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gentleclowntm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
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italic
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italic
Heading
quote
- ul
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Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Misogyny
Minor: Confinement, Death, and Sexual harassment
what further information?cady_sass's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Seemed like the right time to finally give this a shot, was not disappointed. I am slightly baffled as to what made this one particular erotic novel become the absolute pop culture phenomenon that it did, but I have no complaints
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
glass123banan's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
The existence of this book is an indignation to other books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Stalking and Sexual harassment
Minor: Toxic relationship and Violence
mahra's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I will be very blunt.
I read this when I was 15 (too young, I know), and even at the time I could not believe that a grown adult wrote this. It reads like a bad fanfic written by a teen.
I am not even going to get into this abusive relationship depicted as romantic, and somehow desirable. Shameful.
I read this when I was 15 (too young, I know), and even at the time I could not believe that a grown adult wrote this. It reads like a bad fanfic written by a teen.
I am not even going to get into this abusive relationship depicted as romantic, and somehow desirable. Shameful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
bunnypez's review against another edition
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
lily_sutton's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I was fully prepared for this book to be awful, and as much as I want to hate it, I was pleasantly surprised. The writing sucks and it’s cringey at times (like when Anastasia always mentions her “inner goddess”) but it was thoroughly entertaining. It was enjoyable to read, and I’m hooked enough to continue the trilogy and maybe read the other three books from Christian’s perspective. Also, Christian is hella toxic and not even in a good way. SHE WAS SO CLOSE TO GETTING AWAY FROM HIM IN THE END BUT SHE JUST HAD TO GO BACK HUH?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Toxic relationship
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual harassment
meganpbennett's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
After *years* of being told that I couldn't discuss how this book normalizes abuse and is a bad example of BDSM practices, I finally read it. And it's somehow worse than I imaged.
First things first: Grey is an abuser. He's a bit of a gaslighter as well, but first and foremost, he is an abuser. He gives the BDSM community a bad name, using "but I'm a Dom" to excuse his stalking, controlling, and abusing of women. One of the many examples is that contract, which does nothing but give him an excuse for controlling and abusing her (I can hear it now: "you signed the contract, Anastasia, you're mine for good."). She's very leery of the contract, and sends back her changes, most of which he rejects or otherwise indicates are part and parcel of getting into a relationship with him.
He shows her his "playroom" without discussion it with her. Just sort of whip out his whips. When she indicates that she doesn't know very much (anything) about it, he tells her to do some research and sends her off. It's very one-sided, and he seems unwilling to accept any concessions from her, even when she says something is hard or soft no. A hard no is not negotiable.
Within the book, it is very clear that she's not interested in and doesn’t actually want to do this (both the D/s aspects and the B&D aspects), but Grey makers she feels that she has no choice but to accept the contract and the minor concessions he’s made to it. This comes up again and again with aspects of play that she's leery about or uninterested in - such as gagging - but he pushes the topic again and again, attempting to get her to change her mind.
Aftercare. Aftercare is an important part of any BDSM relationship, and is sometimes considered the most important part of the scene. There is next to no aftercare in the book, and as she doesn't know that it's supposed to be, it never comes up.
Grey admits that he likes hitting women, that he likes hurting women. She doesn't take him seriously, and believes that he won't hurt her. This is very apparent in his play practices. I'm not going to get into why they are so bad, but they are incredibly unsafe, and very likely to hurt the submissive partner. As in, "send the submissive partner to the hospital" hurt if the Dom is experienced, and "send the submissive partner to the morgue" if the Dom is inexperienced.
Grey stalks her, something she mentions regularly, but she somehow never realizes that it's a bad thing. She even calls him a stalker, but it's somehow not important that he's stalking her.
Grey attempts to isolate her from her friends, which is a hallmark of abuse. It makes the victim dependent on the abuser, and keeps the family and friends from figuring out the abuse. His first attempts at isolation are passed off as jealousy, and he uses that jealousy as an excuse to get extra Dommy on her. He gets mad at her when she mentions that she was thinking about visiting her mother, because she hadn't discussed that with him. It's as if he was trying to police her thoughts, as well as her actions. He doesn't like that she interviewed from jobs that weren't at his company, because he wanted her under him thumb, dependent on him for everything, including financially (which is another hallmark of abuse).
When we get Grey's backstory, we learn that he was groomed and abused by a pedophile. A pedophile who is now one of his closest friends. A close family friend took advantage to groom and abuse him.
This book excuses and romanticizes abuse. It plays into dangerous stereotypes about BDSM, and badly misrepresents the community.
First things first: Grey is an abuser. He's a bit of a gaslighter as well, but first and foremost, he is an abuser. He gives the BDSM community a bad name, using "but I'm a Dom" to excuse his stalking, controlling, and abusing of women. One of the many examples is that contract, which does nothing but give him an excuse for controlling and abusing her (I can hear it now: "you signed the contract, Anastasia, you're mine for good."). She's very leery of the contract, and sends back her changes, most of which he rejects or otherwise indicates are part and parcel of getting into a relationship with him.
He shows her his "playroom" without discussion it with her. Just sort of whip out his whips. When she indicates that she doesn't know very much (anything) about it, he tells her to do some research and sends her off. It's very one-sided, and he seems unwilling to accept any concessions from her, even when she says something is hard or soft no. A hard no is not negotiable.
Within the book, it is very clear that she's not interested in and doesn’t actually want to do this (both the D/s aspects and the B&D aspects), but Grey makers she feels that she has no choice but to accept the contract and the minor concessions he’s made to it. This comes up again and again with aspects of play that she's leery about or uninterested in - such as gagging - but he pushes the topic again and again, attempting to get her to change her mind.
Aftercare. Aftercare is an important part of any BDSM relationship, and is sometimes considered the most important part of the scene. There is next to no aftercare in the book, and as she doesn't know that it's supposed to be, it never comes up.
Grey admits that he likes hitting women, that he likes hurting women. She doesn't take him seriously, and believes that he won't hurt her. This is very apparent in his play practices. I'm not going to get into why they are so bad, but they are incredibly unsafe, and very likely to hurt the submissive partner. As in, "send the submissive partner to the hospital" hurt if the Dom is experienced, and "send the submissive partner to the morgue" if the Dom is inexperienced.
Grey stalks her, something she mentions regularly, but she somehow never realizes that it's a bad thing. She even calls him a stalker, but it's somehow not important that he's stalking her.
Grey attempts to isolate her from her friends, which is a hallmark of abuse. It makes the victim dependent on the abuser, and keeps the family and friends from figuring out the abuse. His first attempts at isolation are passed off as jealousy, and he uses that jealousy as an excuse to get extra Dommy on her. He gets mad at her when she mentions that she was thinking about visiting her mother, because she hadn't discussed that with him. It's as if he was trying to police her thoughts, as well as her actions. He doesn't like that she interviewed from jobs that weren't at his company, because he wanted her under him thumb, dependent on him for everything, including financially (which is another hallmark of abuse).
When we get Grey's backstory, we learn that he was groomed and abused by a pedophile. A pedophile who is now one of his closest friends. A close family friend took advantage to groom and abuse him.
This book excuses and romanticizes abuse. It plays into dangerous stereotypes about BDSM, and badly misrepresents the community.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
softly's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Stalking
Minor: Sexual harassment
danger_softie's review against another edition
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.5
Never ending. Mediocre sex scenes. Literally nothing happens. Took me about 3 months go get through because of sheer procrastination. Go read better erotica on ao3.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Death of parent
tinstae's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Sexual content
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Pedophilia, Violence, and Stalking
Minor: Drug abuse, Vomit, and Sexual harassment