Ji-won invites us to get to know grief, being an adult but still living with your family in the best and worst possible sense. It is true that it shows bitter and somewhat depressive moments, at least the latter gives it a more lyrical touch as opposed to giving us a mediocre life sermon complemented with a very adult but "familiar" humor. While her mother seeks to start a new stage of her life after the abandonment of her husband, the protagonist will see how little by little the fethiche and machismo to non-white women will pass from something daily to worse.
The chapters are short, giving more shapes to how the novel transforms into something much more twisted, bloody and with a lot of female rage in search of self-righteousness. In which gore, South Korean superstition, and the dynamics of Asian racism are key ingredients to the plot.
Undoubtedly one of the best authors I read at the end of the year, and I hope it will be better received because it has already earned a good space for contemporary literature, especially as it describes the bloody scenes with an anti-racist and social message.

I finished this book last night, and I needed to take a breath and wait before writing my review. Not because I wasn't sure what to think, but because I needed to calm down and collect my thoughts. It's been a long time since a book made me so excited that I had to finish it in less than two days! I absolutely loved everything about this. The relationship between the two sisters were really well written, and felt very real. The horror elements were perfect too. When I like a book too much I always seem to lose my ability to write an eloquent review, somehow. Anyways. If you, like me, love reading about female rage, then this book is for you. I am not usually an excitable person, or someone who expresses a lot of emotions while reading, but this book made me dance and giggle from excitement. Put it on your TBRs right now!

The Eyes Are the Best Part is a tension-filled and disturbing ride. If you enjoy a character going through a cathartic downward spiral, this book is for you!

When her father leaves her mother for another woman, Ji-won’s life is left in shambles. Her mother is inconsolable, until she meets the awful George. Ji-won fixates on his blue eyes as her life falls apart around her.

Ji-won was a wonderfully complicated main character, whom I couldn’t help but side with, even as she began spiralling. Kim did an incredible job of ensuring the reader felt for Ji-won throughout the entire novel. Additionally, the way she touches on race issues, particularly demonstrating how damaging the fetishisation of Asian women is, ensured the novel worked below the surface level. I especially loved the ending - it was perfect.

4/5 stars

This is a beautifully unhinged masterpiece. I devoured this book and immediately wanted to start all over again.
If you love a “good for her” spiral into madness this one’s for you, I was cheering our girl on while she got her revenge.
I feel like this debut by Monika Kim is going to be a top pick for 2024!! I know she will be an auto read for me going forward.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Arc provided by Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

WOW. I'm truly blown away by what Monika Kim has done with this book. It has such a movement and a tense atmosphere that's held from the very first scene to the very last. The unreliable narration and descent into madness was so well written, as well as the discussions of fetishization and racism. This book was genuinely harrowing and stomach turning to read at times, but overall there was such a profound sense of dread that stuck with me when I closed the book. I adored the ending, but wish to leave this review spoiler free so I will just applaud Kim for an amazing debut.

Arc provided by Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

i just love when a highly anticipated read actually doesn’t suck ! this is genuinely one of my favourite reads of the year, and by far my favourite horror book. first things first do NOT read this if you’re squeamish. some of these scenes genuinely made my stomach turn. the whole book has an unsettling atmosphere right from the first page, but Monika Kim’s ability to create and hold tension is amazing. the slow descent into madness and Ji-won losing her mind was so well done.
i want to keep this review spoiler free so all i’ll say is the ending is so satisfying and i support women’s wrongs

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the e-ARC! (Out June 25, 2024)

If you like stories of women on a downward spiral, The Eyes Are the Best Part is for you!

This novel was fast, punchy, and disturbing. I found Ji-won’s character to be a bit one-note, but following her internal monologue was a trip. I would’ve loved to see more interactions between her and her sister and Ji-won and Alexis. The Alexis plot line felt like it could’ve been fleshed out a bit more and I also wanted to see more of her!

The dream sequences were engrossing (and gross!) and added to the feeling of uncertainty between what was real and what wasn’t. The body horror elements were well-placed and not overused for shock factor - every scene was there for a reason.

I’ve met many Geoffreys and Georges over the years and I know I’ll continue to meet them. As a woman who grew up in a post-“stranger danger” and Law & Order world, hyper-vigilance, fear, and heightened awareness of my surroundings was engrained in me from a young age. I can really emphasize with Ji-won’s experiences, specifically with Geoffrey, in that respect and it felt validating to see experiences similar to my own on the page.

I can definitely see this book blowing up when it comes out next year!!

A compelling concept utterly let down by middling execution and an unsubtle hand with moral and political themes. Examination of one-note antagonists illustrating various racist and misogynist behaviours interrupted occasionally by dull and fairly elementary lectures on aforementioned racism, misogyny, leading to the inevitable question: who is going to pick this up who doesn't already know about these things?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC to review!

4 stars!

I'm currently living in Korea and JUMPED at the chance of reviewing this! I loved this. It was insane, deep, emotional, gross at parts. You're witnessing Ji-won literally go through everything from toxic friends, stalkish 'good guy' who swears he doesn't have yellow fever and know she's not like other girls, maybe losing a sense of reality?, a toxic home life due to a creepy man named George who starts dating her mom, he has a fetish for Asian women and openly talks about her and her sister to people when he thinks no one is listening. Everyone deserved everything in this and what a wild ride it was! if you hate eye stuff, then be prepared!

Interesting concept that had high potential but ultimately does not fully commit to its premise, instead relying on dream sequences to distract from the fact that not much else seems to actually be going on.

i wasn’t expecting such a short book to feel so very long. even with such quick chapters, the slow pacing had me setting it down constantly and not wanting to pick it back up. there were way too many dream sequences that failed to build suspense or curiosity and reading these parts got old fast.

This book was creepy and compelling from the first page to the last. Visceral in all the best ways. Excellent horror that I'll be telling others to read!

Both gross and engrossing. I love unhinged women in literature, and while the main character was a little more than morally gray, I couldn’t help but root for her and her family throughout the book. It was certainly a wild ride, and the author is really good at letting the reader feel Ji-Won’s rage increase. Overall a very powerful and enjoyable read.

WOW. In a word, this book was sharp (literally and figuratively), in the best way. It wasn’t particularly action-packed until the last 20% or so, yet it still was such a fast-paced and propulsive read that I finished it in a day. I expected it to be a thriller/mystery, but it was more of a deep-dive into someone’s unraveling psyche, executed so well and with such a strong sense of character.

This review was made possible via an ARC through NetGalley.

The Eyes by the Best Part by Monika Kim is a horror debut about a young Korean-American woman whose father leaves her mother and then her mother gets into a relationship with a white man who openly fetishizes Asian women.

I was excited about this book from the moment I learned about it. The premise is unique and creepy and deals with the societal issue of how Asian women are fetishized in our society, especially by white men while also drawing attention to how some men will pretend to be progressive or think that they are progressive only to still have a lot of issues to work out or be just as bad as the men who are not outwardly progressive.

Ji-won is messy, having destroyed her relationship with her friends before the novel starts, but is also struggling with isolation and loneliness on a college campus while her world continues to fall apart.

I read this book from start to finish in a day, unable to put it down. The pacing is on point and the story is a roller coaster from the opening line to the very last one and I did not want to get off.

Content warning for depictions of racism and sexism, cannibalism, and gore.

I would recommend this to all horror readers and to readers who are new to horror looking for an entry point to the genre.

Such an outstanding read. I was instantly interested in this novel when I read the synopsis, and I was definitely not disappointed. It is an absolutely brillant novel, even though it can be quite disturbing to a non-prepared audience. However, I loved these graphic scenes, they added depth to a quite complex character. Ji-won’s evolution is satisfactory to me, because revenge and feminine rage. The author was excellent at creating this build-up, this change from harmless to harmful in a smooth way. Also, the writing is something to applaud. There’s a (quite) long quote that I find phenomenal and finding a meaningful doesn’t happen to me generally.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

A dark and intense look at a fragile family reeling after divorce and the lengths they go to protect each other. For those expecting full tilt horror, this is a slow burn. Expect the first 60% of the story to be more of a family drama and a characters slow descent into unreliability culminating in moments of “did that actually happen?” Unfortunately I’ve seen this done more effectively in other books. Although I wanted more from the murder plot line, I found myself deeply caring for each character’s growth and wishing for a happy ending.

Gory, gruesome and just good fun! A recommended first purchase for collections where horror is popular.

DNF - This story started strong & I was super excited to read it. Unfortunately, the writing is very juvenile & painfully simplistic; everything is exposition rather than naturally progressing. By about 30% I felt as though everything was highly predictable & the plot followed a pathway that was too obvious to be enticing.