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The Eyes Are the Best Part

by Monika Kim

Family rupture and a growing hunger in psychological horror

Regular price $22.05 USD
Regular price $36.75 USD Sale price $22.05 USD
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Hardcover New English

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Print BookAvailable Paperback $17.69 USD$29.49 USD
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Awards & Recognition

  • Award recognition

    Bram Stoker Award winner

    The metadata identifies the book as a Bram Stoker Award winner.

  • Editorial selection

    TIME Magazine 100 Must-Read Books of 2024

    Selected for TIME Magazine's 100 Must-Read Books of 2024.

  • Critical praise

    Praise from the New York Times Book Review

    The New York Times Book Review praises the novel as violent, smart, gruesome, and wildly original, noting its tr...

AlbakiReads Editorial

Family rupture and a growing hunger in psychological horror

Ji-won’s family is unsettled by her father’s departure, her mother’s new relationship, and the pressures of college. As vivid dreams about eyes begin to intersect with her anger toward George, the novel frames its horror around a young woman’s unraveling and the choices she makes. Its Korean-American perspective connects family turmoil with questions of misogyny, Asian fetishization, stereotypes, and navigating two cultures. The result is a story that brings domestic conflict and campus violence into the same unsettling frame.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Adult readers seeking psychological horror centered on family conflict and a female serial killer.
  • Readers interested in fiction exploring Korean-American experience, misogyny, and Asian fetishization.
  • Fans of horror that combines disturbing imagery with social themes.

Themes

Family turmoilMisogynyAsian fetishization and stereotypesKorean-American identity and navigating two culturesAnger, violence, and obsession

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

"Violent, smart, gruesome and wildly original, this novel pulls readers into a horrific world of murder and cannibalism while also critiquing misogyny, exploring Asian fetishization and stereotypes, sharing what it's like to navigate two cultures and telling a touching story of a family in turmoil." --New York Times Book Review

* TIME MAGAZINE 100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2024 * BRAM STOKER AWARD WINNER * SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARD FINALIST *

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.
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