Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James

Title: Fifty Shades of Grey
Author: E. L. James
Page Count: 530
Rating: C
Keywords: Twilight, Love, Sex, BDSM
Genre: Erotica Fiction
Younger Readers: Not for children, check the genre

Synopsis from Goodreads:

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.

My Review:

Alright...this book came out when I was in high school and plenty of people raved about it when I was an undergrad. A friend even loaned me all of the books at one point to try and get me to read them. I stubbornly resisted until this year. After watching the movie adaptations of the books I found myself curious enough to give the books a try.

I am sure you have heard that this started out as Twilight fan fiction. I absolutely loved Twilight as a teenage girl. It was my obsession. Fifty Shades of Grey is definitely similar in a lot of aspects but I almost found it harder to get into this book. The first one hundred pages or so were a bit on the boring side and the writing felt amateurish. Part of me wanted to just give up but I kept on reading.

Luckily, the writing did improve and I actually came to like some aspects of the book. Anastasia was awkwardly entertaining with her internal goddess, and there were even moments where she was weirdly relatable. At times the romance between her and Christian was interesting, but overall the scenes that were meant to be steamy just felt awkward and a bit much. Even with my very limited experience reading romance and erotica, I have seen much better romantic scenes.

I certainly did not love this book but I by no means am going to discourage anyone from reading it. With how many of my friends loved this book, I think it is definitely worth checking out. If you loved Twilight, or are just looking for a somewhat predictable book then check this one out. I am still debating reading Fifty Shades Darker. I have heard it was better and incorporates a mystery. I'll keep y'all updated if I do.