Fifty Shades of Grey
E. L. James, 2011
★ 3.67 from 2.9m ratings on Goodreads
A student reporter interviews a controlled young billionaire, and what begins as a nervous assignment turns into a negotiation of desire, power, and boundaries. A tense, repetitive push-pull of curiosity and control, with a nervous first-person voice that keeps you uneasy and often amused.
Feels like curiosity, longing and unease. About power, identity and love.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you're curious about the power dynamics and don't mind a slow, talky romance built on negotiation. Many readers find the prose repetitive and the relationship controlling, so it can be a frustrating read if that bothers you.
Why read it
It offers a close look at how desire and control get talked through, and why a story about boundaries can hold your attention even when the writing strains.
A page from the book
Desperation flickers across her face as she contemplates escape.
Olivia leaps up and retrieves my jacket, which Grey takes from her before she can hand it to me. He holds it up and, feeling ridiculously self-conscious, I shrug it on. Grey places his hands for a moment on my shoulders. I gasp at the contact. If he notices my reaction, he gives nothing away. His long index finger presses the button summoning the elevator, and we stand waiting—awkwardly on my part, coolly self-possessed on his. The doors open, and I hurry in, desperate to escape. I really need to get out of here. What readers say
Readers reacted with intense dislike, citing repetitive writing, lack of plot, and a controlling relationship; others found the romance addictive and enjoyed the chemistry despite acknowledging weak prose.
E. L. James.The series began as Twilight fan fiction under the pen name Snowqueens Icedragon; James reworked it into Fifty Shades and first published it through a small Australian press.
Books that feel like this
More by E. L. James
Fifty Shades Darker
E.L. James, 2012
A woman returns to the man who hurt her, betting that desire and damage can be separated.
Fifty Shades Freed
E.L. James, 2012
A newly married couple with unlimited money and no privacy: the third book is about what happens when the contract runs out and the real marriage starts.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is Fifty Shades of Grey for me?
- You may like it if you're curious about the power dynamics and don't mind a slow, talky romance built on negotiation. Many readers find the prose repetitive and the relationship controlling, so it can be a frustrating read if that bothers you.
- What is Fifty Shades of Grey like?
- A tense, repetitive push-pull of curiosity and control, with a nervous first-person voice that keeps you uneasy and often amused. Feels like curiosity, longing and unease. About power, identity and love.
- What should I read after Fifty Shades of Grey?
- If you liked Fifty Shades of Grey, try Corrupt (Penelope Douglas), The Help (Kathryn Stockett) and The Girl on the Train (Paula Hawkins).
A taste of the feed
Under all that money, something in the house is rotting.
Everything was so polished, and when I looked around at all the adults and families I grew up with, their money and designer clothes, I often saw a coat of paint that you apply when you’re trying to cover up rotting wood. There were dark deeds and bad seeds, but who cared if the house was falling apart as long as it was pretty, right?
Corrupt · Penelope Douglas
The childhood warnings you still half believe, and the ones you ignore.
Two days later, I sit in my parent’s kitchen, waiting for dusk to fall. Igive in and light another cigarette even though last night the surgeongeneral came on the television set and shook his finger at everybody,trying to convince us that smoking will kill us. But Mother once toldme tongue kissing would turn me blind and I’m starting to think it’sall just a big plot between the surgeon general and Mother to make sureno one ever has any fun.
The Help · Kathryn Stockett
A home you can't stop looking at, even though it hurts.
I lived at number twenty-three Blenheim Road for five years, blissfully happy and utterly wretched. I can’t look at it now. That was my first home. Not my parents’ place, not a flatshare with other students, my first home. I can’t bear to look at it. Well, I can, I do, I want to, I don’t want to, I try not to. Every day I tell myself not to look, and every day I look. I can’t help myself, even though there is nothing I want to see there, even though anything I do see will hurt me.
The Girl on the Train · Paula Hawkins
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