E L James' Fifty Shades of Grey

I started reading Fifty Shades of Grey to find out if all the hub-bub swirling around about it was accurate. For me and this recommendation it was delightedly worth it. The 50 Shades trilogy (I am currently immersed in book two of the series) has already been added to my books I hold dear to my heart. Not for the erotic scenes it was fanned about all over the media but because it has that incandescent spark that a reader finds only so often in a truly beloved book (or series). Some of those for me, to name a few, would be Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, A Discovery of Witches, Outlander, The Hunger Games Trilogy, and The Harry Potter Series.

The characters have realness to them, mainly Ana and Christian, which puts the reader at ease. E L James has created great chemistry between these unlikely lovers. For me, I loved reading about what they saw in each other, Ana falling into Christian’s office, Ana and Christian stumbling over each other to find an anchor within each other. While Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey may not the new Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet or even Claire and Jamie, they are, for me at least and I hope for others, right up there. I have fallen into their world and am rooting for them, commiserating with them, laughing, sighing, and melting as their story and journey unfolds. They have that quality about them that has me rooting for them despite the odds, hang-ups, fun e-mailing, and S&M tendencies.

This book is classified as an erotic novel. I have read others and it was just soft core or hard core sex set in scenes, much like a porn flick. The 50 Shades trilogy (so far at least and definitely in this first book) is realistic and the situation Ana finds herself in with Christian’s offer, while unique, is believable. The sex is not “the story” but an important component of it. The sex is delicious and leaves one panting. James has an incredible sexual voice, giving the reader sensations, feelings, textures. James is able to give the reader “vanilla sex” and then sex with a “kinky f***ery” twist. For me I appreciated the full out rawness of it. An author either needs to get into the sex scenes or give you a beginning and then an “afterglow”, a rated PG-13 or rated R movie if you will allow that as a comparison.

Fifty Shades of Grey, for the mature audiences out there, is a must read. For many, including myself, this trilogy is a new adventure and I am definitely learning about things I never would have dreamed of (in a good way).  That said, pour yourself a glass of wine and curl up with this great book.