Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
The Eyes Are the Best Part
The Eyes Are the Best Part | Monika Kim
23 posts | 18 read | 9 to read
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.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
review
Zuhkeeyah
post image
Pickpick

This was my first read of the spooky season and man did it set the tone for the month. An unsettling read with a semi-unreliable narrator who has a gruesome craving.

October #doublespin @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 3w
22 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
Lin3han
post image
Pickpick

…ew. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Five words: blue, soft, squishy, wet, jelly

#twowitches #hauntedshelf

review
Larkken
post image
Mehso-so

There were actually MORE eyes than expected. As advertised? But still. Ew.
#hauntedshelf #flerken book 2!

PuddleJumper Nope, eyeballs are a nope for me! 🤣 2mo
32 likes1 comment
blurb
DebinHawaii
post image

#WickedWhispers

Some covers from my current stacks that I think are #Gruesome or have a gruesome vibe. There‘s something about skeletons, body parts & distorted faces that is 😱

The 2 on the left I‘ve read (& loved) & the 3 on the right are in my #TBR. None of them made my #HauntedShelf TBR shortlist but I am going to try to work Diavola in.

Team #Flerken

PuddleJumper The T. Kingfisher books were so creepy, in a good way! 2mo
RaeLovesToRead Eeeee I hate these. Which probably means they are highly effective!!!! 2mo
DebinHawaii @PuddleJumper In the best way! 😱 2mo
DebinHawaii @RaeLovesToRead Hah! 😱 I love that! 😂 2mo
Eggs Scarey 😱😨🫣 2mo
52 likes5 comments
review
EmberIvyRose
post image
Mehso-so

This was definitely an unusual and disgusting horror novel. The beginning was a bit slow, but the end was oddly satisfying in a twisted way.

LiteraryinPA The cover alone gives me the creeps! 2mo
EmberIvyRose @LiteraryinPA most definitely! 2mo
Cvfrailing Going thru your books!! You‘re my kind of reader :) 2mo
42 likes1 stack add3 comments
blurb
Twainy
post image

#illumicrate horror sub. I was going to cancel then this came. It was a good story but what a fan freaking tastic cover!

dabbe That cover! 😱😱😱 2mo
24 likes1 comment
review
currentlyreadinginCO
post image
Pickpick

You had me at "feminist psychological horror," and "graphic feminine revenge horror." I am apprehensive w the horror genre that a book may not actually be that scary and not worth my time, etc., but I was actually suffering through some of these pages, like our girl Monika Kim needs HELP. It's also beautifully written and I killed it in one sitting -- but primarily , just a wonderful horror story, so well done.

51 likes1 stack add
review
ICantImReading
post image
Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wowza. This is claustrophobic, scathing, and completely unhinged as it skewers the intersection of class, race, and gender. The short chapters make it easy to devour this book, even if some parts will turn your stomach. This will be a hard one to forget! #Aardvark #AardvarkBookClub

48 likes4 stack adds
review
BookwormAHN
post image
Mehso-so

As much as I enjoyed this book, some of the characters could be rather frustrating, and it was quite bleak.
After Ji-won's father walks out on his family, her mother starts dating George, and she develops an unhealthy interest in eyes, especially blue ones 👁
#WickedWords #Revenge @AsYouWish
#Aardvark

review
ReadingOver50
post image
Pickpick

3.5 stars

I liked this more than I thought I would. All the men in Ji-won's life are jerks. When she starts killing them and eating the eyes, I had more of a feeling that they deserved it, rather than feeling sorry for them. The ending felt unnecessarily complicated, which caused more questions than answers.

LittlePixels I think I‘d have to read this in ebook form. I couldn‘t stare at that cover all the time! 🤣 3mo
Twainy 😆 I have that pen case in pink. Oh and the book. 2mo
67 likes2 comments
review
alecia3dixie
post image
Mehso-so

This isn't a bad book, but it's not a good one either. 70% of this book was beyond boring. I actually went back to read the description because I thought I had started the wrong book. When it finally does get to the gory bits, they are good, but by the time you get there, you just don't care anymore. Some of the characters are so one-dimensional and feel very cookie cutter. This book is also VERY repetitive. 2.5/5

blurb
ladym30
post image

From Evernight!!😍

quote
AnnRaz
post image

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

review
Nessavamusic
post image
Pickpick

This was a shocking, addictive, horrific yet very readable horror about a young woman in her first year of college. Her father leaves their family and to make matters worse, her mother soon after begins dating a fairly gross man. A mix of new adult contemporary, family drama, commentary on being Asian American and a lot of body horror. One of the best new books of the year! 5⭐️

44 likes1 stack add
review
Eggbeater
post image
Pickpick

This book was bizarre and gross and a little far-fetched. So I thought it was great. 4⭐️s You definitely don't want to be eating while you are reading it. It is an appetite killer or an ingenious diet plan. Your pick.

I found myself rooting for the killer. I don't know what that says about me, but I really hoped she'd get her prize and get away with it.

38 likes1 stack add
review
Megabooks
post image
Pickpick

Full disclosure: as a vet, ophthalmology was probably my least favorite part of the job. Eyes are gross. They just are. So I didn‘t know if I could handle a horror book based around eyes, but I loved this. The more I reflect on Ji-won‘s appetite for eyes, the more I enjoy it. Funny and gross with some great social commentary about white men fetishizing Asian women, this is another horror win for @AardvarkBookClub ! #aardvark

RosePressedPages I have a friend who just finished this book and had a similar reaction! She loved the rage in the novel 5mo
Megabooks @RosePressedPages yes, you could feel Ji-won‘s anger at these men, but it never overwhelmed other aspects of the plot. She did a really good job with every character‘s arc. 5mo
sarahbarnes Sounds intense. 😳 5mo
See All 7 Comments
AardvarkBookClub 🙌🙌🙌🙌 5mo
vivastory I have this selected as one of my possible reads for “Includes a personal phobia“ for #52bookclub challenge Like you, I don't deal well with eye trauma but Eye (couldn't resist 🙃) am intrigued! 5mo
Megabooks @vivastory for me, it was the right amount of eyeball-focused horror. It wasn‘t overwhelming. I also really appreciated the social commentary. Eye 🤭 Hope you end up trying it. 5mo
vivastory Thanks for your input! 😂 I will let you know my thoughts when I do 5mo
73 likes1 stack add7 comments
blurb
AardvarkBookClub
post image

Horror recs to disrupt your Circadian rhythm 😱

#aardvarkbookclub #horror

blurb
AardvarkBookClub
post image

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.

New members in the USA can use code BEACHREAD at checkout to get their first book for only $4 💙

#aardvarkbookclub #horror #theeyesarethebestpart

44 likes1 stack add
review
AardvarkBookClub
post image
Pickpick

A sharp-witted, high fantasy farce, a feminist psychological horror about the making of a female serial killer, an inventive, high-concept murder mystery with an ingenious puzzle,, a juicy, hilarious and sophisticated tale of love, money, murder, sex a glorious and tantalizing new escape about chemistry, oysters and a man with both ), and an exquisite homage to the lesbian pulp of yore.

#aardvarkbookclub #junepicks

blurb
Avanders
post image

It‘s that time of the month!!

So for #bookofthemonth #botm I was disappointed, but kind of accidentally picked an audio book — hey, something to try (not the author, who I like, but audio through BOTM 🤔)! Let‘s see if I can listen at speed 😉

But #aardvark #aardvarkbookclub did not disappoint! So excited 👏🏽👏🏽 (the 3 in the upper left)

Also, here are 3 of my current reads… the Lawrence is pretty dense, but so interesting— anyone read it??

AmyG I enjoyed The Marsh King‘s Daughter. 6mo
Avanders @AmyG it‘s so interesting so far! ☺️ 6mo
AardvarkBookClub Wahooo!!! Happy June box!! 📦💞 6mo
51 likes3 comments
blurb
Breanne1
post image

It‘s going to be a great June! #aardvark #botm

Avanders 💃🏽 🪩 🕺🏿 6mo
14 likes1 comment