Ji-won is a young woman trying to deal with tragic circumstances. Her appa cheated on her mother, and then abruptly left the whole family. Her friends all went off to college together, leaving her behind. Everything she has known her whole life is imploding in front of her eyes. A few months after the devastation, her mother begins to date someone new, George. He’s white and loud and, honestly, just a creep. Her sister is constantly looking to her to confront the situation, but what can she do?
The first half of this book was all about character development. I wasn’t sure how it got classified as “horror” and thought maybe that was a mistake. It was still interesting and beautifully written. Then I got to the second half. And that’s the horror part. It is so well done, so smoothly transitioned. I loved the feminist arch. I loved the antihero journey. I felt like the characters were horrifically relatable. I have known so many Geoffrey’s in my life. Claiming to be the “good guy” doesn’t make you one. And we all have met the George’s. This book was deeply uncomfortable in it’s closeness to reality and also in its departures. My 5 star rating is held out for books that will haunt me for years to come. This one will. I am certain in 5 years, if someone asked me the plot, I’d still remember it vividly. I highly suggest this book to anyone who enjoys thrillers/horror. It is reminiscent of the feeling of the movies Midsommar and Hereditary. I am shook to my core. It’s hard to believe this is the debut novel.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read an advanced copy of this book.

I first heard of this book through one of Booksandlala's vlogs. The second that I heard the synopsis, I was immediately interested in reading it. However, this wasn't the book for me and that hurts to say. I knew the story would follow Ji-won into her descent into becoming a serial killer but I made the wrongful assumption that this was a thriller/horror, not a psychological thriller which explains why I thought the pacing was different.

The short chapters made the plot fast paced but also slow at the same time, which definitely added to the tension and I liked how the ending was wrapped but I just felt like something was off for the most part which could be due to my misunderstanding of the steps Ji-won would take before going after the targets that were set up for her to go after.

Great book! Loved the writing style. The characters were very interesting. I would highly recommend! Releases June 25th, 2024.

One of the creators I watch on YouTube got this as an arc and they made it some so fascinating I had to go and get a copy of it myself. I was intrigued by the plot and I decided I had to read it. When I got approved for it I was beyond happy and jumped right in.

I loved this book. I loved loved loved this book. Ji-won is a fascinating main character. You really get to know her over the course of the book and get a very intimate look at her life, both inner and outer. I love her relationship with her family. Especially with her sister. I ended up deeply caring for every member of this family by the end of the book. Except George. George is absolutely terrible and I hated him but you’re supposed to.

The atmosphere in here was horrible in a good way. There is such a sense of creeping dread in the entire book and it ramps up so slowly that I was on the edge of my seat for the entire read.

The writing in this was absolutely beautiful. Some of the best lines I’ve ever read were in this book. And while the writing is beautiful some of the scenes were downright disgusting (again in a good way). The way that things were described made me ill at several points but I just couldn’t put this down.


Even though I loved this and I’m giving it 5 stars I 100% don’t recommend this for everyone. It’s chock full of very disturbing and graphic content. Please check trigger warnings before you read to make sure you can handle it. With that said this was amazing and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Wow, just wow! After Ji-won’s father leaves, following his admittance to an extramarital affair, Ji-won is left to try and pick up the pieces. Watching her mother fall into a deep depression, the sadness that overcomes her sister, and trying to survive her first year of college, we see Ji-won’s psyche unravel. Soon she begins noticing some changes in her mother’s behavior and Ji-won and her sister find out that their mom has begun dating someone new. After reluctantly eating a fish eye for the first time, Ji-won’s obsession with eyes, specifically blue eyes after meeting her mom’s new [white] boyfriend, begins to take over; she craves them and almost can’t function without them. Her story takes a wild turn that kept me glued to the pages, intrigued to see where her rage and sudden hunger for revenge takes her. This is definitely a MUST READ! 👁️

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this amazing story!
This book was super interesting. I had no idea what to expect while reading it. I couldn’t stop though. It sucked me in and kept me on my toes. It threw me through so many different loops. I couldn’t figure out what would happen. The ending had my jaw on the floor. I was NOT expecting that. I throughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by this author!

This book was a slow burn. I feel like it took forever for anything to happen. I forced myself to finish. There were also parts that I thought were a little farfetched. This book was not for me.

there is still a long way to go in regards to asian american representation in the media, but "the eyes are the best part" is something that i hope becomes mainstream this summer. there's skin-crawling descriptions of eyes, commentary on asian fetishization, abusive relationships, and more, which made for a very fast paced read. nothing went in depth enough though personally as an asian american woman who has dealt with a lot of these issues. however, i personally loved seeing a main character who didn't move away for college even though i went to the school that shall not be named in this universe.

I actually loved the pace of this. Felt a little cliche at times/predictable however it was still a good read.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It started out slow, but the pace seemed to gradually increase over the novel. You first get to know the main character Ji-Won and her family during a time of struggle. The novel soon turns into a tale of abusive relationships, obsession and murder.

The descriptions of eyeballs are visceral.

This will be one of my favorites of the year. A descent into rageful madness that you can't help but cheer on

Huge thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

5-star read from cover to cover. Absolutely amazing book!

I knew of the author and her efforts with this book from online spaces before it was picked up for publishing, so I was thrilled to see it up on NetGalley and requested it immediately. It follows Ji-won, a Korean-American college student, and her family after her father leaves them for a younger woman. Soon, her mother brings home a white man whose blue eyes begin haunting her dreams and distorting her perception of reality. Things get very bloody very fast as Ji-won unravels and her life falls apart.

If you're looking for feminine rage, it's here. If you're looking for insightful commentary on the treatment of Asian women, it's here. If you're looking for women suffering at the hands of men and coming out on top covered in gore, it's here. If you're looking for something disgusting and transformative, it's this book.

Every character here is robust and alive and kind of awful in the best way. The prose flows incredibly well. It's quite simple but that lends itself so well to the blurring of hallucination and dreams and reality that happens a lot here. The chapters are short so I felt like I was flying through this, and that made the stakes feel even higher. I genuinely can't think of a single thing to fault this book for. Best debut I've read in a long time.

I will be buying this on release to add to my collection. I will also be waiting eagerly for more from Monika Kim

Diving into Monika Kim's "The Eyes are the Best Part" was like sitting down to a banquet of body horror, served with a side of sharp feminist insight. Awarding it a solid 4 stars, I found myself both fascinated and horrified by the grotesque beauty of Kim's storytelling. This isn't just a novel; it's a confrontation of the darkest parts of society, dissecting themes of racism, sexism, and the complexities of family with a scalpel-like precision.

This rocked my world. I loved the slow decent into madness and hyper fixation, the little cruel things along the way, and the ending? chef's kiss. Super strong debut!

Very much a "good for her" horror tale.

Ji-won is going through it, and she's taking everyone with her for the ride. After her father picks up and leaves, Ji-won's family is thrown into a downward spiral. Caring for her depressed mother and disheartened younger sister is difficult enough, but throw in mom's racist new piece of shit boyfriend, a crazy stalker from school, and intense intrusive thoughts, and you've got a recipe for a wild story.

I loved getting to follow the progression of Ji-won's thoughts to see how they evolve from such a normal college student to the thoughts of a sociopathic killer. I don't know if I will ever be able to think of eye balls in the same way again.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to read early in exchange for an honest review.

This new Thriller/Horror novel is about a Korean-American college student, Ji-won, trying to hold her family together after their parents divorce. Her mom starts dating a white guy who is misogynistic, racist and just really disgusting toward Ji-won and her sister. As their mom refuses to recognize the abuse, Ji-won decides to take matters into her own hands. So naturally she starts dreaming about eating his eyeball, only this hyper fixation begins to grow.
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It is the true definition of a good for her story, but with so many added layers. Monika Kim perfectly interjected necessary commentary on marriage/family dynamics, racism, and normalized micro aggressive culture. I do wish it was a little longer so her relationship with her college friends could been fleshed out a bit more. It’s a tad slow paced, but serves you all the murder and gore.

Ji-won's life seems to be falling apart. Her mom's new boyfriend George is awful, she's not doing well in school, and she can't stop fantasizing about eating George's blue eyes. This book was so unhinged in the best way possible. I usually don't get too shocked when reading horror, but this one got me at quite a few points. My jaw was dropped and I was gasping at certain points. It was so gory but it wasn't too much. It didn't just have gore for the shock value of it, the gore was a well thought out integral part of the story. I knew I shouldn't root for Ji-won, but the circumstances of her life throughout the book made me root for her anyway. I almost read this entire book in one sitting because it just sucked me in and wouldn't let go! The writing style and the pacing made it so difficult to put down. I had some guesses throughout the book about what some twists might end up being, but in the end most of my guesses weren't correct. Monika Kim kept me on my toes in this one. I can't wait to see what she writes next because I will absolutely be picking it up.

This psychological-thriller/horror novel follows the unraveling of Ji-won as she struggles with the changes going on in her life. Ji-won lives with her mother and younger sister, all grieving the recent and sudden abandonment of their father. As her mother struggles to cope, she meets her new love-interest, the exploitative and manipulative George. The rest of the novel follows this new family dynamic, which was artfully crafted by the author. Things become worse for Ji-won as she starts college and develops a disturbing new craving. Reading through the series of events that lead to the development of a female serial killer was fascinating. However, the story also contains many surprising elements and touching themes including sisterhood, mother-daughter relationships, coming-of-age, female rage and more. I am very impressed with this debut novel and found it compulsively readable. I would recommend this horror novel to any fans of the genre (unless you are squeamish about eyeballs).

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC!

I requested this book on Netgalley purely based on the title - as someone who does, in fact, think the eyes are the best part of a fish, I was curious to see what this book would be like. Plus, it seemed like the type of body horror that I do typically enjoy, so I had high expectations. Unfortunately, I felt like the book just fell a bit flat for me personally. It was good, but not great, and just not one that will stick with me personally.

I really liked the themes that this book explored, and especially liked how it focused specifically on Asian fetishization and the pressure that's placed on a child that has to step into the role of a parent (especially to their own parent). However, I felt like everything was just a bit too on the nose for me. I feel like there wasn't a lot of subtlety to any of the racist characters, and as such, I felt like it lacked that distinct unsettling feeling that I like when I read these types of horror. Everything was just very overt, obvious, and predictable, and I don't think this is a bad thing per se, just a matter of personal preference.

I think this is a fun read - it's easily digestible and quick to get through, and I think the pacing throughout is quite engaging. I think for me, given the themes that were covered, I just wanted this book to be a little more thought provoking, rather than just spelling everything out for me. In a lot of ways, although it isn't horror, this reminds me a lot of Yellowface by RF Kuang in execution. In terms of ideas and themes, it's closer to something like The Vegetarian by Han Kang, or Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang. So I'd say if any of those are titles you enjoy, you should still give this one a try!

Side note to the publisher: the e-ARC was very poorly formatted (headers/footers not properly calibrated, weird paragraph breaks, inconsistent line spacing, no chapter breaks) and I do hope that these issues will be fixed for the finished e-book.

Move over, Patrick Bateman; Ji-won is coming for your crown!

After her father leaves, Ji-won, a freshman in college, begins to dream of eyes. After her mom gets a disgusting new boyfriend who fetishizes her mom and her sister (and tbh all Asian women in general), Ji-won seeks revenge for all the men who have wronged them.

Omg this was so NAUSEATING and ICKY in the best way. It's another perfect installment in the "good for her" genre and if you love women who seek revenge, this book is for you! You guys are going to go crazy for this when it comes out. I can't wait to read anything Monika Kim publishes in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!