Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Fifty Shades, Book 1

Synopsis: 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.

Review: Ah this book, what can I say about it? When it came out, I must confess that I was the first to say that I never would read. (yes, there are only fools who do not change their minds). I’m not really attracted by the erotica as a genre in my novels, so I stay away from the books. Then in view of the buzz that the novel managed to do with sublime opinions, and others quite bad, I did not particularly want to add mine. But now, when I finally had the opportunity to read the book, I told myself that I still had to get into it, even only if just to try. I find it interesting to try different books from what I usually read and here I am with this first volume of the series. And with a great surprise, I can say that I had a great time with this novel, I was always very curious to know what the characters would do next, allowing me to read the novel very quickly.

We thus discover Ana, a young woman who is just finishing her studies and to help her friend and roommate, goes to interview a wealthy patron. She knows nothing of the man and only has her friend’s questions and her tape to do the job. But from the start she isn’t that good, she will be quickly destabilized by the man who is actually quite young and seems to mock her lack of skill. And when it all ends and she thinks that she will never see him again, he appears to make her an offer. Being very attracted to him, she remains quite surprised when he gives her a strange contract explaining that if she wants a relationship with him, she will be obliged to comply about many points. Then began a strange relationship between these two people who do not really know how to behave with each other and who try to change in order to have a semblance of life together. But it is still more complicated because their desires are far from the same …

I do not really have the knowledge about Dominant / Submissive relations and I admit that this is something that I have a little trouble understanding but it was still quite interesting to see. Grey and Ana are both really different and then he hopes to have her as a new submissive but it seems impossible for the young woman. It is rather difficult to understand this man by the mystery that surrounds him. Throughout the book we try to understand him, as well as our heroine, to know what made ​​him like that, and even if we learn some things, most is still very blurred. I must say that I was also very surprised to see his frequent changes of attitude. It is really impossible to identify this character completely. I think the person that we understand the most is Ana even if she is  bit stupid. She does not want the weird side of this relationship and at the same time she loves this man. It is very difficult to choose, to know what to do, especially when she can not talk to anyone about it. Each time she tries to take a step back, something recalls her, a hope of change, that she can have more, but with the fear of finally being nothing. Ana and Grey will therefore have to learn to compromise, to try to accept each other, but it will be very complicated, and perhaps much more than expected .

I think the only person I really did not understand is Kate and I admit that it was a bit disturbing. As she insisted for Ana to start something with Grey during certain periods, she tries to ruin it for others, and it all goes again. I confess that I did not understand that. A change of opinion yes, but not constantly. For the rest I must confess that I took great a pleasure in discovering the story and in understanding our two characters to see what they would do and how it all would end. I even have to admit that I was so curious that I read the end once I got over half of the novel.

Many people have highlighted the fact that the writing style was quite simple compared to what you can read at the same time I think that is what enables us to read the whole thing very quickly. I really liked  Ana’s character and it was exciting to follow and see what would happen to her. Hots scenes did not bother me and it was not as bad as I thought but I had a little trouble during when the woman has her period … But the rest was ok.

So as you can see, despite my preconceptions I had a great time with this book and I am curious to find out what the author has for her other volumes. I did not think I would read it one day and I think I would have missed something. I’m also curious to see how the movie will be because I think it will be quite difficult to stage. But it is certainly a nice surprise and I would love to have the answers I asked myself throughout the story. A novel to discover.

4

mellianefini

9 thoughts on “Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

  1. I was just like you when I finally decided to read this series–I was like, never going to happen. I actually have no idea why I changed my mind. I think it must have been just a case of “what’s all the fuss about?” LOL. And they were SO good.

    And I’ve heard people complain about the writing style too, but it made it more real for me. I mean if Ana didn’t have an inner-dialogue going, I don’t think she’d be half as likable a character.

    Glad you liked it!!

    • I know why I changed my mind, because the French publisher asked me if I wanted to read it. So I was like, ok I could give it a try if I don’t buy it. But it’s a really nice surprise. Yes I agree with you. Thanks!

  2. nope nope nah uh.. won’t do it. I did give this one a benefit of my doubt. It turned out to be a funny party with our friends and my hubby taking turns reading it and laughing so hard because the writing was just that bad.. and we used those funny sexy voices to do it, it was actually quiet funny.

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