Comments on The Book Vixen - A Romance Book Blog: Book Review: Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

The phenomena when a book gets that super spotligh...

2012-05-22T10:28:11.058-07:00

The phenomena when a book gets that super spotlight of attention and absolutely everyone is reading it is quite fascinating and one reason I won't read this. Thank you for an excellent post and super question to recommend 'better' choices if you don't want to read 50Shades. On the other hand, I could be embarrassed I even bothered to check for more reviews of it, so maybe in a way I've succumbed. I am trying to find reasons not to read it?

Indeed. Omnific and TWCS promote a lot of publishe...

2012-04-30T16:08:06.324-07:00

Indeed. Omnific and TWCS promote a lot of published FFs, and I believe it's a calculated move on their part considering those two stories were some of the highest rated and most reviewed/most popular FFs at the time of their completion.

Thx ;) I did know. Seems like a lot of books from ...

2012-04-30T15:52:32.442-07:00

Thx ;) I did know. Seems like a lot of books from that publisher (pub of GI) are TwiFF.

Just so you know, "Gabriel's Inferno"...

2012-04-30T15:30:59.434-07:00

Just so you know, "Gabriel's Inferno" was also a TwiFanFic (The University of Edward Masen) before it got published, but the story telling/writing is better than Fifty Shades.

@Julie, the print book was purchased and published...

2012-04-29T06:30:24.731-07:00

@Julie, the print book was purchased and published by Random House so I suspect the editing got much better from the ebook version.

I have come this close to buying this book at the ...

2012-04-28T16:10:58.722-07:00

I have come this close to buying this book at the store but I didn't because I have heard it was bad from so many bloggers about the editing, and I know it was based on twilight fan fiction. I don't mind reading the bdsm stories and I read and liked The Relunctant Dom
thanks for the review and the honesty.

What I heard about the books (both before the hype...

2012-04-27T02:22:46.913-07:00

What I heard about the books (both before the hype and as it started) really agrees with what you say near the start of the review. People who read erotica/bdsm erotica say that it's a bit 'meh' in terms of the genre - ok, but nothing special. Other people seem to be reading it now as though it's the invention of erotica.
I don't think I'll be reading it just now, but perhaps some day in the future if it's on sale & I don't have a stack of other things waiting to be read.

-Ailsa

Interesting, Alexa, so you'd argue that it isn...

2012-04-26T15:12:33.643-07:00

Interesting, Alexa, so you'd argue that it isn't erotica because it has a story and I'd argue it isn't romance because it doesn't have a HEA. :) Where do you think it should be classified?

Thanks for the thoughtful comment!

I haven't read it yet, but it's on my TBR ...

2012-04-25T23:47:15.508-07:00

I haven't read it yet, but it's on my TBR list. My 65 year old mother just finished it (GASP). She said it was TOO erotic, but ironically she kept reading. :)

Shannon
http://www.extremereadingandwriting.wordpress.com

I think you both have brought up a lot of great po...

2012-04-25T18:13:54.499-07:00

I think you both have brought up a lot of great points. I really wasn't getting the hype for this one and I honestly wouldn't even bother calling this BDSM! The author spends way too much time explaining the lifestyle choices of BDSM. Um as a reader of such erotic books I already know what the lifestyle is so I don't need the author's research notes on it to be in the book. This was the part that upset me the most, this isn't erotica!

It also bugs me that so many people will push you away from this at the store not because they know anything about it but because they think it is dirty since it is classified as "erotica" which it shouldn't be.

I have read better BDSM stories and the one thing that kept me going on to read the second book was the fact that I did like Grey and Anna. There are certainly problems with this series that one can choose to overlook such as the writing not being that amazing if they want to better enjoy the story.

I do think that the second book is much better than this first one and several of the issues I had with the series get cleared up in book two. I am excited for to read the last book at this point but it was rough to get there.

Thanks for the great review.

I doubt I'll ever read this book but I think t...

2012-04-25T17:09:51.376-07:00

I doubt I'll ever read this book but I think the reason it got such hot press was because of the tie to Twilight, which is just all kinds of wrong and gross in my eyes...lol

I saw that post too! I know this is going to go in...

2012-04-25T16:30:57.302-07:00

I saw that post too! I know this is going to go into geeky girl mode, but I like statistics (stay with me here!) and one of the fundamentals of it is sample size and I apply that to Amazon reviews big time! But I also think this allows readers to factor in Amazon reviews but don't make decisions sole on them--let's use goodreads and blogs.

I agree, guilty fun reads are great but I also exp...

2012-04-25T16:26:52.976-07:00

I agree, guilty fun reads are great but I also expect quality, not just in editing, though that's nice, but more so in character development and plot progression.

Thanks for commenting on the review. I'm alwa...

2012-04-25T16:24:46.595-07:00

Thanks for commenting on the review. I'm always curious what other readers think of the book I just reviewed. I always am willing to try authors if there is a genre-consensus on their books. It looks there is here; thank you!

Thanks for sharing that. Horrible but sadly, expec...

2012-04-25T14:36:53.369-07:00

Thanks for sharing that. Horrible but sadly, expected. Hustlers have advanced.

Great review. The excerpts I read of 50 Shades wer...

2012-04-25T14:18:58.616-07:00

Great review. The excerpts I read of 50 Shades were so horrendous I know I can't handle it. I'm referring to the adjective and adverb overload you mentioned, the lazy writing. Once that sort of thing is pointed out to you as a reader/writer, you can't unsee it. It's first draft quality writing, but when it's not cleaned up for a SEVEN FIGURE DEAL I just scratch my head and more on to a book I can trust. I'm all for a fun guilty pleasure, but I still expect quality. :)

Again, very much appreciate a thoughtful review on such a polarizing book!

The antidote for Fifty Shades of Grey - Interestin...

2012-04-25T13:11:56.767-07:00

The antidote for Fifty Shades of Grey - Interesting. I'll have to check it out!

I want more than kinky sex too. I'll check out...

2012-04-25T13:11:04.819-07:00

I want more than kinky sex too. I'll check out your recs. Thanks!

I haven't read 50 Shades yet, but I agree with...

2012-04-25T13:05:12.402-07:00

I haven't read 50 Shades yet, but I agree with you as far as others who have "mastered" the genre. Kallypso Masters if fairly new to the genre but she has managed to do a great job with her stories. They are well written, very romantic, playful and the topic is well researched. Cherise Sinclair is one of my favs. I will however give 50 Shades a try, just because I keep reading mix reviews about it.

After reading this post, I will never trust anothe...

2012-04-25T12:59:52.350-07:00

After reading this post, I will never trust another Amazon review again.

I will still check out your books and see what my friends on Goodreads thought.

Thanks how I felt - I had to read it to see what a...

2012-04-25T12:58:26.018-07:00

Thanks how I felt - I had to read it to see what all the fuss was about. And even having read it, I still don't understand what all the fuss is about! LOL

A very honest review! I like that! I haven't y...

2012-04-25T11:00:09.005-07:00

A very honest review! I like that! I haven't yet read Fifty Shades and I don't exactly intend to read it. Not because it's fanfiction, but because I don't exactly feel the...draw, the curiosity to read it.

As for really good BDSM books, I agree with mwilson on Cherise Sinclair and Kallypso Masters. Their books are amazing.

What an honest review! As for recommendations, yo...

2012-04-25T08:29:52.996-07:00

What an honest review!

As for recommendations, you can try "Gabriel's Inferno" by Sylvain Reynard. This is not a BDSM story (even though the lead male character has experienced it in the past). Many think of this book as "The antidote for Fifty Shades of Grey". And I would agree.

All best.
-A.

What a great review from the both of you! I'll...

2012-04-25T07:54:30.113-07:00

What a great review from the both of you! I'll admit that I read this as fan fiction first which was known as Master of the Universe at the time. I've read the trilogy in it's altered form and it's basically the same, word for word. That made the price for each book somewhat outrageous, so I borrowed them from a friend instead. Note to all, you may want to do that if you're not sure if you'll like or hate it. I'm a huge fan of well written BDSM/erotica stories. Admittedly, MoTU got me started, but since then I have broadened my horizon and find Ms James' version of it sorely lacking. If you want to dip into that world, no one writes BDSM like Cherise Sinclair. Her books have heart, humor, erotica and romance. I like my BDSM books to be about more than just kinky sex.

- Cherise Sinclair
- Melissa Schroeder
- Kallypso Masters

Those are my top three.

I think you should give my True Romance / Erotica ...

2012-04-25T07:01:08.915-07:00

I think you should give my True Romance / Erotica series a try.

Here is what one reader had to say about it (in comparison to 50 Shades of Grey:

"I read the first volume of 50 Shades and really did not enjoy it at all. Why? I thought the characters were weak and not well drawn, the writing (and yes I know the author is a PhD) was very 'thin' - I especially didn't like Ana - to me she read like the stereotypical Harlequin heroine of the 1980's. I've read the first three of Summer's journey and loved them. Why? Well written, main character every woman can connect with, funny, and each word/sentence/page = evocative writing."

My series is getting great Amazon reviews (110 reviews to date with a 4.7 out of 5 Star average), but I am lacking more widespread exposure.

Here's a link if you want to take a look at the Amazon reviews / etc. ...

http://amzn.to/s4Knhk

I'd be happy to provide review copies for your reading/review convenience.

Thanks for your consideration,

Summer

P.S. I compared Shades of Grey to the Tiger Woods effect on my blog recently. I think anything that brings more "fans" to the genre is not all bad by any means. ;-)