Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James

Fifty Shades of Grey
by E L James
391 pages (nook book)

Short Version: Innocent Anastasia Steele meets the most attractive, successful man in Seattle, Christian Grey, and ends up in an unexpected sexual relationship with him. Can she handle what he has in store for her?

Why I Read It: I had to see what all the hype was about. I heard many mixed reviews and decided to make my own judgements.

The Book: (From Goodreads)
When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind - until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time.

The unworldly, innocent Ana is shocked to realize she wants this man, and when he warns her to keep her distance it only makes her more desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her - 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 adoptive family – Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a passionate, physical and daring affair, Ana learns more about her own dark desires, as well as the Christian Grey hidden away from public scrutiny.

Can their relationship transcend physical passion? Will Ana find it in herself to submit to the self-indulgent Master? And if she does, will she still love what she finds?

My Thoughts: WARNING - MAY CONTAIN CONTENT UNSUITABLE FOR THOSE UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE & SPOILERS!!!
I went into this book a little bit jaded. I had worked with some ladies who were reading it at the time and all of their comments about how bad the writing and story line was really stuck with me. In the beginning all I paid attention to was the writing. They were right, it was not the greatest, but not the worst either. I typically do not read romance/erotica books either. I think I was expecting something much worse than what I got from Fifty Shades of Grey.
Throughout most of the book I feel like I sided with Anastasia. I don't think I could wrap my mind around being a submissive. I liked that she had a smart mouth and stood up for herself most of the time. When it came to the sex though, I feel like it was a bit unrealistic that she was having orgasms so easily and got an "A" in oral sex her first time. She was so inexperienced and had a clumsy personality so I think James should have fit that in a bit more in the sex scenes. I really liked that Ana listened to her inner goddess and subconscious throughout the book.
Now Christian Grey. I did not like him at all in the beginning. He is spoiled and too rich for his own good. He has the attitude that he can do what he wants and always gets his way. As the book went on, and you see his younger playful side with Ana at times, I began to like him more. I am so curious as to what made him "fifty shades of fucked up." I kept thinking he would give in to Ana and let her touch him since she followed him to the Red Room of Pain. Of course this does not happen in the first book, so I am forced to move on to the second one.
Overall, it was not as bad as I was expecting it to be. I'm already on the second book, Fifty Shades Darker, so obviously I liked it a little.

3/5 Stars

#11 in 2012 Ebook Challenge
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