Fifty Shades of Grey - E L James
Newest Review: ... i cringed and had to put the book down and walk away, i think that was due to the unrealistic sex. As all us girls know the man cums b... more
Fifty Shades of not what I was expecting...
Fifty Shades of Grey - E L James
Member Name: linzeelou
Product:
Fifty Shades of Grey - E L James
Date: 10/05/12
Rating:
Advantages: Interesting
Disadvantages: Not marketed the right way
About the book
Fifty Shades of Grey was released on 12th April of this year by Arrow. The book is 528 pages long.
Plot
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.
But Grey is tormented by inner demons, and consumed by the need to control. As they embark on a passionate love affair, Ana discovers more about her own desires, as well as the dark secrets Grey keeps hidden away from public view.
What I thought
I love a good offer on a book while I'm doing my shopping so when I saw this one in Asda for only £3, I snapped it up. It was in the young adult section although it did sound slightly older and sounded like the kind of book that I would love.
As I began to read this on the train to see my boyfriend, it quickly became clear that this was nowhere near a young adult book. The language used, which wasn't too bad to begin with, was much stronger than in YA and the characters also much older. The protagonist was just about to graduate from University in America so I guess she was aged around 21 or 22. The way that the story is set up also shows that this is in fact an adult book. Setting off to interview someone for her housemate, Ana meets Christian Grey who owns his own company and is 27. Once this part of the story got going, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it or not.
Ana is quite reserved and seems to not have much life experience at all. She works hard at school and also has a job, not leaving much time for a social life apart from the time she spends with her housemate and a couple of other close friends. When Ana meets Christian in the big world of business, she is extremely out of place. Christian is intimidating and extremely good looking, throwing Ana off her game. The lack of confidence and power in Ana here is clear and Christian unnerves her far too easily. Although this interview was only supposed to be a favour for a friend, it turns into a lot more and fast.
With Christian tracking down Ana, they begin to come friends of a sort although Ana has no idea what his intentions really are. If a man travelled miles to visit a girl at work to buy something stupid like cable ties (like Christian does) I think it would be obvious what his intentions are. Ana was a bit stupid when it came to things like this and I wish I could have told her to open here eyes and stop being so damn blind. For someone who is just about to graduate, she has no common sense whatsoever.
At this point in the book, the writing was beginning to really bug me. Characters ;lacked depth and some of the writing was just laughable because it was so badly done. Descriptions overdone and clinical sounding definitely do not make me exciting to carry on reading anything. The writing didn't flow well at all throughout and this made the plot feel disjointed at many different points.
Up until now, this sounds like a pretty average romance book right? Student falls in love with rich and successful guy who is out of her league. Well, that's what I thought too. Fifty Shades of Grey takes a very strange turn though once our characters are established. This whole book is in fact about dominance and submission in a relationship. Not what I was expecting to say the least. As Ana and Christian's relationship developed and this aspect of the story was revealed, I didn't know if I could carry on, let alone want to. Even though the writing was so bad though, I did carry on. I was interested in how the story would work out or what was even going to happen.
These aspects of the story are extremely explicit and definitely not YA!! I have no idea how someone could put this in or near the YA section in a supermarket. If a mother bought this for their child because of the section it was in and found out what it was really about, they would be fuming I think. I really couldn't believe what I was reading at times and was in complete shock for a good while because I just wasn't expecting that twist to appear.
However, I did actually enjoy this book. Terrible writing (which gets worse after the twist) aside, the story was extremely interesting and something I had never read about before. The dynamics of this kind of relationship were by far the most interesting thing about this book although it was bit too graphic for me at times. Apparently, so I;m told by a blogger friend, this trilogy began as fanfiction for the Twilight Saga although I don't see the resemblance myself. While there are three books to be read, I don't think I'll be reading the other two, no matter how interesting the subject matter. Not a complete waste of money but I wouldn't have bought it had I known what it was really about.
Fifty Shades of Grey was released on 12th April of this year by Arrow. The book is 528 pages long.
Plot
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.
But Grey is tormented by inner demons, and consumed by the need to control. As they embark on a passionate love affair, Ana discovers more about her own desires, as well as the dark secrets Grey keeps hidden away from public view.
What I thought
I love a good offer on a book while I'm doing my shopping so when I saw this one in Asda for only £3, I snapped it up. It was in the young adult section although it did sound slightly older and sounded like the kind of book that I would love.
As I began to read this on the train to see my boyfriend, it quickly became clear that this was nowhere near a young adult book. The language used, which wasn't too bad to begin with, was much stronger than in YA and the characters also much older. The protagonist was just about to graduate from University in America so I guess she was aged around 21 or 22. The way that the story is set up also shows that this is in fact an adult book. Setting off to interview someone for her housemate, Ana meets Christian Grey who owns his own company and is 27. Once this part of the story got going, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it or not.
Ana is quite reserved and seems to not have much life experience at all. She works hard at school and also has a job, not leaving much time for a social life apart from the time she spends with her housemate and a couple of other close friends. When Ana meets Christian in the big world of business, she is extremely out of place. Christian is intimidating and extremely good looking, throwing Ana off her game. The lack of confidence and power in Ana here is clear and Christian unnerves her far too easily. Although this interview was only supposed to be a favour for a friend, it turns into a lot more and fast.
With Christian tracking down Ana, they begin to come friends of a sort although Ana has no idea what his intentions really are. If a man travelled miles to visit a girl at work to buy something stupid like cable ties (like Christian does) I think it would be obvious what his intentions are. Ana was a bit stupid when it came to things like this and I wish I could have told her to open here eyes and stop being so damn blind. For someone who is just about to graduate, she has no common sense whatsoever.
At this point in the book, the writing was beginning to really bug me. Characters ;lacked depth and some of the writing was just laughable because it was so badly done. Descriptions overdone and clinical sounding definitely do not make me exciting to carry on reading anything. The writing didn't flow well at all throughout and this made the plot feel disjointed at many different points.
Up until now, this sounds like a pretty average romance book right? Student falls in love with rich and successful guy who is out of her league. Well, that's what I thought too. Fifty Shades of Grey takes a very strange turn though once our characters are established. This whole book is in fact about dominance and submission in a relationship. Not what I was expecting to say the least. As Ana and Christian's relationship developed and this aspect of the story was revealed, I didn't know if I could carry on, let alone want to. Even though the writing was so bad though, I did carry on. I was interested in how the story would work out or what was even going to happen.
These aspects of the story are extremely explicit and definitely not YA!! I have no idea how someone could put this in or near the YA section in a supermarket. If a mother bought this for their child because of the section it was in and found out what it was really about, they would be fuming I think. I really couldn't believe what I was reading at times and was in complete shock for a good while because I just wasn't expecting that twist to appear.
However, I did actually enjoy this book. Terrible writing (which gets worse after the twist) aside, the story was extremely interesting and something I had never read about before. The dynamics of this kind of relationship were by far the most interesting thing about this book although it was bit too graphic for me at times. Apparently, so I;m told by a blogger friend, this trilogy began as fanfiction for the Twilight Saga although I don't see the resemblance myself. While there are three books to be read, I don't think I'll be reading the other two, no matter how interesting the subject matter. Not a complete waste of money but I wouldn't have bought it had I known what it was really about.
Summary: Not for me
