Hooked

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Hooked

By: Asako Yuzuki, Polly Barton - translator

Narrated by: Ami Okumura Jones

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THE MILLION COPY #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF BUTTER IS BACK WITH A NEW NOVEL OF OBSESSION

‘Tender and thrilling it’s Yuzuki at her best’ ELLE

‘Deliciously satisfying’ iPAPER

‘Enjoyable and addictive’ INDEPENDENT

‘Fantastically dark’ ERIN KELLY

Eriko really wouldn't mind being savaged, if it was her best friend doing the savaging …

Eriko's life appears perfect – devoted parents, pristine apartment and a high-flying job in the seafood division of one of Japan's largest trading companies. Her latest project, to reintroduce the controversial Nile perch fish into the Japanese market, is characteristically ambitious. But beneath her flawless surface she is wracked by loneliness.

Eriko becomes fascinated with a popular blog written by a housewife, Shōko. Shōko’s posts about convenience-store food and her messy home are the opposite of the typical manicured housewife. When Eriko tracks Shōko down at her favourite restaurant, Shōko is at first charmed by her new companion. But soon Eriko's obsession with Shōko begins to spiral out of control. How far will she go to hold on to the best friend she’s ever had?

Beautifully translated by Polly Barton, Hooked is a delicious exploration of food, loneliness and womanhood in contemporary Japan.

A most anticipated book in Vogue, Guardian, New York Times, The Times, Sunday Times Style, Elle, Stylist, Grazia and more.

‘Expect to see this distinctive pink cover everywhere’ GRAZIA

‘A psychological thriller with a social commentary bite’ INDEPENDENT

‘Unsettling, compelling, richly written’ JODIE HARSH, author of You Had to Be There

‘Translated with crackling verve’ GUARDIAN

‘I couldn't stop reading’ COSTANZA CASATI, author of Babylonia

‘Stayed with me for weeks’ IRISH TIMES

‘Tremendous – an elegantly written … dissection of female friendship’ THE GLOSS

‘You can’t fail to be reeled in’ SERVICE95

‘Will leave you gasping’ TOBI COVENTRY, author of He’s the Devil

‘No one writes about the lurking monstrosities of womanhood quite like Asako Yuzuki’ ALICE SLATER, author of Death of a Bookseller

Asako YuzukiPolly Barton - translatorAmi Okumura JonesFourth Estate

Asian Creators

City Life

Friendship

Genre Fiction

Literary Fiction

Urban

Women's Fiction

Women's Voices

World Literature

Asian Creators City Life Friendship Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Urban Women's Fiction Women's Voices World Literature

Critic reviews

Praise for Hooked:

‘Deliciously satisfying’ iPaper

‘A psychological thriller with a social commentary bite … an uncomfortable yet strangely gripping read … enjoyable and addictive’ Independent

‘Translated with crackling verve by Polly Barton … The unrolling suspense compels, as does the deep dive into both characters and their motives’ Guardian

‘A story I could not put down’ Standard

‘I was practically reading through my fingers’ Daily Mail

‘Subtle, original and thought-provoking … stayed with me for weeks after I had finished it’ Irish Times

‘Hyper-compelling … Yuzuki pinballs between the glib and the strange with arresting intensity’ New Statesman

‘Tender and thrilling it’s Yuzuki at her best’ Elle

‘You can’t fail to be reeled in by Asako Yuzuki’s luminous prose’ Service95

‘Tremendous … stays in your head long after you close it’ The Gloss

‘A must read for fans of smart, twisty fiction’ Sheerluxe

‘Very good … you turn the pages’ Front Row, BBC Radio 4

‘I'd recommend adding it to your reading lists immediately’ Daily Express

‘The kind of book you press into your friends’ hands, desperate to dissect it’ Erin Kelly, author of The House of Mirrors

‘Had me in a headlock. No one writes about the hidden depths and lurking monstrosities of womanhood quite like Asako Yuzuki’ Alice Slater, author of Death of a Bookseller

‘A brilliant, shocking, unforgettable page turner … I couldn't stop reading’ Costanza Casati, author of Babylonia

‘A razor-edged story about women, appetite, and what we’ll do to feel chosen … Safe to say, we’re already hooked’ Oprah Daily

‘A thrilling and deliciously sharp examination of the extremes of female friendship’ Edel Coffey, author of In Glass Houses

‘Dark, tender and unforgettable’ Jane Casey, author of The Secret Room

‘The most stressful fun I’ve ever had reading a book’ Jodie Matthews, author of Meet Me at the Surface

‘This haunting tale of loneliness and longing in the modern age will leave you gasping’ Tobi Coventry, author of He’s the Devil

Most relevant

I went into this expecting an ordinary thriller, so I wasn't prepared for such sensitive and convincing character portraits. The blurb had led me to expect a lot of guilty pleasure from the reading experience, but I actually ended up deeply empathising with the main characters, and rather than watching a dumpsterfire like a nosy bystander, I felt like I was viscerally experiencing the events in first-person, a rollercoaster of ecstasy, anxiety and grief.

I particularly liked the way reality seemed to warp depending on whose perspective I was reading - you experience first-hand the subtle ways in which what you perceive as external reality was in fact always-already shaped by your internal world. I think the point that the author was trying to make by alternating between the perspectives of two very different characters is that we all experience the world in this mediated way, and that the points in our perceived world that are most distorted by our mind are precisely where our particular pathologies lie. I think this is a very illuminating way of understanding mental health - not as symptoms but as the way the world must necessarily be experienced, because the world is always mediated by your mind.