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.
I’ve read a lot of reviews for this book/series. And I’ve come to the conclusion that most folks are either going to *love* the 50 Shades series, or they’re going to loathe it. Having read my fair share of fanfiction, while also getting my degree in English lit, I’ve seen both sides of the writing coin and have to say that this book has the makings of a *great* novel, with a great romantic pair akin to Romeo and his Juliet, and Catherine to her Heathcliff… the *makings*. This was a hastily released book/series. It was as if the author had the first draft leaked and just left it like that. Marks of greatness are there in the fatal flaws of Christian, the supreme innocence of Ana, hints at delicious complexities and satisfying resolution. However, more than just Christian has fatal flaws, sadly.
The amount of repetition is almost embarrassing. And I’m not just talking about the sheer overload of sexual encounters described in this book, of which there are far too many (can there be too many you ask? YES!), but also of the turns of phrase that are beaten into the text until they’re nothing but a bloody pulp. “Fair point well made”, and “don’t bite your lip” come to mind. Trimming these items down so that they aren’t showing up every two or three pages, but often enough to create a rapport between the two main characters, would make this book a 4 or 5 star piece, easily.
And can I simply point out that no woman “comes” as easily nor as often as Anastasia? I think the ease at which she orgasms could be considered a medical *disorder* that should be checked out by a doctor. Make sure that poor girl doesn’t have some sort of very pleasurable cancer or something. It’s embarrassing.
Like I said though, these are hiccups that could have been smoothed out with further revision. Sadly, that was not done, and we have what we have. It’s rough, but for those of us with an imagination, we can see where the book could go, and create satisfying corrections for ourselves to fill in the blanks. And for those without any imagination, well, just enjoy the sex scenes: there’s a lot of them.
My Gemstone Rating:
