Wendy is the primary protagonist of Hooked, and the novel is focused on how her relationship with James encourages her to transform over the course of the narrative. She is a dynamic character, meaning that she changes and develops over time, and this transformation serves to highlight her femininity and independence. Wendy works at the Vanilla Bean coffee shop, but the job is identified as financially unnecessary, since Wendy’s father, Peter, is wealthy. She has chosen to work as a means of exerting some of her own independence, though she notes early on that “cutting the cord” (8) from Peter is impossible, referencing the umbilical cord that is cut at birth. In addition to her father, Peter, Wendy has a brother, Jonathan, or Jon for short, whom she cares for like her own son. Her father’s negligence toward Jon infuriates Wendy, identifying a protective instinct in her character that extends over the course of the novel to include, at times, her father and James.

The desire for independence and the desire to care for those close to her conflict and contrast at times in the novel, as the men in Wendy’s life tend to try to control her.