Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades, #1) in Read by Theme

May 18, 2012 Sofia rated it it was ok

Shelves: erotica, fiction-womens, once-owned-gave-away, read-2012

Okay, I am someone who reads ALL books, even those that may be considered 'bad' by the reading public. I had heard SOOO much hype about this book (good and bad) and decided to read it for myself. My rating is actually 1.5 stars, but GR doesn't allow for half stars, so I went with the 2-star rating. The reason I am even giving it two stars is because underneath all the ATROCIOUS writing and really inexperienced descriptions of the BDSM lifestyle, there is a flickering of a storyline there; and th Okay, I am someone who reads ALL books, even those that may be considered 'bad' by the reading public. I had heard SOOO much hype about this book (good and bad) and decided to read it for myself. My rating is actually 1.5 stars, but GR doesn't allow for half stars, so I went with the 2-star rating. The reason I am even giving it two stars is because underneath all the ATROCIOUS writing and really inexperienced descriptions of the BDSM lifestyle, there is a flickering of a storyline there; and that storyline started coming together in the last 30 or so pages of this novel.

This Christian Grey character and the 'relationship' he starts with Anastasia is one that the women who all but praise this man should really be concerned about. This man that has every housewife in American oogling after is a possessive, jealous, stalking, controlling manipulator who has no business taking the virginity of a 22-year old girl who already has ZERO self-esteem as it is.

The writer ridiculously and awkwardly uses Anastasia's subconsious and "inner goddess" as actual characters in the book and it's annoying as shit. Their "voices" are identified by italicized script and they are almost as annoying as Anastacia herself. "Holy crap/shit" is used HUNDREDS of times in this book and, really, I felt like a ninth grader had written this book. COMPLETE LACK of colorful and educated language and grammar. It was VERY distracting to try and keep up with the story with all the horrid writing going on.

The reason this book even earned the two stars was because there were many parts of this story that I could honestly relate to, and I'm sure many other people could. Most of us have fallen hard for someone who probably was very wrong for us but we couldn't wait to get their email/text/call and nothing else in the world mattered. I have been in a controlling relationship and a LOT of Christian's behavior rang too familiar with me (him scolding her for drinking too much, insulting the kind of car she drove, etc). WHO THE HELL is this guy to come into her life and decide that she needs fixing?! I also feel like Christian being 26 years old was completly unbelievable (He has a private helicopter and jet, really?!). His behavior and level of success should have put him in the 40's age range, but I think the author did not want to make it an older man/younger woman scenario.

This novel appeals to people who do not read on a regular basis, much less, REAL literature. And, I feel it targets straight, white, American, housewives, who themselves have had very little to no sexual play outside of the norm. I have read enough REAL erotica novels which have strong characters and plots, and use devices which make the story better - this book has none of that. Which is fine. It clearly had an audience that LOVED it, however, I was not that audience. ...more

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Mar 03, 2012 Renee rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is a love it or hate it type book. Truth is I couldn't sleep two nights, it was a little graphic for me, that being said I guess the author gets you so tangled up with the characters. I was thinking of maybe Todd Manning from One Life to Live for Christian, very dark. Not sure but there were several times I was almost in tears for Anastasia. ...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Rooks rated it did not like it

I hate these books so much that words cannot express. Except for I was once in an online book club and we read this crap, and documented the veritable cornucopia of new ones we ripped it, chapter by chapter. I'll leave those here, then:

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May 20, 2012 Sheera rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I noticed that this book has very Freudian/psychoanalytic undertones. Namely with Ana and her inner goddess and subconscious being her id and superego ... anyway ... it's erotic and there's more erotic than story and the end is enthralling.

Also, one of my best ways to tell that a book is good or not is whether it makes me feel some emotion and I DEFINITELY felt emotions throughout this book!

That should probably be 3.5 stars because though I did really like it something held me back and I think ...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Tammy rated it liked it · review of another edition

The Twilight Saga influences on this book are clear and even if I had not known this was originally fanfiction I would have drawn comparisons between the two. Anastasia and Bella are pretty much the same character. They're both transparent, are capable of no emotions besides obsession, and are submissive. Christian and Edward are domineering, unnaturally handsome, and come off as caring when they are actually controlling. However, the books were strangly addicting, like Twilight, and I could not ...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Francielle De Oliveira rated it liked it · review of another edition

Depois de tanta polêmica sobre esse livro, resolvi ler e tirar minhas próprias conclusões. Anastasia Steele vai substituir a amiga Kate em uma entrevista ao bilionário megalomaníaco Bruce Wayne Christian Grey, em Seattle. Após uma breve e constrangedora entrevista, Ana se despede e volta para casa. Christian e Ana acabam se encontrando mais algumas vezes, até que ele a convida para ir à sua casa - de helicóptero. Ana aceita, e fica nervosa, afinal, nunca desejou tanto um homem quanto deseja Grey Depois de tanta polêmica sobre esse livro, resolvi ler e tirar minhas próprias conclusões. Anastasia Steele vai substituir a amiga Kate em uma entrevista ao bilionário megalomaníaco Bruce Wayne Christian Grey, em Seattle. Após uma breve e constrangedora entrevista, Ana se despede e volta para casa. Christian e Ana acabam se encontrando mais algumas vezes, até que ele a convida para ir à sua casa - de helicóptero. Ana aceita, e fica nervosa, afinal, nunca desejou tanto um homem quanto deseja Grey. Ao chegar na casa de Grey, Ana e sua língua afiada chamam a atenção dele, que a convida para conhecer o "Quarto Vermelho da Dor", e ela entende o que Grey é: um sádico sexual. Grey insiste para que Ana aceite sua proposta, mas ela está confusa, e apesar da enorme atração que sente por Grey, sente que isso está absurdamente errado. Grey nunca teve outro tipo de relacionamento com mulheres (além da relação sádica sob contrato). Mas isso muda quando Ana revela que é virgem.

"Sometimes I wonder if there's something wrong with me. Perhaps I've spent too long in the company of my literary romantic heroes, and consequently my ideals and expectations are far too high."

O começo do relacionamento de Ana e Grey não poderia ter sido menos conturbado. Um lindo-sexy-bilionário-megalomaníaco a convida para ir a sua casa de helicóptero, e ele é um sádico. A irritante "deusa interior" de Ana a diz para se jogar nesse relacionamento, mas a parte racional de Ana diz que isso é absurdamente doentio. Mas a atração que sente por Grey é tão forte que ela não quer realmente negar essa proposta.
Quem procurou algo de "Crepúsculo" em "50 tons de cinza" provavelmente ficou frustrado. Há poucas semelhanças entre as duas obras, e essas semelhanças estão intrínsecas na personalidade dos personagens e em alguns traços do caminho que a obra segue. Protagonista feminina inocente com baixa auto estima: presente. Protagonista masculino chato "mais lindo do mundo", rico, mais velho e com olhos marcantes: presente. Apenas isso.

"Why don't you like to be touched?" Ana whispered, staring up into soft grey eyes.
"Because I'm fifty shades of fucked-up, Anastasia."

O começo do livro foi uma leitura muito devagar. Foi muito "Ana says: OMG como ele é lindo, rico, poderoso... ele nunca vai se interessar em uma garota como eu" de um jeito um pouco irritante. Nas primeiras 200 páginas, Grey realmente me lembrou Edward: chato, aparece do nada quando menos se espera. Mas com o passar das páginas, percebi uma melhora considerável na escrita da autora. E.L. James melhorou muito no decorrer do livro, o que refletiu em um ritmo mais agradável, personagens menos irritantes, eu me senti mais envolvida pela história e comecei a realmente gostar mais do livro.
Os personagens foram tratados sem muita profundidade, e tudo foi um pouco superficial. Acho que nesse livro, tudo foi muito preso às definições, como a questão do sadismo sexual. E isso acabou gerando preconceitos em relação ao livro. Mas quem ler, vai ver que isso é algo que é tão pouco aprofundado na história. Gostaria de comentar mais coisas, mas seriam spoilers, então para finalizar digo apenas que foi uma história não muito profunda, o começo é bem lento, mas dou créditos para a melhora considerável na escrita da Érika, que no final do livro foi tão grande que me fez ler o segundo, e agradeço muito por isso, mas isso é sobre "Fifty shades darker"/"Cinquenta tons mais escuros" que será uma próxima resenha.

"I shrug, trapped. I don’t want to lose him. In spite of all his demands, his need to control, his scary vices. I have never felt as alive as I do now. It’s a thrill to be sitting here beside him. He’s so unpredictable, sexy, smart, and funny. But his moods… (...) but it still scares me. I close my eyes. What can I say? Deep down I would just like more, more affection, more playful Christian, more… love."

3.5/5

Love always,
Francielle

PS: Comparações entre Christian Grey e Travis Maddox: Ambos passaram por situações quando crianças que os traumatizaram, são possessivos, ciumentos, tem relações "complicadas" com as mulheres mas ao mesmo tempo podem ser incrivelmente fofos e perfeitos em algumas situações. Dizer mais seria spoiler, então nessa resenha fica só por aqui. ...more

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Mar 29, 2012 Crystal rated it liked it · review of another edition

I can certianly see why there is so much hype around this book as I too devoured it. But, its not the best thing i've read. Mr. Grey's personality did frusterate me quite a bit but I have carried on to the next book to see if anything further about his past is revealed. Happy reading :) ...more

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May 06, 2012 Jess rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This book probably isnt one I would have picked up and read if it didnt have so many good reviews. I thought it was very good and hard to put down. You love to hate Christian throughout the whole book. He is a very interesting character. You cant help but ask why ana deals with what she does from him. Then again there is something kinda sexy about Chriatian. I'm pretty excited to start the second book. ...more

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