Molka

Monika Kim has done it again. Molka has the same "good for her", viscerally satisfying, eat the patriarchy vibe as her first novel (The Eyes Are the Best Part).

Molka is the South Korean term for cameras hidden with the intent to record private situations, but people (mostly women) are victimized by this all over the world. I love staying in AirBnBs, but I always do a sweep for places that look like they could have cameras, like air vents. Or random stuffed animals.

Molka is split between two primary PoVs:

Dahye is the most sympathetic character, a young woman in a whirlwind romance with Hyukjoon, a handsome, charming heir to a fortune whom we meet on the anniversary of her sister's death.

Junyoung is an IT guy in her office, and he has cameras hidden in all the womens' bathrooms all over the office building and has developed an obsession with Dahye.

Slight spoiler: Junyoung is not the worst guy in the story. We get multiple examples of how women detect his creep factor right away, so, in person, at least, we can stay far away. Every man (actually, know what? I don't want to give anything away, but there is ONE who kinda tries to do the right thing) that finds out about the cameras thinks, as Officer Kim verbalizes at one point, "It's not like you hurt anybody."

When video of Dahye and Hyukjoon is leaked from a molka site, things start to unravel for her, trauma from her childhood resurfaces, and things get messy - in an awful but satisfying (mostly) way.

Plus, you know I always like folklore in my stories, and I love the way Kim uses some Korean lore in this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the advance copy for my unbiased review. Pub. date: April 28, 2026