Monday, November 11, 2013

Review- Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Goodreads Summary:

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:

The sole reason why I read Fifty Shades of Grey was for all the hype surrounding it. A few people loved this book, while most of them hated it, but no one really stopped talking about it. When it comes to me, I tend to like what almost everyone dislikes and dislike what everyone likes. As for Fifty Shades of Grey, let me just go ahead and admit the fact that I actually ended up liking it. It's a book that's as good as it is disgusting and for me, it was an... experience- an amusing one at that. 
Usually when a story occupies my mind it means that I've either loved the book or hated it. In this case, I can't say that it's been on my mind all the time, but at the same time, I've thought of it a lot. It's not an I-can't-get-it-out-of-my-head mind fucking story, because come to think of it, it's not even original. 
Even though Fifty Shades of Grey is a Twilight fan-fiction story, I have no intentions of saying anything about the latter simply because even though the two are similar, the sole difference between the two sets them far apart. And that difference is what made Fifty Shades such a disgusting, kinky and sick, but at the end of the day, a really good read. I’m not saying that Fifty Shades is better than Twilight- because it isn't, but I love reading numerous takes on the same thing. 
There were more things I disliked about Anastasia Steel and Christian Grey than there are chapters in the book. Ana seemed like a silly girl and a desperate woman at once while Christian seemed like a chauvinist pig and a highly disturbed person who just wants-no sorry, needs- to do to others what has been done to him for reasons I’m dying to know. Both the characters, however, are extremely stupid and thoroughly complex. A lot can be said about them, but this a review, not a report. 
I have studied Psychology for three years in total in college and during graduation. And Fifty Shades was like reading a live example of everything I studied all those years ago. Had I chosen Psychology as my majors, I would have loved to do a thesis on Ana and Christian perhaps because there is that much that can be said about them. 
I hated the characters but I liked the story and that leaves me hanging somewhere in the middle. There are many ways of looking at Fifty Shades of Grey and I choose to look at it as something that was heavy, profound and good in it's own odd and absolutely yucky manner. But when the characters, who are the story, are essentially unlikable, the point is set off. This was, as is said in the book itself, fifty shades of fucked up. 

RATING:


13 comments:

  1. Well you enjoyed this one more than me that's for sure (and that's not hard to be honest :D). I'm really happy to hear that as you know my opinion about everything in this book. Hope you'll enjoy the rest of the series as much :) Great review, Sarika :)

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    1. Yea, girl. One common thing we both hate is the characters. Book #2 is going good. Thank you, Tanja!

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  2. Amazing Review Sarika! I can tell you have a sort of love-hate relationship with this book! I haven't read it, but like you, have been very curious with so much hype surrounding it. This story sounds intriguing, yet dysfunctional. Do you plan on continuing with the series?

    Lindy@ A Bookish Escape

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    1. You got that right, Lindy. Curiosity always gets the better of me and yes, I'm currently reading book #2. Thank you!

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  3. I wanted to read this cause of the hype too! But reading all those reviews just killed all of my curiosity. Glad you enjoyed it. And great review Sarika :)

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    1. Ah, you never really know till you read it! Thank you, Priyanka.

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  4. I think the basics of the idea behind the story (getting caught up in someone kinky) was a decent one, but it probably should have been a short story. After the set up, they kept repeating the same drama with (not always) different words, until finally that implosion of an ending happened just to cauterize the book.

    Although, and this has to be said, the book is nowhere near anything even remotely akin to real life (safe) BDSM practitioners. Grey could more accurately be called an ass who uses BDSM as a cover. (Which, sadly, there are real Doms like that, they just happen to be terrible people using what should be a safe and consensual kink for their own ends. On the other hand, considering there ARE people who do that and who are always on the look out for people they can victimize, presenting Grey as the good guy to a bunch of kink newbies is a recipe for disaster waiting to happen.)

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    1. Right you are, Whitley. Thank you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. I quite liked reading your take on it.

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  5. I still have not ventured into this series. I want to just because of all the hype, but I have a feeling I'll have similar reactions to it as you did.

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    1. It's just a bag of mixed feeling, Ali and I hope you read it sometime. Would love to hear your thoughts.

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  6. You haven't read Twilight? Girl, what is this I'm hearing? Anyhow, I love how you went ahead and enjoyed this book without pondering too much over it- I did the same. Thank you, Aman I'm so glad you like this book too.

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  7. EL James is better known as the creator of the “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy. Having started her career with television as an executive, Erika Mitchell, forayed into fan fiction under the pseudonym “Snowqueens Icedragon”. Today however, her most notable work, “Fifty Shades of Grey” is the reason why she is in the news for all the right reasons and well, some controversies too.
    EL James

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  8. The fifty shades of grey novel is written by E.L. James and story of this novel is promoted by the movie.

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