I’m sharing another instalment of my Mini Review Mondays, the most recent of which was last week. In case you haven’t seen any of my previous posts, I do ‘mini’ reviews of books that I’ve previously read and am now ready to share my full thoughts about.
First up, I’d like to talk about The Eyes Are The Best Part by Monika Kim. Thank you to Octopus Publishing Group for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Ji-won’s life is in disarray. Her father’s affair has ripped her family to shreds, leaving her to piece their crappy lives back together.
So, when her mother’s obnoxious new white boyfriend enters the scene, bragging about his flawed knowledge of Korean culture and ogling Asian waitresses in restaurants, Ji-won’s hold over her emotions strains.
As he gawks at her and her sister around their claustrophobic apartment, Ji-won becomes more and more obsessed with his brilliant blue eyeballs. As her fixation and rage grow, Ji-won decides that she must do the one thing that will save her family… and also curb her cravings.
Publication Date: 11th July
TW: body horror (specifically a lot around eyes), violence, death, murder, racism, sexism, misogyny, assault, cannibalism
My Thoughts:
The Eyes Are The Best Part was a provocative and original social horror that draws on untapped rage and unleashes it.
There is just something I adore about complex characters that compel you to keep reading their story – drawing you in and making you complicit in their actions. Ji-won is an excellent example of this, with a craving for more than life and to push back against the racist and sexist confines she experiences. There’s the crushing weight of her responsibility for her mother, manifesting in an emotional anxiety and a social expectation to support her new relationship despite its many, many flaws. It’s a intimate portrait of a family collapse as Ji-won tries to carve out her own space. You just connect with her, even as her thoughts turn towards the darker side. I found myself enthralled by her voice and needing to know what she would do next.
I do not consider myself particularly squeamish, but there is something about eye horror that makes me squirm a little. Kim leans into that inherent unease, reating something that intentionally makes you uncomfortable and unsure. You are never entirely sure where the plot may be going next and I adored this. It was a wild ride of a book, but also one that was very character focused. The actual act involved with eyes is blood-curdling and a symbol of a power flip that the entire book has been building too. Eyes are a defining feature of a face and thereby inform our self-identity. Within Kim’s narrative, they also symbolise the exoticisation and festishisation of Asian women – with a hypersexual and racist current running through. They are an undeniable marker of ‘the other’ in a repellant character and their outlook on life. This is explored in depth and makes for interesting reading, particuarly when intersected with the rife sexism.
It makes it very evident that monsters are everywhere and gives the book a constant sense of tension and unease. You can see the threat coming, it is only a matter of time. This is paralled in another character who made my stomach churn with his manipulative control and ‘nice guy’ demeanour. It serves to skewer the patriarchy and its evolved forms within modern day society. You just want to see these slimeballs get their comeuppance, delving into some murky moral territory.
The Eyes Are The Best Part turns inward with stellar character work and some scenes that may make your skin crawl. This is an exquisitely well-done horror.
Next up, I’d like to talk about Girls Who Burn by MK Pagano. Thank you to Dan McDowell at Hachette Children’s UK for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
When eighteen-year-old Addie’s sister is found dead at the bottom of a ravine it’s officially ruled an accident, but Addie doesn’t buy it. The problem is, Addie has no evidence because when her sister died, she was a little distracted with Seth Montgomery, the boy next door Addie’s always loved to hate.
She believes the murderer is Thatcher Montgomery, Seth’s cousin. He always had a thing for her sister, and Addie caught them arguing shortly before her death. But, one year later, Thatcher is found dead at the bottom of the same ravine and Addie is forced to admit she was wrong.
Dodging corrupt police and the even more corrupt wealthy Montgomery family, Addie needs help to avenge her sister’s death and she turns to the only person she hasn’t managed to push away: Seth. But Seth is a Montgomery too and may be hiding secrets of his own.
Is Addie and Seth’s growing bond strong enough to keep them safe, or will they become the next victims?
Publication Date: 18th July
TW: death, murder, stalking, grooming, blackmail, mentions of suicide, violence, injury
My Thoughts:
Girls Who Burn is a spine-tingling thriller with a dash of romance and bucket loads of atmosphere & suspense, perfect for those hot summer nights.
I have to jump straight into the depiction of grief in this book – it is raw, messy and tears apart the expected image of the dead as some perfect idyll. It prefers to remember people as they were, flaws and all. You can feel that sense of guilt that is particuarly bound up in Addie’s grief as well. She feels trapped by expectations and a sense of abandoning her remianing family if she were to pursue her dreams. Within this, there is also an interesting exploration of true crime and its tendency to dramatise real life people into more digestible caricatures. The accusations and theories around a tragic death are unsettling and feel like people commenting on a TV drama rather than a real person. There is also woven in some commentary on the ‘right’ kinds of victim and how media and police attention may be divided based on this.
This is another mystery that is extremely focused on its characters and their fractured relationships. It is the type of smouldering book that builds its stakes, with plenty of shocking scenes in store, but it feels gradual and naturalistic. The tension remains high throughout, especially with the escalating threats. It is a well-executed mystery with enjoyable twists and turns. The final third is next level though. So many little things pay off to great effect and the climactic showdown had me at the edge of my seat. It explores a lot around classism and the way privilege can be exploited to hide the secrets of the powerful. There is one particular plot thread that sticks in my mind for the tragedy and sickening feeling it imparted to me. The more you think about it, the worse the implications become.
I also enjoyed the enemies to lovers dynamic between Seth and Addie. This is built on years of friendship, torn apart by death and destruction. It had a nice flow to it and chemistry that sparkled off the page. They are also genuinely enemies, on different sides of a police investigation to begin. Circumstances throw them together and it just grows from there. Pagano keeps the dialogue crackling and with plenty of tension of all kinds. There are a multitude of challenges for this potential pairing. It is an undeniable presence throughout, but the narrative always focuses on the mystery at hand.
Girls Who Burn is an electrifying YA thriller that will keep you on your toes.
Finally, I’d like to delve into How Can I Help You by Laura Sims. Thank you to Sarah Stewart-Smith at Verve Books for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
No one knows Margo’s real name.
Her colleagues and patrons at a small-town public library only know her middle-aged normalcy, congeniality and charm. They have no reason to suspect that she is, in fact, a former nurse with a trail of countless premature deaths in her wake. She has turned a new page, so to speak, and the library is her sanctuary, a place to quell old urges.
That is, at least, until Patricia, a recent graduate and failed novelist, joins the library staff. Patricia quickly notices Margo’s subtly sinister edge and watches her carefully. When a patron’s death in the library bathroom offers a hint of Margo’s mysterious past, Patricia can’t resist digging deeper – even as this new fixation becomes all-consuming.
Publication Date: 25th July
TW: death, murder, violence, fire, arson, child abuse
My Thoughts:
This has such an interesting concept – I mean, anything that combines murder and books instantly has my attention. This was a spine-tingling game of cat and mouse that got ever more dark and twisted. Sims uses the intriguing premise to its full potential, resulting in a book you are unable to tear yourself away from.
Margo and Patricia are the types of character whose voices you just get lost in. Neither of them are perfect and combined, they might just bring out the worst in one another. Margo instantly set me on edge when I started her chapter – there was just something insidious within a feigned mask of kindness. It does not take long to unveil a truth but Sims keeps you constantly guessing at what the full truth may be. There is a thin line between reality and fantasy which is always being played with. This is particularly evident within that library setting, being immersed in narratives of all sorts constantly changes your expectations and the characters’ outlooks. It also allows for some fun scenes with customer interactions and a few moments every customer-facing worker can relate to.
However, Sims always managed to infuse these scenes with a quiet menace though. There is a keen sense of an overall power play and chess game at work. You know this is leading to disaster and yet you get totally swept up in the ride. I really love those kind of twisted, claustrophobic narratives that spell doom from the start. You are caught between these two flawed characters and their desires and motivations. Patricia’s investigation leads her to some dark territory and makes her make some morally dubious choices too. You are constantly questioning everything presented to you – creating a compulsively readable storyline.
All of this builds to an explosive final act that I read while on the train and I was concerned I may miss my stop over. It was that riveting as these two finally faced down. Sims does leave a little breadcrumb that I hope may blossom into a future story, though I also love the ambiguity left open. You can keep their story running forever if you so wish.
How Can I Help You is a tensely tantilising cat and mouse thriller that you will not be able to get out of your head.
A Short Book Lover 
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