The Eyes Are the Best Part 🧿👁️

By Monika Kim.

Content Warning - Racial fetishisation, eye chomping, murder.

Ji-won's life spirals into chaos after her father's affair and sudden departure. Her mother is shattered, her younger sister is left hurt and confused, and Ji-won's freshman grades are in freefall.

The once-stable foundation of her family and academic life has crumbled, leaving her adrift in a sea of anger and resentment. As her reality disintegrates, her dreams transform into horrifying yet tantalizing visions, providing an unsettling escape from the turmoil.

In these nightmares, Ji-won roams through blood-drenched rooms filled with piercing blue eyes—eyes identical to George's, her mother's obnoxious new boyfriend. George has wormed his way into their cramped apartment, a constant and unwelcome presence. He flaunts his overblown consulting job, ogling Asian waitresses with a disgusting sense of entitlement, and treats Ji-won and her sister with condescension and disrespect.

He revels in her mother's adoration, basking in the glow of attention he neither earns nor deserves. Ji-won knows he is a parasite, feeding off the remnants of her broken family, and she is determined to ensure he gets what he truly deserves.

As Ji-won navigates the chaos of her waking life, her dreams become increasingly vivid and violent. She begins to see the eyes everywhere, haunting her every moment. These eyes are a constant reminder of her growing fury, pushing her closer to the edge. Her grades continue to suffer, and she withdraws further into herself, finding solace only in the dark fantasies that consume her dreams.

On campus, a series of gruesome murders shocks the community. The victims, seemingly unrelated at first, share a common thread that Ji-won cannot ignore. She feels a strange connection to these events, a pull she cannot resist. The more she delves into the details, the more she realizes that her dreams are not just fantasies—they are a blueprint for her revenge.

Ji-won begins to manipulate those around her, weaving a web of deceit and cunning.

The bodies pile up, each death bringing her a twisted sense of satisfaction. She becomes more adept at playing the role of the grieving daughter and concerned sister, all the while feeding her growing appetite for vengeance.

Read this if you like:

👁️Feminist psychological horror

🧿Korean-American perspective 👁️Transformative power of trauma

🧿Serial Killer Narrative

Thank you so much to the author - Monika Kim as well as the team at Tandem Collective UK for running a book tour with this book as well as Octopus Publishing!

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