E. L. James

Roman

Shades of Grey

E L James

"And in this quiet moment as I close my eyes, spent and sated, I think I'm in the eye of the storm. And in spite of all he's said, and what he hasn't said, I don't think I have ever been so happy." When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana's quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—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 family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey's secrets and explores her own dark desires. An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller More than 165 Million Copies Sold Worldwide One of 100 Great Reads in the Great American Read 133 Weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List This book is intended for mature audiences.

Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy

Fifty Shades Of Grey

Really enjoyed, much better then the films 

georginawarde

★★ // the email exchanges were adorable to merit this much star. but the rest is just boring. i read this only out of curiosity.

Lamia Hajani

Mediocre writing, at best. Not what it's been cut out to be. Will still read the sequels, in hopes that it gets better.

Joy Bush

At the begining of the book I could see the Twilight influence but about 40% of the way thru I quickly forgot all about Twilight. Yes there is lots and lots of sex in the book, but I dont care about that. I love the story, I love the characters and I am so wrapped up in their lives you literally cant put the book down til you are done.

I am eagerly awaiting book #2.

its a lot of sex, id say kind of dark romance. if you saw the movies you realise how much more information and thougts are shared in books than in moveis. thats what i liked about the book. its based on someting deep, the kinky stuff actually has a meaning. i think if you realise that, its a completely different feeling of reading. liking sex scenes is important if you want to read it.

Jessica Abendroth

Caitlin Hooker

Nouf Fallatah 

I hate it ,it discusted me ,the main character is annoying and christen grey is just a sick rich guy

Cat Josephson

Read it to understand the hype, but... I wasn't a fan of the lazy plot. It's just soooooo repetitive. The sentence structure is weird, and there were multiple typos all throughout. Not to mention the main character's stupid questions throughout, and her whole "oh, it's my fault this dude is micromanaging me" mentality. This wasn't about a dude into BDSM; this was about a power-hungry, man.

Audrey Lord

Let's just say I will NOT be reading the rest of the series. Great story and everything, but it was kind of way too much for me. Also I would like to say I liked it and everything. The story was wonderful and the plot was there and everything. And I'm kind of sad about how it ended. But she needed to get out of that relationship if he couldn't love her back. And I have had relationship where I loved him but he couldn't love me back and it's the worst thing ever.

I loved the inner goddess thing though, I can totally relate to that! Great way to write the story.

better the second time around I will say that

Mati Goldberg

Wow! I love it. One of the great books I've ever read. I heard a lot about the "mom's-porn" thing, but I really think it doesn't reflect the story behind. Well written, and the epilogue makes you wanna start the second book in the trilogy.

Lover of Romance 

Doing a reread with a friend while doing a rewatch of the movie.

dorah luxieux

since i watched the movie i already know what this book was going to be like. i loved how there's more details and more words and scenes, if that makes sense. a lot of sex, but i can deal. can't wait to read the second one.

Brooke Barnett

Natasha Musa

Here's a tip: DON'T LISTEN TO THIS ON AUDIOBOOK. 

All my girlfriends were raving about this book and told me that I should read it. I was so eager to get myself into the book but didn't have the time to read so I got myself an audiobook. Big Mistake. 

I didn't enjoy the read nor did I enjoy the storyline. It felt like I was listening to porn. Plus, I thought Bella from Twilight was annoying but Anna just made my most annoying female character list, hands-down. 

Sorry. I really wanted to enjoy this but I didn't. It took me three months to finish the audio book. The thing is I bought all three books on audio, it'll be a waste not to listen to the other two books since I paid so much for it. Anyway, I hope book 2 and 3 is better, fingers crossed.

Shay Henrion

Fifty Shades of Grey

Megan Johnson

Anastasia Steele, the world that she ends up in with Christan is very scary and tense however having read his point of view first I can see both sides of the tale and I think that is the best way to read these books. I definitely prefer Christian's telling.
Overall I really enjoy the story and the characters, Kate is almost definitely my fave side character but Elliot is a close second. 
I'm excited to read the next book.

Chiara Fabbri

I thought the book was way better than the film. In the book I could read and feel the anticipation just like Ana did. I could also empathise with the characters, which I couldn’t do when watching the film.

I did get a bit annoyed with Ana near the end. I, personally, wouldn’t react the way she did in certain situations, which makes it hard for me to empathise with her character. Her emotions are all over the place, she’s way too naive, changes her mind about something every two pages and she’s so insecure about herself and her beliefs. I feel like she doesn’t represent us, women, in a good way.

But overall, well written and I loved the steamy scenes! 😏

Mounir Bashour

After having 4 ex-girlfriends write to me and ask if this book was about me and the name had been changed to Christian - I had to see what it was all about.
I hate to say but I see the parallels they were seeing - but I do not know the author and am pretty certain I never slept with her.

Irene Alegre

Why this book is a best seller is one of life's many wonders. The only good thing about this book is that it's given women some inspiration in regards of their sexual (maybe boring) lives. But even that could have been done so, so, so much better.

For instance: the book could have been well written.
And, the relationship could have been a healthy one. This is downright an abusive relationship and the fact that it's being worshiped by millions of readers makes me cringe. It's ok that they are into BDSM (although she really isn't) but:

Does he have to be a controlling freak bossing her around and taking decisions for her 24/7? Does he have to be so jealous that he gets mad because, after only a week of being together, she doesn't tell him she's going away for some days (that are not even the days she's expected to spend with him) to visit her mother (her MOTHER)? Does he have to be so selfish that she says 'I want to be on my own for some days to think about all this (crap)' and he just goes down to Georgia to see her anyways? Not to mention the fact that he pressures her into trying out BDSM and becoming his sub. 'It's either that or nothing, babe'. Sure, he's giving her the option to leave but he knows she's dependent on him so that's like a boss offering his/her employees the option to quit their jobs instead of working longer hours for a smaller salary. 

And what about her? Does she have to be so idiotic? She is supposed to have a degree in English (with good marks) and I doubt a character like that could even get a high-school degree. Doesn't she have any personality at all? Bella Swan was a rebellious feminist next to this stupid girl. Jeez, get some pride, girl! At the same time, this woman with absolutely no self-esteem is so stuck up that is not capable of going on a date with a friend of hers whom she finds nice, smart and cute just because he looks too average and doesn't cut it. Although she finds herself ugly. Talk about not making sense.

This book is wrong on so many levels that I could spend an entire day arguing about the many reasons it shouldn't be published, let alone receive so much recognition. But I'll just say I find it dangerous and I didn't think I would get to this conclusion when I first started it.

This trilogy is so not in favor of women's liberation. Sure, loads of (poorly written) steamy sex scenes will encourage women to become more adventurous in bed, but couldn't that have been done with a couple of characters in a healthy relationship where both have equal power and respect each other?

Just saying...

PS: FWIW, I am a sucker for 'fucked up romances' novels. My favorite books are Wuthering Heights and Lolita. Yes. At least both Lolita and Catherine were quite powerful women. And their relationships weren't mystified. As for Heathcliff and Humbert Humbert, those are REAL tormented characters. Contrary to Grey, they are well rounded. Never adored. I don't think many readers fell for dark Heathcliff (and Humbert? hah, most find him disgusting). So, if people want to read about tormented relationships, I gladly recommend them either of these novels. Plus, they are actually well written (Lolita is just sublime)

E.L. James

Jacquelyn Hood

** spoiler alert **
           Absolutely stunning book. The plot is thick and the steam is out of this world. I’ve read this book more times than I can count. The character development in both Anastasia & Christian shows how much people can grow when they find love. Christian assumed he couldn’t love anyone and that he didn’t want a “vanilla” relationship but when Anastasia came along, that’s all she had dreamed of. This book takes you along while they are trying to find a happy medium or a compromise. Christian keeps pushing Anna away saying that he will never be able to love her like that.

Victoria P

okay so my mom bought these books a while ago and she hasn’t read them yet, i was bored out of my mind so i thought i give them a try because why not.

it’s so bad holy christ. the writing is like you’re reading a fan fiction in wattpad or something, and even there you can find better writing. anastasia is so annoying, christian is a manipulative stalker, the only kinda logical character is kate because she calls christian out. but anyway, bad.

Ale ♡

can y'all believe that this clown read this book for a bet? yup

well, i'm not going to make this big ass review as always, i'm just gonna say that this was bad as fuck and the only good thing of this is that i won $20 (at an enormous cost). and now, i have no left braincells.

Shades of Grey Roman

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