The feeling of being observed without express permission is one of disgust, revulsion, and intrusion in this day and age. Advances in technology with little to no checks and balances have made voyeurism run more rampant, a fact that is particularly true concerning Korean culture. In fact, the very title of Monika Kim’s upcoming release, Molka, refers to the practice of the covert installation of cameras for recording purposes without the subject’s consent. Theoretically, such an act sounds horrendous, but for Dahye, this has become her reality. When private footage of her and her very wealthy, very socially prominent boyfriend, Hyukjoon, surfaces online, Dahye finds herself in an inconceivable position. Even more concerning is Hyukjoon’s absence as is called away by his family to avoid the intense scrutiny generated by the media. Alone, Dahye tries to navigate the isolation she feels, the hurt, and the resurfacing of a past that won’t remain invisible. Amidst all this, an IT worker at Dahye’s company, Junyoung, takes an interest in Dahye and inserts himself in her struggles, resulting in unthinkable outcomes.
To be frank, no one is writing abhorrent men like Monika Kim. As with The Eyes Are The Best Part, feelings of intense rage are hard to ignore while traversing the pages of Kim’s books, visceral and consuming. This is mostly thanks to the stellar character work instituted that has readers sitting front and center to injustice, violence, and violation at the hands of men with little to no regard for their female companions. While Molka may be fiction, the issues are far from so, a truth that is resoundingly apparent in a world infatuated with technology and dismissive of regulations. What is more horrifying than an ever-growing beast with no governance, no care, no concern?
Beyond the implications of characters who are truly upsetting, the societal impact of the horrors displayed in Molka are downright harrowing. Dahye finds herself in a situation that feels like the definition of the saying, “Out of the frying pan and into the fire.” The repeated injection of malbehavior within Kim’s characters speaks to a wider commentary on social attitudes towards issues of voyeurism and violation. In other words, readers are shown the prevalence of an inhumane culture surrounding our humanity, not a mere character flaw on an individual basis. More horrifying still.
While these barbaric practices, actions, and personalities truly make the horror in Molka shine, Monika Kim also writes with a very tactile poignancy surrounding grief, loss, regret, and resolution for justice. Through Dahye’s character, we are not acquainted with just a victim of cruelty, rather an agent for change within her family, a vow to correct the assumptions she once made, and a violent journey to keep others from suffering her same fate. It’s an emotionally wrought journey that Dahye embarks upon, one laced with harsh truths.
Monika Kim performs a post-mortem on the vile attitudes of entitlement that have become commonplace in today’s world with Molka. With every slice away at the issue at large, Kim exhumes horror after horror regarding the hellscape of ungoverned technology, the growing attitudes of cruelty towards women, and the ease at which such perpetrators of violation move through the world. Yet, we are stapled back together through justice by whatever means necessary, the absolution that such acts of harm cannot go without repercussions. Violent, bold, and angry, Molka by Monika Kim lays bare the injustices of this world with the promise of a settled score.
Molka by Monika Kim releases on April 28, 2026 from Erewhon Books. The audiobook is available for preorder via Libro.fm!
