The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika KimMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Honestly, I've been a fairly big fan of the Korean Revenge Fantasy thing for a while, starting with older movies, then more recently, with wicked reading. I kinda hoped this would meet my craving.
However, it didn't quite come across as good as I'd hoped. The nuance isn't really here. The hate for blue-eyed devils, whether justified or not, just came across as pure revenge fantasy with motives that are either (view spoiler) or (view spoiler).
If that's all we want out of a tale of (view spoiler) then have at it! But after reading Vegetarian and a few other like-minded feminist Korean horrors, I can't say this reaches the top of scale. Perhaps it's because it's a one-way mirror, focused only on justifications for her increasingly erratic behavior.
Of course, as a horror, this is to be expected. But also, as a horror, I do expect somewhat more. If I ignore the part where the novel tired me out and drained me, I could say it's an average horror entry lacking in anything but fantasy-level motivations. If others want to subtext it, they're welcome to it. It is revenge porn--of a type. Feminist revenge porn can be very fun. This one, however? Mileage may vary.
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