The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

 

I was a little hesitant to read this book because I am a HUGE WUSS when it comes to horror and I don't care who knows. Body horror and spatterpunk are really hard for me to read and the cover makes it look like this book is going to be really gory. But it's not. It's kind of like if you crossed MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER with YELLOWFACE: you have the literary female serial killer pulp juxtaposed against some very powerful discussions of Asian racism.

Most of the horror doesn't happen until the last 40%. The first 60% is an intense character portrait about Ji-won, whose mother has just started dating a white man named George. George is That Creep(TM) who has a fetish for Asian women-- and even worse, he ogles and objectifies Ji-won's younger sister. She needs him gone, stat. But he has the prettiest big blue eyes... and she thinks they look tasty.

The imagery of literally eating the white male gaze is quite powerful and I think this book does a great job of showing the anger that a lot of Asian women (rightfully) have when they exist in a culture that fetishizes and objectifies them, denying them the right to exist as autonomous, flawed human beings, as well as the expression of their identity on their own terms.

I had a few issues with the ending and there were one or two things that felt a little over the top, but on the whole this feels like a smart and campy horror movie and I was actually pretty into it.

3.5 to 4 out of 5 stars