I always find it fascinating when I see lots of people hyping a book up but on somewhere like GoodReads or Storygraph it has a more average rating. Hooked by Asako Yuzuki certainly falls into that complex category.

At its core this is a book about two women that are struggling to find their place in the world, society, their families, friendships and how they have navigate the emotions related to all of that. It has a great potential to be a story that shows a huge amount of character development and even finds a way to give the reader a bit of inspiration.

But that potential, on either level, never comes to fruition. I read, and I read a little more, and kept expecting the plot to move in a way that allowed for some drama that really forced the characters to develop. Yes it did absolutely have some development but it was so slow that it really didn’t feel like progress. It ended up feeling like walking a marathon (and I’ve walked a half marathon a couple of weeks after having surgery and I wouldn’t recommend it).

Not only that but the characters had huge flaws and even at the end I didn’t really feel that the characters fully acknowledged their own flaws. Both women are ultimately trying to be independent and strong women in their own way but neither of them do the key strong thing; They don’t accept their mistakes and the part they are playing in issues escalating and developing. Really near to the end there’s a moment where one is about to strike a similarity between their actions and the other and instead they just seem to laugh and continue to justify their own options. Simply put that just irks me.

I kept reading. I kept waiting. Nothing really happened. There was something of a plot but it needed a lot more to really pack the stalker and obsessive plotline punch that would have gave this story more of a wow for me.

For me it’s a 3/5 stars. It had good moments and the writing was decent enough but it just lacked the punch I was hoping for. I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend this to someone but if you do enjoy a slow burner with a little character development of unlovable characters then maybe it’s for you.