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Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades, #1)

E.L. James

Start date: December 15, 2016

Finish date: December 23, 2016

Discussion: Buddy Reads

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Nov 26, 2012 ~Kristin~ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

On my way to spend the afternoon with Mr. Grey

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Dec 04, 2012 Merrie rated it it was amazing

Well, this seems to be the one that started the craze. I'll admit, it started it for me as well. I have read this book multiple times (and I do mean multiple), but decided to go at again so I could write a review prior to the movie coming out. Do I think that one should read the book prior to the movie. Yes, I think that the movie is probably going to leave out things and the sex isn't going to be as detailed. You are definitely going to get more from the book and I think that the movie is reall Well, this seems to be the one that started the craze. I'll admit, it started it for me as well. I have read this book multiple times (and I do mean multiple), but decided to go at again so I could write a review prior to the movie coming out. Do I think that one should read the book prior to the movie. Yes, I think that the movie is probably going to leave out things and the sex isn't going to be as detailed. You are definitely going to get more from the book and I think that the movie is really going to be an enhancement to what we've already read.

Book #1 in the series will introduce you to Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey. The book is told through Ana's POV and we are first introduced to Ana as she is preparing to interview Christian for the University's newspaper. Her BFF Kate is actually the editor of the paper and the one who is supposed to be conducting the interview, but she has come down with the flu and needs to send Ana in her place. To say that Ana is a little intimated to be interviewing such an enigma, is an understatement. Once she arrives at his office, all of her fears come in loud and clear. Even though she is intimidated by Christian, she is also very much attracted to him.

Christian is intrigued by Ana the moment that she falls into his office, literally. For him, there is something about her that calls to his dominant side. Once the interview is concluded, Ana believes that she will never see Christian again and Christian can't get Ana out of his head. So he does what he needs to in order to see her again and tracks her down at her place of employment. Ana is pretty naive, she doesn't recognize his attraction to her for what it is. She doesn't see the same beauty in herself that he sees. Eventually he invites her to coffee, just to later warn her away from him, which only confuses Ana more.

I don't really want to go through every detail in the story, most likely you know most of it anyway, so let's just hit the important parts. Not only is Ana naive, she is purely innocent. A virgin with very limited sexual experience. Not even masturbation. So when Christian invites her back to his apartment with the hopes of her becoming his next submissive, he is beyond flabbergasted when she reveals this tidbit of information. Flabbergasted, but happy to rid her of her virginity. There is a contract, that is very detailed of his expectations. Ana is very leery of signing the contract, but understands that in order to be with Christian she must be what Christian needs, which is a sub.

This first book is not my favorite out of the three. I enjoyed it very much, but it is a "getting to know you" type of book. It is more of Christian embracing ideas that NEVER interested him before and Ana really opening up her sexual side to not only benefit Christian, but herself as well. There is a lot of happenings in this book, but it is not difficult to keep up with it. I obviously glossed over or totally left out a lot of detail, but the main premise of the book is Christian wants Ana as his submissive and while Ana wants to be with Christian in a normal relationship, she realizes that they may never exist for her with Christian.

Here's the thing, I know that a lot of people criticized this book. Some for the writing and other's for the false representation of the BDSM lifestyle. As far as the writing. I enjoyed it. Now, I will admit that some of the dialogue seemed to be a bit stuffy. It's hard to imagine people in their twenties speaking the way that Ana and Christian did at times, but not at all impossible. There were times that Ana is annoying, but I think it's more of her naivety that's annoying, more than it is her. As far as the lifestyle, I have no flippin' clue if it's accurate, and honestly, I don't care. I didn't intend for it to be a guide into the lifestyle. It was written to be intriguing, which it was. I don't think that this book was written to change literature (although, I do think it changed something), it was written as pure entertainment and that it is.

So, let's discuss what the book is really about: SEX. E.L. James did a fantastic job writing the sex scenes. There is A LOT of sex in this book. It is white hot and at times, jaw dropping in both good and shocking ways, there is a scene where he removes her tampon (which will not be in the movie), see jaw dropping. With all due respect to the BDSM'rs, Ms. James had to do some sort of research, because the scenes that she comes up with, especially those in the Red Room of Pain are very detailed and if they just came purely from her imagination, then she deserves some sort of an award. There's a reason why babies were conceived upon their mom's reading this book. BUT PLEASE DON'T REFER TO IT AS MOMMY PORN.

There are other characters introduced in this book that is important to the story line. There is Jose, who is a very good friend to Ana. He happens to be attracted to her and would like to explore the idea of a relationship with her, but she isn't interested in him that way. Christian is not fond of him at all, which has a lot to do with the fact that he is an extremely jealous man, but also because he witnessed Jose forcefully kissing Ana once when she was quite drunk. Kate is Ana's BFF and roommate. Kate comes from a very wealthy family and finds Christian to be creepy and often warns Ana to be careful around him. Kate begins to date Elliot, who happens to be Christian's brother. Ray is Ana's step-father, but in her eyes he is the man who raised her. Carla is her mother and she currently lives in Georgia. Christian's parents are Grace and Carrick, who are thrilled that Christian has finally found someone. Taylor is the bodyguard/right hand man.

I do love this book, it's just the next books are much more adventurous. So, if you are just tackling these books, go ahead and buy all three so you can go right into the next one. Trust me, once the way the first book ends, you are going to want to have the second book on hand. I am one who cannot wait for the movie, even though I was super excited when it was going to be Charlie Hunnam. I do hope that it does the book some justice, I know I will probably be disappointed in parts, but the trailers so far have left me wanting. ...more

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