Book Review: The Eyes Are the Best Part
Description
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.
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 Review
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!
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!
Comments