Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I received an ARC of this book.

4.75 stars. This book was amazing! Absolutely unhinged in the best way possible. I loved the main character a lot and the depiction of her family situation was brilliantly written. This book is gross, claustrophobic and loaded with heavy topics.
If you are interested in learning about racism, sexism and fetish-culture this is the book for you. I loved every part of this, which is surprising since I personally think eyes are really gross, I can't even put contacts in.
I also didn't think that the book title would be taken so literally in the story but here we are. I think the ending was extreme but in a good way and I really wish it didn't end there.
I devoured this book in a few days and can't wait for the whole world to get their hands on this masterpiece.

Reading books this good at the beginning of the year inspires just a touch of sadness. Will anything live up to the horror and delight that is this protagonist’s mind?

I think many people will appreciate and identify with many themes in this book - abandonment, changing family dynamics in early adulthood, children taking responsibility for parents, surviving “nice guy” entitlement, fighting racist and sexist opinions near constantly, dealing with unwanted sexualization from those who should act as protectors. This book sounds like it may be a heavy read, but it really isn’t. The author takes the material and makes it almost addictive, forcing you to keep reading page after page to find out what happens to the protagonist and her family.

Although I did get a little squeamish here and there, I kept reading without stopping! Bravo to the author for writing the only book that I can recall making me gag and binge read at the same time.

Thank you Kensington Books, Erewhon Books and NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The Eyes Are the Part was such a ride. Ji-won's life takes a turn when her father leaves, her mother is desperate and distressed, and her sister is more anxious than ever. The lack of men in their household does not last long when their mother brings home her new boyfriend, who is not as appealing as he seems to be. Ji-won's grades are failing, nights are sleepless, and days are full of vivid dreams with blue eyes that keep watching her. This intriguing thriller catches you, crawls under your skin, and will not leave you until the very end. It is disgusting, raw, and amazing. It deals with topics such as feminism, racism, and fetishizing Asians, so no wonder the main character is an angry girl with all the weight on her shoulders, and we just watch her suffer and then change in her favor. If you are a fan of the female rage trope, you are going to love this book.

Wow. Just wow. The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim met all of my expectations. I’ve read a lot of horror recently and there’s not a lot that can creep me out, but this book managed the task beautifully. The main character Ji-won was both terrifying and relatable, something that is so hard to describe… This book is female rage at its finest and most powerful. I found myself both rooting for Ji-won and cringing in horror at the same time.

Ji-won’s mother Umma meets a man named George who is the most disgusting human you could possibly imagine. He’s obsessed with Asian women, and he’s a complete pervert. Umma just seems to love the attention though, and as things escalate with their relationship, Ji-won also grows obsessed with eating eyeballs. She loves blue eyes the most… and George has the most beautiful blue eyes.

I don’t know if this book could be more perfect. Absolutely a five star read from me, and I’m sad because no other horror novel will probably have such an amazing mix of feminine rage and terror. It’ll be hard to top this one!

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books/Erewhon Books for the ARC! This comes out June 25, 2024. I know I’ll be preordering it and letting all my friends read it because IT’S THAT GOOD.

I really enjoyed this book and it is a must-read for fans of horror and psychological thrillers. This was an absolute gripping and haunting read. From the very first page I was drawn into the story of Ji-Won and her family's struggles after her father's betrayal. The book delves into themes of betrayal, family dynamics, and the dark side of human nature. One of the standout features of this book is the vivid and evocative writing. The imagery is rich and often unsettling, adding to the overall eerie atmosphere of the book.
The character development in this book is also top-notch. Ji-won is a complex and multi-layered protagonist, struggling with her own inner demons while also trying to protect her family. Her actions may be extreme and at times disturbing, but they feel justified given the circumstances she has been put in. The other characters in the book are also well-developed, each with their own flaws and motivations that drive the story forward.
The horror elements in this book are truly terrifying. Ji-won's dreams, which are filled with bloody rooms and eyes, are both horrifying and alluring. The way she manipulates and deceives those around her to satisfy her hunger and rage is both disturbing and captivating. Kim has a talent for weaving together horror and psychological thriller elements, making for a truly unique and chilling reading experience.

I saw another reviewer say, “if you’re in the mood for a contemporary take on what happens when you mix generational trauma, feminine rage, and the patriarchy in a sleep deprived college student…and you don’t mind getting a little messy? Read this!”

That sums up the book pretty nicely.

Ji-Won is seemingly set on a murderous path when her father leaves and her mother suggests eating fish eyes may help him return home because it brings luck. At first Ji-Won and her sister are disgusted by the thought, but to appease her mother, Ji-Won eats one and we see her spiral for the rest of the book. Suddenly, she dreams of eating human eyes.

Who better than her mom’s new white boyfriend to be the ultimate blued eyed prize. Ji-Won and her sister can’t stand him and his Asian fetish. We see Ji-Won have recurring thoughts and dreams to kill him and eat his eyes. She becomes drawn to blue eyes like vampires drawn to blood and leaves a trail of bodies with blank eye sockets as she satisfies her craving.

Meanwhile, she’s in school and making friends. Only one of those friends will be framed for her crimes. The way the book ends… I was on the edge of my seat because I didn’t know if she would get away with her dark deeds. She was clearly both unhinged and clever.

Although completely nuts and gross, somehow I found myself rooting for her. I suppose I wanted her to be able to protect her mom and sisters from George, her mom’s awful boyfriend. Her taste for eyeballs took it too far for my tastes, but that was the fun of the story.

A disturbingly interesting and easy read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced eARC.

"The Eyes Are the Best Part" gave me everything that I wanted from it and a lot more. The first quarter of it is almost purely a domestic drama, but it was so interesting on its own that I would have been perfectly happy if it never made the shift into horror. The domestic drama aspect was leveraged into a building tension, which continued to build throughout the entire book with the protagonist, Ji-Won, growing increasingly insane. It was a bit of a slow burn in this regard but the slow increase in tension combined with the fast-paced short scenes made the book fly by. It was very hard to put down at times.

One shining triumph of this book is the characters. I was so invested in the characters and their relationships that I was just as excited to hear about Ji-Won's personal life as I was the interspersed horrific murders. The gore in the aforementioned murders was just enough to make you squirm but wasn't over the top or drawn out. You should have a pretty good idea about what the gore entails from the title alone...

I would make a vague comparison to "Maeve Fly" since this book has a similar slow burn structure following the unraveling of a seemingly ordinary female serial killer. The vibes, however, are very different. A comparison could also be made to Sayaka Murata's "Earthlings," particularly in the way that both authors focus heavily on the characters' home lives and personal relationships. If you enjoyed "Earthlings," I really think this one will be perfect for you.

I loved a lot of things about this book, and I think Monika Kim did a great job of putting the reader in Ji-Won's shoes and showing a glimpse of what it's like to be the child of an immigrant and the challenges that come along with that. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves horror and appreciates strong characters and meaningful stories.

What drew me in first was the cover. I had heard this book mentioned once on TikTok and I added it to my list of new releases for 2024 to eventually check out.

I was quite delighted to see I was approved this book and immediately jumped in to reading it.

I had my guesses throughout the book on how it would end and surprisingly I didn't see the twist near the end. Though I couldn't personally relate to the struggles of the characters from a cultural standpoint, I could relate to her struggles as a woman in a male dominated society. The cultural struggles the author describes in the book really opened my eyes. The struggles the main character (and her family) go through aren't just ones from other cultures it also comes from within her own community and that is something I didn't realize.

The writing flowed well and the characters were well developed. The ending did leave me wanting...but not because it was a "bad ending." I look forward to reading more from this author!

This book has left me speechless.

It follows Ji-won and her family’s journey in grief after her father abruptly leaves them for another woman. When Ji-won’s mother finally starts dating a new man, Ji-won slowly spirals and ends up in the darkest parts of her brain.

Monika Kim should run a masterclass on how to paint emotions through physical descriptions. Every emotion was palpable, which made empathizing with Ji-won very easy. I also loved the social commentary on the fetishization of Asian women and the first gen (born in America) eldest child experience.

The horror in this book was exquisite! There was the perfect balance of suspense, gore, and unhinged feminine rage. I will definitely have this book on my mind for a while.

Thank you to NetGalley and Erewhon Books for the eARC.

this was pretty good, i couldn't put it down. the only thing i wasn't a huge fan of was the reveal of ji-won's brain tumor. it felt really random and didn't make much sense plotwise. but otherwise this is one of the best debuts i have personally ever read. i'm looking forward to what the author writes next

I received this as an ARC from Netgalley and I couldn’t be happier.

I’m going in to this knowing I’m gonna get creeped out at some point, eye stuff freaks me out, but the story sounds so good and I could do with a good squirm.

I have an eye thing so I know this one would hit hard, but my goodness the descriptions of Jo-won enjoying the best parts give you a good squirm.

The eye room was so creepy too.

Umma’s back story is just heartbreaking and shows why she is the way she is with her own family.

An obsessive spiral down into a dark madness. The sheer devious cunning of Jo-win at the end.

This was excellent! I loved the short chapters and the slow build of tension and anxiety. It was a real page turner that I blew through very quickly. The only elements that stuck out to me were that the shift into very extreme behavior happened quite abruptly, and the brain tumor reveal didn't make much sense or advance the plot. I did really love how the creepy college guy's stalking set him up for his own downfall.

The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

Expected publication date: June 25, 2024

SPOILERS AHEAD

Upon first review when pursuing NetGalley (thanks for the ARC btw), as one does, This book had me intrigued based off the cover provided and of course the description. The Eyes Are the Best Part is marketed as a psychological thriller, where the main character devolves into a serial killer by the end of the novel.

The story opens up with our main character who appears to be a freshman at an American college. (I personally feel the story would’ve pulled me in a little bit more and held my interested if it opened up mis story arc then backtracked, but that’s just me). She is fatherless, and her mother is distraught because of the loss. A new man enters their lives where Ji-Won begins to suffer from stress induced nightmares and/or psychosis. 50% into the novel and NOTHING HAS HAPPENED. We barely get information on the type of person that Ji-Won is and what sets her off right at the halfway mark into this story. Our first dead body doesn’t appear until about 60%-65% in and I can’t quite wrap my head around how our main character is supposed to fit the definition of a (sociopathic) serial killer with 25% left in the book. (Spree killer vibes anyone?)

I found our main character annoying and the story lacked what drew me in in the initial synopsis read through. TBH, I could say a whole lot more about this book and how I didn’t enjoy it but I don’t see anyone sitting down and reading EVERYTHING I’ve written here.

If I were to give this book an official rating (due to my no rating system set place in 2024; this is purely for NetGalley purposes) I’d have to give it 2 stars. I did finish the book so there was something in me that needed to see what happened at the end. I see this being a good starterfor someone looking to get into the genre that isn’t afraid of a little body horror, but this just wasn’t for me unfortunately.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an arc. This story is about a young Korean American girl named Ji-Won whose father has left her mother and their entire family. Not too long after her father left her mother met a white American man named George who very obviously fetishizes Asian women. While neither Ji-Won nor her sister dislikes George's presence in their lives, she becomes obsessed with blue eyes. The shocking thriller had me thinking WTF as the story progressed and had me not wanting to put the book down for one second. I highly recommend this book to everyone and to support this release date for Monika Kim's debut novel! :)

Oh man, what a terrific debut by Monika Kim!

A short but well-paced and engrossing read. The protagonist, Ji-won, had a compelling and unique voice that easily drew me in. As an Asian American, I love reading about Asian American characters who are unlikable, morally ambiguous, and straight-up villainous. I found myself rooting for her throughout the novel to succeed in the increasingly disturbing things that she was carrying out.

The body horror parts were fabulously written and easily the strongest parts of this work.

The reason I gave 4 and not 5 stars was that some of the themes in the book felt very heavy-handed. Somewhere towards the middle, there are one or two whole chapters that take the form of a stream of consciousness, where Ji-won is musing on subjects like fetishism and being Asian American in America, where it feels less like the character's voice and more like the author's own discourse. This took me out of the immersion a little bit because I felt like I was being given a Racism 101 lecture about things that were very, very obvious? I'm almost wondering if the author was swayed to add in this part by white editors/agents who wanted to appeal to the lowest common denominator and really break things down at a basic level.

Other than Ji-won and Ji-hyun, her sister, most of the characters felt not as developed as they could have been. Both the George and Geoffrey characters seemed kind of one-note and stereotypical in (again) a heavy-handed way. Even Umma felt like she could have been fleshed out a bit more; she basically spent the entirety of the book either crying about being dumped by a romantic partner or being happy about having a romantic partner.

No spoilers, but I absolutely loved the note that the novel ended on. I was THRILLED that the author chose to go there and applaud the creative choice.

The worst thing about this book is that I had to read it with my eyeballs. They may never recover from this targeted horror.

The Eyes Are the Best Part (aptly named, in more ways than one) is a fast paced, quick read that will leave you feeling sick even as you desperately turn the next page. It’s fun and horrible all at once!

To be honest, the writing is this book’s weak spot. It’s very basic and heavy-handed, with dialogue that doesn’t feel real. I wish the characters had stronger development. But sometimes a book has such an intriguing plot that you just keep obsessively reading to find out what happens.

So gross and deliciously evil - <i>The Eyes are the Best Part</i> is a wild ride. The B-movie flavoured serial killer coming of age I never knew I needed, and a worthy addition to the “good for her” cannon. The first-person POV is especially effective, because the narrator is so unreliable, that the line between real and nightmare blurs early and often. Did things really end the way the book tells us it did? I can’t wait to hear everyone’s thoughts as more people read this!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, for providing the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a strong debut! I was lucky enough to be granted an ARC by Kensington Books on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ji-won is a classic anti-hero. She sabotages all of her relationships, gaslights friends/family she thinks are good people, and commits several truly heinous crimes, but most importantly, she is a agent to deliver some absolutely scathing, undiluted rage. And Ji-won serves as a foil to her Umma.

There is one scene in the beginning of the book Ji-won's Umma dramatically proclaims that she is a terrible mother, and may as well go into a hole and die. (I am paraphrasing here, since this is an ARC, actual quotes may change). Welp, I almost threw myself on the ground! If you've grown up with a narcissistic parent, and it seems like a lot of us millennials did, you've heard this before and it has a triggering but purgative effect. Unlike what much of narrative fiction tells us, survivors of complex trauma are not always saintly- they can be insecure and borderline insufferable in their victimhood. The reader, like Ji-won, desperately want her to be free from the grip of predatory and disappointing men.

Other than our protagonist and her mother, the characters felt very one-dimensional to me. Their racism, misogyny and naivety are overt and linear. Because of this, the way many scenes play out lack subtlety and come off cartoonish.

Maybe this is my fault- the title, synopsis and cover all tell you to expect eyeball horror, and while it WAS well done, I got a little bored with it and found it grating after a while. I wish that other body horror/gore was sprinkled throughout. Or, maybe preferably, if there were significantly less dream sequences, this would have solved that issue for me. I felt myself glazing over dream sequences because they were obvious at the very beginning of each one. More impact with the actual punch, if you will.

Now the ending was *chefs kiss*. I don't want to spoil it here, but it is very satisfying, which can feel like a rarity in horror. I look forward to reading more of Monika Kim's work in the future, even if I am pretty sure she eats eyeballs for breakfast.

The Eyes Are the Best Part is a quick and unique read that touches on some really important deep topics such as generational trauma. This had me hooked almost immediately as I just loved the writing style as everything felt so crazy I just didn't know what was going to happen next. This book was a wild ride in the best way and I recommend to any fans of horror.

if you support women’s rights, and their wrongs this is definitely the book for you! i will say one of my favorite thriller subgenres is women avenging themselves due to the actions of men and boy did this succeed!

the cover and synopsis drew me in but monika kim’s writing kept me hooked!! i particularly found the parallels and descriptions between cultural elements of food and ji-won’s hyperfixation on eyes something i didn’t think possible but wholeheartedly enjoyed😅.

ji-won isn’t an extremely likable character, and yet you find yourself justifying her actions due to the various forms of systemic prejudice in place. viewing the creation of a serial killer, and a criminal mastermind, from the lens of a korean-american adds an intersectional element to thrillers that often fall short in other pieces of literature within the same genre.

everyone definitely support monika kim’s brilliant debut! i can’t wait to read any other books they publish in the future.