“Hope is a terrible thing.”

Family turmoil, peppered with race and identity issues, drive a Korean-American college student into mental disrepair and a gory obsession. Monika Kim’s “The Eyes Are the Best Part” reminds readers that horror doesn’t necessarily have to be scary: you aren’t going to find jumpscare exhilaration in this story; there are no nail-biting scenes of terror. However, you will find that specific kind of moral degradation that comes from compulsive commitment, and honor, and nothing is scarier than abandoning reason. Sometimes love makes people do real bad shit like try out an unflattering hairstyle, listen to bad music, and killpeopletoeattheireyeballs. Obsession is horrifying, all on its own. If I could narrow this experience down to a few words, they’d be “Uniquely disturbing, profanely flavorful.”

Also, this was grooooooossssss :D

I think a few of the reviews are being a little pedantic about the writing. The flow was choppy and confusing at times, happens to the best of us. It’s a debut novel and I’m excited to see how Kim develops her voice. Also, fully disagree with the “unbelievable characters.” A lot of you have never met “male feminist” philosophy majors.

3.5/5 Stronger editing would have sharpened this story significantly.