“The Eyes Are the Best Part” by Monika Kim

 

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Stats 

Author: Monika Kim

Series: —

Format: e-book

Pages / Mins: 284 pages

Genre: horror

Started: 2025-01-01

Finished: 2025-01-01

Rating: 4/5

📢Publisher Summary

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195703882 

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.

🧠My Quick Thoughts 

🔍How I Found The Book

I was watching a YouTube video by Gavin Reads it All about the top 24 books of 2024, and he listed this in that video. Then I found it was free to read on Amazon Prime. 

📖Book in 3 Sentences 

- Ji-won’s life falls apart when her father abandons the family for his mistress 

- All the men in Ji-won’s life are terrible and she is not dealing with it in a healthy way

- All the men in Ji-won’s life get what they deserve 

🤔Thoughts

- God damn this book triggered me 

- The author must have channeled my ex because George is so much like him - fuck you, George 

- Kinda slow in the beginning but definitely picks up as the story goes on 

- The descriptions of the eyes made my stomach churn but this wasn’t so over the top like extreme horror and I enjoyed that 

- Unreliable narrator but done right 

- Subtle increase in the confidence of Ji-won was very enjoyable to read. Especially when she is called a girl, and she replaces that with “woman”. Because she is not a little girl! She is a grown woman!

- Love that ending

💗Who Would Enjoy This

Someone who likes subtle horror that isn’t completely over the top. 

🥇Top 3 Quotes

“Fate can bring you together, but it can just as easily tear you apart.”

 “The only power he has is the power you are willing to give him, and you’ve given him nothing. Not a scrap.”

 “You’re not like other girls. That’s why I like you.” You’re right. I’m not like other women.

🏷Themes

#theme/horror #theme/female-rage #theme/cannibalism #theme/murder #theme/revenge 

🧾Review

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7149492217

Blog: https://wtfdidkatejustread.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-eyes-are-best-part-by-monika-kim.html

This book was a trip! It really triggered me. Ji-won’s poor mom is going through serious heartbreak, which may be very sad. The main bad guy, George, shared so many similarities with my ex that I was on the edge of my seat, waiting for the main character to murder him lol 

Every man in this book is an absolute asshole, but all in different ways. Of course Ji-won has some very serious issues and is certainly not a good person either. But I could feel her rage and her frustration that stemmed from her life circumstances:  the rejection from her father, the unbearable situation with George, the annoyance of Geoffrey. Her studies being so heavy on top of all of that, plus her semi confusing feelings towards her friend. Everything was tense and uncomfortable. Everything. It physically made me uncomfortable along with her. 

Something I want to point out that I think is important, but subtle, is the description of the eyeballs. I wouldn’t classify this book as an extreme horror book, even though there are elements of it. But I liked how subtle that was. I liked that the main focus of the book was the uncomfortable tension that was building inside of Ji-won. 

And that ending? Perfect. As this review says: “good for her”. 

CAWPILE rating:

Characters: 8

Atmosphere: 9

Writing: 10

Plot: 10

Intrigue: 8

Logic: 8

Enjoyment: 8