Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Summary:  Yeah, right.  My dad reads this.

Brookie’s Review: Don’t get excited.  We’re not going to discuss this book (per say).  My grandmother reads this y’all, and probably my dad too.  So, there will be no in-depth plot discussions.  That is my disclaimer.

However, there is one thing Iwould like to state for y’all to see, make that two things.  First thing – Anastasia is a whiny brat.  I don’t like her.  Not even a little bit.  This is a rare occurrence.  I typically identify with the lead female character in a book, but definitely not this time.  Perhaps my dislike comes from the fact that this girl is based on Bella Swan, and we all know about my blatant dislike of Bella.  My thing with Ana is this – make a darned decision.  Stop agonizing over every little detail.  It’s not cute.  Either you love the guy and accept his faults and psychotic tendencies, or you don’t.  Seems pretty simple to me.  And with that being said, here’s my second thing – Christian Grey, you are one messed up dude.  Seriously.  I’m sure there’s a kind of explanation for it, but I’ve been told it doesn’t show up until book 3, which is disappointing, I think.  Back story is incredibly important to your character development (this is why non-readers were confused during The Hunger Games movie).

And I get that the author is trying to keep Christian a mystery, to keep you turning the pages, but even mysterious billionaires get tedious after a while.  I’d like a few hints, and more than what the author alludes to – it’s kind of easy to guess after about half the book.

One more thing, the writing style.  Not my favorite.  I’m not hating, if anything, I’m jealous.  Ms. James wrote a fan fiction based on Twilight, and ended up with a three book deal and sold the movie rights.  I’m definitely jealous.  But, I do feel like her editors should have helped her along a bit more.  The limited vocabulary that’s used get old very fast.

I don’t think I would have willingly picked this book up if I hadn’t given in to peer pressure.  Sometimes you just have to see what the hype is all about.  It’s people like me that will make this woman beyond rich.