Listening to Hooked and rethinking the myth of female friendship

Listening to Hooked by Asako Yuzuki, known in Japanese as Nile Perch, turned out to be far more unsettling than I expected, in the best possible way.

After reading Butter, I thought I knew the emotional terrain Yuzuki was interested in. I expected sharp observation and discomfort, and I got both, but Hooked went further. It doesn’t just examine women’s friendships, it takes apart the myth surrounding them. The idea that female friendships are automatically nurturing, safe, and emotionally intuitive is quietly but relentlessly questioned. What emerges instead is something far messier and far more human.

The story drops you into the world of women’s friendship circles, where expectations are rarely spoken out loud but are constantly felt. What stayed with me was how easily intentions are misunderstood. A gesture meant as closeness can be read as control. Silence can feel like rejection. Admiration can blur into fixation. Yuzuki captures how quickly these misreadings can stack up, especially when someone is deeply invested in being chosen, seen, or needed.

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