Greetings dear readers (if any)! I did not announce that my book club would be reading this book, because I wasn't sure if I'd be able to blog about it at all based on what I'd heard. And, for the PG reader, I will gloss over the details, to give you a brief synopsis of book 1 of this trilogy, Fifty Shades of Grey:
Average girl meets Fantasy guy - young, hot, incredibly rich man who finds her irresistible.
He has a twisted view of sex (S&M) because he's got some dark, sordid past.
She's wholesome and innocent but is captured by lust which she tries to make into love (because that works so well), and agrees to play his twisted game as long as she can be with him.
Yup, that's about it.
No B-plot of any kind. Even the A-plot is murky.
Now, I've been told that books 2 and 3 delve more into plot, but since I have no intention of ever reading them, I must take book 1 for what it is - a 100% character-driven story whose characters were completely unsympathetic to me. In short, I hated this book. It's taken me awhile to articulate exactly why so here goes:
1) I am offended that this female author thinks this a-hole (that's PG, right?) is "the ultimate fantasy" for average women everywhere. It just perpetuates all the worst myths of my gender - - Women always want the bad-boy, never the nice guy; Women are weak-willed and can easily be convinced to do anything; "Ok, so he's a jerk - but I can CHANGE him". Ugh.
2) I am bored with the sheer volume of steamy scenes in the limited page-count. Her knocking on the door is not enough build-up to get me psyched about an upcoming hot scene. I need flirtation and conflict.
3) I am dumbfounded at this British author's weak grasp of American culture -- "grab our rucksacks and go on holiday" - Really? Geez. Do your research.
4) As I said before, the characters are completely unsympathetic. She's weak and I don't respect her. As for him, ok so he had a traumatic childhood - boo hoo. That's no excuse for dragging a "good girl" down your path of sadism. I suppose from a psychological perspective, he's an interesting case study, but that's about it.
5) Women are not microwaves. Really? A light breeze across her chest and she's "gone" -- come on!
Fifty Shades has made me realize how much I missed strong female leads, intricate plot lines (both A & B!), and appropriately timed erotic scenes. Thank you Laurell K. Hamilton. This terrible book has renewed my enjoyment of your Anita Blake series, and it's time I jump back in to where I left off.
