A review by cattheplat
50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This wasn't the worst book I've ever read but it is definitely not making it onto my favorites list. It did give me the confirmation that the "controlling, rich, and '50 shades of fucked up' " trope is just not up my alley. The whole relationship that Ana and Christian form frustrated me and not in a titillating way. I found myself on more than one occasion wondering what Kate and Elliot were up to instead of reading about how Ana continues to ignore the flaming red flags that Christian was waving. 
The ending surprised me
I had assumed she would decide to stay with him at the end as there are more books in the series. Her leaving in the end made working through the book after realizing I wasn't enjoying it worth it, if not only to pretend that she moves on, builds better self esteem, and finds herself an emotionally healthy man to explore what she wants out of a romantic and sexual relationship. I'm assuming that is not the case and she ends up reconciling with Mr. Grey as there are two (?) other Fifty Shades books.
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