Yes I too have given in to the hype, and fallen into the Christian Grey trap. I decided to buy this book after nearly every woman I knew was telling me about it, even my Mother (who never reads). I have to admit I was curious to see what all the fuss was about. The book has become so talked about due to its sexual nature and is starting to get called 'Mommy Porn'. Just about every where is selling these books, or selling out of. The rrp on this book is £7.99, but they can be picked up at various different prices, in different stores. I think the best deal is at Asda with all books for £10, but I have seen buy one get one half price offers to name but a few.

Fifty Shades of Grey is that book that everyones been talking about. It's the first book in the Fifty Shades trilogy by British author E L James. The 2nd book is Fifty Shades Darker and the 3rd is Fifty Shades Freed. The Fifty Shades trilogy are currently the only books available by E L James. It states in the inside of the book that E L James is a former TV executive, wife and mother of two based in West London.

The book follows Anastasia Steele, and is told from her point of view. Anastasia (Ana) is a young woman in her early twenties, in her final year at university. She lives with best friend Katherine (Kate) Kavanagh. Kate works for the student newspaper and has set up an interview with a successful super rich entrepreneur Christian Grey, who is also a major benefactor of the university. Kate takes ill on the day of the intreview and asks Ana to do the intreview for her. There is an instant attraction between Ana and Christian, however the intreview doesn't go too well in Ana's eyes and she shrugs the whole thing off. However Christain was taken by Ana, and the two meet again on a photo shoot for the student paper. Christian warns Ana early on that he is not the man for her. Anastasia is fascinated and confused by Christian. Although warning Ana to stay away from him, Christian is the one who can't stay away. Ana can't quite resist Christian and is quickly has her eyes opened to a dark and dirty world she never knew existed.
Christain doesn't do normal relationships, and is into dominant/submissive relationships, and has a kinky 'playroom' to boot. Ana is confused by this side of Christian and wants more from there relationship, than sex and games. They both want different things, how will it work?

At the start of the book Christian comes across very arrogant, but as the book develops you almost can't help but like him. He's described as gorgeous, filty rich and spoils Ana with gifts. He is always quick to respond to Ana's emails. However althought he does do some lovely things, he has major issues and I can't think of many people in real life, who would let the nice things he does, overshadow the deep issues he has. He is a total control freak and has some stalker tendencies, yet does it all out of want and need for Ana.

Ana seems likeable, quite and relateable, yet throughout the book she struggles with self doubt and her eagerness to please can sometimes be annoying.

I found this book, strangely addictive, it's not something I would usually read, and to be honest. it's terribly written. The sentences don't always make sense, and often don't flow well. Some words and phrases are used on a number of occasions, and it can feel very repetitive. I felt some words had just been picked out of a Thesaurus, to sound dirty, and they don't always fit in the sentence. Some of the wording made me cringe. Ana's intimate area is often called 'my sex', really who has ever called it that? The constant references to her inner goddess and her subconscious like they are real people is strange, and it almost makes it seem like Ana is three different people. There is one sex scence that put me right off, which had a little too much detail, that I felt didn't need to be there. The fact that Ana and Christian have perfect orgasmic sex every time, is a bit unbelievable. The wording in the sex scenes is also repeated alot. So although these sex scenes are exciting, they get a bit boring after a while.

The 1st few chapters are slow. There isn't much to them, and as I, like most, was aware of the dirty bits to come, felt like I was just waiting for something to happen. There were sereval times I considered puttting the book down.

The book has the basis of a good story, it just isn't written very well. I was taken in by the book and would have liked there to have been more, on why Christain had become involved in the lifestyl he is in, and the reasons behind his deep issues. I haven't yet read the next two books, so I am unaware if this is discussed in later books, but I really hope so. This book ends quite suddenly, and alot seems to take place in the last few chapters, and it all seemed a bit rushed at the end for me. However this did leave me wanting more, and ready to start the next book.

I had a little look on the net about this book, before starting this review and found out that this book was developed from a twilight fan fiction originally titled 'Master of the Universe' and was originally published episodically on fan fiction websites. The original story used the names of the main twilight characters Edward and Bella. Don't worry this book really is nothing like twilight. E L James had to remove the original work from websites due to many comments concerning the sexual nature of the stories. The story was originally one big piece, but was reworked into three different books becoming what we see today.
The film is also now being made into a film, I just hope that the screenplay is a bit better written, and Ryan Gosling would make one fine Christian Grey.

Overall I enjoyed the book, and look forward to reading the next 2. I have heard the second book is better, but I'll have to read on to find out. I am almost disappointed in myself for enjoying a book so badly written, but its just so strangely addictive. I am keen to know how it all pans out for Ana and Christian. I would recommend this book, it is a slow starter, and isn't the best written book, but it serves its purpose, and if anything it might add a little spark back into your sex life!! It did mine!!