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Fifty Shades of Grey

James, E. L. Book - 2012 Adult Book / Fiction / Romance / General / James, E L 3 On Shelf No requests on this item Community Rating: 2.9 out of 5

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Call Number: Adult Book / Fiction / Romance / General / James, E L
On Shelf At: Malletts Creek Branch, Pittsfield Branch, Westgate Branch

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4-week checkout
Adult Book / Fiction / Romance / General / James, E L 4-week checkout On Shelf
Pittsfield Adult Books
4-week checkout
Adult Book / Fiction / Romance / General / James, E L 4-week checkout On Shelf
Westgate Adult Books
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Adult Book / Fiction / Romance / General / James, E L 4-week checkout On Shelf

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. Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

do you like upscale sex? submitted by beetsqueak on May 19, 2012, 10:20am found this book makes the grade of neo-trash..so you can give it back to the trash bin after reading a few pages

Uhh no thank you submitted by xjasx on June 16, 2012, 11:19pm Nuh uh, not a very good book

Fifty Shades submitted by Rin on June 18, 2012, 10:13am I can't say I am a fan of this book, but it certainly deserves a better review than it has received so far.

First off, I will say that I am a pretty devoted romance reader, and you can find plenty of books with similar plot point, though not all. Bondage? Sure. Super sexy 27-year-old billionaires? Easy. Naive virgin heroines? Everywhere. I, as well as pretty much everyone else, am confused as to what about this particular series is so appealing to such large numbers of people. While obviously not the main reason, the covers certainly help. Your average person wouldn't be caught dead with a romance clinch cover within a ten foot radius of them. This trilogy has fabulous covers. Simple, yet elegant.

As far as the writing goes, this series could really have used a good editing. Or two. The writing doesn't always sound all that natural, and especially since this is in first person, that can be jarring. Also, I think it might have been better if it were a bit shorter. Fanfiction is all well and good, but it is also not often well edited, and it shows.

Yes, the author is British, so yes, I can forgive a few Britishisms sprinkled throughout. I'm sure and English person looking through an American-written book set in England would find all sorts of problems. But many people find this to be a huge stumbling block to their enjoyment. Even more so if they have any familiarity with Seattle, as the author takes major liberties with her geography.

Also, this book was in first person. I can, occasionally, enjoy a book in first person (Sunshine by Robin McKinley being one I can immediately bring to mind), but generally I like to see a bit more of the other characters, not just the narrator and how she interprets the other characters. I mean, it's pretty obvious (at first, anyway) what she sees in a young, hot billionaire, but what does he see in her? Also, her talking to herself/conscience/inner goddess could get a little annoying.

Finally, the heroine was a door mat. She pretty much let the hero walk all over her, do what he wanted, set his conditions and whatever, and she went along with it. If someone were to give me a set of ridiculous conditions to follow before I had sex with them, and then went on to show me their "play room" when I'd hardly done more than kiss someone before, you could bet I would not be sticking around, sexy billionaire or not.

I really did try to get into this book. I usually do try with popular books, but all too often I am disappointed. Despite my excitement at seeing a romance novel this popular, I did not particularly enjoy it. However, you very well might. There is obviously some reason it is so popular, obscure though it may be, and it might just be the book for you. (If you're looking for good sex scenes, though, this is not really the place. Yes, it's kinky, but kinky does not necessarily equal good.)

It wasn't that bad give it a break submitted by noor82 on June 18, 2012, 11:47am The book was not that bad for first never written a book before auther give her and the book a break . The only thing I noticed that she was kind of really was influenced by the twilight book like for example both girls in book no self confidences in their self both clumsy , both work in hardwear sportswear kind of shop both from middle class families even their parents at the same from multiple relations with boyfriends to the differnt hobbies to the point both girls are worrieds abot their moms , the dads r late back the step dad . And as for the guys the both extremely rich ,very handsome, the both live the girls but they cat show their love in right effiction way , both books triolligy have same ending and many more similar things they share, once she said said she was really impressed by Stephane Mayer twilight books and she started writing and all that , I did like book it was story not only sex like the made to be .

No Stars submitted by hcf on July 1, 2012, 6:05pm I couldn't get past the awful writing. If I had to read "Holy Crap" one more time, I was going to lose it. Not worth the hype.

Best book submitted by stocco01 on July 2, 2012, 7:20pm It was a very good book. Read all 3 in a week.

Not an award winner... submitted by Suzanne Muenz on July 15, 2012, 8:48pm This book is not going to win any prestigious literary awards. Keeping that in mind, it was a fairly entertaining read. Disturbing, but entertaining. You can also use it for a drinking game. Everytime Anastasia says Oh my (in italics), bites her lip, or rolls her eyes, take a drink! Believe me you will be tipsy before you know it.

50 Shades of Messed Up submitted by Annie B. on July 23, 2012, 12:07pm How could someone ever come up with something like this?

Dirty submitted by madivqi on August 10, 2012, 8:46pm Lots of disturbing sex scenes. My mom liked it...

Not bad... submitted by smariej on August 30, 2012, 11:02am for a trashy romance novel with lots of sex scenes. But then, I don't think it ever really claimed to be anything more, and expecting more from it is silly. Also, you can really see the Twilight series influence pretty much everywhere.

Beyond Awful submitted by crazypockets on June 18, 2013, 3:41pm I checked this out to see what all the hype was about and because I was giving into peer pressure from people I know. It was just as terrible as I figured it'd be...well, maybe even worse. The only reason this series became popular is because it started out as Twilight fan fiction, then it was print-on-demand at bookstores. That's a fancy term that sounds more exclusive than it is. Basically it means there isn't enough interest in it, and/or it's self-published, so if you want it, the publisher will have to print you one and it will be more expensive. But I think people heard "on demand" and thought that meant it was actually "in demand" and then it suddenly became in demand because of that. That's my theory anyway.

In any case, this was one of the worst books, if not the worst book I've ever read. Not because of the sex scenes and complete condescension toward the female protagonist (although that was a strong annoyance), but because the writing was just SO BAD. It should have been called "50 Shades of Needs a Thesaurus" or "50 Shades of Needs an Editor." I get that there's room for self-publishing out there, but I also believe that the best writing (like the best art) comes when there is some form of collaboration. The writer used the same, tired phrases and verbs over and over and over again. Take an obnoxious subject, mix in some female bashing, and toss in some bad writing, add a dash of targeted marketing, and you get a bestseller apparently.

There are better books to try submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on August 14, 2013, 8:59pm I have a friend who reads and edits romance, and especially BDSM romance, and has recommended some outstanding writing. So having read some of the good stuff, I was curious to read this novel, which reached insane levels of wider-culture popularity despite what I've heard about as terrible writing.

Dear God, but they're right about the terrible writing!

Two small examples, because explaining the whole thing would take a novel. (1) A 20-year-old walking into her love interest's massive and luxurious apartment after being flown there -- by him -- in his personal helicopter is NOT going to look at the living room and think "the U-shaped sofa would seat 10 adults, and the breakfast bar had seating for 16." If you're writing in first person, you have to keep their perspective. Graduating college seniors don't think "10 adults" (as opposed to what, 10 children?) or count barstools... or if they do, then you make a point of WHY they do.

And (2) her "inner goddess" makes my "inner editor" want to commit violence, preferably with a delete button. It really said once, "My inner goddess shook her pom poms and went into cheerleader mode." Ew. Just ew. Especially the 10th, 100th, and 500th times.

But I see why the book caught on, once the social stigma of reading BDSM somehow passed. It's an easy read. Kate knows nothing about this world, so her introduction is the reader's introduction, which means that every question, every reaction, every "really? somebody does THAT? and likes it?" feels legitimate within the context of the story. And Kate finds most of being a sub much more appealing than she expected, within the context of a relationship that is beginning to have much deeper meaning for her. That invites people to experiment, whether a little or a lot, within their own relationships. And that's why this has become so popular. (Really. I've had the most fascinating conversations with the indie book store owner & employees about what the book world thinks about this!)

If you want to try a better written book that is about the same level of introduction, try Velvet Glove by Emma Holly. Also a light read BDSM, but no inner goddesses to drive you to distraction.

Ugh submitted by squared_sea on June 13, 2015, 9:39pm Don't waste your time.

Fifty shades submitted by leenajong on July 9, 2015, 8:59pm Just plain awful.

FSOG submitted by a2sue on August 22, 2015, 6:19pm Fifty Shades of spare me!!!

So badly written submitted by Pooh3238 on June 26, 2018, 10:24am I finally read this book to see what the hype was all about, and I couldn't get past how badly it was written. The grammar, and the sentence structure kept distracting me from the topic.

hard to put down submitted by kbahleda on July 23, 2018, 9:05am I found this book hard to put down. I started reading it because everyone had read it so I thought I would give it a try. Its a very easy read.

Horrible submitted by c_zhang on June 26, 2019, 7:13pm I couldn't get through one page.

Don't waste your time submitted by SurfGrape on June 29, 2019, 3:12pm There are better romance/erotica books out there. Don't waste your time with this one.

Wow submitted by ann arbor air on June 12, 2021, 6:20pm Wow this was incredible great to see a great thing for this summer! I needed this thanks for making it 10/10 S

You’d be better off reading fan fiction, honestly. submitted by amandasaurus on June 18, 2022, 11:48pm The writing is sub par, the topic is fine but not even remotely close to safe, sane, and consensual, and the inner goddess thing is just plain ridiculous.

Cover image for Fifty shades of Grey

SERIES
Fifty shades trilogy
1.



PUBLISHED
New York : Vintage, 2012.
Year Published: 2012
Description: 514 p. ; 21 cm.
Language: English
Format: Book

ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9780345803481
0345803485

SUBJECTS
College students -- Fiction.
Businesspeople -- Fiction.
Erotic fiction.