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The Mister (Mister & Missus, #1)

E.L. James

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Oct 23, 2019 Destiny rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-romance

E.L. James writes about the rich. I think it would be safe to say that she's an originator of the billionaire romance if not the one that made it an immensely popular genre.

I didn't finish reading Fifty Shades of Grey, however, but despite that, I've kept an eye on the author and I wanted to see what she would write after her success with FSOG. So when I saw she was releasing her first non-FSOG novel I knew immediately that I wanted to read it.

This book is interesting. It captured me in a way F E.L. James writes about the rich. I think it would be safe to say that she's an originator of the billionaire romance if not the one that made it an immensely popular genre.

I didn't finish reading Fifty Shades of Grey, however, but despite that, I've kept an eye on the author and I wanted to see what she would write after her success with FSOG. So when I saw she was releasing her first non-FSOG novel I knew immediately that I wanted to read it.

This book is interesting. It captured me in a way Fifty Shades of Grey didn't. There were narrator quirks ( Fuck. A. Duck. ) and I wondered why she chose to write Maxim's portions in the first person and Alessia's in the third person. The chapters flowed pretty smooth and I just didn't really see why she would make that choice.

And then there's the whole virginal heroine thing. It just really bothered me and it almost seemed to me that Maxim's fetishized her 'wholesomeness' and her inexperience and I find that a lot of romance novels do that or at least they did it in the past. Virginity in and of itself doesn't bother me, but rather the way it's written about it like it was here.

There's a lot East vs. West thing going with the way Maxim's world (i.e. England) and Alessia's world (i.e. Albania) is characterized. Here comes the great empire to save the lessers! Albanian men are violent and the women are demure. Of course, of course!

And one last note of contention that I have. There is a character. A black man mentioned that is supposed to be Maxim's friend. He's introduced at the same time as Tom, who we see further on in the book. But after his first appearance, Maxim's so-called best friend is never heard from again. I think this says a lot about how people of color fit into James's world of privilege and prestige.

E.L. James writes within a niche of privileged, white characters. That's something she's familiar and comfortable with. I don't necessarily expect her to write about characters of color especially if it's something she can't do well. I will say however that I will continue to keep my eye out on her output. I'm intrigued about her success and she's not a bad writer in my opinion. I guess I'll see where her writing takes her. ...more

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Oct 12, 2019 Nicky rated it did not like it

I read it to see if she could do something other than 50
Shades of Twilight... and all I can say is ...

WHY DID I READ THIS?!?!

Oh well easily read and easily forgotten.

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Apr 16, 2019 Jen is currently reading it

Apr 27, 2019 Laura is currently reading it

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