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50 Shades


catcountry

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So I started reading 50 Shades of Gray. I am about 3/4 through the book and I just don't get what the big deal is. To me it's a typical romance novel with some kink thrown in. Maybe this just isn't my kind of reading. What do ya'all think?

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I read them. I was way into the first two books but by the third I was over it bc it got so repetitive. "don't ever leave me, ana" and "I'll never leave you Christian". So damn annoying. It happened every three pages!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I don't get what the big deal is, either. I am about halfway through the first one and her writing is slightly annoying. The same phrases pop up over and over, especially in the non-sexual part. If I have to read the phrase "fired up the mean machine" one more time...

 

I also don't understand why she tried to write as an American, but with no editor. No American I know would say "fetch the kettle." An editor would have changed that, so if she did have one, it must have been a British editor!

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I used to read Nicholas sparks novels before bed when Jared was already asleep. All those books did was make me want to roll over and hug him...

 

Her writing style is slightly annoying but I did like the story line. I admit I was pretty entranced in the books and read them fast!

 

I never read the twilight books and never will.

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Yep, I am with you. I really don't see the appeal I couldn't get through the first chapter even. I did like the first and fourth Twilight Saga books, I'd read them all again rather than reading Fifty shades trilogy.

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WHAT KIND OF "EROTIC FICTION" refers to a vagina as "down there"!?!?! OVER...AND OVER...

 

the same phrases are used about 500000 times per book. UGH.

 

I started them cuz...my boyfriend is kind of into some...interesting stuff, and i figurd it would be an INTERESTING read with some valuable insight thrown in...

 

I got down to where whats-her-face blushed for the 3-millionth-time *yawn*.

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"down there"....in italics!!!

 

I have a hard time believing that she was immediately into that kinky stuff and ok with him taking a tampon out of her but she refers to her vagina as "down there" in italics every time....she has to have some bashfulness somewhere.

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I am not a romance or erotica reader but have noticed in the book stores that romances with Scottish clansmen are abundant...and almost look like they are overtaking vampires. But of course, barbarians and sheiks are giving them a run for their money.

 

I read then, and I will agree that it has way too many similarities with the Twilight series.

 

wasn't it Twilight "fan fiction" and then she changed the names and tweaked it a little?

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wasn't it Twilight "fan fiction" and then she changed the names and tweaked it a little?

 

Yep! I'm amazed she's gotten away with it to be honest. I think what's most depressing about this whole thing is how truly terrible the writing is. I don't object to fanfic as a rule, but badly written fanfic based on an equally awful book hitting the best seller lists? Sigh. What a world.

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Yes, I tried to read the books too, just to see what all the fuss was about. Horrible writing, sort of like the smutty version of a non-vampire Twilight. Only instead of the constant sighing over "Edward, oh Edward" it was "Ana, oh Ana" and "Christian oh, Christian." And I couldn't help but wonder how popular the books would be if Christian Grey had just been a simple, broke mechanic instead of a billionaire. (What me cycnical, no!) I much prefer the Ellen Degeneres spoof on her potential audition for the audio book. I couldn't stop laughing and now whenever I see the books mentioned anywhere I think of her comedy and burst out laughing all over again. Not what the publishers had in mind for sure, but Ellen definitely improved the material.

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I read them. I was way into the first two books but by the third I was over it bc it got so repetitive. "don't ever leave me, ana" and "I'll never leave you Christian". So damn annoying. It happened every three pages!

 

This reveiw from Amazon is so funny:

 

" really don't like writing bad reviews. I admire people who have the courage to put pen to paper and expose themselves to the whole world, especially those writing erotica. Having just finished this book, however, I feel compelled to write a review.

 

About half way through the book, I looked up the author to see if she was a teenager. I really did because the characters are out of a 16 year old's fantasy. The main male character is a billionaire (not a millionaire but a billionaire) who speaks fluent French, is basically a concert level pianist, is a fully trained pilot, is athletic, drop dead gorgeous, tall, built perfectly with an enormous penis, and the best lover on the planet. In addition, he's not only self made but is using his money to combat world hunger. Oh yeah, and all of this at the ripe old age of 26! And on top of that, he's never working. Every second is spent having sex or texting and emailing the female character. His billions seem to have just come about by magic. It seriously feels like 2 teenage girls got together and decided to create their "dream man" and came up with Christian Grey.

 

Then come the sex scenes. The first one is tolerable but as she goes on, they become so unbelievable that it becomes more laughable than erotic. She orgasms at the drop of a hat. He says her name and she orgasms. He simply touches her and she orgasms. It seems that she's climaxing on every page.

 

Then there's the writing. If you take out the parts where the female character is blushing or chewing her lips, the book will be down to about 50 pages. Almost on every single page, there is a whole section devoted to her blushing, chewing her lips or wondering "Jeez" about something or another. Then there's the use of "shades of". He's "fifty shades of @#$%% up," "she turned 7 shades of crimson," "he's ten shades of x,y, and z." Seriously?

 

The writing is just not up to par, the characters are unbelievable, and the sex verges on the comical. I don't know what happens in the remaining books and I do not intend to read them to find out. But given the maturity level of the first book, I imagine that they get married, have 2 perfect children, cure world hunger, and live happily ever after while riding into the sunset, as the female character climaxes on her horse causing her to chew her bottom lip and blush fifty shades of crimson. Jeez!"

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Not a big reader because I have never found a book that intrigues me but this one has me hooked. Yes the writing is so so but I just cant get enough of the books and the characters. I cant wait for the film just hope they get the right actors for the roles otherwise it will be crap

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  • 1 month later...

Haha! Snny, I was about to post the same link but you beat me to it.

 

Based upon what others have said, reviews, and my own personal reading proclivities, I will not be reading this rag of a book.

 

I cannot stand poor writing (and I thought the DaVinci Code was terribly written), and what's more, the so-called "heroine" of the book is a whiney, idiotic dolt who never even so much as touched herself by age 21 and then is suddenly this sexual virtuoso? Please!! Not only that but it sounds like Christian is an abusive, controlling jerk (with a big ****, of course *rolls eyes*)... oh, and I'm supposed to swoon over him. Right. I cannot stand wimpy, stupid, dependent women, so it's probably safe to say that this book would do nothing more than bore, irritate and anger me.

 

And what's with these women that think this book is so wonderful and a well-written piece of literature? It's probably the same idiots who think the Twilight series is also good... What horrifies me more is that these people are having children. The world might just turn into the one foretold in Idiocracy. (Now THAT is a film worth watching, if only for the hilarious parts).

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  • 4 weeks later...

As a North American living and working in a foreign country in international finance, I am extremely busy and always on the go, traveling around to a few countries for business or for pleasure. I have neglected my reading ( and I was a voracious reader throughout most of my life ). So for a year, I kept on hearing about references to " Fifty Shades of Grey " and how it has changed certain things for women. Curiously, I picked up the book JUST a few weeks ago and started reading. Also, I meet a lot of " Christian Grey " characters in my career. I don't sleep with them for I have a long-term relationship but I am very familiar with the characterization of the protagonist, Christian Grey.

 

What an UTTER PIECE OF BORING CRAP. Here are some thoughts that flashed into my head :

 

1) ARE WOMEN AROUND THE WORLD THAT DEPRIVED OF GOOD, AMAZING SEX?

Apart from the part about written contracts in the book, I found the sex rather ordinary and commonplace. I thought, " Wait, this happens in my bedroom most of the time "...and I started to think, " If this book was HAILED as being uniquely racy....what has happened to the world? Are women THAT deprived of good sex that the sex in the book was considered as unique and sexy? ".

 

2) THE HEROINE, ANASTASIA STEELE, IS HIGHLY ANNOYING

Everytime I would read a sentence ( her inner monologue ), I got cringes down my neck. It was very hard to relate to a highly naive, babbling, RIDICULOUS, immature heroine. The emotional outbursts, the chattering, babbling and teasing that goes on between her and Christian Grey made me skip pages and pages.

 

3) CHEESY LINES ALL THROUGHOUT THE BOOK

Most of them would come from Christian Grey. I also got neck cringes everytime he would say something " sexy " before sex and while he's cumming. I thought, " WHO SAYS THIS STUFF before and after sex? "

 

4) BORING

Yes, the book is BORING. BORING. No real plot. The sex is rather ordinary ( I got off on MY OWN fantasies of things that actually happened to me, rather than the sex that was described on the book ). I found myself skipping pages and stopped reading altogether when I got to pg. 300 something and read the ending, chucked the book on the couch and continued on with my business.

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