50 Shades Of Grey was a huge let-down. I understand why it is a bestseller although I certainly wish it wasn't. Simply put, it feels like its just an opportunity for women to read erotic porn without feeling guilty about it.
Now, on to why I don't like it: The repetitive and simplistic use of language - The writer uses the words, " very/too gloriously/breathtaking good-looking", "inner goddess" and "bite her lips" repeatedly. It was as if, she ran out of vocabulary or creative juices to come up with any other description. This sort of repetitive and tiresome descriptive technique is a show of bad technique and lazy writing. She uses sweeping, generalized descriptions that one could easily come up with in a casual conversation with a friend over coffee: "Check out that guy. He is good-looking". I very much prefer well-chosen details that uniquely shapes the protagonists in this story. Although the female protagonist is supposedly a young woman in her early 20s and the story is written from her point of view, the protagonist is so one-dimensional and naive that is almost unbelievable. It's hard to identify with a story that leaves so little to imagination. Simply put, her writing style is boring. Also, its difficult to empathize with Christian Grey who just seem like a sick pervert that needed help and who is not someone most people can identify with. He owns an empire, he is breathtakingly good-looking, is filthy rich and loves a simple lady and in his words, "loves to pleasure". Do you know or remotely know anyone like that? To be able to sympathize with someone, you need to be able to at least, at a certain level, relate to that character. In the first book, although some information was divulged about his dark, mysterious and apparently tragic background, not enough was given to allow the readers to emotionally connect with his character and lend some empathy. In the end, he just seems to be like a insecure, sick pervert with anger management issues that needs professional help.
Summary: uninteresting writing style. Good plot, that can be potentially made into a great movie. Great marketing, hence it sells well.
...
On a similar note, here is a more daring and accurate review of the book I found on amazon:
I 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!
Now, on to why I don't like it: The repetitive and simplistic use of language - The writer uses the words, " very/too gloriously/breathtaking good-looking", "inner goddess" and "bite her lips" repeatedly. It was as if, she ran out of vocabulary or creative juices to come up with any other description. This sort of repetitive and tiresome descriptive technique is a show of bad technique and lazy writing. She uses sweeping, generalized descriptions that one could easily come up with in a casual conversation with a friend over coffee: "Check out that guy. He is good-looking". I very much prefer well-chosen details that uniquely shapes the protagonists in this story. Although the female protagonist is supposedly a young woman in her early 20s and the story is written from her point of view, the protagonist is so one-dimensional and naive that is almost unbelievable. It's hard to identify with a story that leaves so little to imagination. Simply put, her writing style is boring. Also, its difficult to empathize with Christian Grey who just seem like a sick pervert that needed help and who is not someone most people can identify with. He owns an empire, he is breathtakingly good-looking, is filthy rich and loves a simple lady and in his words, "loves to pleasure". Do you know or remotely know anyone like that? To be able to sympathize with someone, you need to be able to at least, at a certain level, relate to that character. In the first book, although some information was divulged about his dark, mysterious and apparently tragic background, not enough was given to allow the readers to emotionally connect with his character and lend some empathy. In the end, he just seems to be like a insecure, sick pervert with anger management issues that needs professional help.
Summary: uninteresting writing style. Good plot, that can be potentially made into a great movie. Great marketing, hence it sells well.
...
On a similar note, here is a more daring and accurate review of the book I found on amazon:
I 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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