REVIEW: FIFTY SHADES OF GREY BY E.L. JAMES

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY

FIFTY SHADES TRILOGY BK#1

E.L. JAMES

GENRE: EROTICA/ADULT FICTION

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 too - 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 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?

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MY TAKE

2 STARS

(May contain spoilers)

Well, I had to see what all the hype was about with the Fifty Shades of Grey. Honestly, I wish I would have committed to reading a different book.

Ok, by now we all know how this book came about (fanfic, Twilight, blah, blah...) and I'm not going to bother with the Twilight similarities, or lack thereof. I want to stick to Fifty Shades itself and not worry about all those annoying references.

Anyways, when I started reading, the first thing I noticed was how poorly it was written. I'm not an English major, (nor do I care to be) but it doesn't take a genius to figure this one out. I can only assume this book did not go through editing. If it had it could have been much better (if it did, please fire your editor Ms. James).  If I never read the word "clamber" in another book --EVER-- I will be satisfied.

Now, the main characters....can you seriously get any more screwed up than Christian Grey-don't-touch-me-but-let-me-beat-you-until-you-cry. Christian is just over-the-top about everything. I don't mind a male character that is a little controlling, egotistical, or even a little kinky, but Christian takes all of this to the extreme. It was really hard to for me to connect to his character because of this. The only connecting I wanted to do with Christian was my shoe to his huevos.

Oh, Ana Steele, poor-naive-innocent-never-had-a-boyfriend-man pleasing, Ana Steele. I just wanted to slap her (hard) across the face and say WTF! At one point in the story she is reading his "contract". She is reading about all this stuff he wants to do to her (various kinds of clamps, chains, whippings, canings, etc..) and the worst thing she says is the food restrictions are a deal breaker! I'm sorry, but I would think being caned would be a deal breaker.

The best part of the book for me was the end when she decides she just can't deal with him anymore and she leaves him (and this is the reason this book gets two starts instead of one).

I know there are many women out there who are just eating this series up, and that is wonderful for them. Fifty Shades just wasn't for me. I seriously doubt I will be bothering with reading the other two books in the series. I believe the ebook price of $9.99 is outrageous. This book would have been a much better deal for $2.99 or $3.99.


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