Book Review: Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James

Hello readers!

So, you all know that I have this book. It's no secret. And that I've read it. I was originally not going to review it, as it didn't receive super high marks from me and isn't exactly a genre I normally review. However, I've received a significant amount of feedback from friends, coworkers, and readers that they would love to hear my review, so here it is...

The book, of course, is EL James' Fifty Shades of Grey. Here's the Goodreads description:


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?

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

As many of you know, this erotic romance came about as Twilight fanfiction...which leaves me, as a non-Twilight fan, wondering What the hell happens in Twilight that a BDSM erotic romance is a spin-off?!?!?! Aside from that weird connection for me, this is my review:

There's definitely a buzz about this work. Is it warranted? Women from all over the nation are dying to get their hands on a novel about a young romance involving punishment and torture of a young woman for the sheer pleasure of both parties. Needless to say, this isn't my type of novel. I think what most women are finding is that this doesn't fall into their regular genre. For some of them, it excites them--maybe they've never read an erotic romance or Harlequin before and are deeply intrigued. Some of them, instead, are finding they hated it and this isn't their genre.


I don't believe the author is too in-depth with her descriptions, so it isn't an awfully scary erotic romance if you're looking to start reading the genre. However, some of the events are beyond unrealistic, both in the bedroom and out. James does a fabulous job, though, with creating her characters, and that's where the interest from most readers lies. Her character development is wonderful, albeit a little YA-inspired. Bottom line? Would I recommend it? Yeah, if it's something you've been dying to read. I will be continuing the trilogy (I'm terrible about needing to finish something I start), but do not find it necessary to pay full price again for the rest of the books.


Here's my stats for this novel:
Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James
Rating: 3/5
Pages: 514
2012 Reading Goal: 9,344/15,000


Happy Tuesday, readers!