This was such an addictive read, with an Asian-American anti heroine whose sudden hunger for blue eyes sets up a classic tale of revenge and subversion.

Wash sure what to expect from this book and the beginning made me wonder. But, as we went through I realized what a slow horror book build up was. Great read. Unexpected and fantastic and definitely on my recommend list going forward

After her father abandons her, her sister, and mother, Ji-Won’s life starts to fall apart. She now has to juggle her college courses, being there for her little sister while dealing with her own grief, and the imposing presence of her mother’s awful boyfriend, George - who has the most interesting blue eyes. The longer George stays, the less Ji-Won can contain her rage at what life is becoming and she starts to gain an increasingly uncontainable appetite.

I liked this, but I didn’t love it like I thought I would. I did enjoy the horror aspect and thought the overall story was pretty unique. Ji-Won and her mother and sister are all very well-thought out characters and it was interesting to read how each handled the grief of losing the man who was the beacon of their family. There was good, albeit a little on the nose, commentary on the fetishization of Asian women and feminine rage is always a plus for me, personally.

My only real problem is that it took a while for the story to reel me in and the ending fell flat, with how everything was wrapped up. I loved the middle, but I wish the beginning and end of the story were as satisfying.

I finished this book back in September and still think about it almost daily. It was one of my favorite books of 2024. There is something I love about a revenge seeking badass female main character who is slightly unhinged that just hits right for me.

Brutally satisfying yet hauntingly horrifying. Monika Kim is a powerful emerging voice in horror fiction.

This was a true horror book and was incredibly creepy. There were some moments I felt like I was going to throw up because of the description they had. I would recommend.

A sharp, thought provoking look at grief and identity. Eye stuff already gives me the creeps and this one touched on that human fear very well. I feel it falls more in a YA category but is emotionally intriguing so it kept my interest.

I'm not sure what I could say about this that hasn't already been said! This is such a ride, with some truly disturbing eye gore.

I was drawn to this book immediately after seeing the cover and title. Unfortunately it was a bit of a let down for me. While I liked the overall idea and I though the horror elements were done quite well, the social commentary fell flat for me. I felt like it was a little too on the nose - almost like the author didn't trust the reader to understand her underlying message. While I did like what she was trying to accomplish, the lack of subtly kind of ruined the overall experience for me. That being said, there were many parts that I enjoyed.

While I really tried, I just didn’t find myself engaged in this story. I think it just wasn’t for me, but I think many will enjoy.

This goes on my list of favorite horror novels to date! It's perfectly dark, twisty, and unsettling with incredible characterization and a satisfying ending.

Asian cuisine is often dismissed by the West as exotic and weird, and eating fish eyes easily falls into that category. In many different Asian cultures though, fish eyes are a delicacy and usually saved for honored guests because it’s believed that eating them will bring you luck. But for those who grew up in a white-centric Western world, this is usually seen as disgusting—a sentiment that is shared by Jiwon, our protagonist in The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim.

Jiwon is a young Korean-American college student whose life has been upended when her father leaves her mother for another woman. Her umma is understandably distraught and her sister is upset and confused, both looking to Jiwon for comfort and stability. But Jiwon does not feel equipped to be the emotional support they are both looking for. Reeling from the reality that she did not get into UC Berkeley like her high school best friends, Jiwon is struggling to pass her classes and make new friends at her local college. Vulnerable and unsettled herself, the sight of her mother’s despair and deep depression is unbearable to witness. So at dinner one night, when her mother offers her one of the fish eyes to eat with such hopeful anticipation, knowing how happy it will make her, Jiwon acquiesces. Surprisingly, this ignites a deep hunger and craving for them. And then, she starts dreaming…

Her dreams, or nightmares really, are harrowing, but also fascinating. Jiwon finds herself in a room full of eyes, blue eyes to be specific, just like the eye color of her mom’s new white, obnoxious boyfriend, George. She is ravenous, her hunger unsatisfied until she tastes the eyeball in her mouth. The more she dreams, the more we, as readers, become intertwined into Jiwon’s precarious psyche and her descent into madness, a decline that is exacerbated when George moves in. Feeling out of control at home with her mom’s new boyfriend living with them, Jiwon becomes more agitated, but things start looking up when she meets a new friend at school, Geoffrey, who seems so nice and smart, and eager to be her friend.

In reality, though, Geoffrey and George are really just two sides of the same coin. George is your conservative alpha male who drives a truck with a sticker that reads “I’m Republican Because We Can’t All Be On Welfare” and openly ogles young Asian women, including Jiwon and her sister. Geoffrey, on the other hand, is your typical lit bro—a young, woke college student who reads We Are All Feminists and quotes RGB. Different flavors, but the same tired dish we’ve all tasted (and sent back). If both characters sound ridiculous, it’s because they are. The themes and criticisms they embody are obvious, so much so that I assumed and applauded it as satire, because it was laughable at how ridiculous but believable these white men were. Both caricatures of toxic white masculinity, they were not complex characters, but rather simple and plain manifestations of white men who did not deserve the grace of elaboration. Having been put in boxes my whole life by men like them, it was refreshing to see the two be whittled down to flat, uninteresting characters with no depth. Kim’s decision to do so sparked immense joy in me and then proceeded to ignite my rage.

The female rage that is centered in this book comes from a real place and runs deep. It wasn’t that long ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, when anti-Asian violence and rhetoric were at an all-time high; we saw six Asian women murdered at a spa in Atlanta all because one white man who had a sex addiction wanted to get rid of his “temptation”. But violence against and fetishization of Asian women goes back much farther than that, all the way to the 1880s. Before the Chinese Exclusion Act, there was the Page Act preventing Chinese women from immigrating due to “immoral reasons”—they were being singled out as prostitutes. To reduce the number of Chinese immigrants “infiltrating” white America, Chinese women became scapegoats and victims of both racism and sexism. So in a world where Asian women are fetishized and thus ultimately stripped of their humanity, the female rage we see in Eyes does not feel like Jiwon’s alone, but ours. For any woman, Asian or not, who has been objectified, the rage belongs to us. And for that, I cheered for Jiwon.

Jiwon loves her family and cares for them in the way she knows how. She yearns for comfort and stability. She recognizes kindness and offers it as well. She does her best to meet the expectations of being the eldest daughter; though it feels overwhelming, it is her palja (fate). But Jiwon also lies often and feels little remorse when violating the trust and rights of others, even those close to her. She feels deeply for herself, but has a hard time empathizing. Through Jiwon, Kim pushes our understanding and biases of what a “good Asian girl” is well out of our comfort zone and into the realm of psychopathy that is usually dominated by white men. If eating fish eyes is supposed to bring you luck, then Jiwon shows us that eating blue human eyes brought power. And it’ was’s this reversal of roles and power dynamic between our Asian female main character and the two white men that I thought was, dare I say, quite appetizing.

Don’t get me wrong, this book is not perfect. The themes are obvious; if you don’t take it as satire, it could feel a bit crude. The ending feels rushed and convoluted with plot holes, a definite red flag for those who want neat explanations. Personally, I didn’t mind the heavy-handed themes or the plot holes, but I did wish for more complexity in Jiwon’s mother. As the eldest daughter of Korean immigrants, I wanted to explore more of her experience as a first-generation Korean immigrant, the origins of her very apparent codependent tendencies, and how they ultimately affected Jiwon as the eldest daughter.

Kim’s social commentary on racism, sexism and the intersectionality of that as an Asian American woman is not groundbreaking. These are all tropes we’ve seen before, in books, film, and as a Korean-American woman, for me, in real life every day, battling stereotypes thrust upon me by white men. Our experience is not and should not only be in response to the white male gaze, but the focus of female rage in the book was so satisfying, I could not keep myself from smiling until the very last page.

Reading this book was similar to my own experience with eating fish eyes—a little weird and uncomfortable, but a fun ride.

Ji-Won's life falls apart when her Father leaves home .and her Mother begins to date a new man. As her Sister and Mother struggle to adapt Ji-Won keeps her disturbing and horrifying dreams to herself but as circumstances spiral her Mother's boyfriend George begins to outstay his welcome Jo-Won begins to unravel slowly and her rage won't subside.

This was an excellent psychological horror which had me gripped and repulsed in equal measure. Couldn't put this down; 5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

i was struck by the visceral imagery: the description of the eyes and all they entail, the taste of bloodlust, the devouring. the female rage in this book is a slow-boil, a bubbling undercurrent, a moment of peace before your brain registers the burn. it felt believable, even when ji-won’s reality dissolved and she committed truly unbelievable acts. the eyes truly were the best part.

Thank you NetGalley and Erewhon Kingsington books for the EARC.
SOME SPOILERS!

I went into this book on the cover alone! I was not let down one bit! If your are looking for a high octane horror this in not for you! It was a great pace and very methodical. The feminine rage of the main character is chefs kiss! It was a hard look at how men specially white men fetishize Asian women in the world. Those parts were hard to read but were masterfully done! The detail of the eyes being ate makes the body horror delightfully surprising!

This is incredibly written, it made me sick, but in the best way. Exactly what I wanted from a horror this year, I could not peel my eyes off the page!

I included this book in my top ten reads of 2024. This is what I said on Bluesky and will say on other social media platforms: The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim is a horror thriller that is transfixing and visceral.

3.5 ⭐️
What starts as a fish dinner ends with Ji-Won having a hunger for eyes, specifically blue eyes after her mother gives her the honor of eating the fish eye. She does her best to resist the temptation up until she meets her mom’s new boyfriend George, a heavy built white man who fetishizes Asian women and to Ji-Won’s delight has the bluest eyes that she wants the pleasure of eating. This proves to be very hard as her mother seems to be so awestruck she never leaves his side. She has to sate her hunger with others first and make a plan for the day she can finally get her hands or rather mouth on George’s delectable orbs.

Thank you #NetGalley for this fun, interesting and absolutely disgusting read! I have an eye phobia so I knew this book was going to be a tough one to get through but the author’s descriptions made it so intriguing as well as downright vomit worthy that I couldn’t stop reading it! Okay, I had to take a few breaks in between.

This was so good, and I knew it would be which is why I bought the book as soon as it was released lol. I'm glad my expectations were met! I'm talking about this in an upcoming vlog but also included it in a new release video prior to publication https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwb2NKcH_og&list=PLsmk-XIXxznLJuAliO0ygxcQDjHfrYygW&index=12
Brava and I can't wait to read more from this author!

This horror novel is definitely not for the squeamish (or for someone who gets easily grossed out). There were many times I grimaced with the gore, but this book is a fantastic blend of paranormal, horror, and family drama. There were a few twists and turns that I didn't see coming, and I absolutely loved the ending. The only downfall was that it felt repetitive in some portions, even though the book is pretty short. I think this was just an issue of pacing more than anything, but this is a very impressive debut for a writer. I'll for sure be checking out her future work!