Hooked: five books you'll want to read based on their elevator pitch alone
Concepts so compelling, you'll be sold with just one line.
Each of these books offers a premise so irresistible you'll be adding them to your 2026 wishlist before you've finished scrolling. What's even better is that they all more than live up to their arresting one-liners. These are thought-provoking, entertaining and moving reads that prove that whilst a great hook is undeniable, a great book always backs up its style with substance.
A woman pretends to be pregnant to get a year off work
Motherfaker
by Anna Brook-Mitchell
Barri is getting ready for a year of paid maternity leave. Only she isn't pregnant. With seven foam bumps, a wardrobe full of smock dresses and a great pregnancy heist planned, all Barri has to do is blag it until she can disappear for good. Without getting caught and being sent to prison for fraud. Child’s play.
You pick up the latest bestseller and the story is eerily familiar – because it's your life
Unreliable Narrator
by Araminta Hall
This razor-sharp, creepy thriller will leave you constantly questioning what is real, as a woman discovers her life has been depicted in the pages of a bestselling novel. Ten years ago, ambitious and driven Hope landed a job with bohemian author Ambrose Glencourt, which ended in a fatal disaster. Hope has worked hard to keep the secret of those events ever since. But now, Ambrose has written a novel based on the story which paints a rather different version of events from what Hope remembers. Which one of them is the reliable narrator?
Four K-pop megafans kidnap their idol, lock him in a house, then collectively lose the plot
Holy Boy
by Lee Heejoo
More than a little unhinged, Holy Boy is an exhilarating descent into the dark side of devotion. Yosep is a K-pop idol with millions of adoring fans. But for four of them, a poster on the wall just won't cut it. They have a plan – a perfect, foolproof plan – to get their idol all to themselves. Kidnapping Yosep seemed like the ultimate act of love. But inside a secluded mansion, plagued by paranoia and with their grip on reality slowly loosening, the women use increasingly disturbing strategies to keep Yosep in their possession. As their angel's halo slips and their perfect plan unravels, the women must fight not only to keep him, but to keep their secret buried – at all costs.
A literary Hot Priest
A Private Man
by Stephanie Sy-Quia
Rome, 1953. David is young, handsome, charismatic and sworn to celibacy. He is freshly ordained, and about to return to England to begin life as a priest. Devotion to God is all he’s ever known. In London, Margaret is entangled in an impossible love affair. Committed to living on her own terms without sacrificing her faith, she becomes drawn to a women’s movement challenging the archaic rules of the Church. When their lives are thrown together at a Catholic college in a quiet village, an undeniable connection forms between them. And so begins a story of forbidden love, sacrifice and secrets, with consequences that will reverberate across the generations.
It turns out the moon actually is made of cheese
When the Moon Hits Your Eye
by John Scalzi
An absurd yet profoundly thought-provoking story of a world turned upside down by the impossible, as the moon, suddenly and without explanation, turns into a ball of cheese. Through a series of interwoven stories, we're introduced to astronauts questioning their careers, billionaires with grandiose schemes, and ordinary people grasping for meaning amid lunacy. Each chapter gives voice to a cast as varied as teenagers, scientists, and politicians, all of whom grapple with the cosmic joke above. As laughter mingles with existential dread, When the Moon Hits Your Eye explores humanity’s resilience and absurdity, offering a wildly imaginative take on how we face the inexplicable.
