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A review by rachd24
Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian by E.L. James
2.0
First of all, an explanation of sorts as to why I decided to read this somewhat unpopular, and yet best-selling book:
My love for reading dwindled when I was at University, and when I graduated in 2012, the world was going insane over Fifty Shades of Grey. I picked the books up, and devoured them within a few days. I distinctly remember hating Christian with a passion throughout the first book, but reading on regardless, and by the end of the series feeling very differently about him, and the books. I enjoyed the original series. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – James is not about to win any literary awards for her writing abilities. However, I found the series to be compulsive reading. I understand the viewpoint of those who think it is purely an abusive relationship without merit, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy elements of the books when I first read them.
I had mixed feelings when I heard there was going to be a new Fifty Shades book written from the POV of Christian. From the get-go, this was going to go one of two ways, James’ writing was going to have improved (all the money she made from the first series surely could have afforded some writing lessons?), and this story would delve deeper into Christian’s past, into his psychology. Or, it would be a money-maker – a regurgitated story that offered little-to-no real insight into Christian.
Unfortunately, it was the latter.
This book would have benefited from going further back into Christian’s past, making the novel more about him, and his issues, rather than simply going over the same story we get in Fifty Shades of Grey, albeit from Christian’s POV. It felt lacklustre.
For fans of the series, Christian was an enigma, and that was a major factor in his sex appeal. With Grey, James has stripped Christian of his confidence, and of his mystique. We’ve gotten a glimpse into the mind of the man, and it’s rather anti-climatic.
While I appreciate the views that these books glorify abusive relationships, I have to say I was never particularly in that camp, which made it all the more disappointing during certain sections of this book when it was clear James was directly addressing those concerned. The actual word “consent” popped up much more frequently in this text than in any of the previous books. Where before consent was supposedly implied, in Grey James has gone out of her way to make it explicit. Ironically, those who think Fifty Shades is about an abusive relationship will likely never read Grey to know that James has addressed those concerns (or care for that matter), and those who are fans of the series will definitely feel that those lines are out of sync with the rest of the writing. That they have been slotted in on purpose. It begs the question – who exactly was Grey written for? The fans, or the critics?
The end of Grey most definitely indicates that Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed are both going to be released from Christian’s POV. It’s at this stage, where I will be bowing out of the ring and not continuing with the series. It’s gotten to the point where I’m almost offended James is offering this fare in exchange for my hard-earned cash (the last I heard she’d made around £95 million from this series). That, and the fact she has now out-sold J K Rowling in terms of book sales just stings. Sorry, Christian but Harry’s my number one.
Check out my full review of Grey here:
http://confessionsofabookgeek.com/2015/07/02/review-grey/
My love for reading dwindled when I was at University, and when I graduated in 2012, the world was going insane over Fifty Shades of Grey. I picked the books up, and devoured them within a few days. I distinctly remember hating Christian with a passion throughout the first book, but reading on regardless, and by the end of the series feeling very differently about him, and the books. I enjoyed the original series. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – James is not about to win any literary awards for her writing abilities. However, I found the series to be compulsive reading. I understand the viewpoint of those who think it is purely an abusive relationship without merit, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy elements of the books when I first read them.
I had mixed feelings when I heard there was going to be a new Fifty Shades book written from the POV of Christian. From the get-go, this was going to go one of two ways, James’ writing was going to have improved (all the money she made from the first series surely could have afforded some writing lessons?), and this story would delve deeper into Christian’s past, into his psychology. Or, it would be a money-maker – a regurgitated story that offered little-to-no real insight into Christian.
Unfortunately, it was the latter.
This book would have benefited from going further back into Christian’s past, making the novel more about him, and his issues, rather than simply going over the same story we get in Fifty Shades of Grey, albeit from Christian’s POV. It felt lacklustre.
For fans of the series, Christian was an enigma, and that was a major factor in his sex appeal. With Grey, James has stripped Christian of his confidence, and of his mystique. We’ve gotten a glimpse into the mind of the man, and it’s rather anti-climatic.
While I appreciate the views that these books glorify abusive relationships, I have to say I was never particularly in that camp, which made it all the more disappointing during certain sections of this book when it was clear James was directly addressing those concerned. The actual word “consent” popped up much more frequently in this text than in any of the previous books. Where before consent was supposedly implied, in Grey James has gone out of her way to make it explicit. Ironically, those who think Fifty Shades is about an abusive relationship will likely never read Grey to know that James has addressed those concerns (or care for that matter), and those who are fans of the series will definitely feel that those lines are out of sync with the rest of the writing. That they have been slotted in on purpose. It begs the question – who exactly was Grey written for? The fans, or the critics?
The end of Grey most definitely indicates that Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed are both going to be released from Christian’s POV. It’s at this stage, where I will be bowing out of the ring and not continuing with the series. It’s gotten to the point where I’m almost offended James is offering this fare in exchange for my hard-earned cash (the last I heard she’d made around £95 million from this series). That, and the fact she has now out-sold J K Rowling in terms of book sales just stings. Sorry, Christian but Harry’s my number one.
Check out my full review of Grey here:
http://confessionsofabookgeek.com/2015/07/02/review-grey/