Review: Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James

 

Title: Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
Publisher:The Writer's Coffee Shop Publishing House
Published: May 25, 2011
ASIN: B0052U59F4

    When Anastasia Steele agrees to interview industrialist Christian Grey, she does not expect to have her life turned upside down.  She feels intense attraction to Christian but tries to ignore it since he couldn't be attracted to her, could he? Christian tracks her down making it more than clear that the feeling is mutual.  Yet Christian starts to withdraw from her with warnings of his dark proclivities.  Add to that Anastasia's best friend Katherine can't stand Christian and some competition from some of Anastasia's male friends Anastasia recoils at first but is drawn in by her increasingly intense relationship with Christian. When Anastasia realizes the depths of Christian's secret world, she attempts to find a way to please Christian while still maintaining her sense of self. 

  The cover is so innocent looking, but don't be fooled. This is erotica; there a several explicit sex scenes including BDSM, so if that's not your kind of party avoid this book.  E. L. James did a great job giving life to her characters.  I didn't agree with everything they did, but their actions seemed true to them.  It was fun to spend the whole book wondering will he? will she? Luckily, this is to be a trilogy, so we get to see whether Christian and Anastasia are able to maintain their connection.

**This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.                                     **

Check out my interview with E.L. James below the jump.

1. Please tell us a little about yourself.


          I am married to a wonderful Irish – writer(!) husband.  We have two teenage sons and a West Highland Terrier called Max, who I’ve been told resembles a footstool.  When I am not writing, I’m either tweeting (I’m a little addicted to it) or working in my part-time role as the Head of Production for a small independent TV company in the UK.  We make mostly comedy and entertainment, but I have worked in television all my life, and made everything from music shows, to documentaries and low and high budget dramas.  My other passion is the cinema, but I’ve not been going as much as I used to since I discovered writing, which is undoubtedly my newest passion.  I love it.

2. I noticed that you set your book in the Pacific Northwest.  Any particular reason?


         One of my favourite romantic novelists, Elizabeth Lowell, set her book Love Song for a Raven off Seattle’s coast.  I’ve always been intrigued by the place, so I thought, Why not set it there?  I’ve never been, but hey… one day I’d love to go.

3. Did you make Anastasia an Anglophile to account for the British phrases she uses a lot?

          Yes. I am British, and I think it’s almost impossible for a British person to do a really authentic American voice.  I just don’t have all the cultural references.  Making Ana an Anglophile seemed an obvious choice.

4. Do you have plans for a sequel?  The ending leaves the possibilty of more between Anastasia and Christian.


          Fifty Shades of Grey is the first book in a trilogy.  The second – Fifty Shades Darker – will be out in the fall.  As for the third – we’ll see.

5. Was this an easy book to write?

          Some parts were easier than others.  I don’t write with an outline.  When I started this I had a vague idea where I wanted to go, but the characters took on a life of their own, and I ended up following them to see where they would take me.  The three of us have gotten to know each other well, and we’re still on speaking terms.  Which is surprising as they’ve been with me for so long.

6. How did you research the book?

          Google is my friend. Oh, and Streetmap. I spend hours trawling the internet for information.  I came across some very weird stuff in the course of the research, and I hope to God my computer doesn’t get into the wrong hands… that would be real embarrassing. Anyway, enough said about that.

     7.  Have you written or plan to write any other books?  How do/will they differ?


          I have a novel in development about grief.  At the moment it’s Young Adult, and not erotic.  I have an idea for a thriller, and another which is similar to FSoG. I also want to re-work the first novel I ever wrote.  It’s kind of rough but the story still intrigues me. 

       Any words for my readers?   
       Please buy Fifty Shades of Grey! (*Giggles*).