Soooo.....

[paradise-estate]

Anyone read/reading 50 shades of Grey?...

[Aienhime]

I did, only the first book though. I was... kind of disturbed by the ending, lol, although I liked it up until that part. I dunno if I should keep reading.

[Maniah]

After reading this review .. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/340987215  I don't plan on touching that book series with a ten foot, hermetically sealed pole!

Just.. Wow.. I would honestly be curious to know what people actually like about it. The quotes from the book were bad enough to make me want to do horribly things to the author, and those were just snippets!

[fiwen30]

In short...no.

[Aienhime]

sort of spoilers, I guess:

Well, what I thought was interesting was the relationship between the two main characters. While Christian Grey obviously had a lot of issues, in the end I never felt like he was the dominant player in their relationship at all; subtly, Ana was the one influencing him more than the other way around. I never viewed her as an insecure person or as someone who is being controlled by Grey. She makes her own decisions and is curious about the things that the person she likes enjoys, no matter how weird they must be. Just because he desires a, uh, particular sexual relationship that does not mean he ends up "owning" her or controlling her; on the contrary, throughout the book it is obvious that she does not agree with this at all and while she ends up enjoying some parts of his particular interests, she draws her own lines.

I think it is interesting to see how the author plays with equality; it does not mean that everyone has the exact same power in every field in a relationship. It's a dynamic bond that shifts and changes depending on the people involved and while of course in this book it is very extreme, I think this is true for almost all relationships. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, our desires and things we don't want, and we all influence other people around us. All of this gives or takes power.

Of course I don't know how this plays out in book 2 and 3; I haven't read them and I don't think I will any time soon. This is just my opinion after reading the first book. And I do think the book had a lot of flaws; I think it's a shame that Grey's interests are obviously from some form of childhood problems. I think it would be more interesting if this came from his own healthy interest, because then it would just be his personality instead of something from his past he never managed to handle properly.

[StarDapple]

After reading this review .. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/340987215  I don't plan on touching that book series with a ten foot, hermetically sealed pole!

Just.. Wow.. I would honestly be curious to know what people actually like about it. The quotes from the book were bad enough to make me want to do horribly things to the author, and those were just snippets!

...wow.  I figured it would be bad simply knowing that it was once a Twilight fanfiction, but that is BAD.  I've read quotes, and the whole "inner goddess" thing drives me absolutely insane.

[Kiwi]

Can't say I have an interest - just not my genre.

[rearing_palomino164]

I was supposed to borrow it from a friend, but never did. I prob. won't be reading it.

[Yurusumaji]

Not me! I've never had an interest in that kind of thing.

[kaoskat]

Not my thing. Not interested.

[starrypawz]

No.
Read some excerpts and just went 'Noooo' I just can't get past the bad writing, and what seem to be really bland characters, I found the writing style to be really stilted and bland. (I couldn't read Twilight for the same reason) And there's also a few deeper issues with the book which plenty of people have discussed before and much better than I.

I really wish the hype for these books would die down, I'm so sick of seeing so much 'the 50 shades effect' and so on floating around.

(It's also more proof why I tend to stay away from a lot of what's billed as 'next hot thing' book wise as everything seems to turn into copycat clones, like with Twilight and then the apparent explosion of the 'Dark Romance' section in the bookstore)

[melodys_angel]

I heard about that but I dont think im going ot touch it.  Twilight was enough for me (and I just got hooked on for the final book and that book alone, because I fell inlove with one of the characters)

[Knibitz]

I read all three with a friend.
We laughed through a lot of it and I think I was most interested in how Grey spent his money than anything else
" WHAT OTHER SURPRISES DO YOU HAVE IN STORE?!"

Spoiler

OH YOU HAVE A HELICOPTER!? A HOUSE IN ASPEN?! RANDOM TRIP AROUND THE WORLD ANYONE?! SURPRISE! ALL YOUR BFFS ARE ON MY PRIVATE JET

and they bought a Nikon camera, so I can't hate on Mr. Grey too bad

I read it once to say I read it. I wouldn't recommend it.
I found the entire relationship ridiculous and degrading. As many reviews have stated, Grey uses his damaged past as an excuse for his abusive and childish behavior. [and not the BDSM part of it, I understand that has it's place, just straight up controlling abusive]

[Syrcaid]

I don't mind the genre, it just doesn't appeal. XDD

[Rhini]

I haven't read them, but have considered it just to see what all the fuss is about. There's so many problems for me right off the bat though, starting with the fact that this thing was birthed as a Twilight fanfic. Meaning all the issues we ever had about the dynamics of the Bella-Edward relationship carry over. So it's some kind of mutant fan-fic gone crazy for all the 40 year old twilight moms out there who want to fantasize about the exciting lives they're not going to have any more.

The other big problem is the fact that women are treating this as the first novel of it's kind, and it pisses me off SO BADLY! There are well established authors who have written hundreds of "romance" novels. Ladies! There's shelves of this stuff! And better written stuff at that.

While I'm actually okay with the graphic content of these books and encourage women to explore the subject of their own desires, most of these novels are just so utterly ridiculous plot-wise that they have no merit for me. I read a few pages of one where a woman actually falls in love with a man after he assaults her. Reaallly? It gives women the wrong idea about how the dynamics of a relationship should work, and often skews in favor of male power and from what has been described to me in these books, abuse.

Women's sexuality is very swept under the rug these days and it's not socially acceptable for a woman to express her feelings about it. Most women seem very very uncomfortable watching this kind of material, but somehow reading it in a book makes it more private and acceptable. So if the only portrayal of sexuality women are being introduced to is coming from books like THIS we have a very serious problem.