From Amazon

Romantic, liberating and totally addictive, Fifty Shades of Grey is a novel that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you for ever.

When literature student Anastasia Steele interviews successful entrepreneur Christian Grey, she finds him very attractive and deeply intimidating. Convinced that their meeting went badly, she tries to put him out of her mind – until he turns up at the store where she works part-time, and invites her out.

Unworldly and innocent, Ana is shocked to find she wants this man. And, when he warns her to keep her distance, it only makes her want him more.

But Grey is tormented by inner demons, and consumed by the need to control. As they embark on a passionate love affair, Ana discovers more about her own desires, as well as the dark secrets Grey keeps hidden away from public view …

Review

You might not have read this one, but I'm sure you'll have heard all about it - it's worth looking the book up on Amazon just to read the reviews, some of them are really hilarious.  This is a very explicit book - Christian's "dark secret" is that he's into BDSM - Wikipedia defines it as "an erotic preference and a form of personal relationship involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role play". And there isn't half a lot of it... described to the nth degree. But there's nothing particularly new about that - I remember reading some of the Black Lace paperbacks when they first came out, and this book isn't much stronger really, but don't go anywhere near it if erotica isn't your thing.  What is different about this one is the naivety of the writing - it's quite unsettling, incredibly like Twilight in its style (and I understand it was originally written as fan fiction). And the writing itself really isn't particularly good - Ana's always talking about her inner goddess, and the sexual episodes are always prefaced by her biting her lip and rolling her eyes to a point that it gets quite funny. There's great swathes of e-mails between the couple when they're apart - lots of readers didn't like that, but I must say I thought it was some of the better writing. That all said, I find it quite difficult to say I didn't enjoy it. The basic "love story" between the billionaire businessman and the young virgin isn't badly drawn, and the characters are remarkably well-rounded. And I learned an awful lot about drawing up a dom-sub contract. And an awful lot about... ah well, never mind my sexual education! Other reviewers also make a big thing about the fact it's not very erotic - despite the patchy writing, I beg to differ, but I guess that's down to your personal take anyway. It won't change my life, as some US fans have attested - but I must say I found it an interesting experience! (And no, I won't be reading books 2 and 3... enough is enough...)

Thanks for the review Annie.  I too have read the odd Black Lace book in the past and if it's not much different to one of those then what's all the hoohah about it for then.  I might read it if I come across it at some point but I doubt I'll go out of my way to get it.

 Mmmmm..... interesting.  I read "The story of O" years ago, but got bored before the end, and have just sold Anne Rice's 3 Sleeping Beauty books (written under another name) for £15 on ebay..... I never did get past the first half of the first one - there is only so many ways sexual practices can be described, after all!  Thanks for reading and reviewing, though Annie, and can we refer to you as a "saucy minx" or summat now?

The Ellen Degeneres sketch is brilliant - have you seen it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on3JCwnwHbU&sns=fb

Made me chuckle! And I had to laugh when there was a conversation on Sue Moorcroft's fb page about it after she posted the link, and someone said they weren't surprised Ellen had a problem reading Fifty Shades and wouldn't you have thought someone would have checked with her first! Whoosh! The sound of a joke going right over someone's head!

Isn't it strange how some books get loads of hype and others (often far superior) don't get any publicity at all?

She's going to make a tonne of money out of this one - the power of the internet eh?

And Angi, I howled at the Ellen Degeneres clip - she's soooo funny, I then howled at the person who didn't get the joke!!

I've read it too - and am not changed , debased or shocked by its content. It could do with a tighter edit but apart from that I quite enjoyed it.

Will I read books 2 and 3 - only if the price comes down in kindle ...

Think "I quite enjoyed it" probably sums it up for me too Josie! Did weaken after writing my review and download the "taster" of the second book... if the price comes down, maybe!

Thanks for the review - just bought it on Kindle to see what all the fuss is about!!

wyres:

I might read it if I come across it at some point but I doubt I'll go out of my way to get it.

Famous last words, while in ASDA today I spotted it for £3 and succumbed and bought it.

kimborams:

Thanks for the review - just bought it on Kindle to see what all the fuss is about!!

Snap!

This is £2.10 on kindle at the moment. Not sure how long for.

Tracey x

steveyp:

This is £2.10 on kindle at the moment. Not sure how long for.

Tracey x

It seems to have been £2.10 for a while now , whilst books 2 and 3 dip down in price occasionally - but you need to be vigilant and strike when they dip !!!

Just finished this one on my Kindle - thought it was quite entertaining, even from a male perspective!

I'd already bought books 2 and 3 from Asda as they were only £3 each this week (which is less than they are on Kindle) - pretty sure my OH will want to read them all!

I'll let you guess whether I'll be rushing out to read this!

As soon i as i read the "innocent virgin and billonaire businessman" bit i felt the need to fall deeply asleep, talk about major YAWN.

Why is it not the FEMALE who's the big shot and the guy who's the virgin? (unlikely, but possible) That sounds much more interesting