Fifty Shades of...You Know

If you haven’t heard about “Fifty Shades of Grey” by EL James, it’s time to come out from under that rock! I usually tend to avoid books that have too much hype surrounding them, but I finally gave in and read this one to see what the massive fuss is about.

Everyone kept telling me that I would be shocked…and I was....shocked by how bad the writing is. The first third of the book is just brutal. I barely made it through. Here are my three main complaints:

• The author was so redundant. The best example I can give for redundancy is the portrayal of the food issue. It is brought up numerous times, in each chapter. Enough already! Some subtlety would have gone a long way instead of beating the reader over the head with certain issues.
• The character development of Ana was also lacking. She is incredibly cliche. I didn't like her at the beginning...and still didn't care about her at the end. I thought that this weak character contributed to the poor writing I perceived, making things seem amateur and clouded with naivete.
• I kept hearing that the love scenes were phenomenal in this book. I found some of them spicy, but most lukewarm. They are actually pretty tame compared to other novels I’ve read. I was expecting really hot material. As for it being S&M? Barely.

Redeeming qualities:

• When I got to the mid-point of the book, I did become intrigued by Christian’s character. James pulled me in and I found myself curious about what had happened in his life to make him the way he is. I will now have to read book two to see his development, if for no other reason.
• The overall question I found myself asking was: When did erotic fiction go mainstream?? And how did I miss it!?! I never thought a book like this would make such waves. Kudos for James for breaking her novel into the mainstream world.

Read it if your curious, just don't read it with high expectations. Some people love it, I am pretty ambivalent. I've heard book two is better. Stay tuned and I'll tell you what I think about that one!