Okay, so this may be T.M.I (too much information for those unaware) but I rather enjoy the world that Fifty Shades of Grey portrays. Learning about submissive and dominants is sort of a hobby of mine and reading different aspects of the subject can be fun. As Rhianna states “sticks and stones may break my bones but whips and chains excite me.” With the upcoming movie I am taking some time to briefly discuss the series overall and mention a few of my likes and dislikes.
In the past I have read only one other book with similar content, so I'm no expert. The book has been previously mentioned as Haven: A First Taste written by the author Spoken Pandora. This book was an introduction for me into a world I never knew I liked until I delved into the reading. The talk of pain as pleasure and couples that created structured sexual roles sent a thrill up my spine. My follow up to this is the very entertaining Fifty series. This series is great as a not too serious read that provides some points of interest that I did not find in Haven (Haven is an ongoing series and I eagerly wait for the arrival of the next book).
One example of my unique finds is the memorable moment in the Fifty series when the Ben Wa Balls are used by Christian and he states: “I am going to put these inside of you, and then I’m going to spank you, not for punishment, but for your pleasure and mine.” That moment had me holding my breath waiting for what came next. This intimate brush with BDSM that the series provides is invigorating. As enjoyable as those shocking moments were , there was character development and at points comical moments that mimic the bad habits present in Twilight (the book series with glittery vampire that inspired Fifty).
One of the issues is the repetitive description of the gorgeous male leads. As Edward is oh so beautiful and attractive in Twilight so too is our dear Mr. Christian Grey. This statement is made so many times I find myself my eyes rolling at every mention of HIS smoldering eyes by the end of book one. I dear say, exactly how many times can you mention someone’s entrancing visage (Maybe someone will make time to count but I’d like to use my time wisely). Then there is our Bella Swan of the Fifty franchise, Anastasia Steele. She resembles Bella in that same ‘pretty but oh so clueless’ that you almost feel bad for her not realizing her own beauty. I just question how low her self-esteem is, seriously. There is also the predictable reading, that’s almost comical to me, as Christian’s deep intense gazes catch Anastasia off guard. Ultimately his stares lead to our main attraction, the sex scenes which is followed by Anastasia stating how much of a God Christian is in bed (I chalk her ravings up to a side effect of her inexperience as Christian is the only man she sleeps with). So there are a few things that irk me but despite these dislikes there are positive elements I did enjoy.
The first bonus for this writing, that I personally find pleasure in, is the speech of the main character. The story is told in first person from the thoughts and observations of Anastasia who is a college graduate and her vocabulary reflects this. For me it makes it a bit more authentic. We are experiencing things as only she describes them and it is more believable when she makes certain statements with a collegiate mind. Now this may not seem like a big thing to some but I explore other writings includin Zane and the vocabulary of some of her more educated characters brings into question: where exactly did you attended school? There is also that descriptive element to all of the scenes. You can picture Christian from every inch (giggles) and with the intense sex scenes this goes well. I can see Christian and Anastasia in the elevator at the restaurant as everyone crowds in and Christian starts to finger her. Or the time they sit in the parking lot and have a quickie after the adrenaline rush from their recent chase going at it like gorillas (thank you to Bruno Mars for that song). It is an enjoyable adventure to read about how they can’t keep their hands off each other. It is also fun to watch Christian’s character develop because he goes from complete control freak to losing control over this one girl. There is one scene where he simply falls apart and becomes a submissive himself because he doesn’t know what else to do with her. Anastasia watches as he loses himself and it almost breaks my heart as he leaves himself vulnerable because he doesn’t know what else to do (I personally would have taken advantage of a submissive Christian but eh, that’s me). What she ends up doing for him is building him back up, returning a healthier view of himself and his life so that he is not living on the edge. She makes him feel normal. The story overall gives you something to look forward to as they are like every other looking for someone to give the balance needed.
To sum this up if you’re looking for something that will certainly get the blood pumping to all the right areas this series can do that. It is also so much more if you pay attention. I recall reading at some point a review that discussed how this is the glorifying abusive or controlling relationships. I frowned at this narrow mindedness because this is story is something beautiful that is being twisted because of the perspective it is being viewed from. If you want to see the bad you will. If this is too much for you and you can’t see the beauty that is quite unfortunate. For those of you with an open mind I say enjoy.
