Review: "Grey" by E.L. James
Some books are a book too far. Grey is one of them.
Following the success of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy in 2012, E.L. James has rewritten the first book in the perspective of the mysterious and enigmatic Christian Grey—and she should have left it well alone.
This book will hold a special place on my book shelf (right at the back) as a book that I was reluctant to buy and could not finish. Anyone who knows me will know that I am rarely ever reluctant to buy a book, especially if it is part of a series I have enjoyed, and I ALWAYS try to finish a book, especially when I have paid for it.
It has been three years since I last read the Fifty Shades of Grey books, and I know that if I was to reread them now, my interpretation of and reactions to the characters would be different. My main issue with the original series was that it was very poorly written and the sex scenes became a little contrived and repetitive—that's probably not a great critique for erotic literature. I could, however, forgive this because if I skimmed the sex and ignored the poor writing skills, I was sold on the story.
Yes, I was one of the many women who were enthralled by the mystery and darkness of Christian Grey. In saying that, I could also fully understand the criticisms the character received—I mean he sure does take possessive to a whole new level!
So after deliberating with myself over whether or not to read the new instalment of the franchise, Grey, because on principle I was reluctant to buy into what is obviously a money making and frankly unnecessary venture, I caved because I needed to have my own opinion and say.
What does Grey have to offer? Honestly, nothing new. It retells the events of Fifty Shades of Grey so that, yes, we have now experienced it three times: Ana’s perspective, the slightly more omniscient perspective in the film, and now through Christian himself. You can see why I'm cynical here!
It’s very rare that I don’t finish a book, but after only 80 pages of Grey, I simply couldn’t go any further. In fact, if truth be told, I wrote most of this review after about 15 pages. I tried to give it a go, I really did.
I wish I hadn’t read it at all. It changes my perspective of Christian Grey from a mysterious and intriguing character to a disturbing and creepy stalker. He is no longer attractive. This book shoots to pieces any hope one might hold out that Christian Grey is a gentleman beneath the BDSM guise. The original books allowed me the ability to piece Grey together in the way I wanted him to be, as a scarred and troubled yet attractive man. Grey just reveals Christian Grey as a possessive creep who has the weirdest, creepiest internal thoughts. I literally cringed my way through the book.
It appears that some thoughts are better left unwritten, and E. L James should quit whiles she's ahead.
