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A review by thebritishbibliophile
The Mister by E.L. James
5.0
On January 24th of this year, myself and other E.L.James fans were happily subject to an announcement that would keep us occupied, busy, sharing and creating content for the next three or so months until April 16th rolled around the corner. First announced on the TODAY show in the States, Erika unveiled her brand new writing venture and promising new read, ‘The Mister’.
Before the big reveal on the TODAY show, we were left guessing as to what the announcement was going to be, as we were teased by our cheeky author on her social media as to the pending surprise announcement. I and many others here in the UK of course, stayed up waaaay into the wee hours of the morning so not to miss out on what Erika had planned next.
Of course when on January 24th the surprise was revealed, it sent some fans into a tizzy as automatically I was bombarded with questions on my Fifty Shades social media (and later, The Mister Instagram account – themisteruk) as to why was Erika writing this when the Freed version in Christian Grey’s POV was not yet out to complete the trio of books in his mind-set. Personally, there’s nothing written in any writing rulebook to say an author HAS to release a series of books if that is what he or she wants to do, so I couldn’t understand why instead of people being grateful and excited for a brand new read of ANY kind, why instead it was met with unnecessary hate and negativity.
Immediately, I was quick to address these statements and put to bed the unnecessary comments, judging both Erika and The Mister before the book had even started being promoted outside of the initial announcement. If people want to stick to only Fifty Shades as their go-to read from Erika, that’s their choice. If people were not Fifty Shades fans and want to read this as their first introduction to Erika and her writing, again, that’s their choice. If people want to embrace both Fifty Shades and The Mister as separate entities and embrace them both in what they stand for independently, like myself, that’s another choice also. The key thing is, if you are not a fan of anything to do with Erika’s writing/her books, move on. Leaving 1 star reviews or hate comments anywhere that’s possible to do so won’t deter those of us who will genuinely enjoy this read for what it is. Not what numbers, reviews or critics say online.
At the end of the day, I’m proud that Erika is the type of person who can look past all the spam, the bots, the haters and the negative ninnies out there, and find those of us online who leave reviews, share and promote her content for our genuine love of the book. I had the absolute pleasure of attending ‘The Mister Monday’ in London on the 15th of April, staying overnight to read The Mister, thanks to Penguin Random House/Arrow Publishing, getting my hands on one of THE first UK paperback copies and I can tell you this, no matter what the haters say, even before the book was released, it didn’t dent or ruin the experience and the celebration of a book we’ll hold dear for many years to come.
Now, with all that being said and I think it had to be done, please read on for my official review of The Mister. Please be warned if you have not read it yet and are waiting for your copy, do not read on from this point if you don’t want to read anything that may not spoil it for you. Where I have left out major spoilers so not to ruin it for others, my review WILL touch over themes, subjects and such other aspects. Thank you.
- - -
The very first thing that will draw you in about The Mister, is its very title. ‘The Mister’. Immediately, it got me wondering as to what context it applied to, piquing my interest. Shortly we would get our answer thanks to the book’s blurb/synopsis, though for a brief and glorious moment, we all became amateur Sherlock Holmes’ trying to figure out the ‘mister’ and what the story behind him and the book, could possibly be. And if you weren’t drawn in by the title, you’d surely be drawn in by the intensely-coloured title font colour. If you didn’t read the book’s blurb/synopsis first, this emboldened colour will capture your eyes and make you want to explore its connection to the content within.
Happily so, the colour has now been dubbed by many of us Erika fans as ‘The Mister Pink’, with some of us finding anything we own or could by in the same colour, wearing it while giving this book a read.
Having previously been treated to tid-bits and sneak peaks of extracts and audio clips on the run-up to The Mister’s release, I dove eagerly into the cutely petite prologue, which gave us an insight into the past of one of the two major players, hinting at it being a window into Alessia Demachi’s past. If you didn’t read any of the sneak peek excerpts prior to The Mister’s worldwide English copy availability, the hauntingly mysterious prologue will draw you in immediately as it did to me.
As you will discover through journeying the book side-by-side with Alessia Demachi and Maxim Trevelyan, you will pick up Erika’s clever use of modern-day themes, issues, social status and inequality, among other varying topics such as dealing with the feeling of grief from a man’s perspective, immigration/human trafficking and cultural differences. Having been accused in her previous works of not approaching the stories with ‘real life’ aspects, situations and relationship between two people, Erika has flipped the script on her previous critics and has aptly slid in the aforementioned topics and themes with an expert hand, adding in a huge slice of realism of modern day life, its issues, while telling the story of two people from opposing ends of the social spectrum. Blending the two together to give us a modern day-flavoured twist on a classic Cinderella rags-to-riches love story, each acting as the other’s aphrodisiac.
There will also be moments within The Mister that will make you smile with nostalgia, with references not directly linked to Fifty Shades, but will remind you of moments from the books. For example, the subtle hints to ‘grey’ when describing the London scene within the first chapters of the book, the reference to the forbidden room Alessia must not go into, mirroring that of the famous room we all know and secretly love, and Maxim asking Alessia to dance with him, just to name a few. In no way is this a comparison to Fifty Shades when I came across these references used within The Mister. Instead, I like to think they were used as subtle nods as a final farewell, a silent goodbye if you will, as a closing of a chapter as we begin this new one.
Additionally, adding onto my previous point of a new chapter, I’m happily proud to say that because The Mister IS different to Fifty Shades, it immediately becomes one of its many strong points. Instead of the woman being a timid, pure lily white of a character who grows as the story marches onward in a passionate tempo, it’s Maxim who we see grow just as much as Alessia. Neither character is ‘weaker’ than the other, as in turn they are both each other’s strength, their teacher and they learn to address their constraints both mentally and physically as one. Not as one holding all the power and the other rising up to join them. We see Maxim’s vulnerable side come out, something we didn’t see straight away with Christian Grey which in turn, gives us another insight to a side not often physically portrayed from a male perspective. Vulnerability. With Alessia, we see her slow and steady progression from outwardly being terrified of men, to her trust and awakened sexual temptress. Her mental growth and how it’s been written within this book, is one to be admired and praised for how well it has been portrayed. Both characters and their development have definitely exceeded any expectations I had when first hearing about The Mister.
Watching their development as characters, we are sure to find qualities of them within ourselves. Both good and bad. Hopefully though, more good than bad. I certainly know I’ll be on the lookout for my own Maxim from now on after giving The Mister a read. We all could do with a Maxim (or Alessia), in our lives. Besides having a copy of The Mister!
Of course from the very beginning, I don’t think a single one of us had a clue how we would feel about The Mister, even if we’re hard core Erika fans such as myself. Though I think I speak for every single one of us when I voice my pleasant surprise, praise and pride at everything this book is, how it was written and everything it sets out to represent. I went into reading The Mister with an open-mind, which I think was the key so I could give an unbiased review, even if it turned out that I didn’t like this new read which of course and thankfully, didn’t happen.
All the reviews out there both from critics & non-critics alike that aim to negatively review ‘The Mister’, you will actually find will have had no intention right from the announcement, of reviewing it in a non-biased manor. Most of the reviews in the 1-2 star range come from those who will never have any intention of reading any of Erika’s present or past works, yet claim to hate them and what they stand for. Instead of moving on to something and dedicating their time and words to something they DO like, they have to waste their time TRYING to put down something millions of people love and I feel sorry for them for that. Their negativity only makes up the smallest portion of online reviews and opinions, whereas I and others like me will always leave an honest review from a fan perspective.
It’s a shame the reviews that don’t actually review The Mister can’t be taken down, because if all the spam, pointless and unnecessary comments left under the review section were gone, you’d see what REAL, unbiased fans of Erika would think. I’m proud to know that the reviews left by real fans, both of Fifty Shades and new fans of hers reading The Mister, have left a review even knowing that this book would be different to Erika’s world-famous trilogy.
Where Erika will always have critics who will stop at nothing to shame her and her brilliant work, I’m proud that I and many others, are able to support her and stand by her side. We will always be counted on to give honest, non-biased reviews even if we have been dedicated followers of her former trilogy, as we are able to judge her work independent from one another and where I can’t 100% guarantee I or anyone else will like EVERY single work of hers, those that we DO like will always be reviewed honestly.
If you’re not an E.L.James fan and have no intention of being then don’t buy the book knowing from the start you’re not going to like it, just to give it a low star rating and review. Spend your time reviewing areas you DO like and even if you don’t end up liking one piece within that area, then at least you’ve gone into it with an open mind. We will always stand by what we believe in and what I believe in is this, Erika has proven herself to be a woman of many talents, spreading her writing wings to take her to a new avenue where she has flourished.
If Erika had stayed in the area where Fifty Shades had been written, writing stories similar to it and its theme, people would have complained that she hasn’t written something new. She writes something new and yet she’s still met with criticism for writing something different. Where it seems that no matter what she does she can’t win I can surely tell you this, she HAS won and The Mister, he is her winning move.
‘The Mister’ encompasses everything we love from Erika’s writing with its gripping storyline/plot, engaging and realistic characters and situations, sweet yet erotic moments of soul-burning passion, written to create a winning concocting formula that as quoted from the back cover of the book, ‘is a roller-coaster ride of danger and desire that leaves the reader breathless to the very last page’. At last, something that does what it says on the metaphorical tin.
Whatever Erika turns her hand or her pen to next, you can guarantee that we’ll be right there behind her to cheer her on, millions of us, her winning fandom family.
To say that this is a five star read would be an understatement. It deserves a star from every single one of us. That’s a million+ stars. A million-star book, not bad at all.
Let the next chapter begin!
(P.S. The next chapter, as many of us are already hoping, will be a sequel ;) )
Before the big reveal on the TODAY show, we were left guessing as to what the announcement was going to be, as we were teased by our cheeky author on her social media as to the pending surprise announcement. I and many others here in the UK of course, stayed up waaaay into the wee hours of the morning so not to miss out on what Erika had planned next.
Of course when on January 24th the surprise was revealed, it sent some fans into a tizzy as automatically I was bombarded with questions on my Fifty Shades social media (and later, The Mister Instagram account – themisteruk) as to why was Erika writing this when the Freed version in Christian Grey’s POV was not yet out to complete the trio of books in his mind-set. Personally, there’s nothing written in any writing rulebook to say an author HAS to release a series of books if that is what he or she wants to do, so I couldn’t understand why instead of people being grateful and excited for a brand new read of ANY kind, why instead it was met with unnecessary hate and negativity.
Immediately, I was quick to address these statements and put to bed the unnecessary comments, judging both Erika and The Mister before the book had even started being promoted outside of the initial announcement. If people want to stick to only Fifty Shades as their go-to read from Erika, that’s their choice. If people were not Fifty Shades fans and want to read this as their first introduction to Erika and her writing, again, that’s their choice. If people want to embrace both Fifty Shades and The Mister as separate entities and embrace them both in what they stand for independently, like myself, that’s another choice also. The key thing is, if you are not a fan of anything to do with Erika’s writing/her books, move on. Leaving 1 star reviews or hate comments anywhere that’s possible to do so won’t deter those of us who will genuinely enjoy this read for what it is. Not what numbers, reviews or critics say online.
At the end of the day, I’m proud that Erika is the type of person who can look past all the spam, the bots, the haters and the negative ninnies out there, and find those of us online who leave reviews, share and promote her content for our genuine love of the book. I had the absolute pleasure of attending ‘The Mister Monday’ in London on the 15th of April, staying overnight to read The Mister, thanks to Penguin Random House/Arrow Publishing, getting my hands on one of THE first UK paperback copies and I can tell you this, no matter what the haters say, even before the book was released, it didn’t dent or ruin the experience and the celebration of a book we’ll hold dear for many years to come.
Now, with all that being said and I think it had to be done, please read on for my official review of The Mister. Please be warned if you have not read it yet and are waiting for your copy, do not read on from this point if you don’t want to read anything that may not spoil it for you. Where I have left out major spoilers so not to ruin it for others, my review WILL touch over themes, subjects and such other aspects. Thank you.
- - -
The very first thing that will draw you in about The Mister, is its very title. ‘The Mister’. Immediately, it got me wondering as to what context it applied to, piquing my interest. Shortly we would get our answer thanks to the book’s blurb/synopsis, though for a brief and glorious moment, we all became amateur Sherlock Holmes’ trying to figure out the ‘mister’ and what the story behind him and the book, could possibly be. And if you weren’t drawn in by the title, you’d surely be drawn in by the intensely-coloured title font colour. If you didn’t read the book’s blurb/synopsis first, this emboldened colour will capture your eyes and make you want to explore its connection to the content within.
Happily so, the colour has now been dubbed by many of us Erika fans as ‘The Mister Pink’, with some of us finding anything we own or could by in the same colour, wearing it while giving this book a read.
Having previously been treated to tid-bits and sneak peaks of extracts and audio clips on the run-up to The Mister’s release, I dove eagerly into the cutely petite prologue, which gave us an insight into the past of one of the two major players, hinting at it being a window into Alessia Demachi’s past. If you didn’t read any of the sneak peek excerpts prior to The Mister’s worldwide English copy availability, the hauntingly mysterious prologue will draw you in immediately as it did to me.
As you will discover through journeying the book side-by-side with Alessia Demachi and Maxim Trevelyan, you will pick up Erika’s clever use of modern-day themes, issues, social status and inequality, among other varying topics such as dealing with the feeling of grief from a man’s perspective, immigration/human trafficking and cultural differences. Having been accused in her previous works of not approaching the stories with ‘real life’ aspects, situations and relationship between two people, Erika has flipped the script on her previous critics and has aptly slid in the aforementioned topics and themes with an expert hand, adding in a huge slice of realism of modern day life, its issues, while telling the story of two people from opposing ends of the social spectrum. Blending the two together to give us a modern day-flavoured twist on a classic Cinderella rags-to-riches love story, each acting as the other’s aphrodisiac.
There will also be moments within The Mister that will make you smile with nostalgia, with references not directly linked to Fifty Shades, but will remind you of moments from the books. For example, the subtle hints to ‘grey’ when describing the London scene within the first chapters of the book, the reference to the forbidden room Alessia must not go into, mirroring that of the famous room we all know and secretly love, and Maxim asking Alessia to dance with him, just to name a few. In no way is this a comparison to Fifty Shades when I came across these references used within The Mister. Instead, I like to think they were used as subtle nods as a final farewell, a silent goodbye if you will, as a closing of a chapter as we begin this new one.
Additionally, adding onto my previous point of a new chapter, I’m happily proud to say that because The Mister IS different to Fifty Shades, it immediately becomes one of its many strong points. Instead of the woman being a timid, pure lily white of a character who grows as the story marches onward in a passionate tempo, it’s Maxim who we see grow just as much as Alessia. Neither character is ‘weaker’ than the other, as in turn they are both each other’s strength, their teacher and they learn to address their constraints both mentally and physically as one. Not as one holding all the power and the other rising up to join them. We see Maxim’s vulnerable side come out, something we didn’t see straight away with Christian Grey which in turn, gives us another insight to a side not often physically portrayed from a male perspective. Vulnerability. With Alessia, we see her slow and steady progression from outwardly being terrified of men, to her trust and awakened sexual temptress. Her mental growth and how it’s been written within this book, is one to be admired and praised for how well it has been portrayed. Both characters and their development have definitely exceeded any expectations I had when first hearing about The Mister.
Watching their development as characters, we are sure to find qualities of them within ourselves. Both good and bad. Hopefully though, more good than bad. I certainly know I’ll be on the lookout for my own Maxim from now on after giving The Mister a read. We all could do with a Maxim (or Alessia), in our lives. Besides having a copy of The Mister!
Of course from the very beginning, I don’t think a single one of us had a clue how we would feel about The Mister, even if we’re hard core Erika fans such as myself. Though I think I speak for every single one of us when I voice my pleasant surprise, praise and pride at everything this book is, how it was written and everything it sets out to represent. I went into reading The Mister with an open-mind, which I think was the key so I could give an unbiased review, even if it turned out that I didn’t like this new read which of course and thankfully, didn’t happen.
All the reviews out there both from critics & non-critics alike that aim to negatively review ‘The Mister’, you will actually find will have had no intention right from the announcement, of reviewing it in a non-biased manor. Most of the reviews in the 1-2 star range come from those who will never have any intention of reading any of Erika’s present or past works, yet claim to hate them and what they stand for. Instead of moving on to something and dedicating their time and words to something they DO like, they have to waste their time TRYING to put down something millions of people love and I feel sorry for them for that. Their negativity only makes up the smallest portion of online reviews and opinions, whereas I and others like me will always leave an honest review from a fan perspective.
It’s a shame the reviews that don’t actually review The Mister can’t be taken down, because if all the spam, pointless and unnecessary comments left under the review section were gone, you’d see what REAL, unbiased fans of Erika would think. I’m proud to know that the reviews left by real fans, both of Fifty Shades and new fans of hers reading The Mister, have left a review even knowing that this book would be different to Erika’s world-famous trilogy.
Where Erika will always have critics who will stop at nothing to shame her and her brilliant work, I’m proud that I and many others, are able to support her and stand by her side. We will always be counted on to give honest, non-biased reviews even if we have been dedicated followers of her former trilogy, as we are able to judge her work independent from one another and where I can’t 100% guarantee I or anyone else will like EVERY single work of hers, those that we DO like will always be reviewed honestly.
If you’re not an E.L.James fan and have no intention of being then don’t buy the book knowing from the start you’re not going to like it, just to give it a low star rating and review. Spend your time reviewing areas you DO like and even if you don’t end up liking one piece within that area, then at least you’ve gone into it with an open mind. We will always stand by what we believe in and what I believe in is this, Erika has proven herself to be a woman of many talents, spreading her writing wings to take her to a new avenue where she has flourished.
If Erika had stayed in the area where Fifty Shades had been written, writing stories similar to it and its theme, people would have complained that she hasn’t written something new. She writes something new and yet she’s still met with criticism for writing something different. Where it seems that no matter what she does she can’t win I can surely tell you this, she HAS won and The Mister, he is her winning move.
‘The Mister’ encompasses everything we love from Erika’s writing with its gripping storyline/plot, engaging and realistic characters and situations, sweet yet erotic moments of soul-burning passion, written to create a winning concocting formula that as quoted from the back cover of the book, ‘is a roller-coaster ride of danger and desire that leaves the reader breathless to the very last page’. At last, something that does what it says on the metaphorical tin.
Whatever Erika turns her hand or her pen to next, you can guarantee that we’ll be right there behind her to cheer her on, millions of us, her winning fandom family.
To say that this is a five star read would be an understatement. It deserves a star from every single one of us. That’s a million+ stars. A million-star book, not bad at all.
Let the next chapter begin!
(P.S. The next chapter, as many of us are already hoping, will be a sequel ;) )