My Little Pocketbooks: Review: Fifty Shades of Grey

Fifty Shades of Grey (Book 1)

Author: E.L. James
Genre: Erotica

Release Date: May 25, 2011

Paperback: 514 pages
Source: Purchased at EsoWon Bookstore

Buy the Book: Amazon

Book Description

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.
This book is intended for mature audiences.

Review

I have heard so many things about this book but no real details. So I will try my best to tell you my thoughts about it without going into detail. I read this book because it's a book club selection for the month of July. I have read only one other highly erotic book and so I have nothing to compare the erotica too! So with that being said... the sex in the book is non-stop. Anna and Christian have sex almost every single time they see each other. And I am not talking cute "he ravaged her" sex but detailed, minute by minute, sex details that puts you in the room with them. There is one sex scene in the bathroom that completely grossed me out but the other stuff seemed not as hard core as I thought it would be considering the context.
Anna is a young college student that still holds her virginity completely in tack until she meets Multimillionaire Christian Grey. Then the "Pretty Woman" meets "The Story of O" (the other book I read) starts. Christian is completely in to the world of Dominate and Submissive sex. His character is hot (mainly because of his wealth) and has a few quirks that makes him completely unique. Like not wanting to be touched. Clearly a sign of a troubled childhood.
Anna, having not been in a real relationship is confused in a big way. I understand but...dang girl! Anna quickly gave up her virginity without a second thought but had major issues when he bought her an expensive set of books. These books are just the tip of the iceberg. She doesn't want to be seen as a "whore" so she refuses all his little gifts/loans to her. Anna darling, it takes a few more things than a few gifts to make you a whore when you are sleeping with your first and no one else.
She refuses, questioning, wines, complains, self evaluates and even cries (a lot) about him to the readers but never says anything to him. It become slightly annoying after the eighth chapter of it. Anna can never get her head wrapped around the idea that he likes BDSM (Bondage and Discipline/Sadism and Masochism). She spends hours thinking about what caused him to be this way? Can't he just like crazy, rough sex? And it's with consenting adults. Nope! Poor Anna spends most of her time with him "trying to figure him out" or "fix him".
I don't get the national craze over the book. I think it might be the "Pretty Woman" aspect of the book. If Christian was a poor college student that ate Ramen noodles for dinner everyday then maybe the book would not be all over the place. I think my expectations were toooo high as well.