Reading Skywards – Your Friendly Bookshelf

INFORMATION ABOUT THIS BOOK
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Erewhon Books
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 2024
Format:  Hardcover, Paperback, audiobook, and ebook
Print length ‏ : ‎ 290 pages
Genre:  Horror / Body Horror

MY PERSONAL OPINION OF “The Eyes are the Best Part” by Monika Kim

I got the book from the Free Monthly Picks given by Amazon Prime. I have been looking on reading this book since it came out last year. Something about the premise of the book was enticing… but not sure I had the stomach to read it. Well I did have the stomach… but barely.

For full disclosure, my husband is Korean, so I am accustomed to some of the cultural narrative in this book. The meals, the language, and the family interactions are, for obvious reasons, perhaps exaggerated as part of the book narrative, but based on familiarity.

The book was a solid read. The spiraling of the main character Ji-won’s is as real as it gets. The obsession with and eating eyeballs goes from subtle to full force, and we are on for the ride. We feel as if we are spiraling out of control with Ji-won, the ability to mesh reality with hallucinations, was fascinating. The ability to spiral out of control into a serial-killer-that-eats-the-eyeballs while maintaining some sort of smartness at the same time was great. Ji-won’s remains smart till the very end, and we can see that it will continue to escalate until she is stopped.

There are many characters that are catalysts to Ji-won’s actions, including her mom, who Ji-won loves and pities at the same time. Her sister, who is probably the only person who keeps her grounded. George, with his blue eyes and misogynistic character, Geoffrey, with his clinginess and craziness, and finally Alexis, who brings the sexual tension and confusion. All triggered by their dad abandoning them for a new family.

As I write this review, I realize that I truly enjoyed this book. It was creepy, disgusting, scary, and flat-out nauseating at times. It was a great horror book to read.

PREMISE OF THE BOOK AS FOUND IN AMAZON / GOODREADS:

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. 

MY RATING: 4.5

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bibliography:

• Monika is a second-generation Korean American living in Los Angeles’s Koreatown. She learned about eating fish eyes and other Korean superstitions from her mother, who immigrated to California from Seoul in 1985. THE EYES ARE THE BEST PART is her debut novel.