Hooked by Asako Yuzuki

Asako Yuzuki’s novel Butter was a hit in 2024 when an English translation of it was published. Following on from that success, her publishers have released a translated version of an earlier novel written by Yuzuki. Hooked was originally published in 2015 and has been translated into English by Polly Barton.

Hooked revolves around the lives of two 30-ish Japanese women. Eriko is a ‘career woman’ who still lives at home with her parents. She has had an entitled upbringing, has been to university and now works for the same company that her father worked for. The company deals in fish distribution and sales, hence the analogies throughout the book relating to fish (readers will learn a lot about the Nile Perch).  She isn’t very happy at work, people steer clear of her, and she is jealous of their relationships. Eriko seems to put her foot in her mouth when she does speak with other women. A temp working in the office, named Maori is downright nasty to Eriko, but Eriko has slept with her husband to be. It seems Eriko is prepared to go to extreme lengths to get people to like her, often with disastrous consequences.

Eriko follows a blogger named Shoku, who writes under the persona of Hallie B. Her claim to fame is that she is a lazy housewife who likes to do nothing and finds the ’whole business of living tiring’. In the blog, Shoku refers to her husband as the Demon King. In reality, her husband seems to be a kind and gentle man who accepts Shoku’s need to blog. Eriko becomes obsessed with the blog and stalks Shoku, eventually meeting her face to face. Eriko desperately wants to be friends with Shoku. In fact, Eriko would just like to have any friend. She is somewhat traumatised by an event in her past, which haunts her as an ex-school friend keeps appearing in her life. Something terrible happened while they were at school together, which eventually gets revealed.

Shoku the blogger is asked to write a book, but as things start to unravel it becomes clear that she’s not really interested in doing it. She looks up to another successful blogger, which makes her begin to question whether her lazy lifestyle is really of interest to anyone, and how much truth there is in creating a fictional persona. Who actually buys into the blogs and how much truth is there in them?

The main theme in the book is loneliness. In modern Japanese society, there are many lonely people. Young women are deemed to be unmarriageable if they get to 30 and are still single. Women who choose not to work are expected to be good housewives and maintain a clean house and cook tasty food. Those who work are judged on how they dress and behave. Of course, things are changing and more women are choosing a solo lifestyle. Over 60% of Japan’s unmarried young people don’t want to have children, so the birth rate is rapidly declining.

After Covid, Japan created the Office for Policy on Loneliness and Isolation in 2021. In a survey  carried out in December 2025 https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/12/japan/science-health/loneliness-isolation-survey/

Almost half of Japanese nationals claimed to have experienced loneliness and isolation.

This book is an interesting look at some of the social norms in Japanese society and how things are changing.

There are many references to food, which is always interesting. Some of the situations the characters get themselves into seem a bit extreme, and some parts of the story become a little repetitive, but as an examination of female relationships, power plays and manipulation, and a snapshot of life in modern Japan, it is an entertaining read.

Reviewer: Rachel White

HarperCollins