Ji-Won is a first generation Korean-American, struggling with the resposibility of being the eldest daughter in a traditional Korean family; the stress of college study and the separation of her parents. When her mother starts seeing a new boyfriend, the Trump-esque George, Ji-Won beings to have vivid, grotesque dreams involving the consumption of eyeballs. These dreams open a part of Ji-Won that she wilfully indulges, and she soon realises that she will do anything it takes to protect her family (and sate her ocular desires).

I requested this book on NetGalley immediately after seeing the cover and blurb. I saw it described as a cross between Crying In H-mart, and My Sister the Serial Killer, two of my favourite books from recent years, and I would agree, but would also add the books of Sayaka Murata to those comparisons.

It touches on some heavy topics including the fetishisation of Asian women, extra-marital affairs, generational trauma, racism, classism and sexism. However, I saw it as a black comedy, and it is this humour that enables the book to not feel so heavy.

Ji-Won is a prime example of an anti-hero - she is a person who treats her friends badly without cause; commits atrocities on (mostly) innocent victims, and eventually becomes a cold-blooded killer, yet somehow you still root for her.

Monika Kim shows excellent restraint in her writing - it is a relatively short book, yet manages to pack a lot in. It is punchy, clever and well-paced, however I feel there were places where the characters or relationships could have been fleshed out more. My biggest gripe is that a particular part towards the end made me cringe with its use of a very trite trope. Sometimes, the unexplained in books is really annoying for a reader, but this is one case where it would have been better if it was left out. For such an original, interesting work, I wondered why this unnecessary detail was even included.

This complaint aside, I really enjoyed The Eyes Are The Best Part, and Monika Kim is definitely an author to watch.

"Fate can bring you together, but it can just as easily tear you apart. All I can do is accept my palja, in the same way my father had to accept his."

Ji-won Lim is a first-year college student who's been having a rough year. In a matter of weeks she lost her friends and support group, her father leaves, and her mother begins dating a white man. While she knows she has responsibility to look after her sister, Ji-won finds herself continually drawn to the bright blue eyes of her mother's suitor. What follows is a series of psychological tricks that would leave even Sherlock Holmes astonished.

I was initially drawn to the cover and title of this work, as I've been reading more horror over the past couple of years. What is especially unique about Kim's work is her inclusion of a modern Korean-American heritage. Ji-won's parents are the result of a rough and impoverished life in South Korea, having to run to America to keep a roof over their heads. Their resulting trauma trickles down to Ji-won and her sister Ji-hyun, a fact that is not lost on Ji-won.

As a main character, she does well with being observant and intelligent without being too good. While some circumstances come up that are too easily brushed aside, Ji-won does show her teeth when it comes to gaslighting the men who abuse her family and that she's not afraid to retaliate. She is complex and constantly fighting against a system that she sees as oppressive. Her relationships with George and Geoffrey show this dynamic and how capable she is of taking control of the wheel.

This book is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. There is extensive body horror and gore, but I found it to be important to the storyline and Ji-won's character. So many horror books will focus on gore until it becomes extraneous, but Kim does a good job of walking the line. Ji-won's obsession with blue eyes is integral to her struggle against white oppression.

I chose the quote above because I especially found Kim's themes of fate, fortune, or "palja" interesting to the story. Are our actions based on the alignment of stars? Are we destined to hit major milestones no matter what we do with the little moments? Ji-won's father seemed to think so, and I think leaving us to ponder these questions was a great end to the story overall.

a delightful, terrifying story. fast-paced and can be devoured (🌝) quickly. I love the pacing of this novel, and it was just "scary" enough.

Wow! Monika Kim did it again!
I really enjoyed this novel.
This was such a good horror novel due to the complex feelings I had for the main character. I felt disgust, but also curiosity and understanding as she was sucked in by her desires. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who wants a horror novel with a female lead who learns her confidence.
I am so grateful to get the chance to read an advance reading copy from NetGalley.

I LOVED this book!
Descending into madness with Ji-won and being be her side as her family fell apart was an incredible journey. With strong psychological horror elements as well as themes of family, racism, and feminism, this book had me immersed from page 1.

The characters were interesting and complex and I never knew what was going to happen next. This book was unhinged and brilliant and has me so hooked I read the whole thing in just one day.

I can easily see this being one of my top reads of the year and I can't wait to read more from Monika Kim!

This book kept me on the edge of my seat and i really enjoyed reading this. I loved the Horror aspect plus to have a perspective of American-Korean was great. I love multiple POV. The character build and elements of each character went very well. The book was well written and i will be reading more from this author.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

4.5 but rounded up to 5! Ji-Won is starting her first year of college when her father walks out on her family. Her, along with her little sister are left to pick up the pieces of their devastated mother. It didn’t take long for her mother to find a new man and within weeks, he is living with the family. The new man, George, is an Asian obsessed, selfish and repulsive man… with beautiful blue eyes.
We follow Ji-Won as she spirals into darkness as her hate for her mom’s new man grows. Around her campus, bodies keep popping up, but with their eyes removed.
This book is full of tension and you can feel the claustrophobic environment full of high emotions. The characters feel real and you can’t help but kind of root for Ji-won even as she struggles with dark thoughts and hallucinations.
It’s dark, weird and gross in all the best ways.

Crying in H-Mart meets My Sister, the Serial Killer in this feminist psychological horror about the making of a female serial killer from a Korean-American perspective.

So good, so gross, so highly recommended!!! This was the best horror novel I've read in a while.

This creepy book was exactly what I was looking for! So dark and twisty but really kept me sucked in. Definitely hoping to read others like this in the future!

thank you netgalley for the opportunity to receive the advanced reader copy for this book.

i really enjoyed this book and how it explores sexism, colonialism and racism through the eyes of jiwon. jiwon's thought pattern and internal struggles reflect the problems of what it means to be a korean woman surrounded by white men mainly.

it was a bit of a slow start for me but once i got hooked, it went fast paced. seeing jiwon's breakdown and continued delusions was captivating. at the end i cheered jiwon on in her destruction of men who took control of her and her familys lives.

i can't wait to buy the physical copy when this comes out.

Deranged, unhinged, absolutely crazy.

The horror is palpable in each aspect of Ji-Won’s story. Her father leaving the family, leaving Ji-Won in his stead to care for her Umma and sister Ji-Hyun. Her mother’s horrible, disgusting, fetishizing Caucasian boyfriend. The pushy new college friend who won’t stop texting or trying to claim her. The friend group that’s drifted away.

It culminates into a masterfully, well-paced story I will not be forgetting any time soon. So often I feel like horror can become stale, with similar plots, tropes, and characters. Not this. It was both all-consuming and so hard to read at the same time.

One of my favorite horror reads ever!

Yesterday, my newlywed husband offered me our mackerel’s eyes saying, “These are the best part!” Remembering certain scenes from this book, I gagged and shook my head.

Horror is a genre I rarely read, but I was curious to check out Monika Kim’s debut novel, as the perspective from a Korean-American female is unique. TEATBP was a one-sitting read, and I was both unnerved and saddened to see Ji-won spiral further as the novel progressed. Kim’s descriptions of Ji-won, most characters, and events are vivid, but I wish a few of the other supporting characters, as well as the ending, were fleshed out a bit more. TEATBP kept me on the edge of my bed, and will probably keep me from every trying fish eyes.

My thanks to NetGalley and Erewhon Books for the ARC.

AMAZING. As evidenced by the title, this book is not for the squeamish, which means it’s perfect for me. I absolutely adored every word of this perfectly plotted novel. Kim is such a good writer. Her writing is not overly flowery or complex; I’d almost call it sparse, yet she makes every word pack a punch. She only gives you exactly what you need, no more, and that is somehow so much more effective at creating tension and propelling the story forward. This will be one of my favorite books this year. I cannot wait to see what she does next.

I was very excited to get an advance copy of The Eyes Are the Best Part, as I've heard very good things from friends who've read it, and the blurb, title, and cover were attention-grabbing. It was a quick, compelling read, but ultimately, I don't think I was really the right audience for it. I'm not much of a horror reader, and not a fan of body horror. Though I liked the themes explored, I do think there could have been a bit more nuance and subtlety, and I found some of the dialogue a little clunky. Still, I think this will be a hit with readers who are more into horror than I am.

I am in my horror era so when I saw this cover and read the synopsis I immediately knew I had to read it. While my reading experience didn't completely live up to my expectations, there were quite a few things I liked about The Eyes Are the Best Part.

Liked:
-Short chapters. This really built up the suspense and unhinged behavior of Ji-won especially towards the middle and end of the book.
-The relationship between sisters Ji-won and Ji-hyun and between sisters and mother
-The social commentary on Asian fetishization, female rage, family dynamics and expectations, misogyny, generational trauma, and really so much more
-The absolutely unhinged behavior and unraveling of Ji-won
-The eye horror. I think it's the only time I've ever not liked the fact that I have blue eyes.
-The cover. I am obsessed. Is it weird that I'd like this framed?

Not my favorite:
-The slow pace at the beginning which really dragged it out and made it hard to stay interested at first.
-The amount of dream sequences. I have no problem with dream sequences in general, but some were abrupt and I'd all of a sudden be in one without any warning. While that may have been intentional, it did add to some disconnect while reading.
-The "plot twist" condition that had no point. I'm not really sure why this was included at all since it didn't have any impact on the story.
-The abrupt ending and really the entire hospital scene. While I liked the ending itself, I also thought it was a little too quick and neat for as much tension and anxiety there was leading up to it. It also didn't make any sense.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would definitely read more from the author. I think this particular book just needed a few things tightened up to be five stars for me. However, I can see a lot of people enjoying and loving this book as is!

The Eyes Are the Best Part was my favorite thriller of 2023.

This story is about Ji-Won, a college age Korean-American girl whose parents separate at the beginning of the book. Her mother is a sweet but naive older woman who begins dating a white man that fetishizes asian women.

While these changes are occuring in Ji-Won's life, she forms an obsession with consuming blue eyeballs.

This was so fresh and different from most of the thrillers I read. My favorite thing about a good thriller is when I am just as invested in the characters as I am the plot, and Kim did a GREAT job with this. I loved Ji-Won and reading about her relationship with her sister, watching her make friends, and navigating these new changes in her life. I think this shift she is dealing with is something MANY of us can relate to, and it only made the story more compelling.

The eye horror was incredible. It wasn't overdone, it wasn't masterfully sprinkled in just enough to leave you wanting more.

If you love unhinged women and want to diversify your thriller/horror reads in 2024, you need to add this one to your list.

(Also I loveddd the ending!)

*Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review*

4.5 stars. I genuinely don’t know where to begin.

Let’s start with: if you really want to experience this story the right way, close Goodreads, wait until the story gets published and buy it the second it is. It’s good. Trust me bro.

And now for the review: this book was so so so good. Unhinged, creepy, disgusting, angry, sad but also lovely and cute at times. If you support women’s wrongs, this book is for you.

The main character shows her true colors the further you get into the story, and the seemingly small details depicted at the beginning become so important in understanding her character and motive. You start out rooting for her, getting to know her situation and her bond with her mother and sister. Her father left her, you’ll say, anyone would become resentful in her situation. She has a world of responsibility on her shoulders due to her mother being extremely fragile emotionally and her sister only being fifteen years old. She has to juggle her classes and her mother’s new love life and her little sister’s big feelings about it all so <i>of course</i> it would become too much for her at some point. Then things become crazier and crazier, and you realize that this girl definitely has a few screws loose, and it becomes harder and harder to justify the actions she’s taking. Her way of deflecting blame and ignoring any accountability for her wrongdoings tell early signs of the things she’s capable of doing later on.

There’s also a (hinted?) sapphic romance and it confused the hell out of me. I loved Ji-won’s relationship with Alexis, but sometimes I really wanted to grab the sweet girl by the shoulders and tell her to RUN.

Her hallucinations were disorienting and just plain confusing at times (in a good way). You never truly know if she’s genuinely being followed, if she’s actually watching someone while they’re sleeping or if she’s really about to murder someone. I’m still on the fence if some dialogue has even really happened or not, but I’m also not sure if I’m just unnecessarily complicating it.

I had to time reading this book outside of eating-hours. The depictions of cartilage, goo, fluid while chomping down on fish eyes on literally the first page made me prepare for the obvious progression of events that were waiting for me in this book. Before this, I thought I was capable of keeping a poker face while reading even the most demented things, but that illusion was soon shattered when a friend asked me why I looked so sour during yet another extremely detailed description of eyeballs on teeth.

The mom was written really well. I had to do my best not to get angry during her narcissistic tangents. One of them really hit close to home:

"Fine," Umma snaps. "If neither of you care about me, I'll go crawl in a hole and die. You'll both wish you were nicer to me when I'm gone."

This paragraph awakened an anger that for years laid dormant somewhere inside of my brain, and I think anybody who has had an upbringing with a narcissistic parent will say the same. It’s so accurate. That’s all I can really say. The mom goes from crying about her separation to glueing herself to a man that shows her kindness once in the grocery store she works at, and makes her children (who are ALSO mourning the man that left them behind, their fucking <i>father</i>) meet this guy after a short month of dating him. She THEN lets him move in a little while after, and oh my god I didn’t think I could relate this much to a book about a female serial killer (this is not by any means me hinting at anything please don’t lock me up). He turns out to be—surprise surprise—a fetishizing asshole, and you really share the hatred Ji-won feels, praying he gets what’s coming for him.

The sisterly bond is also described exceptionally well, and I really loved the way they’d go from laughing and tickling/play-fighting each other to slamming doors and promising they’ll hate each other forever. Nothing short of amazing.

I’m not sure how I feel about the ending, but I think everything came together nicely. I do think some things in this story were a bit too conveniently placed/timed, but that’s easily overlooked with the amazing writing and fast paced chapters.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and of course the author and publisher for lending me this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Song on loop: Geometric - Akin Sevgör

A fun page-turner, though the execution can be better at some parts for me. I especially love the characterization with how realistic they are, and the mental spiraling of the main characters throughout the story's progression is riveting and painfully relatable sometimes. However, I can only give this a 3 stars as the narrative is a little uninspired. The prose doesn't showcase the needed urgency at some of the plot points, and personally the short, punchy chapters didn't work for me towards the end.

After seeing others reviews of this book and hearing what it was about I was dying to get my hands on it. This was incredible and everything I could have hoped for and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Excited for publication day when I can add the physical copy to my shelves! This was an incredible book to start my year off with!

Monika Kim's "The Eyes Are the Best Part" is a gripping and psychologically intense novel that delves into the unsettling journey of its protagonist, Ji-won, set against the backdrop of Korean-American culture. This dark and atmospheric narrative explores themes of obsession, resentment, and the pursuit of the unconventional in a truly unique and captivating way.

From the very first page, Monika Kim's writing style is nothing short of remarkable. Her prose effortlessly draws readers into a world filled with vivid and haunting imagery that lingers in the mind long after the book is closed. Kim's storytelling approach is both distinctive and immersive, making the reading experience a memorable one.

The characters in the story are portrayed with depth and complexity, making them feel relatable and, at times, deeply flawed. Ji-won, as the central character and unreliable narrator, invites readers into her distorted world, allowing them to experience the narrative through her eyes. Despite the characters' imperfections and the tensions that arise between them, readers will find themselves connecting with their emotions and motivations.

What truly sets this book apart is its ability to maintain an unrelenting grip on the reader's attention. The plot is filled with unexpected twists and turns, along with eerie and suspenseful moments that keep the atmosphere tense throughout. Ji-won's gradual descent into obsession, particularly her fixation on blue eyes, adds a layer of unease and anticipation that never wavers.

While some elements of the plot may be anticipated by readers, this sense of expectation only enhances the book's allure. Monika Kim skillfully crafts a narrative that is both suspenseful and thought-provoking, keeping readers engaged until the final page.

"The Eyes Are the Best Part" is a brilliant and subversive exploration of themes such as family dynamics, obsession, and the hidden darkness within us all. Monika Kim's fresh and distinctive voice in the realm of horror literature leaves readers captivated and hungry for more. Whether you are seeking a psychological thriller or a profound examination of the human psyche, this book comes highly recommended. It is a compelling and unsettling read that will leave a lasting impression and linger in your thoughts long after you've finished reading.