The twentieth time a customer asked me to look up Fifty Shades of Grey I thought: How the hell did some vanity publisher willing to sell this trade paperback at $29.99 manage to get this kind of attention? But alas- as soon as Random House (Vintage no less) buys the rights to republish upon insane amounts of media (I'm sure the term "mommy porn" didn't hurt) you know you've got yourself some truly GENIUS publicists. So yes, I totally bought into the hype and HAD to know what this was that got giggling teens and blushing seniors to ask for this BDSM book....
And here it is:
It's Twilight, but with spectacularly filthy sex.
Fifty Shades of Grey started as Twilight fan fiction and once that is known- it couldn't be more obvious. Though while you have a clumsy, virginal, submissive female lead- Ana, of Fifty Shades is 1,000 times more likable than Bella. In fact, you can pick apart each character to find the Alice, the Jacob, the Esme, and so on and so forth.
And as for the kinky sexy time...yes- there were a few moments where I went- DAMN. But ultimately- you can only swat someone with a riding crop so many times before you say "hey, okay, they like it rough-good for them". (though I will say a few moments in the trilogy made me think fonder thoughts of men who wear ties and vanilla ice cream...)
E.L. James (much like Stephanie Meyer) can't write worth a damn- but she is a very fun storyteller. Even though I started this trilogy out of curiosity with little intent to continue beyond the first book- I finished all three in four days. I would venture a guess that this book would appall anyone living the BDSM lifestyle, however I found it fun. I blush a little as I admit it- but I would whole-heartedly recommend it to the right kind of reader. This series is like a really awesome one night stand with a guy you'll never see again- probably not great for you, but hella fun. (Sorry if I offend, E.L. James- stow your twitchy palm!)
I don't really read romance or erotica so I would in no way consider myself an expert on the genre- in fact I know plenty of smart ladies who are capable of giving a more coherent review than myself. However, if I had to guess why THIS book in particular is making waves while there are plenty of sexy time books waiting in your local bookstore it's not just because of the media blitz (though I'm sure it helped). I think that 1.) All things considered it's home to a very likable love story and 2.) It gives ladies living the "vanilla" lifestyle all the kinky fuckery they won't admit they want with all the romance they somehow think still exists out there. Read up ladies- who knows if we'll get another Lady Chatterley’s Lover in our lifetime? It's only a matter of time before Nicholas Sparks storms in and tones shit down again.
(And BTW: The film rights to this have already sold for INSANE amounts of cash. For the love of god- let them be done with it and just rate the thing NC-17!!!)
I love that you point out that it's a good intro to the erotica genre. It's definitely not something an experienced reader would wholly love, but it does have an interesting enough story to keep a person engaged.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to throw my book against the wall, but alas it was my Nook and I didn't want to have to clean up small pieces of metal.
Great review!