64 pages • 2 hours read
Emily McIntireHooked: A Dark, Contemporary Romance
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Literary Context: Peter Pan and the Never After Series
Hooked can also be characterized as a fractured fairy tale, or a retelling of a fairy tale that maintains some elements from the original story, changing details and plot beats to create a new narrative. In Hooked, McIntire maintains only select elements of the original Peter Pan narrative, as written by J. M. Barrie in the early 20th century. McIntire also makes connections from later adaptations, such as the animated version produced by Disney in 1953. From the original tale, McIntire retains major relationships, like Captain Hook’s feud with Peter Pan, Hook’s fear of the crocodile that took his hand, and Tinker Bell’s jealousy over Peter and Wendy’s relationship. Many of the names in McIntire’s work are borrowed from Peter Pan without retaining their original meaning or relevance, such as the Lost Boys, who are Peter’s companions in the original but here are the men who work for James (Hook). Tiger Lily, an Indigenous character in the original work, is presented as the yacht that James owns, which is a problematic reimagining of a marginalized character.
Overall, the narrative of Hooked bears little resemblance to the original work. While many names and relationships are maintained, the plot centers on Wendy and James’s romance, which does not exist in the original. Additionally, Hooked relies on a reconfiguration of some critical relationships, such as Wendy being Peter’s daughter rather than Peter’s love interest/mother figure. These differences allow McIntire’s fractured fairy tale to explore the characterization of Wendy, Peter, and James/Hook more deeply, subverting Hook’s villainous nature in the original with a more compassionate personality. Peter becomes a villain, and Wendy negotiates the roles of lover, daughter, and sister, like her negotiation of the roles of lover, mother, and sister in the original.
Hooked is the first novel in a series of fractured fairy tales by McIntire, though each work is a standalone novel that bears no connection or relevance to the other. The other works, like Hooked, retain some details from the original tales, restructuring and positioning characters to create a more contemporary romance. A critical element to Hooked is how each character is presented in a modern context without fantasy or supernatural interference. While the original Peter Pan is magical and the story takes place in the mythical Neverland, Hooked takes place in Massachusetts, and the “pixie dust” of McIntire’s work is an addictive drug, not a magic powder.
Genre Context: Erotic Literature and the Dark Romance
Hooked is erotic in its presentation of sexual situations and encounters, and it plays into a long history of erotic literature. Ancient civilizations like the Sumerians and the Greeks produced erotic literature and narratives, and erotic literature has continued to be produced around the world, though for smaller, literate audiences, ever since. The dual advents of the printing press and the Restoration period in England prompted a renewal of erotic literature in the late 17th century, with writers like John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, and Aphra Behn (Oroonoko, The Rover) composing large quantities of erotic poetry and fiction. However, by the end of the 17th century, censorship, such as that encouraged by Jeremy Collier at the turn of the 18th century, suppressed erotic literature until the end of the Victorian Era in the early 20th century. While the original Peter Pan does not fall into this literary category, J. M. Barrie’s magnum opus was published as a play in 1904 and a novel in 1911, and thus, the title made debut when erotic literature was once again becoming more commonplace. Works like Lady Chatterley’s Lover and The Awakening, by D. H. Lawrence and Kate Chopin, respectively, presented another renewal of eroticism in literature by examining the human condition around the turn of the 20th century.
In more modern writing, erotic literature serves the dual purpose of reflecting both the emotional impact of sexuality and the narrative importance of sexual relationships between characters. While Hooked certainly fits within this broader literary context, the novel is also a textbook example of a dark romance, the central relationships of which exhibit potentially disturbing or triggering themes, such as trauma, violence, submission, and unequal power dynamics. Most notably, the protagonists often display toxic or abusive behavior patterns that, although romanticized as attractive attributes within the pages of fiction, would be highly problematic in a real-world setting. James Hook in particular demonstrates toxic masculinity in private and public settings, and as his relationship with Wendy develops, the two engage in a variety of sexual activities that include elements often considered to be deviant or “kinky,” such as choking. While the characters’ willingness to engage in such activities arguably demonstrates a level of mutual trust, McIntire’s novel also portrays quasiviolent scenes of dominance and submission as a desirable version of romantic interaction, which some readers may find to be inherently problematic or objectionable. As the story unfolds, these tendencies manifest in a variety of ways, for Wendy and James must also fight their sexual feelings during moments when acting on their emotions would be inappropriate, and the author uses this trend to highlight the involuntary nature of sexual feelings. Eroticism and dark romance, then, are not solely focused on presenting explicit or vulgar sex acts; they are also concerned with conveying nuanced characterizations and bold sentiments about the multifaceted nature of sexuality and love.
