Hooked

'Tender and thrilling it's Yuzuki at her best'
ELLE

'I couldn't stop reading' COSTANZA CASATI

'Unsettling, compelling, richly written' JODIE HARSH

'Dark, tender, unforgettable' JANE CASEY

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, pristine apartment and a high-flying 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 soon Eriko's obsession with Shoko begins to spiral out of control, threatening her carefully laid plans. How far will she go to hold on to the best friend she's ever had?

Beautifully translated by Polly Barton, Hooked is an unsettling story of the line between friendship and dangerous obsession, and a delicious exploration of food, loneliness and womanhood in contemporary Japan.

A most anticipated book of 2026 in Vogue, Guardian, New York Times, Forbes, The Times, Sunday Times Style, Elle, Stylist, BBC, Grazia, Bricks Magazine, Radio Times, LitHub, Oprah Daily and Daily Express.

'The kind of book you press into your friends' hands, desperate to dissect it' ERIN KELLY, author of The House of Mirrors

'An exciting new thriller that you won't be able to put down'RADIO TIMES

'Expect to see this distinctive pink cover everywhere' GRAZIA

'[A] razor-edged story about women, appetite and what we'll do to feel chosen … Safe to say, we're already hooked'OPRAH DAILY

'No one writes about the hidden depths and lurking monstrosities of womanhood quite like Asako Yuzuki' ALICE SLATER, author of Let the Bad Times Roll

'A thrilling and deliciously sharp examination of the extremes of female friendship. Achingly tender and wickedly funny' EDEL COFFEY, author of In Glass Houses

'Dark, spiny and slippery, this haunting tale of loneliness and longing in the modern age will leave you gasping' TOBI COVENTRY, author of He's the Devil

Ideal for readers who...

• enjoy dark, psychologically charged fiction about friendship, desire and obsession
• like contemporary Japanese settings that explore loneliness, identity and womanhood
• are drawn to character studies where fascination turns controlling and dangerous
• love literary thrillers with sharp social observation and uneasy humour
• are fans of Butter and want more from Asako Yuzuki