Los ojos son la mejor parte is the striking debut by Monika Kim, published by Seix Barral within the Biblioteca Formentor collection, a horror novel that combines body horror, social critique, and a very unsettling portrait of family and everyday violence.
When her father leaves the family, Ji-won’s life, a young Korean-American woman, begins to crumble. Her mother sinks into despair, her little sister breaks down, and she starts to take refuge in her nightmares. In her dreams, she wanders through rooms stained scarlet, surrounded by bright blue eyes identical to those of George, her mother’s new boyfriend, an intruder who moves arrogantly through the house and devours her with his gaze.
The house becomes a claustrophobic space: George’s eyes follow her inside and outside of the dream. Her fixation grows to the point that any man with blue eyes attracts her in a way she doesn’t understand. Ji-won fantasizes about tearing out those eyes, holding them between her fingers, biting them, and seeing if tasting them would release an unexpected sweetness. What begins as a disturbing fantasy is no longer enough: she needs to go further.
With sharp prose drawing from Korean literary tradition and contemporary psychological horror, Kim narrates the genesis of a possible serial killer and explores how trauma, racism, family pressure, and misogyny become embodied in the body of a girl who finds no way out. The novel plays with the boundary between dream and wakefulness, desire and violence, leading the protagonist into a dark spiral of obsession and self-destruction.
Celebrated by outlets such as The New York Times, The Times, and TIME as one of the most powerful voices in new horror, Los ojos son la mejor parte is a twisted, brutal, and disturbing fairy tale about female rage, beauty standards, and bodies that refuse to remain objects. A perfect read for those seeking literary horror with a social background and a new voice unafraid to unsettle.
