Molka is my second read from author Monika Kim, but was far more emotional and intense for me than The Eyes are the Best Part. Before going into this book, one should know that there is a LOT of sexual, domestic, and other violence inside it. I say this as more than the average content warning. It is not gratuitous for the sake of shock or entertainment. It is visceral in order to make a point- something the author discusses in a brief introduction to the book. The book is a story about monsters wherein the living represent a far greater horror than any ghost.
Inspired by spy camera epidemics of sexual violence in Korea, the book explores what happens to the lives of women who find themselves on the other end of the lens. Kim also explores the inner workings of the type of mind that would plant them. While I felt the book could be heavy handed here and there, most of it felt very real. Something that is scarier than the actual violent event itself is the aftermath and the trauma. One notable thing that Kim captured that many books with this theme do not is how trauma can cause you to turn on those who care. She captured how it can cause care and anything decent to feel… wrong and uncomfortable. To even see these things as attacks. She captured what can happen when you juxtapose the life of a survivor against that of those who do harm. The cascade of disintegration of one’s life and mind after sexual violence and betrayal like this is so very real in this book.
I will keep this review short as it is somewhat impossible to discuss this in too much more depth without giving away the story. I recommend that you go into it prepared, especially if you have any sort of history here. I do think it offers some catharsis making it worth reading and seeing as entertainment. I am very picky about the kind of sexual violence I am willing to consume in fiction and in this book it is a means to an end rather than the core of the story itself.
This was also posted to my storygraph and goodreads.