I think it’s about time I address this book and write about it. I haven’t really encountered a “bad book” until this one and I consider myself quite the pop culture bandwagonner and read most of the mainstream books so I decided to give the Fifty Shades series a chance, mostly because of the movie buzz that surrounded it. I did the same with Twilight a few years ago and ended up quite enjoying the series. It didn’t turn me into a Twihard, but I didn’t close myself off to the succeeding books and eventually the movie franchise (which I’m quite indifferent about actually, so to speak).
Now about Fifty Shades, well it hurt my brain. It was such a struggle to read! I read on even though I knew it already was an awful book to start with from the first few chapters because I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt. It was popular for a reason right? I loved Harry Potter, Twilight wasn’t so bad and The Hunger Games was very compelling. With Fifty Shades, it took me a few weeks to get through the first book. I stalled when it came to starting the 2nd book because I knew I was going to put myself through the same predicament again–forcing myself to glorify something so serious and sensitive at the same time. I ended up not finishing the 2nd book, and decided to just ditch the series altogether. I couldn’t read it anymore. Maybe at a later time, but definitely not now.
This is funny because it doesn’t take much to please me when it comes to books. I mean, come on, I am a (quality) chick-lit fan.. and would almost always prefer a light read as opposed to word and stories that have the tendency to hurt my brain. But with this one, I could not bring myself to like it at all. What started as a curiosity for the movie franchise cast made me read the books, and now I’m not even excited for the movie anymore.
Here are some reasons why I dislike the book, and rather than me overanalyzing everything with long and boring sentences.. here’s the gist:
- The writing isn’t very good.
- There were so many inconsistencies.
- A British writer writing about American characters living in America should be able to stay away from so many British conversations and references, yes?
- Excessive use of the phrase “Oh my.”
- Excessive references of the main character’s inner goddess. I remember reading and thinking, “Holy fuck when will this inner goddess shit end?” LOL
- Lack of research on technology. Some of the stuff written about it were almost laughable.
- I knew it was a Twilight fanfic to begin with, but Stephenie Meyer can almost sue the author for plagiarism.
- Don’t even get me started on the lack of plot and character development.
- The erotic parts really weren’t very erotic.
- The fact that it glorifies violence, sadism and masochism? Look I know it exists in the real world, but I’m sure there are better ways to write about it.
- Quantity over quality. So many sex scenes, so little substance.
That’s pretty much what I can think about right now, I’m sure there are a lot of things I can still say but I just choose to stop here.
