review: the eyes are the best part
ARC REVIEW: I received this ebook for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Title: The Eyes Are the Best Part
Series: N/A
Author: Monika Kim
Genres: Horror
Publishing Date: 25 June 2024
CW: Cannibalism, Body horror, Gore, Racism, Stalking, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Cancer, Pedophilia
My Rating: 4.5 / 5
Read if you’re looking for:
A young, Korean-American woman who starts feeling disturbing urges around blue eyes
Major body horror & stomach churning imagery (a lot of eyeball stuff)
Condescending men getting their comeuppance
Themes of misogyny, racism, fetishization, & feeling like you don’t fit in
A “good for her” ending
This book was right up my alley, and was a quick, short read. Our main character, Ji-Won, is a young Korean-American woman in her first year of college, when her father leaves her family for another woman, leaving Ji-Won, her mother, and her sister behind. Ji-won’s mother seems inconsolable until she meets a new man, a white man named George, who fetishizes Asian women and expects them to be meek and submissive. George proceeds to be gross, while Ji-Won starts to have disturbing fantasies about his mesmerizing blue eyes. Ji-won starts to unravel, and begins on a journey of violence, concluding in a satisfying ending.
This book was very well-written and the characters were very realistic and relatable. Ji-won’s mother is painted perfectly as a woman who doesn’t know who she is without a man in her life, and Ji-won is angry and frustrated. I loved how the author mirrored the fetishization of asian women by the male characters with Ji-won’s fetishization of blue eyes. This was super gory, so if eyeball stuff grosses you out, this is not the book for you. Kim also includes a lot of dark humor, especially around the character of Geoffrey, who is another white man who becomes obsessed with Ji-Won while continuously attempting to convince everyone he’s a “nice guy” and that “he’s not like those other men.” This book is outstanding for a debut, and I would enthusiastically recommend it for lovers of body horror and revenge.