Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James

(Fifty Shades trilogy, book 1)
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.

Fair warning: This book contains very graphic sexual situations, and profanity.

Whew…talk about a book that shouldn’t be read in public! There are some exciting, erotic, racy parts of this book that would make any woman get a little hot and bothered. I was actually surprised at how much I did like this book, mainly because I had heard that it wasn’t written very well and tended to lean on the ‘cheesy’ side. It was an easy read, and didn’t feel like a 500+ page book, but I thought it was pretty well written. Don’t get me wrong, there were some parts of the book that made me roll my eyes because of the ‘cheese factor’, but those parts were few and far between.

The relationship between Ana and Christian is really rather intriguing. Here you have a 20-something year old virgin getting involved with a man who just so happens to be into some serious S&M-type stuff. The idea that she is willing to try that kind of sexual relationship with no prior experience is just so strange to me. Honestly, the way E.L. James describes Christian’s Red Room of Pain, even I would probably run for the hills after seeing that and I’m no virgin. I think that’s one reason why I enjoyed this book so much; the idea of a completely innocent girl being thrust into a very sexual world full of pleasure, pain, punishments, and contracts. Oh my goodness, the contract! It is written out in detail, and to say I was shocked at what it entailed is an understatement. I think my jaw was on the floor during that entire part of the book. That’s the whole thing; even after Ana read the contract, you’re still not sure whether she’s going to walk away from him or not. She wants to be with this man so badly that she is willing to entertain the idea of being his submissive; of being flogged or whipped or spanked when she does something he doesn’t approve of or simply so he can get his rocks off. In a sense, she’s willing to consider becoming his sex slave. To me, that shows just how completely infatuated with Christian she really is, because no matter how much I was into a guy, I could never commit myself to being his submissive. Not in a million years…then again, I’ve never really taken well to being told what to do :)

I also really like the outside relationships involving Ana, which give the reader a chance to see other people’s take on Christian. The only one I really want to touch on is her best friend and roommate, Kate. She clearly is not sold on Christian, and her concern for Ana is really heartwarming. With that in mind, I’m not entirely sold on Christian either. He is obviously a man who is used to getting what he wants, no questions asked, but his domineering ways constantly had me questioning whether or not I want Ana to end up with him. I also really don’t like his stalker tendencies, which include but are not limited to, tracking her cell phone. Call me crazy, but that wouldn’t fly with me no matter how gorgeous the guy is.

Overall, I thought this was a good read. It reads pretty quickly, and leaves you wanting to immediately start the second book to find out exactly what happens between Ana and Christian. I would recommend this book to any adult, but the content would be inappropriate for teenagers. 

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