A review by laramie_moore
The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

challenging dark funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

 I listened to this book in less than a week while working. The first half was a little slow and took a while to set up for the second half. 
Ji-won's father and mother are separated and only three months after her father has moved out, her mother is dating a white man who obviously has problems.  Ji-won makes new friends. One, Jeff is a great juxtaposition to George her mother's boyfriend, as they both exude racist ideas and attitudes but in different ways. George outwardly leers at Asian women and is disrespectful to  Ji-won, her sister, and her mother. Jeff acts and talks like he is educated and "anti-racist," but instead really it highlights his ingrained racism. 
These men are making Ji-won go crazy and she starts fixating on their eyes. She wants to eat their eyes. One by one Ji-won starts murdering men and eating their eyes. throwing herself into a tailspin, Ji-won digs herself deeper and deeper with these men until finally, she catfishes George in order to murder him, instead he turns on her, and in the end she ends up in the hospital, where she finds out she had a brain tumor. Once strong enough, she finally murders George and frames Jeff for it.