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A review by tacoboutmari
The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I read this for a book club and this was the perfect book club read. There’s so much to explore here in this psychological thriller. I love my books layered and complicated. This tackles Asian fetishization, misogyny, cultural differences, classism, trauma, familial expectations and getting revenge.
I listened via audio. The beginning I would say is a bit slow. It didn’t feel dragged. The author took their time slowly establishing Jiwon as a unreliable narrator and the unraveling events that took her to feasting on the eyes of her victims.
The character portraits were astounding. I felt like I knew Jiwon’s sister and Umma personally. I felt like they were very dimensional and felt real. Real is hard to do. They both had bad and good traits. Jiwon’s sister even felt like my younger sister at times. This created an excellent family dynamic that felt authentic.
One thing that kept me from five stars was the dialogue and the dream sequences. Maybe it’s because I read via audio that I felt the dialogue was cringey aside from Geoffrey’s and George’s remarks. It didn’t feel like what a real person would say. It felt forced sometimes. Jiwon’s inner dialogue was excellent though. Very visual and gory. The dream sequences (again could be because I read them via audio) was hard to distinguish from dream vs reality. Maybe this was intentional? To show how troubled Jiwon’s thoughts really were? I struggled with them even so and had to rewind to figure out the scenes. I would have preferred day dreaming vs the constant nightmares.
If you’re looking for something traditionally scary I would say this may not be the book for you. However I am of the belief that a woman’s rage is something to be fearful of. That’s what this was. A young woman getting her tasty revenge on the trashy men in her life.
I listened via audio. The beginning I would say is a bit slow. It didn’t feel dragged. The author took their time slowly establishing Jiwon as a unreliable narrator and the unraveling events that took her to feasting on the eyes of her victims.
The character portraits were astounding. I felt like I knew Jiwon’s sister and Umma personally. I felt like they were very dimensional and felt real. Real is hard to do. They both had bad and good traits. Jiwon’s sister even felt like my younger sister at times. This created an excellent family dynamic that felt authentic.
One thing that kept me from five stars was the dialogue and the dream sequences. Maybe it’s because I read via audio that I felt the dialogue was cringey aside from Geoffrey’s and George’s remarks. It didn’t feel like what a real person would say. It felt forced sometimes. Jiwon’s inner dialogue was excellent though. Very visual and gory. The dream sequences (again could be because I read them via audio) was hard to distinguish from dream vs reality. Maybe this was intentional? To show how troubled Jiwon’s thoughts really were? I struggled with them even so and had to rewind to figure out the scenes. I would have preferred day dreaming vs the constant nightmares.
If you’re looking for something traditionally scary I would say this may not be the book for you. However I am of the belief that a woman’s rage is something to be fearful of. That’s what this was. A young woman getting her tasty revenge on the trashy men in her life.