Review: Hooked: A Novel of Obsession by Asako Yuzuki, Translated by Polly Barton

Hooked: A Novel of Obsession by Asako Yuzuki,

Translate by Polly Barton

Blurb from Goodreads:

From the author of the international bestseller Butter comes a chilling and perceptive novel about obsession, female friendship, and the slow unraveling of two lives.

Eriko’s life looks perfect—from her prestigious job at a Japanese trading firm to her spotless apartment and devoted parents. Her newest project, to reintroduce the controversial Nile Perch into the Japanese market, is as ambitious as she is. But beneath her flawless surface lies a consuming loneliness. Eriko has never been able to hold on to a real friend.

Enter a popular lifestyle blogger whose work Eriko follows obsessively. Shoko lives a life of controlled chaos—messy apartment, take-out dinners, a kind, easy-going husband. She writes about daily contentment, though her fractured relationship with her father gnaws at the edges of her happiness.

When Eriko orchestrates a “chance” meeting with Shoko, the two women strike up an unlikely connection. For a fleeting moment, Eriko believes she’s finally found what she’s always longed for. But as her fascination turns to fixation and Shoko’s carefully balanced life begins to dissolve, both women are pushed to breaking points neither of them saw coming.

Deftly translated by Polly Barton, Hooked is a taut, provocative novel about modern womanhood, the hunger for connection, and the quiet, ordinary ways our lives can spiral out of control. With razor-sharp insight and disarming empathy, Asako Yuzuki explores how far we’ll go to be seen and what happens when the ones who see us don’t like what they find.

My Review:

You know I loved this author's first English translation, Butter, and this novel definitely continues in the same vein. I was immediately transported to Japan and the world of these two women.  I wasn't sure where the novel was going to go and I was not disappointed!  Definitely give both of these books a read!!

Hooked comes out next week on March 17, 2026, and you can purchase HERE!  

The convenience store bag containing Eriko's breakfast and a copy of today's Nikkei newspaper rustled against her beige pleated skirt. She sat down at her desk and switched on her computer. The deep boom of the start-up noise resonated at her feet, tracing invisible arcs in the air as it spread through her surroundings. 

This moment, and this moment only, was time given to her when it was acceptable to think and do nothing whatsoever. It was quite possibly the most at peace that she felt throughout the entire day.

Eriko savoured this little scrap of freedom, which lasted until her neatly organised desktop materialised on the screen in front of her.