The Eyes Are the Best Part

Written by Monika Kim

Narrated by Jaine Ye

“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 FINALIST • 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 9, 2024
• ISBN: 9798892738958

Monika Kim

MONIKA KIM is a second-generation Korean American living in Los Angeles' Koreatown. She learned about eating fish eyes and other Korean superstitions from her mother, who immigrated to Los Angeles from Seoul in 1985. The Eyes Are the Best Part is her debut novel and was selected as a Book of the Year by the New York Times, TIME, Spotify and others.

Reviews for The Eyes Are the Best Part

[sauljimenez1394 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Started interesting. By the end I was bored. Dissatisfied. Disappointed.

[Katherine Whiteman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Honestly, good for her.

This book was truly so good

[Jennifer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Gruesome. Awesome. Aweful. Beautiful. Read it ? Off to find more by this author.

[73pctgeek-23012 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Ji-won's life is falling apart. Friends, school, family, all fragmenting, dissolving. And then one day her mother meets George. Ji-won *hates* George. With a passion.

I quite enjoyed most of this, the main exception being the dreams. I'm not a fan of dream sequences, ever. The writing was engaging, the story interesting, and it ended with a mostly satisfactory conclusion. Some parts were a little over-the-top, some threads are left a little unfinished, but all in all an enjoyable read. Do NOT read if ommetaphobic. Do read for female rage, and comeuppances.

[jen_bartels-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Actually, I'd say 4.25 stars, mostly because there was a part near the end that I didn't love, but it redeemed itself. This book isn't for the squeamish, but I didn't find it overly gross at all; I've read grosser LOL. The feminine rage against all the misogyny was utterly fantastic and I loved every bit of it. If you're finding yourself in need of a good females-not-putting-up-with-men's-shit-anymore, this is it.

[mstrust · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When Ji-won's father abandons the family for another woman, her mother can barely hold it together. Just a few months later, it's a surprise to Ji-won and her younger sister when Umma is suddenly in love with a White man, George, who has brilliant blue eyes and an Asian fetish. Ji-won quickly learns that George sees women as interchangeable and nothing more than servants.
His arrival coincides with Ji-won's sudden taste for fish eyes, the luckiest part of the fish. Trying to deal with Umma's blind devotion to a horrible man, her sister's anger, her own danger of failing her freshman year of college, and a stalker classmate, Ji-won decides that the men who have made her life so miserable shouldn't have underestimated her.

Yes, this has some gruesome scenes. The book cover is accurate, but if you read gritty murder mysteries, this probably won't shock you. The majority of the story is about an immigrant family that has been through the wringer, financially and emotionally. The three women are left to fend for themselves, with the two American daughters expected to behave like their Korean mother.

[spiritedstardust · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Girl’s dad leaves their family. Then her mum gets a gross boyfriend. And then a creepy guy at her school stalks her. So what’s a girl to do about the men bothering her? Eat some eyes.

This was ok - but it did the thing where you have a scene but oh wait, it was just a dream. It was just a dream about 20 times.

[dcoward_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very well written, just a bit too gory for me.

[mcelhra · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Eyes are the Best Part follows Ji-Won, who lives in a small apartment with her mother and sister. Her father recently left her mother, upending the family. Her mother starts dating George, a disgusting white man with an Asian fetish. To give you a hint of what his character is like, he calls Asian people “Orientals”. To Ji-Wan’s horror, her mother lets George move in with them.

The stress of her family situation causes Ji-Won to have graphic nightmares involving eyeballs. Shortly after they begin, she is driven to actually eat human eyeballs. She obviously has to kill people to harvest their eyeballs and thus we are witness to the evolution of a serial killer.

Even though, or maybe because, this book is super gross, I loved it. It’s not just simply a horror novel about cannibalism. It’s a commentary on issues of race, specifically the microaggressions and racism directed toward Asian people. It’s about family and loss and grief. And it has a great twist at the end.

I picked this book up because it was recommended to fans of My Sister is a Serial Killer, and after reading it, I agree with that recommendation. But you should read it even if you haven’t read My Sister is a Serial Killer. And then read that book too!

Highly recommended.

[sucharita1986 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Eyes Are The Best Part by Monika Kim is a brilliant psychological horror with a stunning twist waiting at the climax. The story starts slowly, but this pacing allows readers to dive deeply into the minds of its complex characters. It’s been a while since I’ve read a book so engaging and impactful. True to its title, the novel does include some gore, so be prepared if you’re squeamish—but the intensity is worth it for the immersive experience it offers. Despite some moments of violence, the book remains captivating throughout. I believe it deserves much more recognition than it’s received so far. Special thanks to my fellow bookstagrammers for recommending this gem; it truly lives up to the praise. I’d give it a well-deserved 5 stars for its storytelling, chilling atmosphere, and unforgettable twists.

[bookczuk · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've only recently started reading books labeled horror , and this was different from any I've read thus far. What I liked was that it was a debut novel, touched on so many important issues of families, stereotypes, cultural differences and misconceptions, sexuality balance of power and fetishes... wow. The spiraling of Ji-won's anger and issues with multiple aspects of her life, the pushes and pulls she felt, could be felt viscerally, but kept me rooting for a serial killer. There was a bit where the writing didn't ring true to me which broke my attention -- mostly because (I'm being really careful to not give spoilers because it's near the end) it is something I am very familiar from my own past. (No, I'm not a serial killer nor do I think I know any -- it's more of how things happen around the characters that gave me pause and took me out of the story.)
Anyhow, I'm glad no one in my family has blue eyes.
Rounded up to 4 stars.
Great cover! And great Auntie Editor!

[kalliegrace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Gross. This was a dark, disgusting, fun, revengeful time. This is not scary horror, but slow building disturbing mania. I really enjoyed the characters and was almost too squicked out by the graphic eyeball eating sequences.

[Jennifer Daugherty · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a very slow build up. But it was a very good book

[eboods · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC!

This was great! Twisty, surreal, and GROSS. It was fast paced, but still built tension as the characters fought, and you really had a good mix of sympathy for the main character, despite her actions. Plus the twists at the end! Really well done.

[sublunarie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Add another incredible character to the Unhinged Women Literary Universe!

Ji-won is a first-year college student living at home with her parents and younger sister. When her father suddenly leaves the family, they are all set on a path none of them expected. Ji-won's mother meets George, a disgusting white man with an insidious Asian fetish and Ji-won does everything she can to hold what remains of her family together. Unfortunately the hardest person to keep in check is herself.

I loved every second of this book. The path to destruction Ji-won walks feels at once sudden and gradual. Her obsession with blue eyeballs rockets her into actions she would never have thought possible, but somehow I was rooting for her the entire way.

I support women's wrongs, especially Ji-won's wrongs!

Thanks to NetGalley and Kengsington Books for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

[cherylk_44 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was first drawn to this book by the cover. I had to read it. It did not disappoint. I was hooked and the slow development of Ji-won from daughter to ki!!er was really good. Yet, it was not just about her killing, there was a deeper meaning behind the ki!!ings. To be I thought that the reason Ji-won was attracted to "eyes" is because they are the windows to the soul.

I don't blame Ji-won for her resentment towards her mother, Umma new man, George. George is despicable, crude towards Ji-won and her sister, Ji-hyun and other cultures. Every time that he opened his mouth I wanted to st@b him with a fork. The way that he did not even want to take the time to learn how to properly pronounce Ji-won and Ji-hyun but call them JW and JH had me seeing red. As an Asian myself, this really pissed me off.

Let's just say that it almost was like I could hear the squish and taste the saltiness of the "eyes. This is how great the author was at writing this story. Giving my really good, descriptions to conjure visual and sensory images. This book needs to be on your must-read list for 2024!