This was a bit messy and a teensy bit try-hard, but I was very entertained, and enjoyed seeing how everything worked out. This is probably because it This was a bit messy and a teensy bit try-hard, but I was very entertained, and enjoyed seeing how everything worked out. This is probably because it relies on a lot of mystery tropes that I enjoy greatly. In particular, if you have read And Then There Were None or seen The Last of Sheila (a movie that has largely been forgotten but which every mystery lover should watch) you will probably enjoy this, and also be annoyed that even though this is meta mystery about mystery and crime writers solving a mystery/being in a thriller themselves, neither of those two things are ever mentioned, and they should have been.
All right, time to put the rest of this man's books on my TBR. This book was so WHOLESOME. But also, I laughed really, really loud at a pretty dark joAll right, time to put the rest of this man's books on my TBR. This book was so WHOLESOME. But also, I laughed really, really loud at a pretty dark joke. A lil somethin' for everyone.
This was just a little bit too long, and had a little too much battling for my personal tastes, but it made me tear up at the end, and also laugh hystThis was just a little bit too long, and had a little too much battling for my personal tastes, but it made me tear up at the end, and also laugh hysterically, so rounding up to five.
[4.5 stars]
r/Fantasy BINGO 2025: Gods and Pantheons (Hard Mode: Multiple Pantheons)...more
Lots of development in this one, but I missed the Carl/Donut relationship building a bit here, and this level wasn't my favorite. Still, this series cLots of development in this one, but I missed the Carl/Donut relationship building a bit here, and this level wasn't my favorite. Still, this series continues to be so entertaining to listen to. Very excited to get to the next two books sometime this fall. If I can wait that long.
I love this series more with every book, and this one really amped up the stakes emotionally. I'm excited to see where it all goes and also how much mI love this series more with every book, and this one really amped up the stakes emotionally. I'm excited to see where it all goes and also how much more weird shit I will get to read about. I will be buying Dungeon Crawler Carl fandom stuff as soon as it makes itself known to me. I shall become unbearable once I reach book five.
"STOP PRESSURING ME, CARL."
[4.5 stars, rounded down for now, anything could happen in the future]...more
This was definitely a cozy mystery, with that ending. I thought it was building up to something else! Anyway, I love this series, and I'm glad it's baThis was definitely a cozy mystery, with that ending. I thought it was building up to something else! Anyway, I love this series, and I'm glad it's back to its origins with Daisy stopping bad men and helping the people they harm with pies. I need to buy hard copies of these books, if for nothing else than the recipes in the back....more
This was sooooo close to getting five stars. Might come back to this rating later and bump it up after the book h30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 5 Book 12/30
This was sooooo close to getting five stars. Might come back to this rating later and bump it up after the book has had a chance to sit in my brain for a while. Historical fantasy, academia, friendship, class issues, non-sexy faeries—I just love when the faeries are dangerous, and here they're really dangerous. The post WWI aspect of the book was also a very good choice thematically for what this story was about. Continue to love H.G. Parry and think she's extremely underrated.
You know what, no, I've talked myself into bumping this up to five stars right now.
July 2025: Yeah I'm giving this five stars now. (Second book finished at Bookcamp 2025.)
May 2024: One verrry uncomfy and confusing scene aside, I had July 2025: Yeah I'm giving this five stars now. (Second book finished at Bookcamp 2025.)
May 2024: One verrry uncomfy and confusing scene aside, I had a lot of fun with this. The audiobook is just as good as everyone has said. I love LitRPG when done well and when not offensively misogynist (which I don't think this was, aside from a few nitpicks) because the feeling of coming along for the ride of a game or puzzle makes my brain very happy. Plus a talking cat is a main character. I will definitely be continuing the series.
I kind of can’t believe how much I liked this. Sometimes you just have to try new things! I do not recommend that the new thing you try be eating humaI kind of can’t believe how much I liked this. Sometimes you just have to try new things! I do not recommend that the new thing you try be eating human eyeballs, as our MC is into, but like, try some pig ear soup! Or some menudo. You never had jackfruit? Try some jackfruit (had to throw something in for the vegans). You know! Or like me. Reading a book about a woman who looooooves eating eyeballs, a thing most versions of past me would not have believed I would do, let alone enjoy.
I sat on this review for a little bit because I wanted to see what my subconscious could do with the story after a little stewing (pun not intended—don’t stew eyeballs) and I’m glad I did that, because it has indeed settled in my head, and I think if I read it again, I would bump up my rating even higher.
The Eyes are the Best Part opens with Ji-won and her sister Ji-hyun witnessing their mother falling apart after their father left weeks before. The family is Korean American, both parents are immigrants, and the girls were born in the US. Their father leaving has thrown their lives into chaos. This also coincides with some changes for Ji-won, who is a freshman at college, and is dealing with growing pains of her own. Soon her mother begins dating a man named George, who is clearly an Asian fetishist, and Ji-won begins dreaming and then imagining (and then putting into practice) eating the blue eyeballs of men.
The blurb says the books is about a female serial killer in the making from a Korean American perspective, and that’s accurate, because it’s just as much about Ji-won dealing with being treated and feeling differently due to her race and gender (with a little bit of class thrown in for good measure; her family is poor) as it is about her becoming a murderous monster fixated on eating eyeballs. And the two things are not unrelated!
Something that initially kept me from giving the book five stars is that my brain was having a hard time making the connection between the eyeball eating and the clearly literary-leaning rest of the book, that so accurately and incisively pokes at the social structures Ji-won is straining against, at the men who look at Asian women and see nothing but sex, at the rest of society that puts Asian Americans into very defined categories and doesn’t allow for them to make mistakes (Ji-won is not a good student, doesn’t get into Berkley like her friends, and is put on academic probation in her first semester of college, just to name a few things). Anyway, so I jokingly suggested halfway through the book while trying to piece this all together, is the eyeball eating, is it the gaze??? And you know, it absolutely is. It just took my brain a bit to get there (and this interview from the author solidifies it). She absolutely did this on purpose.
Anyway, I highly, highly recommend this book. The unhinged main character, her outrageous actions, the incisive social commentary, all of it works. I can’t wait to see what Monika Kim does next, I will definitely be here for it.
A zany adventure mystery, with Osman's signature humor. Might have more thoughts later, might not.A zany adventure mystery, with Osman's signature humor. Might have more thoughts later, might not....more