Fifty Shades of Grey: The #1 Sunday Times bestseller (50 Shades Trilogy, #1)

by E L James

MORE THAN 100 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE

When literature student Anastasia Steele interviews successful entrepreneur Christian Grey, she finds him very attractive and deeply intimidating. Convinced that their meeting went badly, she tries to put him out of her mind - until he turns up at the store where she works part-time, and invites her out.

Unworldly and innocent, Ana is shocked to find she wants this man. And, when he warns her to keep her distance, it only makes her want him more.

As they embark on a passionate love affair, Ana discovers more about her own desires, as well as the dark secrets Christian keeps hidden away from public view ...

• ISBN10: 0099579936
• ISBN13: 9780099579939
• Publish Date: 12 April 2012 (first published 1 January 2011)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Cornerstone
• Imprint: Arrow Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 560
• Language: English

Reviews

This book is just wrong in SO many levels.

[Berls]

For more reviews, see: Fantasy is More Fun

I have really mixed feelings about Fifty Shades. I had heard it was fan-fiction for the Twilight series, so while there were several bits that felt familiar (especially the basic characterization of many central characters: Ana/Bella, Christian/Edward, and José/Jacob, Grey family/ Cullen family, Ana's parents/Bella's parents ), I was pleasantly surprised that the plot diverged so substantially. For some reason (maybe because it's Twilight fan fiction) I also had thought the book had a similar supernatural element to it, so I was slightly disappointed to discover it did not.

That was a minor, short-lived disappointment though, which was unfortunately surpassed by other disappointments. I think all the hype surrounding this book did it a disservice, because I was expecting something really great and exciting. For me a good book often centers on the character development; I need characters that I both love and believe in. I never fell in love with Ana or Christian, and on many fronts they remained all too fictional, because they just weren't 3 dimensional or believable enough.

Enough of the bad, though! I may not have loved the characters, but they were still fun to read and their sexual escapades never failed to entertain (even if sometimes they were more laughable than erotic). And Christian is a hopelessly damaged man with potential to grow into a character that I could really care about. If you're looking for a fun and at times steamy read, this is the book for you. If you're looking for a masterpiece, with complex characters and incredible plots, move on. If you do read it (and enjoy it) make sure you have the next book ready, because the book ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger!

[KitsuneBae]

Hiyaaah! It's good to be back. I'm sorry if it has been so long since I last posted. I got so busy with all the things going on IRL. Anyway, getting on with this book review, I'd like to share with you a little bit of information about my views on books like Fifty Shades of Grey.I noticed that talk of sexuality among women has somewhat been labelled as very unbecoming of a lady or inappropriate behavior in accordance to the norms of the society. According to my observation, people are more forgiving if it's men expressing their sexuality than seeing females exploring this very interesting aspect of their lives. This is the reason why that at a young age (prolly 13), I got curious with the subject and my mind started asking questions. However, the topic of sexuality in our home is kinda forbidden because my mother is a conservative devout Catholic and hello World, this is Philippines. So I sought my answers through "unconventional" ways. xD And before you start asking, no, I did not have the opportunity to look or read Playboy magazines. At the age of 16, my mother accidentally gave me a porn book which was entitled "Jennifer" by Anonymous. I'm kind of sure that she was not aware that it was a porn movie translated into a book. The book was kind of scary because it really describes the different methodologies of doing sex and it also served as a mind opener for me.

I don't know if you agree with me but reading books like these made me more aware of the importance of understanding sexuality and well, you know killing the curious cat in me which I think helped in preventing me from trying the real thing at a young age.

Anyway, I'm really bringing you to a different course. So here's my review for Fifty Shades of Grey.

Fifty Shades of Grey was introduced to me by an office friend and during that time, I wasn't really looking for something to read other than what has been on my to-read-books list. To tell you the truth, I am at the phase of my life now where I'm already contented about what I've learned about human sexuality from the books so I'm directing my efforts in reading dystopian, sci-fi and fantasy-adventure novels. I only managed to read FSG because curiosity got the best of my office friend and she actually shelled out the money to buy the book. And after she was finished, she lent it to me so I can read and totally relate with her views about FSG. So one night, after my shelves ran out of books to read, I finally found myself reading FSG.

To be honest, I was not quite impressed with how the book turned out. I cannot bring myself to relate to Christian or to Anastasia. It saddens me that the book which had so much potential failed to arouse in me that kind of passion experienced by Anna. I give this book 2.5 stars.

Plot

The OC in me tells that FSG's plot is dull and poorly written like E.L. James was just in a hurry to make some scenes where she can insert the sexual intimacies of Anna and Christian. I think the book was just highly publicized and it actually projected an image that it's really good. Honestly speaking, some of the romance short stories that I've read which have almost the same subject matter are far better than this one. What I only admire in FSG is that E.L. James is really detailed with movements that you can vividly picture what has been going on with Anna and Christian. And of course, I also admired how E.L. James described the methods and the sexual gadgets that were used. Although I have to say that some of the scenes really disgusted me that I almost puke.

Another reason that I don't like about the book much is that I'm hardly convinced of what kind of lesson it's trying to convey to the readers. I don't want to put spoilers here so you better read and judge the book.

Characters

I don't know about you but I'm quite sure with myself that there's no character that I liked in this book. Anna's character is as empty as my gaping mouth as of this moment. Why do I have this feeling that E.L. James only created the girl so that Christian can have someone to practice his BDSM tactics? And Christian, he's just a sex starved maniac who has no redeeming qualities at all. Of course, he's handsome, he's rich, gallant and all that but I could never consider him as my hero no matter how "good" he is in bed. Some of his sexual moves left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Interactions and Dialogues

Perhaps, with the previous paragraphs that I've written, you already have an idea as to what I'm going to write here. E.L. James did not really strive hard to make the interactions and dialogues of the characters a reason to fall in love with. I am not impressed with how the characters interact with each other. I do not even find Anna or Christian's dialogue to be witty and charismatic.

Overall Impression

I am greatly dissatisfied with the book which is maybe one of the reasons why it took me so long to make a review even though I've finished reading it 3 months ago. I am only making a review because I want to share to you that even if I do not like the book, it doesn't mean that I'm condemning the readers for reading it. ( Again, there's nothing wrong with exploring and understanding your sexuality. And it would never be wrong if you find the courage to read the book and decide that you like it, that it made you understand one part of yourself a lot better.) And of course, to vent out my frustrations with FSG. I was actually expecting so much from it and I thought that I'd fall head over heels in love with Christian and cry with Anna but at the last page, I ended up not liking it. And I was left in the middle of something where I questioned myself, why did I waste my time reading it? Why did I have to spend my time with Anna who's will is weaker than her own knees? Why did I have to spend my time listening to a shallow bully like Christian who only knows how to f**k hard?

I'm not sure if I'm going to read the next two books. But because I'm an OC bookworm and would like to put closure to what I've started, I might just read them but that would really take a loooooong time. I already have the two sequels on my e-reader but I'm sure that they'll be collecting dust when I pick them up.
Before I end this review, I'd like to say again that if you want to read Fifty Shades of Grey, go ahead and do not let this review influence your decision. It is always good if you read it and share your insights here. I always love a healthy discussion. :D

Thanks for visiting Thoughts and Pens.

[elysium]

DNF page 165

I had to return this to the library and it gave me the perfect excuse to stop reading.

[Mercy]

It's the fucking shit... topics, topics everywhere. Bored and characters without personality.

[Jyc]

★★ // the email exchanges were adorable to merit this much star. but the rest is just boring. i read this only out of curiosity.

[shannonmiz]

I had to read it just because everyone else was (peer pressure, most obviously). I don't understand what all the fuss is about. The writing is an absolute mess, the characters are not even remotely likable, and the plot is mundane. I would be mad at myself for reading it, but now I am better able to make fun of it when in the presence of others. Plus, people won't say "oh no, it is good, read it". I will know they are lying, and just want me to waste my time like they have. That being said, there is a legitimate chance I will read the second, just because I got it for free, and apparently have nothing better to do with my time.

[clementine]

The more I heard about this book, the more I knew that I would end up reading it at some point. It just seemed inevitable to me. So, a few days ago, I bit the bullet and downloaded it. I read all 500+ pages in the space of about 36 hours - it was certainly addictive.

Now, let me get this out of the way: I knew it was going to bad, but I thought I'd give it a chance. Its origins are Twilight fanfiction, but there's good fanfiction out there! So I thought, you know, I won't discount it just because it's Twilight fanfic.

First - it was more plot-based than I was expecting. Now, the plot was nothing special, but it actually did have some structure to it. So... I guess I was mildly pleasantly surprised there? There was, like, character development and stuff. I mean, kind of - it's not like Ana and Christian are particularly deep (and all the "I'm fucked up because of my crack whore mother" stuff was just so cliché and awful), but she tried, I guess? There's a lot of inner turmoil, at least.

So, the writing was really bad, obviously. Abuse of ellipses, overuse of certain phrases (what? this is Twilight fanfic, you say? COULDN'T BE), and all the weird overused euphemisms. It was really easy to read and get through quickly, though - I mean, most people probably aren't reading this type of book for wonderful prose anyway, so although the writing is undeniably shitty I guess it's not actually that much of an issue.

The characters were barely tolerable. I know Christian's whole thing is the control freak persona, and I tried to be open-minded to it, but I just DON'T LIKE IT. I do. not. like. it. And I don't want Ana to like it, because it creeps me out. Ana is also really annoying, because she's so naive and innocent that it's just revolting. I mean, yeah, I get that it's part of her character, but it was just so unbelievable. Also, this wasn't a huge part of the plot, but what middle-class university graduate in 2011 doesn't have access to a computer? NO. I'm sorry. NO. I thought that the subconscious and inner goddess thing was a good idea in theory (showing her conflicting emotions, etc), but it was really irritating in practice and I wanted to punch her because it just seemed weird and mildly delusional. I liked Kate, though. She knows what's up.

One last thing: Ana had such a preoccupation with Christian's "long fingers". She mentioned it like 7 or 8 times! I thought they must have some significance because she just kept bringing it up, but NOPE, it's just a fixation she had.

I don't know, the whole thing just gave me secondhand embarrassment because it's so obvious that it's fanfiction/a middle-aged woman's fantasy, from the structure of the writing to the lavish lifestyles to the unbelievable characters. I just felt EMBARRASSED for EL James when I was reading it! I'm giving it two stars because I have to admit that it kept me entertained (and I'm totally downloading the other two as soon as I finish this review), but man was it bad. I have more extensive notes that I took while I read it and I have to decide what to do with them. They're really just a list of about 50 or so comments corresponding with different sentences/passages that I thought were awful. We'll see.

[Hixxup]

I have never read a book like this. It was pretty intense from the start, the instant attraction between Grey and Ana. Then Grey's way of pursuing her, to the first date. Then they get closer and she starts staying with him and he brings her into his world. Quite creepy and scary at first but then you instead find it hot. But through all this Grey starts going against everything he believes in and all for Ana. You start to see his hard shaped demeanor crumble all for her, though he tries to maintain that persona. This book held a lot of erotic pleasure on things I wouldn't normally find erotic, or at least I wouldn't say out loud lol. Since most of us have our inner Dom or Sub or both. It was intense, it made me laugh, and after what she had asked of him to try to get him to open up to her more, failed. I cried, I cried through the rest of the book. I'm glad I have the other two books handy because after reading the ending of this book, I Have to move on there is no doubt about that. All in all this has been the best book I have ever read probably.

[ellieroth]

No puedo decir que sea un mal libro... pero definitivamente no es lo que esperaba, es un libro bastante suave para la temática en la se fue promocionando, no puedo decir que no me gusta, pero tampoco puedo decir que me agrado del todo. Es un libro regular.