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adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
I mostly read the Kindle version of this book that I rented through Libby with some help from the audio version, also rented through Libby.
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This book follows our FMC named Ana, who interviews mega rich entrepreneur named Christian (from here on out quoted as MMC). Our main characters fall in love but our MMC "doesn't do normal love", as he'd put it.
Ana doesn't know anything about BDSM and learns through experience that love isn't always sunshine and rainbows. She struggles between wanting to stay with Christian and wanting more from him than he can give to her. How will she cope with this?
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I'm honestly not sure why I ended up reading this. I normally wouldn't have gone for a book that is so controversial but here we are. Yes, I've heard all of the things about this book but I still read it anyway. I wanted to form my own opinion, I guess.
I've heard people say that this book is silly and that Ana is constantly raped because she didn't agree to the BDSM lifestyle. I don't see where this is coming from, however, because I got the sense that she did, in fact, agree to at least the sexual aspect.
I did also see that she consented hesitantly to the BDSM as well. However, I think she agreed to it before realizing what it all entailed. I don't think she fully realized what she was agreeing to and that's what leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
The end where she walked out was where I cheered because I really don't think she should have agreed in the first place. I honestly don't think she should have agreed to something she knows nothing about, especially since she was a freaking virgin when the book started.
That's what I don't understand either: the insta-love. I normally don't mind the trope but it felt a little ridiculous in this book, in all honesty. I feel like Christian took advantage of Ana in every way possible and she doesn't even see it. It makes me sick, honestly.
I could go on and on about this without any feeling of shame. I want to finish the trilogy against my better judgement to see how it all ends. I've seen snippets of the films, though I have no interest in watching them in full after reading this book.
Now, I will say, I had to also get used to the female narrator's voice when I was listening to the audio version of this book at one point. I felt that her voice was a bit too harsh for my preference but I kept listening anyway while looking forward to actually reading the book again.
I don't think this book or perhaps even the trilogy at large has a true glimpse of BDSM and that's what prevents me from recommending this book to people. I felt it took me way too long to finish the book and I'm not looking forward to the sequels for that reason. Yikes!
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
This book follows our FMC named Ana, who interviews mega rich entrepreneur named Christian (from here on out quoted as MMC). Our main characters fall in love but our MMC "doesn't do normal love", as he'd put it.
Ana doesn't know anything about BDSM and learns through experience that love isn't always sunshine and rainbows. She struggles between wanting to stay with Christian and wanting more from him than he can give to her. How will she cope with this?
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
I'm honestly not sure why I ended up reading this. I normally wouldn't have gone for a book that is so controversial but here we are. Yes, I've heard all of the things about this book but I still read it anyway. I wanted to form my own opinion, I guess.
I've heard people say that this book is silly and that Ana is constantly raped because she didn't agree to the BDSM lifestyle. I don't see where this is coming from, however, because I got the sense that she did, in fact, agree to at least the sexual aspect.
I did also see that she consented hesitantly to the BDSM as well. However, I think she agreed to it before realizing what it all entailed. I don't think she fully realized what she was agreeing to and that's what leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
The end where she walked out was where I cheered because I really don't think she should have agreed in the first place. I honestly don't think she should have agreed to something she knows nothing about, especially since she was a freaking virgin when the book started.
That's what I don't understand either: the insta-love. I normally don't mind the trope but it felt a little ridiculous in this book, in all honesty. I feel like Christian took advantage of Ana in every way possible and she doesn't even see it. It makes me sick, honestly.
I could go on and on about this without any feeling of shame. I want to finish the trilogy against my better judgement to see how it all ends. I've seen snippets of the films, though I have no interest in watching them in full after reading this book.
Now, I will say, I had to also get used to the female narrator's voice when I was listening to the audio version of this book at one point. I felt that her voice was a bit too harsh for my preference but I kept listening anyway while looking forward to actually reading the book again.
I don't think this book or perhaps even the trilogy at large has a true glimpse of BDSM and that's what prevents me from recommending this book to people. I felt it took me way too long to finish the book and I'm not looking forward to the sequels for that reason. Yikes!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
dark
sad
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
PUT. IT. DOWN. Don't touch it with a ten foot pole. "How to abuse people, a guide" it should be called
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Gaslighting
I only got a 100 pages in and had to stop. I don't force myself to read terrible, awful things.
The writing is juvenile in every way, it's so cliched it's ridiculous. Just because you change the names and descriptions of the characters from your Twilight fanfiction doesn't make it original fiction. There is no plot only sex and not good/hot sex either. The author has no idea what real sex is like. The sex in the book is unrealistic and if it happened in real life would be painful! The female lead acts like a naive, and clueless 16/17 year old not a 21 almost 22 year old is that is going to graduate with a degree in English Literature. She has the emotional depth of a puddle. The male lead is supposed to be well versed in BDSM sex but he has no idea how to have vanilla sex. Sex if done right, even if it's the females first time, should be pleasurable and there should be no blood on the sheets from penetration!
This book is awful! The author is a terrible, juvenile writer. The characters are one dimensional, and it's clear that she did no research into BDSM culture or American culture. There are British-isms all over the place.
The writing is juvenile in every way, it's so cliched it's ridiculous. Just because you change the names and descriptions of the characters from your Twilight fanfiction doesn't make it original fiction. There is no plot only sex and not good/hot sex either. The author has no idea what real sex is like. The sex in the book is unrealistic and if it happened in real life would be painful! The female lead acts like a naive, and clueless 16/17 year old not a 21 almost 22 year old is that is going to graduate with a degree in English Literature. She has the emotional depth of a puddle. The male lead is supposed to be well versed in BDSM sex but he has no idea how to have vanilla sex. Sex if done right, even if it's the females first time, should be pleasurable and there should be no blood on the sheets from penetration!
This book is awful! The author is a terrible, juvenile writer. The characters are one dimensional, and it's clear that she did no research into BDSM culture or American culture. There are British-isms all over the place.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Sexual harassment
dark
medium-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
Such bad grammar that it was distracting. The main character says, “Oh my,” as a response over 200 (!!!) times. I looked it up because it was getting so ridiculous. The character development felt inauthentic. The tragic backstory of the MMC was watered-down and glanced over, leaving him just looking like a kinky asshole who doesn’t want to be close to anyone, except he can’t help it because of some random alluring charm of the FMC. Also was deeply disturbed about the fact that child molestation is painted as okay, just because one of the characters found pleasure in being molested as a child. So gross and disturbing. Sigh. Would not recommend and won’t finish the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Stalking, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
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, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
funny
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Vomit, Abandonment
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
this book sucked. the prose was awful. spicy scenes poorly written. FMC was just cringe and generally the love interest was an asshole the entire book. 1 star bc it was mildly entertaining and i was dared to read it for shits and gigs
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Stalking
Moderate: Drug use
Minor: Sexual assault, Vomit
dark
emotional
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
This book is nothing more than another poorly written sexual romp.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Gaslighting