Hooked by Liz Fichera

Title: Hooked
Author: Liz Fichera

Release Date: 1st February 2013

My Rating: 3/5

Blurb:

When Native American Fredericka ‘Fred’ Oday is invited to become the only girl on the school’s golf team, she can’t say no. This is an opportunity to shine, win a scholarship and go to university, something no one in her family has done.

But Fred’s presence on the team isn’t exactly welcome — especially not to rich golden boy Ryan Berenger, whose best friend was kicked off the team to make a spot for Fred.

But there’s no denying that things are happening between the girl with the killer swing and the boy with the killer smile...

In A Nutshell:

Hooked is a nice story about overcoming adversity and finding, and rediscovering, people who care about you and just want you to be happy and get the most out of life.

My Review:

Set in Arizona and incorporating some Native American culture, Hooked tells the story of Fred and Ryan, who are from opposite sides of the cultural, social and financial fence, and what happens when they actually take the time to get to know one another.

The story is told from each of their perspectives which works really well because it allows people to see how easily things can be misinterpreted when people don’t communicate. If the story had only been told from Fred’s perspective, it wouldn’t have been quite as effective.

Ryan’s friends don’t like Fred, not only because she took the place of their friend on the school golf team, but also because she is Native American, and they do their best to make her feel uncomfortable and out of place. It is incredibly frustrating to ‘see’ how close-minded and mean people can be as well as how far they will go when they are blinded by hate or jealousy.

After spending forced time together, and then a little bit of their own time, Ryan and Fred realise they actually like each other. But they both doubt how the other one feels, even after spending a perfect day together, and at the tiniest hurdle, they let things disintegrate without asking any questions. I hate that neither of them trusts what they experienced and that they just give up so easily.

It takes a really long time for Ryan to stand up and do something about the way Fred is treated, not just by his friends, but also the way he treats her because he is too afraid to break away from his peers, even when he knows what they are doing is wrong. Eventually things get completely out of hand and Ryan finally stands-up and does what is right, garnering respect from unlikely places.

There are life lessons to take away after finishing Hooked. Communicate. No one is ever going to know what you think or want unless you tell them, there are too many ways that things can be misconstrued, especially if there is a third party involved that you don’t trust. Also, be the bigger person. Don’t follow friends blindly just because they are your ‘friends’. Do the right thing.

US Cover

All in all, I really enjoyed Hooked. I liked the Native American culture, the different themes addressed, and how Ryan and Fred’s lives slowly became better. It’s just a nice story about overcoming adversity and finding, and rediscovering, people who care about you and just want you to be happy and get the most out of life.

As a side note, I’m not sure about the Australian/UK cover, or the title. I don’t think either really has much to do with the story. The US cover is slightly better, but, as they say we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. 

Thankyou to Harlequin Teen and Netgalley for this review copy.