Book Review – 50 Shades of Grey

Hi all! I hope you’re all well; to my UK followers/readers it’s the Jubilee Bank Holiday Weekend – no work until Wednesday woohoo!!!!

So, I’ve just finished reading 50 Shades of Grey. It was given to me as a birthday gift from one of my friends; she said that she reckoned it would be the sort of thing I would read….and she kind of wasn’t wrong! Given the media attention it has had lately and me being a book junkie, I thought I would do a review of it. I’ll try to avoid spoilers.



Pic taken by me; from my instagram account (chi174)

What is 50 Shades of Grey?

50 Shades a Grey is the beginning of a trilogy, starring the characters of Anastasia (Ana) Steele and Christian Grey. Ana is a young and naïve graduate while Christian is a handsome and successful entrepreneur. They embark on a love affair with an unusual twist, namely a dominant/submissive affair. They both encounter a lot firsts; Ana goes through a sexual awakening, while Christian’s BDSM boundaries blur with romance.

What the media thinks about it:

On the back of the book, it states “Romantic, liberating and totally addictive, this is a novel that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever”

The media has been in a hype over this book, dubbing it “mummy porn” because the book is apparently popular amongst older women. It has taken the world of erotic fiction by storm and has apparently changed the sex lives of so many women……because BDSM didn’t exist before this novel came out, right?! LOL!

But given the excitement about this book, I must say the book junkie in me was eager to read this novel - i'm partial to a naughty novel from time to time!

What I say about it (without giving everything away!):

When I started reading the book, the first thing that drew my attention was that the direction of the story felt familiar……Twilight familiar. At the risk of tainting anyone’s possible enjoyment of this book I felt that I was basically reading a kinkier version of Bella and Edward’s relationship, the only difference being that we’re dealing with BDSM rather than vampires and werewolves. I also felt that her family dynamics were similar to Bella’s as well.

The book is told from Ana’s point of view; sometimes it felt hard to empathise with her situation, especially when she referred to her “inner goddess” and throws around phrases like “holy shit” approximately every 5 pages (and there are 514 pages!). I found it a bit cringing to be honest. Also, she seemed to whisper a lot, which I found a bit immature and silly; it didn’t help me to take her seriously as a young woman. She is often self-depreciating and compares herself to her best friend, which again was quite jarring, but only because I felt she undervalued herself. But then I and most females have done this on a regular basis right? As for Christian, he is described as an Adonis and for the most part is pretty sure of himself. Actually, he sounds quite lush……

As for the sex scenes? Again there were a couple of cringe/cheesy bits mostly on Ana's part, but they were not too bad.......... if you know how to use your imagination ;¬).

So…..

Overall, while not a terrible read, I felt it was over-hyped by the media. It was not really original, it was slow in places and the writing style is not great; but then this is the author's first novel. However, it has been said that the biggest sexual organ is the brain – and like I said before, if you know how to use your imagination, the novel may be a lot more satisfying for you.

Despite my reservations, I have bought the second and third books – I’m interested to see how the relationship between Ana and Christian continues and develops. I’m currently reading the second book and will review it soon.

Have you read 50 Shades of Grey? What did you think of it? Will you read it? Let me know!

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