Hooked

Half the fun of reading non-fiction is that it’s a true voyeuristic trip into the world of someone else. A proper look behind the curtain. Whether it is self-written or ghost-written, done well or done badly there is a certain feeling one gets from reading a non-fiction work. I’ve been on a bit of a bender with the genre recently, having done Amanda Palmer’s autobiography, Clementine Ford’s Fight Like a Girl and just come off the back of Tara Moss’ The Fictional Woman. The latest piece to join that company: Samantha X’s Hooked. 

In the real world, she’s Amanda Goff: successful journalist, divorcee, and mother of two. But she’s unsatisfied with the life she’s leading. One day she gets up the courage to go to an interview at a brothel and Samantha X is born. Confident, sassy, and in control, Samantha quickly becomes comfortable in the world of sex workers: a world where the money is great, she can orgasm at work, and the hours are flexible, giving her more time with her kids. But there are prices to pay for a perfect job and soon Samantha’s addiction to her work takes its toll on Amanda’s life. Can the two work it out? 

Whilst it might sound a little girlish and tacky, this book is Sex and the City as it could have been. Imagine how different the show would have been if Carrie had been an escort? It really would have been sex and the city. Fitting with its title, Hooked gets you in straight away, beginning with a juicy scene inside the Bordello where we meet Samantha X and one of her clients. From there, it’s a game of table tennis between Samantha and Amanda as each chapter is named and after the woman’s perspective and tells her side of the story. 

The jagged pace and fractured chronology of it can be a little jarring, but it’s quickly compensated for by the deliciously gossipy tone that the majority of the book is written with. Both Samantha and Amanda speak directly to their readers in discussion, narrative, and confession and it’s very personal, but written in a sassy way. 

However, it’s definitely not a book for everyone. The pink title and girly, gossipy timbre in which it’s written doesn’t really exclude men from being invited to read it, but does indicate a certain target market. There’s a ‘trashy’, guilty-pleasure side to this book, like watching The Bachelor or Sex and the City, and while the writing is not bad, it’s not amazing either. The appeal of Hooked is its central character(s) and the many stories that it tells in such a small span of pages. The character arcs and situations that they find themselves in are ones that a large portion of the readership can relate to and Samantha and Amanda’s confidence in bearing all in over two hundred pages is what keeps them pages turning. 

Hooked is a very easy and very accessible read, that I positively powered through, enjoying every word. 

Author: Samantha X 

Published: Ebury Press, 2014