Review: Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades of Grey #1) by E. L. James

NOT FOR YOUNGER READERS

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Title: Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades of Grey #1)
Author: E. L. James
Genre: Erotica, Fiction: Romance
Format: Paperback

Buy Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is 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 family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.

Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

This book is intended for mature audiences.

Irritating but not as bad as I expected

I only read it because half the people were all "OMG, IT SUCKS" and the other half are all "OMG, IT ROCKS". In a situation like this there is only one solution. And that is to make up my own mind about this book. So I got it and read it.

At first I was really annoyed at the fact that the writing and dialogue was so British and the characters were based in Seattle, USA. I get it James wanted to be "mainstream" but seriously! It was so bad and overwhelmingly irritating. If you're going to write about people living in the States and they're 100% American, try and do some research on how they talk and the words they use. I had to fade out their actual location and their nationality so the dialogue wouldn't be so annoying. ARGH!

After I got over the dialogue, I got irritated by Ana's use of words... like Jeez, Oh my, Inner Goddess, Holy Moses... Seriously woman. You're like on the verge to commit yourself as a "Submissive" and you don't have the decency to actually learn how to swear. She even says f*** and sh**. I don't see why she can't do it instead of Oh my, holy moses and all that crap. Tsk.

Yea, sure... the book had a lot of sex, BDSM and bad dialogue. But when you skip all the BDSM, and read further... James actually lessens the bad dialogue and simply focuses on something else. This book is more about a girl trying to breach and set a man free from his demons. Isn't that what most romance books are all about?

The book actually had character development... yes... with a bad annoying character like Ana. But you get used to her. Well, I did. But every time she says Oh my, I get annoyed still and makes me hate her some more. There is a lot of romance, even if the guy is a little cold. Towards the end, Ana actually comes to her senses and Christian is beginning to change and his wall begins to crumble.

I knew what to expect when I began to read it and I expected to hate the book but I still kept an open mind about it and at the moment, I say it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I think it might be because I skipped all the BDSM and stuck to whatever angst and romance James has lurking in this book.

2.5/5 Stars 

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