Hooked 2

*Hooked* by Asako Yuzuki is a razor-sharp psychological thriller about friendship that turns feral, set amid the everyday pressures and quiet isolations of contemporary Japan. If you loved the unnerving pull of *Butter*, this new novel offers the same appetite for desire, status and what we’ll do to feel chosen.

Eriko seems to have it all: a gleaming Tokyo apartment, ambitious work in a major trading company, and a bold plan to bring Nile perch back to the Japanese market. Underneath, she’s painfully alone. When she discovers Shōko’s candid blog—full of convenience-store meals and domestic chaos—Eriko is captivated by a life that feels real. A chance meeting sparks a bond that quickly grows intense, then unsettling, as Eriko’s need for closeness becomes obsession.

Perfect for readers of Japanese fiction in translation, dark female friendship stories, and food-centred literary suspense.

Add it to your stack and see just how tightly this story can reel you in.