Book Review: Fifty Shades of Grey

Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades, #1)
Title: Fifty Shades of Grey
Author: El James
First Published: 2011
My Rating: 1 of 5 stars (average rating on Goodreads: 3.60)
Format: Paperback, 514 pages
First line: I scowl with frustration at myself in the mirror.

It’s a cliché from the very first line. I wanted to give it a fair chance. Of all the books I read and write about, this is the one people ask me about. So I decided to read it to be able to answer.
It annoyed me from the very first page. I instantly disliked the protagonist, Anastasia Steele: An insecure, clumsy, awkward 21-year-old virgin with brown hair who feels intimidated by perfect blonds because she will never be perfect herself. And of course she prefers books to people, because apparently that’s what bookworms do.

What an old, overused cliché! The little grey mouse then meets dark, tall, handsome, mysterious Mr. Grey and then it’s all “oh, he’s so hot, he’ll never fall for me, why is he so hot, he obviously prefers one of the blond girls and not me who never looks good, oh he really is handsome, oh I just tripped because I’m so clumsy, oh he’s looking at me and making me blush, why does he have this effect on me, what is he thinking, oh those beautiful eyes”.

It’s so clichéd; it’s almost a parody. On top of this, I found it a bit boring. I never really fell for the characters or the story. It was just so unrealistic, completely far out and poorly written. The plot seemed to just filling – and/or an excuse for printing numerous sex scenes. And I was so sick and tired of Miss Steele’s numerous conversation with her inner goddess and her subconscious. I think it was meant to be cute, but I just found it annoying.

The one thing I did like were the e-mails between Steele and Grey. They were fun. I especially liked how the subject field and the signature carried their own line of conversation.

I’ve heard many people say that it’s not grand literature but that it’s OK if you just want some entertainment. But it wasn’t even that entertaining for me. I was slightly bored most of the time, I didn’t really care what happened to Grey and Steele and I had enough of the sex scenes. It just wasn’t anything special. Don’t get me wrong: I’m all for light, entertaining page-turners, but there should still be some level of quality, creativity and originality. In stead of Fifty Shades of Grey, I would recommend The Hunger Games, Vampire Academy and the Georgina Kincaid series.

Bogen er en kliché fra allerførste linje. Jeg ønskede at give bogen en fair chance: Af alle de bøger, jeg læser og skriver om, er dette bogen folk spørger mig om. Så jeg besluttede mig for at læse den, så eg kan svare.

Den irriterede mig lige fra første side. Jeg kunne lige fra starten ikke fordrage hovedpersonen, Anastasia Steele: En usikker, klodset, akavet 21-årige jomfru med brunt hår, der føler sig underlegen i forhold til perfekte blondiner, fordi hun aldrig selv vil kunne være perfekt. Og selvfølgelig foretrækker bøger frem for socialt sammenværd, fordi sådan ved vi jo alle godt at bogorme er.

Sikke en gammel, opbrugt kliché! Den lille grå mus møder så den høje, smukke, og mystiske Mr. Grey og så står den på “Åh, han er så lækker, han vil aldrig falde for mig, hvorfor er han så lækker, han foretrækker helt sikkert en af blondinerne og ikke lille mørksårede mig, der aldrig ser godt ud, åh han er virkelig smuk, åh nej, der skvattede jeg fordi jeg er så klodset, åh han kigger på mig – nu rødmer jeg, hvorfor han har denne effekt på mig, hvad han tænker mon, åh de smukke, mystiske øjne”.

Det er så klicheagtige, at det nærmest er en parodi. Og så synes jeg faktisk den er lidt kedelig. Jeg faldt aldrig rigtig for personerne og historien. Det hele var bare så urealistisk, helt langt ude og dårligt skrevet. Plottet virkede for mig som rent fyld og / eller en undskyldning for at skrive en masse sexscener. Og jeg var så træt af Miss Steeles talrige samtale med hendes ’indre gudinde’ og hendes underbevidsthed. Jeg tror det skulle virke sødt og nuttet, men jeg synes simpelt hen det var så irriterende.

En ting, jeg godt kunne lide var de e-mails Steele og Grey sendte til hinanden. De var ret sjove. Jeg kunne især godt lide den måde hvorpå emnefeltet og signaturen havde deres egen samtale kørende.

Jeg har hørt mange sige, at Fifty Shades of Grey ikke er stor litteratur, men at den er OK, hvis du bare vil have noget underholdning. Men den var ikke engang underholdende for mig. Jeg kedede mig en lille smule det meste af tiden, var lidt ligeglad med, hvad der skete med Grey og Steele og jeg fik nok af sexscenerne. Der var bare ikke noget særligt ved bogen. Forstå mig ret: jeg går ind for lette og underholdende page-turners, men mener, at der stadig bør være en vis grad af kvalitet, kreativitet og originalitet. Her ville jeg i stedet for Fifty Shades anbefale bøger som The Hunger Games, Vampire Academy og Georgina Kincaid-serien.

De glemte bøger

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5 thoughts on “Book Review: Fifty Shades of Grey

  1. I keep meaning to give this one it’s fair chance… but I’ve always got something I’d rather read! It sounds so absolutely awful and frustrating though, I really must read a few chapters sometime just to satisfy my morbid curiousity. XD

    (Hi by the way! 🙂 I just stumbled on your blog through goodreads!)

    – Eleanor @ La p’tite bibliothèque

  2. Hi Eleanor,
    I can understand you feeling curious from all the hype there’s been about Fifty Shades. But it really is nothing speciel! But if you decide to give it a go, then it’s a quick read, which in this case is positive!

    Thanks for stopping by 🙂

  3. I really liked the books the first one was bad I will have to say. but at the end I just had to read the next one then the next. It did have a good story line but the sex part of it was a little much and as for his fettish and her dumb ness well if it was me I would have say hell no rite of the bat he would have wanted me for me or not at all. And remember he didn’t want to take her their after she left him she was the one that kept going their. She was the curiouse one. But if I could fine a Mr. grey without the red room dang were is he. Remember without the red room. just a hot guy. LOL

  4. Them books are actually what got me reading I don’t read them kind of books but I have been reading since I read those. I just can’t stop!!!! help!!!! LOL

  5. I agree with you, Lisa – Mr. Grey’s red room was just too much! Even without that, though, I didn’t like him at all … his need to control her and her life was so annoying to me.

    I really like that these books got you into reading 🙂

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