By Monika Kim
SPOILERS
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.
REVIEW
THEMES: HORROR, DARK, TENSE, FAST-PACED.
The Eyes Are The Best Part is a story that follows Ji-Won as she experiences the trials and tribulations of what it is to be a Korean woman growing up in a western country (America). After her mother gets a new boyfriend, she starts to notice the striking blue in his eyes. It slowly becomes an obsession, that leads to something far more sinister.
This is my favourite horror so far – I am someone who likes horror books that have a purpose, and this one delivered.
Protagonist (in my eyes) Ji-won is driven to rage due to the racial fetishization and performative feminism created by men.
Kim touches on subjects that are typically overlooked and brushed off – she came for blood, and I loved it. Was it a bit unrealistic… yes but it was a very real scenario many women can relate to, and boy was it satisfying to read.
The satisfaction I felt when Ji-won started driving George insane was unmatched. I, for one have met so many Jeffrey’s in my life and to see it written on paper was so validating- performative feminism is joked about but not spoken about, Kim did a great job of encapsulating this behaviour and pointing out the signs.
There switch from sane to insane was quick, that’s for sure. The eye-eating takes a minute to stomach (pun intended), and the ending was a bit unrealistic as said above, but I do not think the point was to be realistic it was to be enjoyable – in real life she would have been arrested but I am glad she did not.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, but I think women would love it -especially Asian women as it touches on Asian fetishization.
And it’s her first book, how incredible.
Click link below for Storygraph overview, which includes general rating, summary (same as above) and other reviews.
The Book Slump 