Hooked by Asako Yuzuki, trans. Polly Barton Review

Spoiler free

I enjoyed this book a lot. I haven’t read Butter but know a little bit about it. It was more of a slow exploration of the characters than a thriller or anything particularly plot-driven. So going into this book, I didn’t have too many preset notions of what it could contain. I was just along for the ride. And it really did not disappoint.

Like I had heard about Butter, this book was an exploration of the two women and their relationship/interactions. As an American reader, I tried to place myself in the shoes of the author or someone culturally assimilated in Japan. So rather than measure these women’s thoughts or actions against my own experiences or whether or not I agreed or empathized with the story or characters, I tried to appreciate it for what it is and its intended audience.

So the narrative touches on so many topics: the dynamics and difficulties of female friendships and understanding others, sexism and societal expectations for women, navigating big-picture work and home-life balance as a woman, independence, human connection in a digital world, and parasocial relationships. And ultimately, finding a personal path to creating and living a life you are content with. The way it discussed interpersonal relationships reminded me of conversations with friends.

The tagline of "A Story of Obsession" was more so alluding to desperation for connection than a thriller-y plot. I loved how the characters had interacted, but their perceptions of the same situation varied so vastly. You get into the minds of each character, and while you don’t have to agree with their choices, in fact, you may not even like or sympathize with them. I felt like they always had an interesting insight or perspective on human connection that I was eager to annotate.

Some events were kind of random and unrealistic or left with loose ends, but I found that I didn’t really care. I can see why some might not like it, get irritated at the characters or narrative style, find it a bit slow, etc.

Thank you to Ecco Books for the ARC! The US pub date is 3/17/26; the UK pub date is 3/12 by 4th Estate Books.