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The Eyes Are the Best Part
“Violent, smart, gruesome and wildly original, this novel pulls readers into a horrific world of murder and cannibalism while also critiquing misogyny, exploring Asian fetishization and stereotypes, sharing what it’s like to navigate two cultures and telling a touching story of a family in turmoil.” —New York Times Book Review
* TIME MAGAZINE 100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2024 * BRAM STOKER AWARD WINNER * SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARD FINALIST *
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.
Ji-won’s life tumbles into disarray in the wake of her Appa’s extramarital affair and subsequent departure. Her mother, distraught. Her younger sister, hurt and confused. Her college freshman grades, failing. Her dreams, horrifying . . . yet enticing.
In them, Ji-won walks through bloody rooms full of eyes. Succulent blue eyes. Salivatingly blue eyes. Eyes the same shape and shade as George’s, who is Umma’s obnoxious new boyfriend. George has already overstayed his welcome in her family’s claustrophobic apartment. He brags about his puffed-up consulting job, ogles Asian waitresses while dining out, and acts condescending toward Ji-won and her sister as if he deserves all of Umma’s fawning adoration. No, George doesn’t deserve anything from her family. Ji-won will make sure of that.
For no matter how many victims accumulate around her campus or how many people she must deceive and manipulate, Ji-won’s hunger and her rage deserve to be sated.
A brilliantly inventive, subversive novel about a young woman unraveling, Monika Kim’s The Eyes Are the Best Part is a story of a family falling apart and trying to find their way back to each other, marking a bold new voice in horror that will leave readers mesmerized and craving more.
* TIME MAGAZINE 100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2024 * BRAM STOKER AWARD WINNER * SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARD FINALIST *
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.
Ji-won’s life tumbles into disarray in the wake of her Appa’s extramarital affair and subsequent departure. Her mother, distraught. Her younger sister, hurt and confused. Her college freshman grades, failing. Her dreams, horrifying . . . yet enticing.
In them, Ji-won walks through bloody rooms full of eyes. Succulent blue eyes. Salivatingly blue eyes. Eyes the same shape and shade as George’s, who is Umma’s obnoxious new boyfriend. George has already overstayed his welcome in her family’s claustrophobic apartment. He brags about his puffed-up consulting job, ogles Asian waitresses while dining out, and acts condescending toward Ji-won and her sister as if he deserves all of Umma’s fawning adoration. No, George doesn’t deserve anything from her family. Ji-won will make sure of that.
For no matter how many victims accumulate around her campus or how many people she must deceive and manipulate, Ji-won’s hunger and her rage deserve to be sated.
A brilliantly inventive, subversive novel about a young woman unraveling, Monika Kim’s The Eyes Are the Best Part is a story of a family falling apart and trying to find their way back to each other, marking a bold new voice in horror that will leave readers mesmerized and craving more.
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Community Reviews
closer to a 3.5 ⭐️ than a full 4 ⭐️ but I liked it! A pretty classic horror/good for her type story. I saw it recommended to people who like My Sister the Serial Killer and would agree.
Monika Kim's debut novel, The Eyes Are the Best Part, is a good read. The writing style is strongest in its descriptiveness. The description of consuming eye balls is a highlight. The pacing may have a slow start for many readers, but I didn’t mind it. Every decent novel requires a slow start. Writers need to build the world and introduce the characters. That way, readers can actually understand and appreciate the future conflict that comes.
I had no issue with the graphic content. The novel makes no apologies about its body horror. Just look at the cover! Just read the first chapter! There is a lot you can criticize about this novel, but criticizing the graphic content is a bit of a stretch.
Ji-won is very relatable. I liked her as the main character. You can’t help but feel sorry for her situation. Most of the other characters are very dull. The male characters specifically are just caricatures. I understand this is a feminist novel, but you can write male characters that are less campy and still tackle the real issue of misogyny.
The nightmare sequences get very repetitive. This novel is not even that long, but you could easily cut out a lot of it. There is a ton of fluff. It could have been shorter. Respectfully, I disapprove of the way this novel wrote the homeless person. It comes across as exploitative. Homeless people already go through so much, and to perpetuate their suffering for shock value is just wrong.
The ending is predictable. It strangely feels too rushed and too slow simultaneously. It took forever to get to the ending and yet feels unearned. I would like to see a movie adaptation of this novel. It would work better in a film format. Regardless, I look forward to Monika Kim’s next novel. What the author lacks in substance, they make up for in style.
I had no issue with the graphic content. The novel makes no apologies about its body horror. Just look at the cover! Just read the first chapter! There is a lot you can criticize about this novel, but criticizing the graphic content is a bit of a stretch.
Ji-won is very relatable. I liked her as the main character. You can’t help but feel sorry for her situation. Most of the other characters are very dull. The male characters specifically are just caricatures. I understand this is a feminist novel, but you can write male characters that are less campy and still tackle the real issue of misogyny.
The nightmare sequences get very repetitive. This novel is not even that long, but you could easily cut out a lot of it. There is a ton of fluff. It could have been shorter. Respectfully, I disapprove of the way this novel wrote the homeless person. It comes across as exploitative. Homeless people already go through so much, and to perpetuate their suffering for shock value is just wrong.
The ending is predictable. It strangely feels too rushed and too slow simultaneously. It took forever to get to the ending and yet feels unearned. I would like to see a movie adaptation of this novel. It would work better in a film format. Regardless, I look forward to Monika Kim’s next novel. What the author lacks in substance, they make up for in style.
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