Fifty Shades of Grey & Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. SmithGrade: mature (explicit sex and some violence)
Description: When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind - until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time.
The unworldly, innocent Ana is shocked to realize she wants this man, and when he warns her to keep her distance it only makes her more desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her - 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 adoptive family – Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a passionate, physical and daring affair, Ana learns more about her own dark desires, as well as the Christian Grey hidden away from public scrutiny.
Can their relationship transcend physical passion? Will Ana find it in herself to submit to the self-indulgent Master? And if she does, will she still love what she finds?
Why the review? I normally don't review adult books on Read It, See It and if I do, it's usually youth appropriate (which this isn't) but I've gotten more questions about my opinion on this book than any other book I've read. It's been really crazy. Also, this book tends to be pretty polarizing and it's always fun to rile people up. There are also a lot of really interesting subjects that Fifty Shades of Grey brings up that I thought warranted some discussion.
I'm leaving the comments on at the risk of being yelled at and called some pretty obnoxious names. I'd really appreciate it if you try to remember that I'm a person and can only share my OPINION which I've formed from my own education and experiences. If you disagree with that opinion, that's fine, say so, but any name calling or rude remarks WILL BE DELTED and you will be added to the list of people I plan on making voodoo dolls of - that is if I ever get around to making voodoo dolls. So please, mind your maners.
Review: Overall, I was surprised by my reaction to this book. I honestly didn’t know what I was in for. A few book bloggers I adore were talking about it - mostly in a shocked but positive way - so I was curious and decided to read it myself. This isn’t my usual genre, though I have read a handful of this type of novel before without much of a reaction either way. It’s the kind of book that you can take seriously if you want to (discuss all the bullet points below) but that’s not really what it’s meant to be - it's pure entertainment. So nay-sayers, shut up and let me have some fun.
The Writing:
The writing was okay. It wasn’t the best I’ve ever read and would have benefited from an editor, but given this book’s publication story it’s totally fine and easy to ignore. The second book had much cleaner writing, the characterization got better and there were way fewer continuity errors, and less repetition.
Characters:
Oh man, yeah, Christian is certainly “fifty shades of fucked up”, but that’s okay, everyone has baggage. He just happens to have a very large set of traveling trunks. The rich broken playboy was a little cliche’ but over the long haul it worked out fine. Christian proved to be a fun and interesting character. And yeah, I probably would have signed the contract ;)
I’m on the fence about Anna. At first, I really liked her, then I got bored with her, but as she wadded deeper into Christian’s BS I started to really like her and even respect her a little. In the end I wanted her to find her happily-ever-after as long as she was stilling being HERSELF.
Plot:
The plot of the first book is actually pretty interesting - it’s very character driven and not at all contrived. Bravo. The plot of the second book is less character driven and much more contrived, but the writing got better and the backstory of the characters really starts to come out, so it was easy to ignore.
Sex:
There’s A LOT of it. All kinds. Kinky, romantic, extra kinky…the tagline could have been “The Baskin Robins of erotic novels”. If you blush easily or are only comfortable with flowers/romance then do not read this book. Or maybe you should - push your boundaries a little and see what happens.
Side note: If more women lost their virginity that way I think the world would be a better place. And I know a lot of women nodding their head in agreement right now.
It’s not being marketed as anything other than an erotic BSDM novel, so I’m not really sure why people are getting all up in arms over this. Um, what were you expecting?
Serious subjects:
If you get past the mediocre writing (or rather total lack of editing) and the sheer number of sex scenes, Fifty Shades of Grey actually brings up some pretty heavy topics:
Age of consent: This book brings up the question of what age/state of mind is a person capable of consenting. This is such a tough questions. I’ve known 30 year olds who had no business having sex and I’ve known 12 year olds whom I think probably could have handled the consequences of a sexual relationship just fine (this is in NO WAY me saying that 12 year olds should have sex - don't be ridiculous - I will hurt you if you imply that in your snotty comments). I think arbitrary numbers like “16” or “18” are stupid. Everyone is different. Is 15 old enough to consent? *Shrugs* Maybe. Is a 15 year old having sex with a 30 year old appropriate? Not in my opinion. There’s a pretty big emotional gap there and a very solid argument could be made that the 15 year old is not able to consent in this situation (we even have laws against it). Christian makes the argument that he wasn’t taken advantage of and while I’m leaning towards agreeing with Anna that he was, I can also see where Christian is coming from.
Fifty also brings up the issue of mental states and consent. Lelia (from book 2) is most definitely not in the right state of mind to consent to anything, but we don’t see what she was like before. We have to assume that she went willingly into her submissive role with Christian. You might ask yourself what sate of mind a person would be in to willingly do that, but I think that’s going to require a whole team of psychologists to figure out. And does it really matter why? If the person is a mature adult and says yes to the role, then who is anyone else to judge them for it? There are all kinds of relationships and all kinds of needs that are fulfilled by those different kinds of relationships. I may not fully understand this particular kind, but it doesn’t mean it’s not valid or healthy.
Sexual Depravity/Deviation: What is normal? And who gets to decide that? This brings me back to point #1 about the sex in the book - as long as two people have consented, then who the hell cares what anyone gets up to? And frankly, how on earth can you knock something you’ve never tried or explored. It’s perfectly okay to have limits and not be willing to do certain things, but to issue a blanket statement of: “this is depraved and shouldn’t happen at all” is narrow minded.
I have no interest in discussing my own sexual preferences and tastes here - that’s much better done over a glass of wine - but I think if something makes you nervous or curious you should learn more about it. That being said, Fifty Shades of Grey isn’t an instruction manual, but it could be a road sign to awakening/satisfying your own desires - and isn’t that always something worth exploring?
American puritanical notions of sex scare the shit out of me - especially around election time when a stranger presumes to know what’s best for me, my family, my body, and my life. When I read arguments about how "disgusting" the sex in this book is I'm a little horrified at how uptight people can be. If it's not for you - fine, whatever, but let the rest of us have some variety in life please and trust that we aren't going to turn your little children into devil worshipers with our whips and chains.
Abuse: I’ve heard arguments that Christian is abusive. My thought is - maybe. There are only a handful of situations where abuse is ever black and white, particularly emotional abuse. So is Christian spanking Anna for rolling her eyes abuse? *Shrugs* - it depends on who you talk to, but I think it ultimately comes back down to consent. She said yes to being hit and when he crossed a line with her she said “no” and left.
His controlling behavior may be a different story. Maybe. There is a certain level of control and compromise in all relationships and everyone has their own tolerance level for it. Would I have been okay with being told what I could and couldn’t wear? No (neither was she for the record). Would I have been okay with having a bodyguard escort me to work under those circumstances? Absolutely. And under the initial premise of their relationship, the background check was 100% warranted, though, my own preference would have been to be told about it and agreed to it. Again, it’s all a matter of consent. My tolerance level for control and opinionated partners is pretty moderate but I know plenty of women/men who just don’t care and plenty of women who won’t tolerate any kind of bossiness from their partner. It becomes sad when a person with a meek personality is taken advantage of by a person with a stronger personality, but then I could argue that’s not consent and in Fifty Shades of Grey, I think Anna gave her consent.
Feminism and the submissive female: Would I give this book to a young woman (teenage or adult) and say to her, “Anna is the perfect example of how a woman should behave and you should find a man as dominate as Christian to take care of you?” Uh, no, BUT, would I give this book to a young woman and ask her what she thought about Anna and Christians balance of power? Absolutely. If you read the series all the way through, you’ll find that Anna is quit a powerful woman. Even in the first book she asserts her power, she may not fully realize she’s doing it or have “feminists motives” of equality, but she knows where her boundaries are and she asserts herself when they are breached.
I get pretty worked up on the issue of feminism and equality. People (women usually) tend to get really worked up over nonsense issues of disrespect and inequality - things like attractive women serving drinks at a company function, a coworker making a sexual innuendo in an attempt to bond (not trying to solicit sex for betterment at work - that’s a whole other story) or a woman willingly being submissive to a man. There are honest to God inequalities and sexism out there and a male coworker flirting with me or a company using a scantly clad model to advertise something unrelated to half naked women isn’t something I have time to care about. Is it immature or distasteful - maybe, but is it what’s holding women back? Um, no. So shut up and let me have some fun (and some sex).
If you have any interest in erotic novels at all then Fifty Shades of Grey is a fun and engaging read. Just try to remember it's meant to be fun. Yes, you can take it seriously and there are serious subjects here - but it wasn't written as an op ed. So loosen your tie, find a cigarette and bottle of wine and relax.
