Hooked - Emily McIntire.

Hooked.

Author: Emily McIntire.

Pages: 317 pages, Kindle Edition. 

Genre: Dark Romance, Retelling, Fantasy, Contemporary, NA, Fiction, Suspense. 

Published: September 5, 2021. Independently published.

Goodreads Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3.94.

Hii, my fellow readers. This week's book is going to be 'Hooked' by Emily McIntire. Hooked is a full-length, complete standalone, and the first in 'The Never After Series'. A collection of fractured fairy tales where the villains get the happy ever after. This book contains mature themes.

I love a good fairy tale retelling, and this book sucked me right into it. However, this is not a fantasy retelling but a retelling with a maffia twist in it. Hooked is written in two POVs, one from Wendy and one from Hook. 

The main characters are Wendy and Hook. Wendy is Peter's daughter and Hook is Peter's enemy. Hook wants to take vengeance against Peter and uses Wendy to get to him. However, Hook is the badass villain in this book with the "You are mine, nobody can touch you besides me" kind of vibe. And Wendy is a naive girl with Stockholm syndrome. So you can guess what comes next ;). I do find Hook interesting. His character grows in this book while he grieves for his past and his loved ones. However, I don't like Wendy as a character. She says she can choose her own destiny and she acts like a feminine. Yet, she does what is expected from her. And the romance in the book is insta-romance. 

This book is a true mafia book, with details from the fairy tale of Peter Pan. I like how Emily included certain nicknames (like Hook, Croc, and Peter Pan) and stuff like a ticking clock. These small details made the retelling fun to read. 

The world-building isn't that big. You get a mansion, a coffee bar, a bar/club, a yacht, and some caves. But mafia romances usually don't have big world-building and I don't find it necessary. Altogether, the world-building was appreciable. You got a good idea of how everything looked.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. It's a fun mafia book to read with smutty scenes in it. However, there was a plot twist that made me cringe a little bit and I have some questions (incest..?). Yet, there were other plot twists that I did like. Though, some were predictable. The writing style is easy to read. Hooked is a fun retelling book (and not too big) to read. Have you read it? Let me know what you think.

Synopsis:

He wants revenge, but he wants her more.

Once Upon A Time, there was a little boy.

His belly full of laughter, his life full of joy.

Until one day, something changed, stripped his innocence away.

The hole inside making space for the devil to come and play.

His dreams gone forever, he grew up way too fast.

An endless night of crocodiles, and watches made of glass.

He grew into a villain, the taste of vengeance on his tongue.

Craving to make his enemies pay for the misdeeds they had done.

Instead he found a darling girl, and refused to let her go.

For what better way to make the man pay, than to steal his little shadow.

Love, ❤

DarkBlue