TITLE: Fifty Shades of Grey
AUTHOR: E.L. James
PUBLICATION DATE: 05/26/12
ORDER LINKS: Amazon
BOOK SYNOPSIS:
When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind – until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time.
The unworldly, innocent Ana is shocked to realize she wants this man, and when he warns her to keep her distance it only makes her more desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her – but on his own terms.
Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success – his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving adoptive family – Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a passionate, physical and daring affair, Ana learns more about her own dark desires, as well as the Christian Grey hidden away from public scrutiny.
Can their relationship transcend physical passion? Will Ana find it in herself to submit to the self-indulgent Master? And if she does, will she still love what she finds?
REVIEW:
I can understand why readers would either love or hate this book and I have to say I fall into the love. I was not sure what to expect exactly from this book (except a bunch of kinky sex) but this book is not only about sex and considering how much I heard about it there was not as much sex as I originally thought. I am going to break this book down into a few sections for my review.
First the erotic sex: As I said there was not as much as I expected. All the hoopla made it sound like every other page had a erotic scene written but that is far from the truth. Yes there are erotic scenes but that is not what this book is about. This is about the underlying emotions of the characters and how they feel about changing to accommodate the person they are with and the person they are within. If you have read any erotica this book will not have anything that you have not already read. Yes there was BDSM, spankings, and control issues but it is not overwhelming in the story. I doubt there is anything in this first book the will surprise the reader unless you have been living under a rock. Even if you do not live the life I am sure you have heard of it.
Ana: She is such an interesting character. She seems to be living in the shadow of everyone around her (her roommate, mother, etc) yet Christian is attracted to her and she can not understand why. She is inexperienced when it comes to sex and when she is thrown into the world of Christian her mind, heart and body all have a different idea of what she wants and needs. While so many women, if given the real opportunity, who live a life with a rich man would take everything he gave her and expect more Ana does not want anything. She wants to be the woman she knows she can be and yet wants to make Christian happy. She so desperately wants to run and stay at the same time and her heart is torn at every turn. I found myself thinking so much of the woman Ana is and how complicated her heart must be. The one problem with Ana is she sees her inner self as different characters (a goddess, her subconscious, etc) all have a different face (no she is not schizophrenic) and that gets a little old.
Christian: Wow what a wounded soul this character has. You hurt for him and yet he makes you smile, laugh and want to cry. He really shows his lighter side in the emails he sends to Ana and they are a delight to read. But at the same time he has such a dark side that he is the one that claims to have the “fifty shades of f*ucked up” that gives the book its name. Christian not only wants to be in control but he needs it. We do not learn enough of his background yet in this book to understand why he has become this way but we know something has happened and it leaves the reader wanting to know not only more but everything about this man. If you love reading about a strong, generous yet possessive man than Christian is the one to read about.
Honestly, I can not recommend this book to you or not because this is a book that can be one you want to throw away or one you want to keep forever. If you are not into reading the romance genre do not jump on the bandwagon and pick up this book because this is a book of romance and sex and you will not enjoy it. If you enjoy reading romance then you will probably enjoy this book unless you are not comfortable with sexuality than, again, you will have a hard time with this book. If you are comfortable with the romance genre and your own sexuality then you will be able to get into the depth of this book and what is behind the words. This book is addictive and makes you want to finish one and pick up the next one before you even close the cover of this one (even if it is 3:30 in the morning).
Thanks for the review – I still can’t decide if I want to read this or not
Hmm..well I didn’t like this book and I disagree a little with what you say about being comfortable with the genre and your own sexuality to enjoy this book. I adore the romance genre, from everything from Kathleen Woodiwiss to Megan Hart and I’m quite comfortable in my own sexuality and I didn’t enjoy this book.
For me personally the sexual aspect isn’t the issue so much as Christian’s behaviour. If you’ve read Amanda Grace’s “But I Love Him” you’d see the behaviour exhibited by Connor and Ann are remarkablly similar to Ana’s and Christian’s; and it’s chilling the way the woman’s behaviour changes to be always on guard for the mood swings and reactions of their boyfriends instead of being able to be relaxed and happy with them. The book passes of mercurial as an affectionate trait when in fact it’s a disturbing one that should be taken as a warning sign. As someone who watched my best friend turn into Ana with a Christian character in real life this book was very disturbing.
After reading both reviews which were very helpful. I don’t know if I want to read it or not. I was very excited to read it. Then I started reading all these bad reviews for it. About how badly it was written, how bad the grammor is. I’m still trying to decide I want to spend money on it.
Monica