. We get the perfect blend of seeing the everyday life of someone going to college and dealing with family with the increasingly unhinged and murderous tendencies. This book has great commentary about racism and misogyny alongside the more obvious horror of murder and eating eyeballs. Our main character is very flawed, but you can't help but be on her side throughout the whole ride. Definitely recommend!!

Loved this! Was absolutely hooked from the first page. Just the right amount of gruesome too. Looking forward to whatever the author writes in the future.

First I want to thank NetGalley and Monika Kim for this e-ARC, because it was downright disgusting and I can’t wait to buy a physical copy! Disgusting in the best way, of course. I want to start this out by saying that I work in the medical field, specifically, I work with eyeballs every single day. I am not a complete expert but I’d like to say I’m pretty close to it, since I take them out of the deceaseds skull, hold them, and cut into them every day. The reason I’m bringing this up is because I fear that Monika Kim has also held an eyeball in her hand, I am also concerned over her incredible accuracy at how it would feel, and taste, if you popped an eyeball into your mouth, chewed, and swallowed. Now, I have of course never done this myself so I can’t be 100% sure, but if you WERE to eat an eyeball, what she describes is exactly what I believe you would experience. And I think that intriguing fact alone should make you pick up this book.

And wow, was it satisfying!

I really loved this book. It's a psychological thriller/ horror that shows us the everyday struggles of a young Asian woman, how she's suffering due to her family troubles and shares important feminist views. It's well written, fast paced, characters are pretty complex and the story is interesting. Recommend!
I really appreciate the opportunity I've had to read this book before it's been published, thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley. This is my honest, and believe, very fair review.
#TheEyesAretheBestPart #NetGalley
Happy reading everyone🖤

Do you like weird books? Do you like thoughtful cultural critiques on racism and sexism. Do you like horror novels. Do you like unreliable narrators? Because this book has all of these.

My best description of this book is if Otessa Moshfegh grew up as a first generation Korean and wrote a book about it.

It has all the vibes. The writing is superb. Her ability to hold tension and to subtly moralize and critique is astounding. Her story is simple on the surface, but the undercurrent is sharp and cutting. You think oh this is just going to be a horror book, but oh no... or maybe you're like i won't like this I don't like it when social issues hide as a story, but then BAM you get hit with all the horror. It's a brilliant and balanced combination.

If you have a thing about eyes though - don't read it. But everyone else - you should try it. I bet you like it more than you thought you would.

However, I think the cover will turn off a lot of potential readers and could be more enticing.

I loved this book its was awesome! I enjoyed the writing, and the array of topics that are brought up in this book. If I have any critique it would be that the beginning is a little slow paced but it picks up and once it does I was hooked!

This is a novel that is built on the power of unassuming appearances and the dark cover of night to hide the compulsions that lurk not so deep beneath the surface. Horrific nightmares and their imagery are tied throughout the narrative, letting the reader's sense of suspense grow steadily as Ji-won's tenuous relationships at home and at school threaten to snap.
I have an appreciation for the combination of patience and impulsivity contained in Ji-won's mind and actions, and for the complicated nature of her sense of morality. I felt some chapters could have been fleshed out more fully or had more meaning attached to them, but overall, the writing is appropriately straightforward and quite representative of Ji-won's mindset throughout the novel. Characters occasionally fell a little flat, though the importance of focusing on Ji-won's state of mind may be the reason for this.
The reader is left to wonder not if, but when and how Ji-won is going to be caught. Monika Kim’s debut psychological horror novel will have readers questioning alongside Ji-won what’s real and what is just a bad dream until the very end.

This book started with a really cool concept that had me hooked for a little bit and then it just kept on going and quickly became "White man bad" which yeah not a fan of that so what could have been a really cool idea explored of trauma and how we deal with it quickly became just hateful.

huge thanks to netgalley and kensington books for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

y’all, this needs to be on everyone’s radar for 2024, it’s such a bizarre and bingeable read that i can’t stop thinking about! i absolutely devoured it and will be recommending it to all horror/weird fiction enjoyers. if you’re in a reading slump, i think this would be the perfect book to get you out of it because its short chapters are super immersive and it can easily be read in one sitting.

i was hooked from the very beginning and thrilled as soon as i noticed the first parallel; the girls’ mother waiting for their father, not realizing he’d abandoned his family forever, was eerily reminiscent of her childhood and the way she was the only one out of all her siblings who stayed behind to wait for their parents, risking death from malnutrition or hypothermia. in her marriage, she was unable or unwilling to go against her husband’s wishes or stand up for herself and it appeared as if she tried to make up for that lack of self-respect by being overly harsh on her daughters and exerting power over them. it was either that or complete neglect and i couldn’t decide which approach was harder to read about, especially because her lack of attention coincided with her older daughter’s descent into rage and madness.

the introduction of charles was when the book took a more sinister turn. his character was so well-written that i couldn’t help but physically cringe whenever he said something he believed was a progressive take but was actually extremely offensive and derogatory, e.g. referring to ji-won and ji-hyun as “oriental” just because they were asian… but hey, what else could you expect from a white man with a republican bumper sticker? he was extremely sleazy and it felt like ants were crawling all over me every time he got a bit too close to either one of the girls because that’s how repulsed i was by his predatory behavior. to everyone but the girls’ mother, it was clear that charles enjoyed fetishizing asian women and their cuisine, but the mother was smitten to the point of oblivion.

aside from charles, ji-won’s friend geoffrey was another weirdo and i quickly got exasperated by his obvious desperation to be with ji-won all the time. similarly to charles, his knowledge of who ji-won was didn’t extend beyond her race and he proved this when he got her chopsticks for christmas. even though he did try to get to know her on a deeper level, it was clearly unsuccessful and he failed precisely because he tried too hard, e.g. wearing a shirt with some feminist quote on it so he would appear as one of the good guys who is aware of all the struggles women go through on a daily basis simply because of their gender. eventually, his insatiable urge to be ji-won’s best friend and jealousy when he realized he wasn’t the only one she hung out with prompted him to start stalking her. this was a step too far, especially because ji-won has been plagued by hallucinations since meeting charles and geoffrey’s stalking only added more stress to her already fragile state of mind, making her question her own sanity.

this is only the tip of the iceberg, though, because i firmly believe knowing as little about this book as possible will make it a more enjoyable reading experience. although the title and the cover are indicative of the direction the author took when writing this story, that’s still barely scratching the surface. there’s a variety of topics discussed in this that it’s impossible for me to touch upon every one in my review, but i truly enjoyed everything about this debut, even the parts that made me gag - i’m apparently more squirmish that i thought. this is undoubtedly among my favorite reads of the year and i’m excited to read more from this author!

An engrossing novel from start to finish, including a lively cast of characters. I highly recommend the book. I mean, sometimes I can find trouble holding my attention while reading books. But that wasn't the case here. I was clearly hooked from the first page. Ultimately, I look forward to reading future books by the author.

Unsettling and addicting! The Eyes are the Best Part starts out with a slower creeping build as we learn about the lives of JW and JH (lol), and their umma. I loved how flawed all these characters were, including the mother and father characters! I was both frustrated and sympathetic toward the mom and felt so bad for her making those precious little flowers but also wanted to shake her back to reality. Love a book that makes me feel so many things! The more unhinged Ji-won grows, the more compelling it gets!! Stayed up way too late reading the last act. 

Must read for horror fans!!!

In the beginning, we meet Ji-won, our MC, and it seems life has dealt her a not so great hand. Not only is her family poor, but her father has gone off to start a new family leaving Ji-won, her younger sister, and their mother feeling heartbroken, lost, and depressed. As life moves on and her mother brings a new boyfriend into the picture, Ji-won begins to unravel - having bizarre nightmares and disturbing cravings.

I honestly wasn't sure where this was going on the beginning! This was a long sloooow burn! But once the story picks up, it just takes off like a rocket! Great twists and an ending I definitely didn't see coming!

Rating 4.75/5

Wheeeew! This one delivers that skin-crawling sensation - and, if that's your vibe, this book's a must. It's ingenious!

Dark and witty, it blends feminist psychological horror with crucial themes like racial fetishization, childhood traumas, misogyny, and parentification.
Ji-won, a Korean-American college student, juggles her own struggles while trying to take care of her mother and baby sister. But when her mom falls for George - a misogynistic, fetishizing piece of trash - their already complicated lives take a darker turn.

I won't spoil it, but let's just say there's some seriously creepy eyeball stuff going on, and it's a blast to read through all its gore.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Really loved this one! My expectations for this novel from the summary alone were already high but after finishing, they were greatly exceeded and I am now obsessed. This will likely be top five if not my favorite new release of 2024.
There is a level of skepticism I hold toward current novels that self identify with the feminist label as sometimes the insertion of these themes into the story has the potential to overshadow or take away from the plot line if not done correctly. Many fiction authors struggle to find ways to factor in diversity and identity politics without coming across forced or clunky, Monika Kim has perfected the balance of making a novel that is simultaneously a thrilling page-turner, nauseatingly graphic at times and also socially conscious. Her ability to seamlessly blend the elements of anti-Asian racism and fetishization that Korean American women face into disturbing horrific scenes was beyond impressive. Righteous feminine rage and an undying hunger for revenge, I will be incessantly recommending this to everyone who can stomach it and keeping my eye out for more releases by this author!
Massive thanks to NetGalley and Erewhon Books for the e-ARC!

This book was like a fever dream. I couldn't tell real from make belive. It was an absolute spiral and I enjoyed every second. I felt like I was in the mind of a murderer. And ate up every disturbing moment. This was a equally trilling and horrific. The Eyes are the Best Part will no doubt be in my top 5 reads this year!

Oops, I read this over a month ago and forgot to post my review here!

This book ABSOLUTELY will be on my list of fantastic books about unhinged women.

Monika Kim explores very serious and upsetting themes of misogyny, sexism, race fetishism, etc., but puts a wickedly gruesome, dark spin on it. An incredible debut novel!

The cover tells you what you're gonna get; it's a lot of eye gore, considering our main character becomes obsessed with the though of eating beautiful blue eyeballs...gag. And let me tell you, I was cheering her on the whole way!

I feel like this book had a lot of promise and I'll definitely read more of Kim's books when they inevitably publish them.

However, I felt like key parts of this story were rushed. I was invested in the protagonist and really loved following her story but I struggled to understand her motivation.

Overall, I'd still recommend this book but with some caveats.

4.5 stars

Look. College is tough. So is divorce. So are cis het white men in their early 20s who consider themselves "woke." Ji-won knows all of this, and so does her ideal audience. No one can blame her for how she responds.

When the novel opens, circumstances are dire. Ji-won is living in relatively tough conditions with her younger sister and her mother, who is reeling from her father's recent departure. Ji-won's mom's solution to terror? Eating fish eyes. At first, both daughters find this act horrific, and Kim is going to pepper your nightmares with graphic sensory details about exactly how it feels to do eat the titular food. Things change for Ji-won, though. Her life continues to unravel in expected and unexpected ways, and her eyeball repulsion morphs into an insatiable craving. What'll she do to get those eyeballs? Well, read this book, and you can join me in the intense pleasure of finding out.

This is an absolutely riveting and revolting read. For me, some of the most successful horror creates opportunities to sympathize or empathize with the character who is perpetrating the most sinister wrongs. That happens here.

I will keep my eyes peeled (sorry) for anything Kim has to offer in the future.

It took me a little while to get into this and I wasn't quite sure what kind of book I was reading. However, once things really got going, I was gripped right through to the end. I thought Ji-won was a fascinating character and I really enjoyed the fever dream quality of the narrative as it progressed. It meant as the reader you were never convinced whether things were really happening or whether Ji-won was imagining things. The men in the book were decidedly unpleasant, particularly George who made my skin crawl every time he was on the page. I thought the action and pacing in the second half of the book were great and I really liked how things ended. I would definitely recommend this one.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I don’t even have words, this book was all things creepy and weird. It made my stomach roll but I loved it.

Thank you netgalley for my arc.