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wendythegeekgoddess's review against another edition
4.0
SYNOPSIS:
Fifty Shades was originally written as a fan fiction of twilight, when I found this out I was intrigued but it wasn't until my mother in law recommended it that I actually picked it up. It tells the story of Anastasia Steele, a young woman fresh out of college who interviews Christian Grey, a rich billionaire and CEO of Grey Enterprises. Anastasia has never been attracted to a man until she lays eye's upon the beautiful Christian Grey. He returns his feelings and pretty soon Anastasia finds himself in his apartment where Christian has a secret, a secret that may be a little to much for Anastasia to handle...
REVIEW:
Fifty shades of grey is fifty shades of naughty! The first day when I picked it up I read quite a lot but then when it came time to all the err... sexual activity it became a bit unbearable and there were times when I had to put the book down... for a few days. It started to feel more like a porno then a romance novel. The other thing that bothered me a bit was how Anastasia had never found a man attractive, a woman of 22 years of age. Of course its not impossible but it is highly unlikely to happen in real life so it made that story a little unrealistic. Other than that it was a great read and tells a great story which is why I give fifty shades of grey 4 out of 5 stars. (I would have given it 3 1/2 but there are no halves here =(
AGE RATING AND RECOMMENDED TO:
Obviously this book is for mature audiences only. I recommend this book to those that like to read fan fiction and to those that read penthouse books (hahaha)
If you loved "fifty shades of grey" by: E.L. James you'll like:
[bc:Gabriel's Inferno|10140661|Gabriel's Inferno (Gabriel's Inferno #1)|Sylvain Reynard|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1343961643s/10140661.jpg|15038778] Gabriel's Inferno" By: Sylvain Reynard,
[bc:The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty|26582|The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, #1)|A.N. Roquelaure|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1346954268s/26582.jpg|1049526] "Sleeping Beauty (trilogy)"By: Anne Rice,
[bc:Beautiful Disaster|11505797|Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful, #1)|Jamie McGuire|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327212014s/11505797.jpg|16441531] "Beautiful Disaster" By: Jamie McGuire
Fifty Shades was originally written as a fan fiction of twilight, when I found this out I was intrigued but it wasn't until my mother in law recommended it that I actually picked it up. It tells the story of Anastasia Steele, a young woman fresh out of college who interviews Christian Grey, a rich billionaire and CEO of Grey Enterprises. Anastasia has never been attracted to a man until she lays eye's upon the beautiful Christian Grey. He returns his feelings and pretty soon Anastasia finds himself in his apartment where Christian has a secret, a secret that may be a little to much for Anastasia to handle...
REVIEW:
Fifty shades of grey is fifty shades of naughty! The first day when I picked it up I read quite a lot but then when it came time to all the err... sexual activity it became a bit unbearable and there were times when I had to put the book down... for a few days. It started to feel more like a porno then a romance novel. The other thing that bothered me a bit was how Anastasia had never found a man attractive, a woman of 22 years of age. Of course its not impossible but it is highly unlikely to happen in real life so it made that story a little unrealistic. Other than that it was a great read and tells a great story which is why I give fifty shades of grey 4 out of 5 stars. (I would have given it 3 1/2 but there are no halves here =(
AGE RATING AND RECOMMENDED TO:
Obviously this book is for mature audiences only. I recommend this book to those that like to read fan fiction and to those that read penthouse books (hahaha)
If you loved "fifty shades of grey" by: E.L. James you'll like:
[bc:Gabriel's Inferno|10140661|Gabriel's Inferno (Gabriel's Inferno #1)|Sylvain Reynard|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1343961643s/10140661.jpg|15038778] Gabriel's Inferno" By: Sylvain Reynard,
[bc:The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty|26582|The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, #1)|A.N. Roquelaure|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1346954268s/26582.jpg|1049526] "Sleeping Beauty (trilogy)"By: Anne Rice,
[bc:Beautiful Disaster|11505797|Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful, #1)|Jamie McGuire|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327212014s/11505797.jpg|16441531] "Beautiful Disaster" By: Jamie McGuire
thatgreenwitchmagic's review
2.0
Oh this book is nauseating! I'm debating reading the next two, just to finish a series but I don't know if I can stomach it. I got what I wanted in the end though, a sad ending! Finally!
katieolive's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
chaotic_bells's review
DNF 26% - ugh it’s so slow and boring. There is no substance to these characters, nothing to grip me or make me want to read the next page
kaitiecakes's review
4.0
This is the third time I’ve read this book.
The first time I LOVED it. But I feel that was because it was a way to branch into the adult romance genre. It took be an entire year before I even decided to pick it up and then when I did I became obsessed with it.
When the movies started coming out I decided to try and read it again and I wasn’t able to.
This time however, I did finish it and it wasn’t nearly as terrible as it was the second time I tried to read it. However, this time I also listened to majority of it instead of actually reading it.
The first time I LOVED it. But I feel that was because it was a way to branch into the adult romance genre. It took be an entire year before I even decided to pick it up and then when I did I became obsessed with it.
When the movies started coming out I decided to try and read it again and I wasn’t able to.
This time however, I did finish it and it wasn’t nearly as terrible as it was the second time I tried to read it. However, this time I also listened to majority of it instead of actually reading it.
sonionnn's review
Girl, the fact that Colleen Hoover gave this book a five star rating is such a red fucking flag lmao. I’m in my twilight lore era so I had to read it’s supposed published fan fiction. It wasn’t awful but it definitely was not good. Girl… every time she referred to her “inner goddess” I just about peed myself laughing. This author is so brave for writing this book and I feel so brave admitting that I read it.
karenks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
oxnard_montalvo's review
2.0
I'm sorry... I hope we can move past this. Yes, I read it; it wasn't smart, or cool. I have no one but myself to blame. I was curious and we all experiment with bad literature when we're young, don't we? I felt not putting this up here would be a lie. I didn't want people to see my bookshelf and think 'hey, wow. we seem to be book-compatible!' and all the while knowing this.... this was lurking in the dusty corners.
No.
I'm a better person than that.
So there it goes. Up on the shelf.
No.
I'm a better person than that.
So there it goes. Up on the shelf.
roxnn2000's review
1.0
I read this book a few years ago and, at the time, I had a close friend that loved it so I have it a lot more credit than it was due. As time went on I find myself looking back on this book and wondering why, oh why, would I like this?
If you like it, that's fine. I never want anyone to feel like they have to dislike a book because others do or vice versa.
However, I am not a fan.
Anastasia annoys me, Christian tries to come charming but instead is just a creepy stalker and no one acts like a real person would.
I admit that on first read I was interested in Christian's backstory, I wanted to know what made him tick. Now that I know it the flaws of this book are more pronounced cause that interest is gone.
My overall thoughts were it was boring, annoying, poorly written and none of the characters acted realistically.
If you like it, that's fine. I never want anyone to feel like they have to dislike a book because others do or vice versa.
However, I am not a fan.
Anastasia annoys me, Christian tries to come charming but instead is just a creepy stalker and no one acts like a real person would.
I admit that on first read I was interested in Christian's backstory, I wanted to know what made him tick. Now that I know it the flaws of this book are more pronounced cause that interest is gone.
My overall thoughts were it was boring, annoying, poorly written and none of the characters acted realistically.
faeonyx's review against another edition
1.0
Reading this book qualifies as one of the longest and most painful experiences of my life. I did not read it voluntarily. In fact, I was in the camp of people that had read reviews and online discussions and used those things to back up my own view of the book. One of my friends eventually asked me if I had ever actually read it myself and I was, of course, forced to say no out of honesty. She informed me that I didn't really have a right to comment on it if I hadn't read it, and I had to agree. After all, no one likes it when you talk about things without having all the facts.
I now have all the facts and I can say without a doubt that this is one of the worst books I've ever read. I even did a chapter-by-chapter blog series as I read it because I wanted to be able to comment on it in an informed manner.
The book wasn't as bad as I had been led to believe by others that read and hated it. I think that the online discussions and the community fire was internally fueled and blew some things significantly out of proportion. Having said that, I can see exactly how those conversations happened. The book reads like fanfiction, and parts of it are actually not that bad when you compare it to other popular works of fanfiction. I discovered that I don't have a problem with the bulk of the story, but what I do take issue with is the use of the BDSM lifestyle. Christian is terrible at it.
The main issue is that he constantly demands honesty from Anastasia, but he doesn't reciprocate. The rules apply to her, but not him (of course) because he is the Dominant. There is never a time when the agreement is mutually beneficial, even though there are certain aspects that Ana seems to enjoy on occasion. It's clear from the beginning that their relationship won't work and yet it's still forced through 514 pages of this book, ending in heartbreak ultimately because Ana finally realizes that this isn't what she wants out of a relationship.
I'm really not sure why the BDSM element had to be included at all, to be perfectly honest. The story would have made the same impact, and I would have liked it better, if Christian was just some douche with a chip on his shoulder and commitment issues. Using BDSM as a character flaw rubs me in entirely the wrong way and left a nasty taste in my mouth. Things would have been much better without those instances in here at all. I don't like that the lifestyle is represented as something that Ana needs to save him from. I don't like that he's not entirely honest about his desires and feelings. I don't like that Ana seems to be the one to be making all the sacrifices.
As for the writing, it's mediocre. There are times where James gives over to some really nice description, and you don't have to like the book to be able to admit that. She fell into a flow occasionally where you could almost smell the room or the field or even a particularly nice meal or wine, but she quickly loses that momentum in other places. It flitters from really strong, solid description to almost being lost in the moment because she glosses over other things too quickly. The heavy-handed use of a thesaurus is extremely obvious and very out of place with the rest of the tone of the book. I think it was meant to be cute? I'm not sure.
Overall, not as terrible as I thought, but it gets one star because there are so many things that could have been easily researched that are just flat out wrong. The internet has information about everything you could possibly want, and the entire BDSM community takes issue with this book. I'm sure there are outliers. There always are. The point is that this could have been done much better, and that maybe James should have done more extensive edits before publishing fanfiction, because it still reads like it should be on fanfiction.net.
Word of advice, don't waste your time on this one.
I now have all the facts and I can say without a doubt that this is one of the worst books I've ever read. I even did a chapter-by-chapter blog series as I read it because I wanted to be able to comment on it in an informed manner.
The book wasn't as bad as I had been led to believe by others that read and hated it. I think that the online discussions and the community fire was internally fueled and blew some things significantly out of proportion. Having said that, I can see exactly how those conversations happened. The book reads like fanfiction, and parts of it are actually not that bad when you compare it to other popular works of fanfiction. I discovered that I don't have a problem with the bulk of the story, but what I do take issue with is the use of the BDSM lifestyle. Christian is terrible at it.
The main issue is that he constantly demands honesty from Anastasia, but he doesn't reciprocate. The rules apply to her, but not him (of course) because he is the Dominant. There is never a time when the agreement is mutually beneficial, even though there are certain aspects that Ana seems to enjoy on occasion. It's clear from the beginning that their relationship won't work and yet it's still forced through 514 pages of this book, ending in heartbreak ultimately because Ana finally realizes that this isn't what she wants out of a relationship.
I'm really not sure why the BDSM element had to be included at all, to be perfectly honest. The story would have made the same impact, and I would have liked it better, if Christian was just some douche with a chip on his shoulder and commitment issues. Using BDSM as a character flaw rubs me in entirely the wrong way and left a nasty taste in my mouth. Things would have been much better without those instances in here at all. I don't like that the lifestyle is represented as something that Ana needs to save him from. I don't like that he's not entirely honest about his desires and feelings. I don't like that Ana seems to be the one to be making all the sacrifices.
As for the writing, it's mediocre. There are times where James gives over to some really nice description, and you don't have to like the book to be able to admit that. She fell into a flow occasionally where you could almost smell the room or the field or even a particularly nice meal or wine, but she quickly loses that momentum in other places. It flitters from really strong, solid description to almost being lost in the moment because she glosses over other things too quickly. The heavy-handed use of a thesaurus is extremely obvious and very out of place with the rest of the tone of the book. I think it was meant to be cute? I'm not sure.
Overall, not as terrible as I thought, but it gets one star because there are so many things that could have been easily researched that are just flat out wrong. The internet has information about everything you could possibly want, and the entire BDSM community takes issue with this book. I'm sure there are outliers. There always are. The point is that this could have been done much better, and that maybe James should have done more extensive edits before publishing fanfiction, because it still reads like it should be on fanfiction.net.
Word of advice, don't waste your time on this one.