Hooked

by Asako Yuzuki, Polly Barton (Translator)

The unmissable new novel of friendship and dangerous obsession from Asako Yuzuki, the award-winning author of the global bestselling sensation Butter.

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

Eriko's life appears perfect – devoted parents, spotless apartment and a 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, Shoko. Shoko’s posts about eating convenience store food and her untidy home are the opposite of the typical Japanese housewife’s manicured lifestyle. When Eriko tracks Shoko down at her favourite restaurant and befriends her, Shoko is at first charmed by her new companion. But as Eriko’s obsession with Shoko deepens, her increasingly possessive behaviour starts to raise suspicion. As Eriko’s carefully laid plans begin to unravel, how far will she go to hold on to the best friend that she’s ever had?

Beautifully translated by Polly Barton, Hooked is a thrilling and unsettling story of the line between friendship and dangerous obsession. A delicious exploration of food, loneliness and womanhood in contemporary Japan, Hooked brings together all the ingredients for which Asako Yuzuki is so adored.

Genres: Fiction, Japan, Japanese Literature, Contemporary, Thriller, Literary Fiction, Adult Fiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 2015

About the author

Asako Yuzuki (柚木 麻子, Yuzuki Asako) is a Japanese writer. She won the All Yomimono Prize for New Writers and the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize. Asako has been nominated multiple times for the Naoki Prize, and her novels have been adapted for television, radio, and film.

Reviews

[jaimie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars feels a bit harsh for this since I really enjoyed Butter, but I think the whole concept of this fell a bit flat. The whole jist of the story is that all of the women in it are unlikable and terrible at maintaining female friendships and even their own relationships, because women are inherently catty and gossipy therefore how could they ever form meaningful relationships? In every single conversation between two women in this book, they CONSTANTLY bring up how they don’t have female friends and how women are difficult to get along with. I just found the whole concept so boring and repetitive by the end of the book.

Now, the stalking and blackmail aspect to this book really sped up the plot which was very much needed. The only thing is I don’t think it was used to its full potential, it wasn’t developed on enough as it could have been. I would have loved to see at least one of the women in this story going full on unhinged instead of teetering on the edge for chapters on end.

I honestly felt quite sorry for Eriko by the end of the book. She doesn’t know why she can’t form relationships with anyone, she is just a very intense person and unfortunately people are easily put off by her. No, she doesn’t help herself by literally blackmailing someone she considers her ‘best friend’ who she barely knows to go on a spa break with her for a few days. But I find it so mean that her boss, her coworkers, even her PARENTS find her insufferable to be around and tell her this TO HER FACE! No wonder she was going crazy, wouldn’t you?!

I can appreciate what Yuzuki was trying to do with this book, and I love that it was once again female centred just like Butter; you could even argue that there are even less key male characters in this book and they are mostly plot devices. I just think that I wanted more from such an intense idea, and I am left frustrated at this.

[Mirella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Partenza coinvolgente, poi ho avuto l'impressione che si perdesse un po', senza saper bene cosa fare con tutto quel materiale umano. Uno sviluppo un po' sprecato.

[Denny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mi ha attratto come un magnete silenzioso.
Sentivo un’urgenza sottile: entrare nella mente di Eriko, ascoltare il flusso dei suoi pensieri, capire l’origine della sua ossessione, il perché di quel vuoto che sembrava divorare ogni cosa.
Eriko non si osserva soltanto: si attraversa, come una stanza buia in cui si ha paura di restare troppo a lungo.

Dall’altra parte c’è Shoko. Con lei ho avvertito subito una connessione istintiva. Il suo blog era una boccata d’aria: leggero, libero, privo di pressioni e di colpa. Con Shoko potevo abbassare le difese, lasciarmi andare senza il peso del giudizio, come se le sue parole concedessero il permesso di respirare.

Il finale è stato inaspettato, e lo ammetto: mi ha sorpreso profondamente. Soprattutto perché ci si chiede, quasi in modo automatico, se la vita di Shoko sia stata davvero rovinata da Eriko.

Eppure, leggendo con attenzione, emerge una verità più scomoda. Tutte le scelte di Shoko, quelle che l’hanno condotta a diventare una persona terribile, non hanno nulla a che vedere con Eriko. Perché, in fondo, Shoko ed Eriko si somigliano più di quanto si voglia ammettere: due specchi che si riflettono, due solitudini che si confondono, due colpe che non possono essere attribuite a nessun altro.

[sus ⊹⟡₊⋆∘ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Come già nel suo precedente libro, Asako Yuzuki ha creato in questo romanzo due personaggi che mi creano forti emozioni contrastanti: da una parte le prenderei a ceffoni, in altri momenti, dall'altra le abbraccerei forte. Probabilmente è anche tutta una questione di differenze culturali e quindi ottica e abitudini diverse a livello proprio di società e priorità.
In generale comunque è un libro che a parer mio fa molto riflettere sui rapporti tra donne, e in particolare sul concetto di amicizia, sia fra queste che in generale. È qualcosa su cui in effetti non ci soffermiamo mai abbastanza e spesso (come, per fortuna, nel mio caso) diamo troppo per scontato. Ho apprezzato anche la riflessione sulla difficoltà - oggi più che mai - di crearsi una vita, che sia a livello lavorativo, ma anche sentimentale, relazionale, e anche solo di abitudini e equilibrio emotivo, anche nei propri trent'anni.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a loose and meandering story that was less sinister and more of a family tale than I expected from the blurb. In lots of ways it touches on all the hot topics of female-authored Japanese fiction: gender roles, female friendship, negotiations with parents, loneliness and the fleeting nature of connections, food and body image, marriage and work. Both Shoko and Eriko start off envying each other's life; each faces up to their problems and learns life lessons in the process. I found this perfectly pleasant with some interesting scenes of Japanese life but it's not the sharp page-turner I'd looked forward to - sorry!

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC via NetGalley

[♡•Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yippee to early bookseller access! 🥳 I don't typically read contemporary Japanese fiction (nor did I ever read Butter) but I thoroughly enjoyed this one! This is one of those books which starts from quite a simple premise, but develops into a captivating and nuanced story with lots of interesting and relevant social commentary. Definitely need to experiment with more from this genre this year!

[Kosuke Kamiya · Rating 5 out of 5]

あらすじ
商社で働く志村栄利子は愛読していた主婦ブロガーの丸尾翔子と出会い意気投合。
だが他人との距離感をうまく掴めない彼女をやがて翔子は拒否。執着する栄利子は
悩みを相談した同僚の男と寝たことが婚約者の派遣女子にばれ、とんでもない約束を
させられてしまう。一方、翔子も実家に問題を抱え。
不器用に生きる二人の未来に一縷の光は見いだせるのか。

感想
執筆中

[Franco · Rating 4 out of 5]

“女人那種即使短短的一瞬也要像焰火一樣光芒耀眼，這種天生的社交性，以及每個小小的約定——即使不一定真的會有下次，也許不能從根本上解決問題，但確實拯救了許許多多的人，數都數不清吧。回到剛才的話題上，兩個從前的好朋友站在那裡起勁兒地說著話，這時候從旁邊蹬過去一輛自行車，兩個高中女生合騎在上面……這兩個人一定會心裡感到一陣輕鬆，由衷地露出會心的微笑，如果能擁有這樣的瞬間，不是也會很幸福嗎？”

[Lewis Joan Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

記憶是美好的，尤其是榮利子和翔子的初次相遇。但也許是美好的想象，在接下來的日子裏變得尤為炫目，榮利子無法割舍與翔子的友誼。
感觸最深的是擁有完美人生的榮利子竟然沒有一個朋友。
我們如果用自己的準則要求他人，特別是自己的朋友，未免也太苛刻，因為我們自己都不一定達標。
朋友的定義是什麼？利榮子僅僅與翔子打過四五次照面，就認定翔子是她的朋友，是太孤單了吧？

[Yasuko · Rating 5 out of 5]

途中で一度読むのがしんどくなって、とまってしまってしばらく放っておいたのだけど、再開した後はそれまで読んでいた印象と全く違った。もう一度読み返そうと思う。今のところ印象しか書けないが、後半とても良かった。

[Fiammetta · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[emily]

give me the arc nowwwwwww

[Adele · Rating 3 out of 5]

....menomale alla fine tutto si è sistemato in qualche modo.

[Marti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Potenzialmente interessante, nella pratica un po' troppo diluito e improbabile in alcuni passaggi. Inespresso il potenziale simbolico dell'acquario, peccato per lo sviluppo.