Okay...I finally gave in....I jumped on the bandwagon to see what all the fuss was about when it came to these novel. I mean, hey, isn't it my duty as a self-respecting blogger? (Although, seriously, I must be the last blogger on the planet to have read these books, lol)Suffice it to say that I loved this series -- and I was actually sad when it was over. My husband says I only enjoyed it because Christian Grey, our male protagonist is a tall, dark and handsome man, but I don't think that's it (although...hello!). It was actually Christian's faults that made me fall in love with him. As you go further into the series, you see how crazy his life has been, and it makes you relinquish all your pre-conceived notions of this "preppy rich domineering man". I enjoyed watching Christian work through his past, fall in love with Anastasia and grow closer to his family.As a feminist, I never thought I'd say this, but I also adored Anastasia. Her headstrong character and stubbornness is actually admirable. Ana never takes anything lightly (boy, does she over analyze!) and almost never does anything she's uncomfortable with. She also falls in love fast and hard -- and not just with Grey -- which makes her loyalty and friendship even more endearing. The author E.L. James, does a great job of making us understand where Ana is coming from -- so when she makes her life choices, we understand it, get it, and root for her. It's incredible how far we are able to get inside Ana's head without it being too much, too boring, or too cliche.I'd definitely recommend this series. You'll fall in love with Christian Grey just like the rest of the world. Yes, I read them and I feel worse about myself afterwards. :P If I ever needed a way to see the “Twilight” books as halfway decent in comparison…The characters are one dimensional archetypes put into contrived plot situations. Christian is controlling enough to make Edward look like a mouse, including buying up Anna’s place of employment. Anna, who apparently survived 21st century college life without even thinking she’d need access to a personal computer, immediately gets a job (and a promotion! And this is after spending most of her days emailing Christian from her work account) as a current day book editor. Everyone is connected to everyone else, including Anna’s former boss, who conveniently turns into a ghost from Christian’s obscure past half a country away. James even goes as far to admit that the bank scene from the final book never could have happened, so she wrote two unconvincing versions of it, one in the actual story and one in her afterword. Anna spends a disturbing amount of time talking to “her inner goddess” about dancing the meringue and etc., maybe because James doesn’t know any other way to probe what/how she feels. And the BDSM lifestyle becomes a thin smokescreen for dealing with trauma. Most disastrously, the moral of these books seems to be that an innocent young woman can “fix” a violent, broken man. I’m up for complex characters (who don’t exist here anyway) but I’ve witnessed enough real people get into really dangerous situations because they believe in that premise.I should probably learn to give some books lower reviews. But I’ll give James this—the sex scenes could be steamy. It was when the couple left the boudoir that the story fell apart.
Do You like book Fifty Shades Trilogy Boxed Set (2012)?
Let your imagination run free! Second time reading and will read again!
—ndow1279
I had fun reading these books. I just didn't take them to seriously.
—adriennel24
