50 shades of gray

[Menace]

So, I was wondering what you guys/gals think of the book 50 Shades of Gray. Do you recommend it. Is it the new Twilight book. What's your opinion and reviews of it? I heard it's gonna have a serial like Twilight.

 

 

 

 

(I'm gonna read this in class)

[Cia]

The author failed in the first few pages of the book. She obviously didn't take the time to even look at a map of the area she used as a setting for her story. She had the female lead leave Vancouver, WA to go to Seattle, WA going THROUGH Portland, OR. Considering Seattle is north of Vancouver and Portland is directly south, it would make no sense at all. I put the book down after that. There is a basic level of research I believe any author who uses a real city/state/place as the setting should do, and she couldn't be bothered to do that at all. That's flat out lazy and shows a lack of respect when it comes to presenting a story, which bothers me when I see it. Especially in a published author. If the book hadn't been a loan I didn't pay a dime for I'd have been pissed off.

 

I guess you could say I'm not a fan. LOL

 

Oh, and yes, there are 3 books. Since I didn't even get close to finishing the first, I haven't read the 2nd and 3rd obviously. My mother in law liked them all though.

[Andrea]

Ugh. Don't get me started on this book.

 

I do not recommend it.

[W_L]

At first, I loved vampires, I really did. They were cool in the 90's with Buffy and Angel. I loved the Ann Rice trilogy despite what she personally believes or what she is soft selling in her stories.

 

Then, I read twilight from my sister's books and it was "eh" okay. I think that's where it started going downhill...

 

50 Shades is not my cup of tea, I am not interested in women, not even with a BDSM theme. People herald the story like it's refreshing and new, but I'd like to point them to the Straight section of Nifty, where they'll find a dozen stories like that with the quality Cia desires.

 

It's a good book if you like that stuff.

[Breeze]

Now see, I liked it all. I read all three books. I do agree though, the first part of the 1st book was tough to get through. I did not like her writing. But as I went through the three books, to me, EL James improved.

I originally just started to read the first one to see what the fuss was all about. It was not like I thought it would be. However, I did like the characters, especially Christian, because we got a good sense of why he was the way he was. Both of the main characters got to me. It wasnt exceptionally well written, but it was a really good story. Just my opinion.

[BeysJoshersLepton V2]

The only good thing about the series, is it allowed this women to write these reviews.

 

http://www.goodreads.../show/340987215

 

I was in tears.

 

Edit - It occured to me that the review may not be safe for work and i'm not sure as to linking policies in the lounge. I must stress if you're old enough for the book you're old enough for the review is still better.

Edited September 11, 2012 by BeysJoshersLepton V2

[Mikelaing74]

I had the distinct misfortune to read these books, as my mother would not stop talking about them !

 

I read the twilight books and summarily instructed Snuggle to slap the silly out of me should I ever consider picking them up again. 50 Shades of Gray is in that category. It has nothing to do with a BDSM lifestyle, they are tame in the extreme. Also the love story between the major players is just a farce in my mind. It was written to be a film, not a book.

[SidLove]

I stopped at Book 1... am not keen on buying the other two.

(Not recommending)

On the other hand, try the Clifton Chronicle books by Jeffrey Archer.. they helped soothe me after the Fifty shades of horror

[K.C.]

I haven't read it and I doubt that I will....unless the world ends and there is nothing left in the grocery store to read because reading the backs of cereal boxes gets old after a while and that would be my first choice.

 

I've flipped through the book. At first I wanted to see what the hype was. The pages I read weren't impressive, the writing was sub-par and this hard hitting BDSM was no where to be found. I sat it down and walked away.

 

The only possitive thing I can say is that It has gotten people (mostly women) that usually don't read, to actually pick up a book and read! Hopefully now they will do more reading and stumble over some good books that keep them reading! There is so much better out there if they look.

 

Don't buy the hype...don't drink the purple kool-aid

[Zombie]

Hey, lighten up some of you Welcome to trash culture - a multi-billion dollar global industry You could equally criticise pop music ["extraordinary how potent cheap music is" - Noël Coward], or fast food, or most "entertainment". Do most people want to see Cosi fan tutte or Dallas! Writers want to be successful, which means being read, so who would honestly say they wouldn't want the success of Dan Brown or EL James instead of writing a literary masterpiece that earns a quarter? As Mencken said "nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the public"

[for pedants - a snappier version of what he actually wrote]

 

But this raises a more interesting question. Why do girls go for the bad boys?

[Stellar]

Do not read these books! They're just ... ugh .. avoid. Please. The writing is uninspired and the content, frankly, is cringe-worthy in more than a few places. There are many far better works out there deserving of your attention; don't be fooled by the "best seller" status.

 

However, if you should really feel the need to experience it, I recommend the following link. It will steal only two minutes of your life instead of your money and your soul. Warning: may contain sexually explicit dialogue and cause severe laughter.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K1RcKJVbHA

[joann414]

I had a couple of friends that read it. One loved it, and the other told me she kicked her own ass for wasting her time reading it. lol So, I definitely did not read.

[Nephylim]

I've only read the first book

 

The only part I enjoyed in any way shape or form was negotiating the contract which I found amusing.

 

For me the books are a classic example of writing the right thing at the right time to appeal to the right people. They are not well written, they are not hardcore, they are not even accurate and as far as BDSM goes, mild doesn't even cover it.

 

BUT, like Twilight it's pleasant froth that masquerades as something dark and dangerous and so appeals to people who like to pretend they're dark and dangerous. At least 50 Shades doesn't give out messages that are as downright dangerous as Twilight.

[Andy78]

I read about half of the first book, and have been contemplating suing E L James for wasting my time and intentional infliction of complete boredom. I'd borrowed the book from a friend, but if I'd actually paid for it myself, I would have hunted the author down and demanded my £5.99 back.

 

The book has apparently become the fasting selling paperback ever having sold 40 million copies (it has even outselling Harry Potter) - methinks there are 39,999,999 narked off people who will be looking for a refund.

 

I've read far, far better stories here on GA.

 

The book falls well shy of its hype, and she should go back to her day job.

[W_L]

You all do know this story was began as a slash fan fiction right

 

We don't rip on each other that badly, when harry potter is on a leash held by draco or if the winchester boys (love Sam and dean by the way) are held in a magic spell and made to do such horrible things to each other. Sure i dislike 50 shades, but if people like that it's fine with me.

 

It is not for me, but others can say the same for gay fan fics too.

[Cyhort]

Ugh, no. Straight romance is not my thing at ALL. And I guarantee I've read/done harder "BDSM" than anything in that book just from the little bits I've heard people read out loud.

 

But like Twilight, the fact this this thing was actually published and people actually BUY it makes me really optimistic about getting people to buy my stuff when I get it published. So, come on garbage writers, keep churing out your garbage! I need confidence boosting!

[Andy78]

It may well have started as a fanfic, but when you are asking for me to hand over money to read your work, it had better be accurate (i.e. properly researched, and at least get your basic geography right), half-way decently written, and deliver on your hype.

 

I have no problem reading a fanfic with Harry Potter being lead around on a leash by Draco, but if you are asking me to fork over those pieces of paper with Her Majesty on them, then you'd better deliver more than some half-baked fanfic.

[sat8997]

There's a Straight section on Nifty?

[TetRefine]

I worked in a product warehouse at Target over the summer. We literally couldn't stock this stupid series of books fast enough. So a couple of us got curious and decided to read a few pages during a lull in work. Dear sweet Jesus, the writing is absolutely atrocious and has the feeling of being written by a 14 year old girl. The sex scenes are hilariously laughable. I did a little research on this book and apparently it started out as a Twilight fanfic (which explains why its so awful). Just go read the reviews on Amazon and you'll see what I mean.

[Menace]

i also heard that it was once an online story. Where she posted one chapter at a time. IDK if this is true though...

[Zombie]

Well the good news from all of this is if she can make a pile of money from writing then anyone can!

[Menace]

Well the good news from all of this is if she can make a pile of money from writing then anyone can!

 

I guess so lol

[Henry_Henry2012]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K1RcKJVbHA

 

This made me laugh. The women looked constipated from hearing his voice.

[W_L]

There's a Straight section on Nifty?

 

Hmm...i thought there was a straight section too, must be part of asstr stories then, but i could have sworn nifty had a straight section at one point; though i don't go there (Which partially would explain its disappearance )

 

try Asstr.org if you want a story like 50 shades.

[Andrea]

I worked in a product warehouse at Target over the summer. We literally couldn't stock this stupid series of books fast enough. So a couple of us got curious and decided to read a few pages during a lull in work. Dear sweet Jesus, the writing is absolutely atrocious and has the feeling of being written by a 14 year old girl. The sex scenes are hilariously laughable. I did a little research on this book and apparently it started out as a Twilight fanfic (which explains why its so awful). Just go read the reviews on Amazon and you'll see what I mean.

 

The reviews on Amazon had me laughing so dang hard the first time I read them! Absolutely hilarious!

 

This one is from 'DS from LA'

 

*UPDATE*: Thanks to the many other perturbed readers who have shared their own choices of the most annoyingly overused phrases in this masterpiece. Following up on their suggestions with my ever-useful Kindle search function, I have discovered that Ana says "Jeez" 81 times and "oh my" 72 times. She "blushes" or "flushes" 125 times, including 13 that are "scarlet," 6 that are "crimson," and one that is "stars and stripes red." (I can't even imagine.) Ana "peeks up" at Christian 13 times, and there are 9 references to Christian's "hooded eyes," 7 to his "long index finger," and 25 to how "hot" he is (including four recurrences of the epic declarative sentence "He's so freaking hot."). Christian's "mouth presses into a hard line" 10 times. Characters "murmur" 199 times, "mutter" 49 times, and "whisper" 195 times (doesn't anyone just talk?), "clamber" on/in/out of things 21 times, and "smirk" 34 times. Christian and Ana also "gasp" 46 times and experience 18 "breath hitches," suggesting a need for prompt intervention by paramedics. Finally, in a remarkable bit of symmetry, our hero and heroine exchange 124 "grins" and 124 "frowns"... which, by the way, seems an awful lot of frowning for a woman who experiences "intense," "body-shattering," "delicious," "violent," "all-consuming," "turbulent," "agonizing" and "exhausting" orgasms on just about every page.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1LT38SAC0FA4G/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0345803485&nodeID=283155&store=books