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Reviews

""Asako Yuzuki has turned [Butter] into not just a fascinating psychological puzzle but also a damning indictment of Japanese misogyny and fatphobia."" - the New York Times ""The lure of Butter is the lure of butter: rich, salty and unctuous. . . . Butter is both an exploration of the life of an unusual femme fatale and a subtle polemic against the impossible beauty standards to which women are held."" - the Washington Post ""Ambitious and unsettling ... a thought-provoking and surprisingly feelgood take on friendship, transgressive pleasures, and society's impossibly contradictory expectations of women."" - the Guardian ""[Asako] Yuzuki takes a thrilling look into female relationships, revealing the complex nature of modern-day social conventions pertaining to a woman's appearance and her place in the home, and enriching the proceedings with mouthwatering descriptions of food. Like the meals Yuzuki describes, this leaves the reader satiated."" - Publisher's Weekly Praise for Butter ""The novel cleverly intertwines paeans to the pleasures of eating with indictments of Japan's standards for women."" - the New Yorker

""Mutual fascination gives way to obsession. . . in this novel, translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton."" - The New York Times (""Novels Everyone Will Be Talking About in 2026"") ""Yuzuki's first translated novel, Butter was a delicious literary feat about the complex entanglement of a female journalist and the alleged female serial killer she is writing about and her second translated novel - about female friendship and obsession - promises to be just as engaging"" - Forbes (""Weird Girl Lit to Add to Your 2026 TBR"") ""The author of the international sensation Butter returns with another razor-edged story about women, appetite, and what we'll do to feel chosen. Hooked pairs two opposites in modern Japan: Eriko, a lonely high achiever with a spotless life, and Shoko, a lifestyle blogger selling cozy chaos. When Eriko engineers a 'chance' friendship, admiration curdles into fixation and both lives start to slide off course. Safe to say, we're already hooked"" - Oprah Daily (""31 Most Anticipated Books of 2026"") ""Admiration of course devolves into obsession in this tightly wound piece of work... [Hooked] packs a punch."" - Cultured (""13 Books Our Editors Can't Wait to Read This Season"")

""Mutual fascination gives way to obsession. . . in this novel, translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton."" - The New York Times (""Novels Everyone Will Be Talking About in 2026"") ""Yuzuki's first translated novel, Butter was a delicious literary feat about the complex entanglement of a female journalist and the alleged female serial killer she is writing about and her second translated novel - about female friendship and obsession - promises to be just as engaging"" - Forbes ""The author of the international sensation Butter returns with another razor-edged story about women, appetite, and what we'll do to feel chosen. Hooked pairs two opposites in modern Japan: Eriko, a lonely high achiever with a spotless life, and Shoko, a lifestyle blogger selling cozy chaos. When Eriko engineers a 'chance' friendship, admiration curdles into fixation and both lives start to slide off course. Safe to say, we're already hooked"" - Oprah Daily

Praise for Butter -- ""The novel cleverly intertwines paeans to the pleasures of eating with indictments of Japan's standards for women."" -- the New Yorker ""Asako Yuzuki has turned [Butter] into not just a fascinating psychological puzzle but also a damning indictment of Japanese misogyny and fatphobia."" -- the New York Times ""The lure of Butter is the lure of butter: rich, salty and unctuous. . . . Butter is both an exploration of the life of an unusual femme fatale and a subtle polemic against the impossible beauty standards to which women are held."" -- the Washington Post ""Ambitious and unsettling ... a thought-provoking and surprisingly feelgood take on friendship, transgressive pleasures, and society's impossibly contradictory expectations of women."" -- the Guardian ""[Asako] Yuzuki takes a thrilling look into female relationships, revealing the complex nature of modern-day social conventions pertaining to a woman's appearance and her place in the home, and enriching the proceedings with mouthwatering descriptions of food. Like the meals Yuzuki describes, this leaves the reader satiated."" -- Publisher's Weekly

""Mutual fascination gives way to obsession. . . in this novel, translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton."" - The New York Times (""Novels Everyone Will Be Talking About in 2026"") ""Yuzuki's first translated novel, Butter was a delicious literary feat about the complex entanglement of a female journalist and the alleged female serial killer she is writing about and her second translated novel - about female friendship and obsession - promises to be just as engaging"" - Forbes (""Weird Girl Lit to Add to Your 2026 TBR"") ""The author of the international sensation Butter returns with another razor-edged story about women, appetite, and what we'll do to feel chosen. Hooked pairs two opposites in modern Japan: Eriko, a lonely high achiever with a spotless life, and Shoko, a lifestyle blogger selling cozy chaos. When Eriko engineers a 'chance' friendship, admiration curdles into fixation and both lives start to slide off course. Safe to say, we're already hooked"" - Oprah Daily (""31 Most Anticipated Books of 2026"") ""Admiration of course devolves into obsession in this tightly wound piece of work... [Hooked] packs a punch."" - Cultured (""13 Books Our Editors Can't Wait to Read This Season"") ""[A] propulsive tale."" - NPR

Author Information

Asako Yuzuki was born in Tokyo in 1981. Her English-language debut, Butter, an international bestseller, was named Waterstones Book of the Year 2024 and took home the British Book Awards 2025 Debut Fiction Award. For Hooked, she received the Yamamoto Shūgorō Award.

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