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.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy for an honest review

The eyes are the best part was really good, I really enjoyed reading it

Rating 4 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ji-won’s family was shattered when her Appa abandoned them for another woman, leaving their lives, particularly her Umma’s, in disarray as they waited for his return. Despite their circumstances, her mother always showed her love by preparing meals for them. Both Ji-won and her fifteen-year-old sister, Ji-hyun, detested fish eyes, cringing as their mother crunched them between her teeth. However, when Ji-won finally tried them, they became her obsession—eating eyes. This synopsis offers a glimpse into a gripping tale filled with gore and body horror, reminiscent of Jennifer’s Body and other narratives of female rage.

Monika Kim gave us a painfully accurate depiction of racism and the obsessive behavior of white men towards Asian women. The dynamic between the daughters and their mother was also authentically Asian—messy, lacking in communication, but that’s how they show love. I just wished these characters could have been fleshed out a bit more. And although I loved the body horror this book gave me, I couldn’t ignore the simple writing style and its comical characters. Sometimes I cringed with them, and it feels too YA for my taste. The ending was also quickly ended, that it almost feels anti-climactic, and didn’t pay off the whole story. I could see other people like this if they’re new to the genre, but for me, it’s a mid-range horror/thriller story.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦-𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

I have had this book on my list for a while so I was so excited to read this and I was not disappointed. It was a very interesting read and I definitely haven't read anything likes this before. I loved this book because of how unique it was and I think it may be my favourite one 0f 2024 so far.

OMG THIS WAS WILDDDDDDDD. A college student who becomes obsessed with eating blue eyes as the creepy men around her drive her insane, I was actually reacting to this out loud like Holy fuck…So So So So Good.

thank you to netgalley and kensington for the arc!

Basically good idea let down by middling execution and an unsubtle hand with moral and political themes.