Hooked by Emily Mcintire
Genre: Dark Romance
Read: March 2023

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I think Hooked is my least favourite of the Never After series.

Don’t get me wrong, Emily’s writing is phenomenal and the story itself was good. I think my biggest issue was with Wendy. She was too submissive and not the brightest. James on the other hand was smokin’! I can totally see Tom Ellis playing James. 🥵❤️

I guess Wendy can be somewhat redeemed at the end for finally standing up for herself, but I think it was a little to late for me. ( )

Touted as a modern-day "Peter Pan"-flavoured dark romance. Definitely not a retelling, more an AU take. The writing was fair but I didn't enjoy the overly simplistic characterisations. I found the violence tediously cartoonish, the plot paper-thin, the characters bland and the twist not only telegraphed but semaphored, phoned and texted at me.

Unrealistically beautiful people falling in "Twue Wuv" practically instantaneously is just not something I can suspend my disbelief for, and don't enjoy it. I also have Thoughts about the sex scenes when seen in context of the time frame they're portrayed as occurring. Maybe Romance just isn't the genre for me. All in all, meh. ( )

Now this book!! Wow.... That about sums it up. It has left me with a complete lack of words, but I will do my best.

Hooked drew me in from the very first scene. I sometimes struggle with books that have a little slower first few chapters, but this one hits you full force from the first paragraph! I am not entirely sure what I expected out of this book, but let me tell you. It was not at all what I expected, but everything I didn't know I wanted.

The author tells you from the beginning that this is not a retelling of Peter Pan, and it truly is not. She takes the character names and some of the more recognizable things (such as the Jolly Roger and pixie dust), and warps them into her own modern day urban story. This book has everything from romance, to violence, to tragedy, to drug dealers, and so much more.

While the book itself does not list out the trigger warnings, there is a statement that if you have any at all to look on the authors website to find them. Please take this seriously if you do happen to have any trigger warnings. The writing is very detailed, and I could see how it could be disturbing or troubling for some.

Overall, I devoured this book! I am trying to figure out how fast I can get to the store to grab her other books in the Never After Series! If you have read Butcher and Blackbird and enjoyed it, give this book a try. ( )

I feel like my review needs disclaimers-- This book falls under the 'Dark Romance' category, so it's not your typical love story. Before diving in, please take a moment to read the disclaimer and trigger warnings.

The goal of this book is solely to present you with cheesy and ridiculous smut. It's not that deep. Take it as a fun read. Some books present as these beautiful love stories but in reality, are just cringe. That's when I will downgrade my rating. This book tells you beforehand what you are getting into.

The MMC is portrayed as a villain, behaving as you'd expect. -A Villain-.

Does he mistreat her? Yes.
Does he do less than savory things? Also, yes.

Wendy, on the other hand, is involved in a complicated relationship with this villain, which isn't the healthiest dynamic. The book leans heavily into explicit and unconventional themes, which might not be everyone's cup of tea. You either love it or you don't. I personally did.

My main gripe with the book is its labeling as a "retelling." It doesn't align much with anything, apart from names. Hook, Peter, Wendy, John, Smee... the 'names' are all there but there's nothing else nodding to "Peter Pan". The characters could have been named entirely differently without changing the story at all.

Alas, I personally really enjoyed this book, it exceeded expectations. ( )

1.5/5 average floridian love story

169,423 ratings, average of 3.85 stars. what world do we live in??????

Hooked is a dark mob boss AU of Peter Pan, where Hook is a club owner/drug ringleader, and Peter is a competing drug lord threatening Hook's turf (and haunting his past). Wendy is Peter's daughter, and Hook is drawn to her both sexually and as a way to get back at Peter.

Drug being pushed? Pixie dust. Peter's business associate? Tina Bell.

This was mostly laughable, and to be honest, the reason I read this book was because I thought it would be silly to listen to the audiobook with my friend.

That being said. I am a feminist. I understand, when reading smutty romance, a lot of my principles will have to go out the window. This is simply rite of passage.

But this book?????

It felt like the weirdest male power fantasy. James' POV was dedicated to torturing people graphically for multiple minutes at a time(and getting off to it), degrading Wendy, and just exuding power in general. Wendy's POV is sex scenes, enjoying being degraded, and trying to justify liking Hook's behavior. Like, Hook hardly knows Wendy and then inflicts the most gruesome torture on a guy who calls her a bitch. It just felt so self-righteous and again, MALE POWER FANTASY???

Wendy being called Hook's "pet" happened one too many times.

The ending was fun. I enjoyed some of it for sure, but it was just soooooo over the top and cringe. Also, the big twist was so obvious that I thought it had to be a red herring. ( )