Fifty Shades of Grey

Fifty Shades of Grey – EL James

In a pinch, Anastasia Steele fills in for her roommate, the editor of the college newspaper, to do an interview for the last edition before they graduate. Although she knows the name of the person she is interviewing, millionaire Christian Grey, she knows nothing else about his company, his beginning, or his background. After stumbling through the interview, shy, socially awkward, and innocent Anastasia finds herself somehow enraptured by Grey, though she can’t quite say why. It is only after he starts pursuing her to the point of stalking that she realizes she loves him. Having never had a crush before, much less a boyfriend, Anastasia finds herself thrown into chaos as she slowly realizes she loves Grey. But can she love him? Grey, a dominating control freak in every sense of the phrase, is slow to share himself with her. He keeps his secrets about his business, his background, and his past, and Anastasia knows that she wants “more” from him. Both struggle to overcome their self-imposed restraints and limits to be what the other wants and needs them to be, but can they really make it work? Among all the firsts and lessons than Anastasia learns with Grey, she also learns that love may not overcome every obstacle to unite you with the object of your desire. Oh ya, and there’s lots of kinky sex.

“Fifty Shades of Grey” could be the textbook for one of the classes I took in college. Not even kidding – the class was “Social Construction of Sexuality” and I’m willing to bet my professor has already added it to her list of readings without me telling her that she needs to do so. James writes excellent characters and puts them through all kinds of situations and negotiations that I think would happen in an ideal relationship. Hear me out because this comes with caveats – I’m not saying that everything that happens in the story is perfect. Grey is the strong, silent type, always brooding about something or other and never fully sharing himself with Ana. Ana finds herself doubting herself, her love for Grey, and their relationship together, and constantly unsure of what she wants and what she can give. But the negotiations that come with their relationship are amazing. They discuss all kinds of limits, what is comfortable and what is unacceptable, and how to handle the mixed emotions that may arise from such encounters. I have plenty of reservations about a guy like Grey given my background in sexual assault work, but the level of open and honest communication that surrounded the activities in general is what I would like to hold up as exemplary.

This is a plain old fun read. When things aren’t hot and heavy, they’re fun and playful because the millionaire boy loves his toys and knows how to work hard and play harder. We still get plenty of emotional meltdowns from Anastasia suffering through the mixed emotions of loving someone when she can’t be everything that he wants and needs, and although it’s annoying at times, it seems to be required in every story ever. Easy to read, a fairly well-developed and believable plot, and fun. I’ll leave it at that.