Fifty Shades of Grey Review

“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 embark 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”

I am going to start this review with a warning. 
This is a very adult book and one that is aimed at over 18’s.  
This review does contain adult material and you have been warned.

So, I’m guessing that you’ve heard of a little book called Fifty Shades of Grey that’s rocketed its way to the top of both the US and UK fiction charts?  Nowadays of course, it’s infamous and there are even talks of a movie deal with Ian Somerhalder expressing interest (OH DEAR GOD, YES PLEASE) although really, this is not a movie that I’d want to watch in public ;)  By now, I’m sure you know that Fifty Shades is based on Twilight fan fiction and was written by a British TV Executive.  It was originally posted online as “Master of the Universe” and thank God they changed the title!

I first heard about the book back in March when there were some mutterings on Twitter from across the pond.  Oh and it just happens to feature BDSM which may as well have been the 'British Driver's School of Motoring' for all I knew.  You will be pleased to know that after reading the book, I am now quite well educated in BDSM (or at least what it is) and I even know what it stands for!  I’d read another review of Fifty Shades that basically tore it to shreds and so I initially decided against reading it but truth be told, one night I got drunk and was messing around with my kindle (Note: that is NOT a euphemism).  I was checking out the book and the device stalled so I pressed the button again and before I knew it, it said I purchased Fifty Shades.  I took it as fate that I was supposed to read the book ;)

I had no idea what I’d let myself in for and there wasn’t even any naughtiness for the first 80 pages or so.  Could it be that there was an actual STORY there?  Well dear reader, yes there is.  Besides all the hype about the erotica, there is a story, there is romance and there is character development.  There’s even a little humour thrown in for good measure with the flirty e mail exchanges (very Brigid Jones like) and I really didn’t mind the inclusion of Ana’s Inner Goddess who acts out every now and then.  I’m not going to say the book was perfect – there were some overused words and I got a bit sick of seeing “oh my” all the time (which incidentally reminded me of Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz) but I didn’t let that interfere with my enjoyment of the story.

At first, I was embarrassed to tell people that I’d read the book as it was my own little guilty pleasure but now everyone’s reading it so what does it matter?  I’m not ashamed to say that I really liked it and as with Twilight, I quickly devoured all three books in a matter of days.   What I will say though is that if you’re going to read it in public, use an e reader although I tried and failed at that as I was convinced people were looking over my shoulder and questioning my choice of reading material!

I’ve heard Fifty Shades described as “mommy porn” which personally I find somewhat offensive as I am not a mother, nor do I think it is porn.  It’s also been parodied by Saturday Night Live and Ellen, and ripped to shreds by some bloggers and reviewers and yet I find the desperate need to defend this book, just like I did with Twilight.  Basically, if you didn’t like Twilight, what makes you think that you’re going to like something based on Twilight fan fiction?! I heard one blogger call the book tame and quite frankly, I’m not going to question what goes on in her bedroom but I think it’s a very sexy read.  I loved the book and despite his damaged past and his love of “kinkyfuckery”, I am in love with Christian Grey and I defy you all not to fall in love with him too.

Fifty Shades of Grey was published in April 2012.  To find out more about E.L. James, please click here to visit her website.