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Thursday 20 December 2012

Book review: 50 Shades of Grey


Book Review: Fifty Shades Trilogy
  1. Fifty Shades of Grey
  2. Fifty Shades Darker
  3. Fifty Shades Freed
Author: E.L. James
Year Published: 2011
Genre: Erotica, Romance

To a friend who asked us to do this review.

After some long months, I have finally finished the Fifty Shades Trilogy. Yay for me.
There is a reason for the long months. I had to force myself to read it. This trilogy is what it is, fan fiction. Written by someone who got lucky. If you have read 50 Shades and you love it, good for you and you might want to stop reading this review. If you haven’t read it, most likely you are thinking the same thing as I did before I read the trilogy. “I want to know what the fuss is about but I know I will not like the book”. 
Yes, you will be very, very disappointed.  

Then again I’m not a romantic person, I don’t like erotic books and I’m not a big fan of female writers.  Also I cannot tolerate poor writing. Your thought might be different. (I know, E.L. James' first trilogy be nice. I won't. I will be truthful and blunt, pay back for wasting those long months.)

The story centers on Anastasia Steele. She meets the rich, handsome Christian Grey. They basically hit it off from the start. What she doesn’t know is his troubled past and his ‘demands' in the bedroom.

Nothing happens in these books but sex! I wish I could have put that more delicately. I know it's a erotic book (although no one told me how erotic it is) but at least have some kind of storyline. Anything to keep the book interesting. There are parts of the trilogy where problematic situations arise but none are centered in the main story except for Christian's and Ana's sex life. The only thing worth noting is Christian's past and why he is the way he is... (*cough*a creep*cough) ... which was dragged through 3 books!!! By the end, his issues weren't even solved.

What I really dislike about 50 Shades is the'character development.' Anastasia  for example. She is meant to be a nice, innocent average girl. Of course every guy in the book is in love with her. That is typical in most romantic novels. What makes Ana annoying is from a college graduate, her IQ drops to 'ooo I love Christian Grey. Christian this and Christian's butt that.'. (Must have studied Christian Grey 101 in college). The only thing she develops is how to be irritating. Not to mention she does things purposely to annoy Christian just because she can. After her defiance she will beg for forgiveness and wait for her 'punishment'. Its a vicious cycle that repeats throughout the books.
Christian is no doubt much more complex. However besides from a whole lot of Ana describing his past and problems, he remains pretty much the same... (A controlling sex addict.)

On that note, am I the only girl on the planet who thinks Christian Grey is an extremely troubled person and if you were to pull his boundaries too far he will snap and ‘kill’?

The writing. Definitely not the best. This is the author's first novel so I won't go in depth with the repeating of words and the horrible attempts of steaming up the more erotic parts of the book and failing. (But like I said, I don't like erotic books so this might be me being biased..... I highly doubt it though).

One last point I have to make. 50 Shades is written in Anastasia's prospective so everything that runs through her head goes on the pages of the book. I have never read such a (lack of a better word) stupid girl's mind before. I understand she is meant to be young and naive but most people grow out of it. E.L.James has tried to give Anastasia some sort of selfless personality but she then lets it get lost in the story. Let me put it this way. Anastasia, being a average girl is meant to be relatable to the average female audience. I pray that there is nothing of me that resembles Anastasia Steele and I stress that Ana is NOT the typical average female!

Don’t read Fifty Shades of Grey. It is not worth anyone’s time unless you want to read something brainless. This craze will blow over and hopefully a ‘good’ book will take its place as the must read very soon…. Please…. Very soon….


Terri's Rating: 0.5/5

2 comments:

  1. Lol enjoyed your review. It sums up the trilogy perfectly. It's even better written than all three books! And even though I went on about Christian Grey, looking back, I now think his a weirdo too.

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  2. Thanks Khanh. I realize now my review is more like a rant on the trilogy. The more I wrote, the more frustrated I got.
    I'm glad we are on the same page when it comes to Christian Grey.
    *spoilers* The only part in the book where I felt the small hint of likeness is when he falls down on his knees when he thought Ana was leaving. Then he goes all overly protective and the bubble burst.
    Such a shame.

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