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The Eyes Are the Best Part

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The Eyes Are the Best Part

By: Monika Kim
Narrated by: Rosa Escoda
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About this listen

 'I was enticed from the first line' OYINKAN BRAITHWAITE, author of My Sister, the Serial Killer
This feminist howl-of-a-debut is going to crawl right under your skin
'An outstanding debut' NEW YORK TIMES
SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS
NEW YORK TIMES BEST HORROR BOOK OF THE YEAR
SPOTIFY 'BREAKOUT' AUTHOR OF THE YEAR

Ji-won's life is in disarray. Her father's affair has ripped the family to shreds, leaving her to piece their crappy lives back together.

Then her mother's new white boyfriend enters the scene, bragging about his knowledge of Korean culture. As he swaggers around their claustrophobic apartment ogling her teenage sister, Ji-won's grip on reality begins to slip.

She finds herself growing obsessed with his brilliant blue eyeballs, resolving to do the one thing that will save her family - and curb her cravings...

'Smartly written... A writer to watch' BIG ISSUE

'Darkly funny' FERN BRADY, author of Strong Female Character

'Monika Kim has written a novel every library needs to own' LIBRARY JOURNAL©2024 Monika Kim (P)2024 Octopus Publishing Group Genre Fiction Horror Literary Fiction Psychological Suspense Thriller & Suspense

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All stars
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This novel does a delicate but conscious job of setting the scene, building up a picture of the American Korean community through the lens of our central family، a recently single mum and her two daughters struggling to cope with the departure of their father, and life as a working class family. The eldest daughter Ji-won is the protagonist keenly conscious of how her identity is perceived and how she and her fellow women are seemingly powerless in a world where white and male privilege is so dominant. Watching her mother's struggles she is determined to find another way to resist.
The title alludes to her mother's insistent claim that to eat the eyes of a fish brings luck and indeed fortune and foresight are key themes in this story as Ji-won wonders if she must accept her lot in life or take her family's future into her own hands when things start to change for them all.
Biting and funny, with an engaging cast and vivid writing, this is a story of empowerment that might have you rooting the pleasure or wincing with unease. Great fun to read.

Sharp and Incisive

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Really fell into this story right from the beginning. Very immersive, and sooooooo good. Loved the writing, loved the characters. Would 100% recommend!

So good

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I have heard amazing things about this book and also the premise sounded so intriguing

In this novel, we are introduced to a family that's a broken home due to the husband finding someone else to be with and see over time the oldest daughter Ji-Won over time start to change... the changes are subtle at first but in this Tumultuous time in her life you can see her sense of self has started to fracture & how she sees everyone and everything gets more distorted, people turn into nothing but unpleasantries to suffer and to make suffer and the only thing that seems really to her is the obsession we see happen (Eyes) and she only fills fulfilment when she devours eyes. This obsession shows that nothing in her life she has power over other than this and she gets off on the power trip from it ( but she also hates the man who has been dating her mother).

This is an interesting book about a young woman who has never had a life where she was wanted or needed and turns into an unhinged violent woman.

The ending was a little bit of a surprise.

intriguing story

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Generally I get a bit frustrated when the narrative leaves you unsure if the events are actually happening or it is just in the characters head, but I found this engaging enough that I really enjoyed the tale

Sometimes you have to take an extreme route to taking your power back.

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I had a good time with this audiobook. The narrator's lisping was a little disturbing, but otherwise it was OK.

Entertaining

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Loved this book, the story was great. Love seeing people get their comeuppance. Short read.

Sweet Revenge

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I was drawn in almost immediately and loved the power given to the main character, especially as she was a teenager! Her quick mind and dark thoughts made the connection to Ji-won build throughout the story! Loved the ending!!!

Listened in one sitting

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Great performance, I enjoyed the overall pace and the main character was very likeable in a 'everyone is messy at that age' kind of way.

how a tiny thought can spiral into obsession

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A nice weird but very enjoyable listen. the author catches and excellent sense of tension at times with some unexpected twists.

Good rage story from a perspective i had not seen before

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I really need to stop buying recommended books. I’m not sure if I big them up to be amazing in my head then once I’ve read them I’m left really disappointed. I was expecting this to be a gory horror. It was more of a teen book. The MFC was completely unlikeable and had so many dream sequences that I wasn’t sure what was real and what was in her head. And not in a fun, mysterious way. Just an incredibly dull and unfulfilling read.

Yawn

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