50 Shades Of Grey

When creative writing of recognized artisti value student Anastasia Steele goes to consultation young enterpriser Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, in spite of his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to protest Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.
 
Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular (erotic|sexual pleasure|sexually arousing tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his tremendous wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s mysteries and explores her own dark desires.

Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

ReviewA GoodReads Choice Awards Finalist for Best Romance

“In a class by itself.” 
—Entertainment Weekly

About the AuthorE L James is a former TV executive, wife and mother of two based in West London. Since early childhood she dreamed of writing stories that readers would fall in love with, but put those dreams on hold to focus on her family and her career. She at long last plucked up the courage to put pen to paper with her introductory novel, Fifty Shades of Grey.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.CHAPTER ONE
 
I scowl with feeling of annoyance at being hindered or criticized at myself in the mirror. Damn my hair—it just won’t behave, and damn Katherine Kavanagh for being ill and subjecting me to this ordeal. I ought to be studying for my final exams, which are next week, yet here I am attempting to brush my hair into submission. I ought to not sleep with it wet. I ought to not sleep with it wet. Reciting this mantra assorted times, I attempt, once more, to fetch it beneath control with the brush. I roll my eyes in exasperation and stare at the pale, brown-haired girl with blue eyes too huge for her face staring back at me, and give up. My only option is to restrain my wayward hair in a ponytail and hope that I look semi-presentable.
 
Kate is my roommate, and she has chosen today of all days to succumb to the flu. Therefore, she can not attend the consultation she’d arranged to do, with a great deal of mega-industrialist tycoon I’ve never heard of, for the student newspaper. So I have been volunteered. I have final exams to cram for and one essay to finish, and I’m supposed to be working this afternoon, but no—today I have to drive 165 miles to downtown Seattle in order to meet the enigmatic CEO of Grey Enterprises Holdings, Inc. As an special enterpriser and major benefactor of our university, his time is extraordinarily precious—much more cherished than mine—but he has granted Kate an interview. A real coup, she tells me. Damn her extracurricular activities.
 
Kate is huddled on the couch in the living room.
 
“Ana, I’m sorry. It took me nine months to get this interview. It will take another six to reschedule, and we’ll both have graduated by then. As the editor, I can’t blow this off. Please,” Kate begs me in her rasping, sore throat voice. How does she do it? Even ill she looks gamine and gorgeous, strawberry blond hair in place and green eyes bright, altho now red rimmed and runny. I ignore my pang of unwelcome sympathy.
 
“Of course I’ll go, Kate. You will have to get back to bed. Would you like a great deal of NyQuil or Tylenol?”
 
“NyQuil, please. Here are the questions and my digital recorder. Just press record here. Make notes, I’ll transcribe it all.”
 
“I know not one thing regarding him,” I murmur, attempting and failing to suppress my rising panic.
 
“The questions will see you through. Go. It’s a long drive. I don’t want you to be late.”
 
“Okay, I’m going. Get back to bed. I made you a heap of soup to heat up later.” I stare at her fondly. Only for you, Kate, would I do this.
 
“I will. Good luck. And thanks, Ana—as usual, you’re my lifesaver.”
 
Gathering my backpack, I smile wryly at her, then head out the door to the car. I cannot believe I have let Kate talk me into this. But then Kate may talk any person into anything. She’ll make an special journalist. She’s articulate, strong, persuasive, argumentative, beautiful—and she’s my dearest, dearest friend.
 
 
The roads are clear as I set off from Vancouver, Washington, toward Interstate 5. It’s early, and I don’t have to be in Seattle until two this afternoon. Fortunately, Kate has lent me her sporty Mercedes CLK. I’m not sure Wanda, my old VW Beetle, would make the journeying in time. Oh, the Merc is a fun drive, and the miles slip away as I hit the pedal to the metal.
 
My destination is the headquarters of Mr. Grey’s international enterprise. It’s a big twenty-story office building, all curved glass and steel, an architect’s utilitarian fantasy, with GREY HOUSE written discreetly in steel over the glass front doors. It’s a quarter to two when I arrive, mainly relieved that I’m not late as I walk into the enormous—and frankly intimidating—glass, steel, and white sandstone lobby.
 
Behind the solid sandstone desk, a very attractive, groomed, blonde young woman smiles enjoyably at me. She’s wearing the sharpest charcoal suit jacket and white shirt I have ever seen. She looks immaculate.
 
“I’m here to see Mr. Grey. Anastasia Steele for Katherine Kavanagh.”
 
“Excuse me one moment, Miss Steele.” She arches her eyebrow as I stand self-consciously before her. I’m beginning to wish I’d borrowed one of Kate’s formal blazers rather than worn my navy-blue jacket. I have made an crusade and worn my one and only skirt, my sensible brown knee-length boots, and a blue sweater. For me, this is smart. I tuck one of the escaped tendrils of my hair behind my ear as I pretend she doesn’t intimidate me.
 
“Miss Kavanagh is expected. Please sign in here, Miss Steele. You’ll want the last elevator on the right, press for the twentieth floor.” She smiles kindly at me, amused no doubt, as I sign in.
 
She hands me a security pass that has “visitor” very with resolute determination stamped on the front. I can’t aid my smirk. Surely it’s evident that I’m just visiting. I don’t fit in here at all. Nothing changes. I inwardly sigh. Thanking her, I walk over to the bank of elevators and past the two security men who are both far more smartly dressed than I am in their well-cut black suits.
 
The elevator whisks me at terminal velocity to the twentieth floor. The doors slide open, and I’m in another huge lobby—again all glass, steel, and white sandstone. I’m confronted by another desk of sandstone and another young blonde woman, this time dressed impeccably in black and white, who rises to greet me.
 
“Miss Steele, could you wait here, please?” She points to a seated area of white leather chairs.
 
Behind the leather chairs is a broad glass-walled meeting room with an evenly extensive dark wood table and at least twenty corresponding chairs around it. Beyond that, there is a floor-to-ceiling window with a view of the Seattle skyline that looks out through the city toward the Sound. It’s a stunning vista, and I’m momentarily paralyzed by the view. Wow.
 
I sit down, fish the questions from my backpack, and go through them, inwardly cursing Kate for not providing me with a brief biography. I know not one thing with regards to this man I’m regarding to interview. He could be ninety or he could be thirty. The uncertainty is galling, and my nerves resurface, making me fidget. I’ve never been comfortable with one-on-one interviews, preferring the anonymity of a group discussion where I may sit inconspicuously at the back of the room. To be honest, I prefer my own company, reading a classic British novel, curled up in a chair in the campus library. Not sitting twitching nervously in a colossal glass-and-stone edifice.
 
I roll my eyes at myself. Get a grip, Steele. Judging from the building, which is too clinical and modern, I guess Grey is in his forties: fit, tanned, and fair-haired to match the rest of the personnel.
 
Another elegant, flawlessly dressed blonde comes out of a big door to the right. What is it with all the immaculate blondes? It’s like Stepford here. Taking a deep breath, I stand up.
 
“Miss Steele?” the latest blonde asks.
 
“Yes,” I croak, and clear my throat. “Yes.” There, that sounded more confident.
 
“Mr. Grey will see you in a moment. May I take your jacket?”
 
“Oh, please.” I struggle out of the jacket.
 
“Have you been offered any refreshment?”
 
“Um—no.” Oh dear, is Blonde Number One in trouble?
 
Blonde Number Two frowns and eyes the young woman at the desk.
“Would you like tea, coffee, water?” she asks, turning her attention back to me.
 
“A glass of water. Thank you,” I murmur.
 
“Olivia, please fetch Miss Steele a glass of water.” Her voice is stern. Olivia scoots up and scurries to a door on the other side of the foyer.
 
“My apologies, Miss Steele, Olivia is our new intern. Please be seated. Mr. Grey will be another five minutes.”
 
Olivia returns with a glass of iced water.
 
“Here you go, Miss Steele.”
 
“Thank you.”
 
Blonde Number Two marches over to the huge desk, her heels clicking and echoing on the sandstone floor. She sits down, and they both carry on their work.
 
Perhaps Mr. Grey insists on all his workers being blonde. I’m marveling idly if that’s legal, when the office door opens and a tall, elegantly dressed, beautiful African American man with short dreads exits. I have unquestionably worn the defective clothes.
 
He turns and says through the door, “Golf this week, Grey?”
 
I don’t listen the reply. He turns, sees me, and smiles, his dark eyes crinkling at the corners. Olivia has jumped up and called the elevator. She seems to excel at jumping from her seat. She’s more nervous than me!
 
“Good afternoon, ladies,” he says as he departs through the sliding door.
 
“Mr. Grey will see you now, Miss Steele. Do go through,” Blonde Number Two says. I stand rather shakily, attempting to suppress my nerves. Gathering up my backpack, I abandon my glass of water and make my way to the partially open door.
 
“You don’t need to knock—just go in.” She smiles kindly.
 
I push open the door and stumble through, tripping over my own feet and falling headfirst into the office.
 
Double crap—me and my two left feet! I am on my hands and knees in the doorway to Mr. Grey’s office, and tame h…

50 Shades Of Grey Pic

50 Shades Of Grey Photo

50 Shades Of Grey Photo

50 Shades Of Grey Photo

Most helpful customer reviews

6493 of 6796 people found the following review helpful.
An older man on truckling
By david shobin/thatch pond corp
First, a disclaimer. I am a male senior citizen, a semi-retired gynecologist whose customary literary fare is spy novels and military techno-thrillers. I have never read a romance before, except perhaps for junior high’s “A Tale of Two Cities” (or was that a classic?) But after the recent hullabaloo over James’ “Fifty Shades,” I opted to give the genre a glance.

The book’s protagonist is college student Anastasia, who has never had sex or even “touched herself.” I had to suspend disbelief at the social and sexual naivete of this twenty-one year-old, but I guess this implied vulnerability makes her more attractive as a romantic heroine. Yet it doesn’t take her long to rectify this situation, and soon she is having orgasm after orgasm at the behest of her “dominant” partner, Mr. Grey. At my age, my arthritis flared up just reading about Ana’s sexual gymnastics. And for some reason, I kept thinking about her contracting genital warts. Soon, however, Ana’s endless pyrotechnic climaxes resembled repetitively watching porn: after a while, it leaves me bored and yawning. That said, there was a definite infectiousness to the plot; and taking Viagra to stiffen my resolve, I persevered.

James’ strong suit is her ability to elicit sympathy in the protagonist. I wanted to find out what happened to Anastasia, and that lent the story a compelling, page-turning quality. James is a polished novelist. Her dialogue is crisp, her prose poised, and her paragraphs well-parsed. The author’s considerable skills notwithstanding, would I pick up an erotic romance like this again? Probably not.

But that’s just me.

189 of 198 people found the following review helpful.
Bestseller? Really???
By DS from LA
I enjoy erotica and heard so much about this book that I had to give it a shot, but I’m five chapters in and just can’t take it anymore. This has to be the most appallingly atrocious writing I’ve ever seen in a major release. The pseudonymous British author sets the action (such as it is) in Washington State… for no reason than that her knowledge of America apparently consists of what she read in “Twilight”… but the entire first-person narrative is filled with Britishisms. How many American college students do you know who talk about “prams” and “ringing” someone on the phone? And the author’s geography sounds like she put together a jigsaw puzzle of the Pacific Northwest while drunk and ended up with several pieces in the wrong place.

And oh, the repetition…and the repetition…and the repetition. I’m convinced the author has a computer macro that she hits to insert one of her limited repertoire of facial expressions whenever she needs one. According to my Kindle search function, characters roll their eyes 41 times, Ana bites her lip 35 times, Christian’s lips “quirk up” 16 times, Christian “cocks his head to one side” 17 times, characters “purse” their lips 15 times, and characters raise their eyebrows a whopping 50 times. Add to that 80 references to Ana’s anthropomorphic “subconscious” (which also rolls its eyes and purses its lips, by the way), 58 references to Ana’s “inner goddess,” and 92 repetitions of Ana saying some form of “oh crap” (which, depending on the severity of the circumstances, can be intensified to “holy crap,” “double crap,” or the ultimate “triple crap”). And this is only part one of a trilogy…

If I wrote like that, I’d use a pseudonym too.

Like some other reviewers, what I find terribly depressing is that this is a runaway bestseller and the movie rights are expected to sell for up to $5 million. There are so many highly talented writers in the genre… and erotica is so much more erotic when the author has a command of the language and can make you care about the characters. For examples, check out the “Beauty” trilogy written by Anne Rice under the pen name A.N. Roquelaure, or any stories by Donna George Storey or Rachel Kramer Bussel. Just stay away from this triple crap.

1602 of 1749 people found the following review helpful.
Where to start with this?
By GadgetChick
The success of this book baffles me. While I am not an avid reader of “erotic fiction,” I have read some, and everything that I’ve read is so much better than this, it’s ridiculous. If you’re contemplating buying this book, here’s what the book is, if this helps you make a decision:
- Take Stephenie Meyer’s ham-handed, awkward writing and turn down the “quality” dial about four – maybe five – notches. Romance novel readers can look at it this way – the writing is about two levels worse than the worst Harlequin romance you’ve ever read.
- Add in a Stephenie Meyer-esque heroine, a woman so boring it is hard to imagine how anyone – much less an extremely rich, sophisticated, smart, experienced dominant – would ever see anything the least bit interesting in her. Just like Bella in the Twilight novels, Anastasia is mostly just a cipher, a complete blank that women can project themselves onto. She’s not that smart, she’s not that funny, she has very pedestrian beliefs, goals and ambitions, she has standard mommy-didn’t-love-me and divorced-parent issues. Actually, Anastasia is Bella, just this time around she gets into sex.
- Add in some clumsily-written sex scenes and a whole lot of mostly inaccurate, overblown information about BDSM. Then couch the sex scenes in a whole lot of very boring dialogue and “plot” (mainly consisting of the main characters’ emails to each other – is there anything more boring than reading someone else’s emails?) so there can at least be a pretense that there is a story here, and that the book isn’t just bad BDSM erotica.
Part of my problem with the book is the poor quality, including everything I’ve mentioned above. My other main problem with the book is just how unbelievable the story and the characters are. There are very few experienced doms out there who get involved with uninitiated subs this way. There are very few doms with Christian’s resources that have to resort to uninitiated partners, no matter how “fascinating” (not) they are – they can pretty much purchase as much experience and expertise in their partners as they need, and generally, they need and want a lot of experience – bringing someone up to their level takes time and effort and becomes boring pretty quickly. I would actually caution women who might be interested in this kind of arrangement with a dominant, now that they’ve read the book – experienced doms who look for uninitiated subs do not usually have good intentions of bringing someone along into the lifestyle slowly, and buying them cars and computers. It’s something people should steer clear of, not seek out.
I don’t know. I guess if this gets some housewives hot and bothered and spices up their bedroom life, there’s no harm in it. Husbands everywhere will probably get some awesome experiences out of this whole temporary BDSM-lite erotic-fiction craze. But, the really tragic thing is that there are authors of erotic fiction out there, who have been working for a long time, who actually have – you know – WRITING SKILLS – who will never be as rich or as famous as the woman who wrote this very lackluster book that is getting all kinds of unwarranted attention, for no good reason.
If readers of this are really interested in this whole BDSM erotic-fiction thing, without the thinly-veiled, poorly-constructed romance subtext, I highly recommend the Sleeping Beauty series that Anne Rice wrote under a pen name, A.N. Roquelaure. The first one, The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, is available for Kindle here on Amazon. It’s much better written, overall, than this book, and also much more creative (and thus, much hotter).

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Fifty Shades Of Grey

When creative writing of recognized artisti value student Anastasia Steele goes to consultation young enterpriser Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, in spite of his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to protest Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.
 
Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular (erotic|sexual pleasure|sexually arousing tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his immense wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s mysteries and explores her own dark desires.

Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

ReviewA GoodReads Choice Awards Finalist for Best Romance

“In a class by itself.” 
—Entertainment Weekly

About the AuthorE L James is a former TV executive, wife and mother of two based in West London. Since early childhood she dreamed of writing stories that readers would fall in love with, but put those dreams on hold to focus on her family and her career. She in the long run plucked up the courage to put pen to paper with her original novel, Fifty Shades of Grey.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.CHAPTER ONE
 
I scowl with feeling of annoyance at being hindered or criticized at myself in the mirror. Damn my hair—it just won’t behave, and damn Katherine Kavanagh for being ill and subjecting me to this ordeal. I ought to be studying for my final exams, which are next week, yet here I am attempting to brush my hair into submission. I will have to not sleep with it wet. I must not sleep with it wet. Reciting this mantra assorted times, I attempt, once more, to fetch it underneath control with the brush. I roll my eyes in exasperation and stare at the pale, brown-haired girl with blue eyes too big for her face staring back at me, and give up. My only option is to restrain my wayward hair in a ponytail and hope that I look semi-presentable.
 
Kate is my roommate, and she has chosen today of all days to succumb to the flu. Therefore, she can not attend the consultation she’d arranged to do, with numerous mega-industrialist tycoon I’ve never heard of, for the student newspaper. So I have been volunteered. I have final exams to cram for and one essay to finish, and I’m supposed to be working this afternoon, but no—today I have to drive 165 miles to downtown Seattle in order to meet the enigmatic CEO of Grey Enterprises Holdings, Inc. As an special enterpriser and major benefactor of our university, his time is extraordinarily precious—much more precious than mine—but he has granted Kate an interview. A real coup, she tells me. Damn her extracurricular activities.
 
Kate is huddled on the couch in the living room.
 
“Ana, I’m sorry. It took me nine months to get this interview. It will take another six to reschedule, and we’ll both have graduated by then. As the editor, I can’t blow this off. Please,” Kate begs me in her rasping, sore throat voice. How does she do it? Even ill she looks gamine and gorgeous, strawberry blond hair in place and green eyes bright, even though now red rimmed and runny. I ignore my pang of unwelcome sympathy.
 
“Of course I’ll go, Kate. You must get back to bed. Would you like some NyQuil or Tylenol?”
 
“NyQuil, please. Here are the questions and my digital recorder. Just press record here. Make notes, I’ll transcribe it all.”
 
“I know not one thing when it comes to him,” I murmur, attempting and failing to suppress my rising panic.
 
“The questions will see you through. Go. It’s a long drive. I don’t want you to be late.”
 
“Okay, I’m going. Get back to bed. I made you a heap of soup to heat up later.” I look with fixed eyes at her fondly. Only for you, Kate, would I do this.
 
“I will. Good luck. And thanks, Ana—as usual, you’re my lifesaver.”
 
Gathering my backpack, I smile wryly at her, then head out the door to the car. I can not believe I have let Kate talk me into this. But then Kate may talk any individual into anything. She’ll make an particular journalist. She’s articulate, strong, persuasive, argumentative, beautiful—and she’s my dearest, dearest friend.
 
 
The roads are clear as I set off from Vancouver, Washington, toward Interstate 5. It’s early, and I don’t have to be in Seattle until two this afternoon. Fortunately, Kate has lent me her sporty Mercedes CLK. I’m not sure Wanda, my old VW Beetle, would make the journeying in time. Oh, the Merc is a fun drive, and the miles slip away as I hit the pedal to the metal.
 
My destination is the headquarters of Mr. Grey’s international enterprise. It’s a big twenty-story office building, all curved glass and steel, an architect’s utilitarian fantasy, with GREY HOUSE written discreetly in steel over the glass front doors. It’s a quarter to two when I arrive, principally relieved that I’m not late as I walk into the enormous—and candidly intimidating—glass, steel, and white sandstone lobby.
 
Behind the solid sandstone desk, a very attractive, groomed, blonde young woman smiles enjoyably at me. She’s wearing the sharpest charcoal suit jacket and white shirt I have ever seen. She looks immaculate.
 
“I’m here to see Mr. Grey. Anastasia Steele for Katherine Kavanagh.”
 
“Excuse me one moment, Miss Steele.” She arches her eyebrow as I stand self-consciously before her. I’m beginning to wish I’d borrowed one of Kate’s formal blazers rather than worn my navy-blue jacket. I have made an effort and worn my one and only skirt, my sensible brown knee-length boots, and a blue sweater. For me, this is smart. I tuck one of the escaped tendrils of my hair behind my ear as I pretend she doesn’t intimidate me.
 
“Miss Kavanagh is expected. Please sign in here, Miss Steele. You’ll want the last elevator on the right, press for the twentieth floor.” She smiles kindly at me, amused no doubt, as I sign in.
 
She hands me a security pass that has “visitor” very with resolute determination stamped on the front. I can’t support my smirk. Surely it’s apparent that I’m just visiting. I don’t fit in here at all. Nothing changes. I inwardly sigh. Thanking her, I walk over to the bank of elevators and past the two security men who are both far more smartly dressed than I am in their well-cut black suits.
 
The elevator whisks me at terminal velocity to the twentieth floor. The doors slide open, and I’m in another huge lobby—again all glass, steel, and white sandstone. I’m confronted by another desk of sandstone and another young blonde woman, this time dressed impeccably in black and white, who rises to greet me.
 
“Miss Steele, could you wait here, please?” She points to a seated area of white leather chairs.
 
Behind the leather chairs is a spacious glass-walled meeting room with an evenly extensive dark wood table and at least twenty sameness chairs around it. Beyond that, there is a floor-to-ceiling window with a view of the Seattle skyline that looks out through the city toward the Sound. It’s a stunning vista, and I’m momentarily paralyzed by the view. Wow.
 
I sit down, fish the questions from my backpack, and go through them, inwardly cursing Kate for not providing me with a brief biography. I recognise not one thing when it comes to this man I’m with regards to to interview. He could be ninety or he could be thirty. The uncertainty is galling, and my nerves resurface, making me fidget. I’ve never been comfortable with one-on-one interviews, preferring the anonymity of a group discussion where I may sit inconspicuously at the back of the room. To be honest, I prefer my own company, reading a classic British novel, curled up in a chair in the campus library. Not sitting twitching nervously in a colossal glass-and-stone edifice.
 
I roll my eyes at myself. Get a grip, Steele. Judging from the building, which is too clinical and modern, I guess Grey is in his forties: fit, tanned, and fair-haired to match the rest of the personnel.
 
Another elegant, flawlessly dressed blonde comes out of a huge door to the right. What is it with all the immaculate blondes? It’s like Stepford here. Taking a deep breath, I stand up.
 
“Miss Steele?” the latest blonde asks.
 
“Yes,” I croak, and clear my throat. “Yes.” There, that sounded more confident.
 
“Mr. Grey will see you in a moment. May I take your jacket?”
 
“Oh, please.” I struggle out of the jacket.
 
“Have you been offered any refreshment?”
 
“Um—no.” Oh dear, is Blonde Number One in trouble?
 
Blonde Number Two frowns and eyes the young woman at the desk.
“Would you like tea, coffee, water?” she asks, turning her attention back to me.
 
“A glass of water. Thank you,” I murmur.
 
“Olivia, please fetch Miss Steele a glass of water.” Her voice is stern. Olivia scoots up and scurries to a door on the other side of the foyer.
 
“My apologies, Miss Steele, Olivia is our new intern. Please be seated. Mr. Grey will be another five minutes.”
 
Olivia returns with a glass of iced water.
 
“Here you go, Miss Steele.”
 
“Thank you.”
 
Blonde Number Two marches over to the big desk, her heels clicking and echoing on the sandstone floor. She sits down, and they both carry on their work.
 
Perhaps Mr. Grey insists on all his workers being blonde. I’m marveling idly if that’s legal, when the office door opens and a tall, elegantly dressed, beautiful African American man with short dreads exits. I have unquestionably worn the defective clothes.
 
He turns and says through the door, “Golf this week, Grey?”
 
I don’t listen the reply. He turns, sees me, and smiles, his dark eyes crinkling at the corners. Olivia has jumped up and called the elevator. She seems to excel at jumping from her seat. She’s more nervous than me!
 
“Good afternoon, ladies,” he says as he departs through the sliding door.
 
“Mr. Grey will see you now, Miss Steele. Do go through,” Blonde Number Two says. I stand rather shakily, attempting to suppress my nerves. Gathering up my backpack, I abandon my glass of water and make my way to the partially open door.
 
“You don’t need to knock—just go in.” She smiles kindly.
 
I push open the door and stumble through, tripping over my own feet and falling headfirst into the office.
 
Double crap—me and my two left feet! I am on my hands and knees in the doorway to Mr. Grey’s office, and tame h…

Fifty Shades Of Grey Photo

Fifty Shades Of Grey Pic

Fifty Shades Of Grey Pic

Fifty Shades Of Grey Picture

Most helpful customer reviews

5818 of 6092 people found the following review helpful.
An older man on truckling
By david shobin/thatch pond corp
First, a disclaimer. I am a male senior citizen, a semi-retired gynecologist whose customary literary fare is spy novels and military techno-thrillers. I have never read a romance before, except perhaps for junior high’s “A Tale of Two Cities” (or was that a classic?) But after the recent hullabaloo over James’ “Fifty Shades,” I opted to give the genre a glance.

The book’s protagonist is college student Anastasia, who has never had sex or even “touched herself.” I had to suspend disbelief at the social and sexual naivete of this twenty-one year-old, but I guess this implied vulnerability makes her more attractive as a romantic heroine. Yet it doesn’t take her long to rectify this situation, and soon she is having orgasm after orgasm at the behest of her “dominant” partner, Mr. Grey. At my age, my arthritis flared up just reading about Ana’s sexual gymnastics. And for some reason, I kept thinking about her contracting genital warts. Soon, however, Ana’s endless pyrotechnic climaxes resembled repetitively watching porn: after a while, it leaves me bored and yawning. That said, there was a definite infectiousness to the plot; and taking Viagra to stiffen my resolve, I persevered.

James’ strong suit is her ability to elicit sympathy in the protagonist. I wanted to find out what happened to Anastasia, and that lent the story a compelling, page-turning quality. James is a polished novelist. Her dialogue is crisp, her prose poised, and her paragraphs well-parsed. The author’s considerable skills notwithstanding, would I pick up an erotic romance like this again? Probably not.

But that’s just me.

3312 of 3626 people found the following review helpful.
Could not finish
By RiverinaRomantics
1.5 stars

I don’t enjoy writing bad reviews, honestly it puts a sick feeling in my stomach, but at the moment I am feeling too annoyed not to write one. So please don’t get snarky – I do realise I am in the minority with my opinions.

OK, I couldn’t finish this book. I tried, holy hell did I try – but by 88% I was so annoyed I had to put it down.

And after a lot of contemplation I have decided not to rant and rave, but simply state in point form what I didn’t like.

~ The writing was too sterile. There was no depth and I found it hard connecting to any of it. There was a whole heap of – I touched him, he touched me, I did this, he did that. And it wasn’t engaging at all.
When I read I want to be able to feel the emotion, not be told how a scene is playing out as if the heroine is actually an observer.

~ The sex – it wasn’t hot at all. I wouldn’t even classify it as erotic. For some strange reason I have the opinion that you need to be able to refer to your vagina as something more erotic than ‘down there’ before you can pull off a significant hotness rating.

~ Christian – ok, he was relatively hot but not enough to get my blood pumping. He wasn’t alpha enough for me. One moment he is trying to be hard core the next he is gasping because she is wearing his underwear.
Now if that was my dominant alpha, he would have given me a cocky smile, licked his lips and gave that ‘how you doin’ look, But no, he gasped like a little girl.

~ The price….I don’t get it. How can a publisher charge this much for a book written so badly?? **This refers to the price it was set when first release**

…..ok, I could go on, I could practically write a novel, but I won’t.

I will take my Inner Goddess (seriously if I had to read that line one more time I would have caused self harm) and find something else to read.

1288 of 1412 people found the following review helpful.
Where to start with this?
By GadgetChick
The success of this book baffles me. While I am not an avid reader of “erotic fiction,” I have read some, and everything that I’ve read is so much better than this, it’s ridiculous. If you’re contemplating buying this book, here’s what the book is, if this helps you make a decision:
- Take Stephenie Meyer’s ham-handed, awkward writing and turn down the “quality” dial about four – maybe five – notches. Romance novel readers can look at it this way – the writing is about two levels worse than the worst Harlequin romance you’ve ever read.
- Add in a Stephenie Meyer-esque heroine, a woman so boring it is hard to imagine how anyone – much less an extremely rich, sophisticated, smart, experienced dominant – would ever see anything the least bit interesting in her. Just like Bella in the Twilight novels, Anastasia is mostly just a cipher, a complete blank that women can project themselves onto. She’s not that smart, she’s not that funny, she has very pedestrian beliefs, goals and ambitions, she has standard mommy-didn’t-love-me and divorced-parent issues. Actually, Anastasia is Bella, just this time around she gets into sex.
- Add in some clumsily-written sex scenes and a whole lot of mostly inaccurate, overblown information about BDSM. Then couch the sex scenes in a whole lot of very boring dialogue and “plot” (mainly consisting of the main characters’ emails to each other – is there anything more boring than reading someone else’s emails?) so there can at least be a pretense that there is a story here, and that the book isn’t just bad BDSM erotica.
Part of my problem with the book is the poor quality, including everything I’ve mentioned above. My other main problem with the book is just how unbelievable the story and the characters are. There are very few experienced doms out there who get involved with uninitiated subs this way. There are very few doms with Christian’s resources that have to resort to uninitiated partners, no matter how “fascinating” (not) they are – they can pretty much purchase as much experience and expertise in their partners as they need, and generally, they need and want a lot of experience – bringing someone up to their level takes time and effort and becomes boring pretty quickly. I would actually caution women who might be interested in this kind of arrangement with a dominant, now that they’ve read the book – experienced doms who look for uninitiated subs do not usually have good intentions of bringing someone along into the lifestyle slowly, and buying them cars and computers. It’s something people should steer clear of, not seek out.
I don’t know. I guess if this gets some housewives hot and bothered and spices up their bedroom life, there’s no harm in it. Husbands everywhere will probably get some awesome experiences out of this whole temporary BDSM-lite erotic-fiction craze. But, the really tragic thing is that there are authors of erotic fiction out there, who have been working for a long time, who actually have – you know – WRITING SKILLS – who will never be as rich or as famous as the woman who wrote this very lackluster book that is getting all kinds of unwarranted attention, for no good reason.
If readers of this are really interested in this whole BDSM erotic-fiction thing, without the thinly-veiled, poorly-constructed romance subtext, I highly recommend the Sleeping Beauty series that Anne Rice wrote under a pen name, A.N. Roquelaure. The first one, The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, is available for Kindle here on Amazon. It’s much better written, overall, than this book, and also much more creative (and thus, much hotter).

See all 2455 customer reviews…

Colors symbolize emotions, so much, so that they influence our thoughts and make us perceive things differently. Through ages, colors have been given varying connotations, driven now and again by their natural occurrences, while a lot of others by their distinct associations with sure elements. Gray color is a mix of two colors with precisely opposite properties and therefore, carries the calibers of both. White and black colors in varying combinations, give the respective shades of gray color. White is a color that reflects all light and appears the brightest. Therefore, the color symbolism of gray is matched with abundance and illumination. Black, on the other hand, absorbs all light and reflects nothing. This makes it the color of the concealed and nothingness. The two constituent colors of gray have an effect of counterbalancing each other’s attributes. Therefore, it is strongly affiliated with remainder and neutrality.

‘Gray area’ is an expression employed to describe murky elements, which may be neither considered positive (symbolized by white) nor negative (symbolized by black). Gray is linked with sadness and despondency. This interpretation is derived from occasional gray clouds in the sky that prevent sunlight from reaching the Earth, thereby creating a causing sad feelings of gloom and inadequacy atmosphere. Artists through the respective sects of painting have employed gray skies to spotlight unhappiness and sentiments. Renaissance painters applied the shades of gray for painting the costume of the peasantry, the bourgeois, and the underprivileged, which were a real life depiction and a technique for highlighting the other significant distinct features of their pieces. The holy men and the hermits of the Elizabethan era in England likewise employed gray costume to signify simplicity. Gray was a standard choice of the European painters for creating under painting, which a monochrome basic painting applied as a base for the full-fledged colored painting. One of the classic examples of a gray scale beneath painting is Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres’ ‘Odalisque.’

In the European nations, the color symbolism of gray advocated mourning, death, and lamentation, because of the color of ashes. The Biblical interpretation of gray is repentance, selflessness, purity of thoughts, fasting, and worship. It is linked with the season of ‘Lent’ (days without delay preceding the Holy Week). Gray is universally symbolizes intelligence, due to it is reference to the gray neurons in the brain. Gray may be employed in combining with dissimilar colors. The color system in such cases derives it is necessary reputation from the other colors being used. Gray color on an individual basis portrays formality, sophistication, seniority, deference, experience, wisdom, reliability, traditions, security, vegetated life, lack of distinction, sentiments, demise, dirt, and pollution.

Shades Of Grey

When creative writing of recognized artisti value student Anastasia Steele goes to consultation young enterpriser Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, in spite of his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to protest Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.
 
Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular (erotic|sexual pleasure|sexually arousing tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his tremendous wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s mysteries and explores her own dark desires.

Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

ReviewA GoodReads Choice Awards Finalist for Best Romance

“In a class by itself.” 
—Entertainment Weekly

About the AuthorE L James is a former TV executive, wife and mother of two based in West London. Since early childhood she dreamed of writing stories that readers would fall in love with, but put those dreams on hold to focus on her family and her career. She at long last plucked up the courage to put pen to paper with her firstborn novel, Fifty Shades of Grey.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.CHAPTER ONE
 
I scowl with feeling of annoyance at being hindered or criticized at myself in the mirror. Damn my hair—it just won’t behave, and damn Katherine Kavanagh for being ill and subjecting me to this ordeal. I must be studying for my final exams, which are next week, yet here I am attempting to brush my hair into submission. I ought to not sleep with it wet. I ought to not sleep with it wet. Reciting this mantra various times, I attempt, once more, to fetch it under control with the brush. I roll my eyes in exasperation and look with fixed eyes at the pale, brown-haired girl with blue eyes too huge for her face staring back at me, and give up. My only option is to restrain my wayward hair in a ponytail and hope that I look semi-presentable.
 
Kate is my roommate, and she has chosen today of all days to succumb to the flu. Therefore, she can not attend the consultation she’d arranged to do, with some mega-industrialist tycoon I’ve never heard of, for the student newspaper. So I have been volunteered. I have final exams to cram for and one essay to finish, and I’m supposed to be working this afternoon, but no—today I have to drive 165 miles to downtown Seattle in order to meet the enigmatic CEO of Grey Enterprises Holdings, Inc. As an special enterpriser and major benefactor of our university, his time is extraordinarily precious—much more cherished than mine—but he has granted Kate an interview. A real coup, she tells me. Damn her extracurricular activities.
 
Kate is huddled on the couch in the living room.
 
“Ana, I’m sorry. It took me nine months to get this interview. It will take another six to reschedule, and we’ll both have graduated by then. As the editor, I can’t blow this off. Please,” Kate begs me in her rasping, sore throat voice. How does she do it? Even ill she looks gamine and gorgeous, strawberry blond hair in place and green eyes bright, though now red rimmed and runny. I ignore my pang of unwelcome sympathy.
 
“Of course I’ll go, Kate. You ought to get back to bed. Would you like a great deal of NyQuil or Tylenol?”
 
“NyQuil, please. Here are the questions and my digital recorder. Just press record here. Make notes, I’ll transcribe it all.”
 
“I recognise not one thing regarding him,” I murmur, attempting and failing to suppress my rising panic.
 
“The questions will see you through. Go. It’s a long drive. I don’t want you to be late.”
 
“Okay, I’m going. Get back to bed. I made you galore soup to heat up later.” I stare at her fondly. Only for you, Kate, would I do this.
 
“I will. Good luck. And thanks, Ana—as usual, you’re my lifesaver.”
 
Gathering my backpack, I smile wryly at her, then head out the door to the car. I can not believe I have let Kate talk me into this. But then Kate may talk any individual into anything. She’ll make an particular journalist. She’s articulate, strong, persuasive, argumentative, beautiful—and she’s my dearest, dearest friend.
 
 
The roads are clear as I set off from Vancouver, Washington, toward Interstate 5. It’s early, and I don’t have to be in Seattle until two this afternoon. Fortunately, Kate has lent me her sporty Mercedes CLK. I’m not sure Wanda, my old VW Beetle, would make the journeying in time. Oh, the Merc is a fun drive, and the miles slip away as I hit the pedal to the metal.
 
My destination is the headquarters of Mr. Grey’s international enterprise. It’s a big twenty-story office building, all curved glass and steel, an architect’s utilitarian fantasy, with GREY HOUSE written discreetly in steel over the glass front doors. It’s a quarter to two when I arrive, mainly relieved that I’m not late as I walk into the enormous—and frankly intimidating—glass, steel, and white sandstone lobby.
 
Behind the solid sandstone desk, a very attractive, groomed, blonde young woman smiles enjoyably at me. She’s wearing the sharpest charcoal suit jacket and white shirt I have ever seen. She looks immaculate.
 
“I’m here to see Mr. Grey. Anastasia Steele for Katherine Kavanagh.”
 
“Excuse me one moment, Miss Steele.” She arches her eyebrow as I stand self-consciously before her. I’m beginning to wish I’d borrowed one of Kate’s formal blazers rather than worn my navy-blue jacket. I have made an venture and worn my one and only skirt, my sensible brown knee-length boots, and a blue sweater. For me, this is smart. I tuck one of the escaped tendrils of my hair behind my ear as I pretend she doesn’t intimidate me.
 
“Miss Kavanagh is expected. Please sign in here, Miss Steele. You’ll want the last elevator on the right, press for the twentieth floor.” She smiles kindly at me, amused no doubt, as I sign in.
 
She hands me a security pass that has “visitor” very with resolute determination stamped on the front. I can’t aid my smirk. Surely it’s evident that I’m just visiting. I don’t fit in here at all. Nothing changes. I inwardly sigh. Thanking her, I walk over to the bank of elevators and past the two security men who are both far more smartly dressed than I am in their well-cut black suits.
 
The elevator whisks me at terminal velocity to the twentieth floor. The doors slide open, and I’m in another big lobby—again all glass, steel, and white sandstone. I’m confronted by another desk of sandstone and another young blonde woman, this time dressed impeccably in black and white, who rises to greet me.
 
“Miss Steele, could you wait here, please?” She points to a seated area of white leather chairs.
 
Behind the leather chairs is a spacious glass-walled meeting room with an evenly spacious dark wood table and at least twenty corresponding chairs around it. Beyond that, there is a floor-to-ceiling window with a view of the Seattle skyline that looks out through the city toward the Sound. It’s a stunning vista, and I’m momentarily paralyzed by the view. Wow.
 
I sit down, fish the questions from my backpack, and go through them, inwardly cursing Kate for not providing me with a brief biography. I know not one thing with regards to this man I’m regarding to interview. He could be ninety or he could be thirty. The uncertainty is galling, and my nerves resurface, making me fidget. I’ve never been comfortable with one-on-one interviews, preferring the anonymity of a group discussion where I may sit inconspicuously at the back of the room. To be honest, I prefer my own company, reading a classic British novel, curled up in a chair in the campus library. Not sitting twitching nervously in a colossal glass-and-stone edifice.
 
I roll my eyes at myself. Get a grip, Steele. Judging from the building, which is too clinical and modern, I guess Grey is in his forties: fit, tanned, and fair-haired to match the rest of the personnel.
 
Another elegant, flawlessly dressed blonde comes out of a big door to the right. What is it with all the immaculate blondes? It’s like Stepford here. Taking a deep breath, I stand up.
 
“Miss Steele?” the latest blonde asks.
 
“Yes,” I croak, and clear my throat. “Yes.” There, that sounded more confident.
 
“Mr. Grey will see you in a moment. May I take your jacket?”
 
“Oh, please.” I struggle out of the jacket.
 
“Have you been offered any refreshment?”
 
“Um—no.” Oh dear, is Blonde Number One in trouble?
 
Blonde Number Two frowns and eyes the young woman at the desk.
“Would you like tea, coffee, water?” she asks, turning her attention back to me.
 
“A glass of water. Thank you,” I murmur.
 
“Olivia, please fetch Miss Steele a glass of water.” Her voice is stern. Olivia scoots up and scurries to a door on the other side of the foyer.
 
“My apologies, Miss Steele, Olivia is our new intern. Please be seated. Mr. Grey will be another five minutes.”
 
Olivia returns with a glass of iced water.
 
“Here you go, Miss Steele.”
 
“Thank you.”
 
Blonde Number Two marches over to the big desk, her heels clicking and echoing on the sandstone floor. She sits down, and they both proceed their work.
 
Perhaps Mr. Grey insists on all his workers being blonde. I’m marveling idly if that’s legal, when the office door opens and a tall, elegantly dressed, beautiful African American man with short dreads exits. I have unquestionably worn the defective clothes.
 
He turns and says through the door, “Golf this week, Grey?”
 
I don’t listen the reply. He turns, sees me, and smiles, his dark eyes crinkling at the corners. Olivia has jumped up and called the elevator. She seems to excel at jumping from her seat. She’s more nervous than me!
 
“Good afternoon, ladies,” he says as he departs through the sliding door.
 
“Mr. Grey will see you now, Miss Steele. Do go through,” Blonde Number Two says. I stand rather shakily, attempting to suppress my nerves. Gathering up my backpack, I abandon my glass of water and make my way to the partially open door.
 
“You don’t need to knock—just go in.” She smiles kindly.
 
I push open the door and stumble through, tripping over my own feet and falling headfirst into the office.
 
Double crap—me and my two left feet! I am on my hands and knees in the doorway to Mr. Grey’s office, and tame h…

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5146 of 5396 people found the following review helpful.
An older man on truckling
By david shobin/thatch pond corp
First, a disclaimer. I am a male senior citizen, a semi-retired gynecologist whose customary literary fare is spy novels and military techno-thrillers. I have never read a romance before, except perhaps for junior high’s “A Tale of Two Cities” (or was that a classic?) But after the recent hullabaloo over James’ “Fifty Shades,” I opted to give the genre a glance.

The book’s protagonist is college student Anastasia, who has never had sex or even “touched herself.” I had to suspend disbelief at the social and sexual naivete of this twenty-one year-old, but I guess this implied vulnerability makes her more attractive as a romantic heroine. Yet it doesn’t take her long to rectify this situation, and soon she is having orgasm after orgasm at the behest of her “dominant” partner, Mr. Grey. At my age, my arthritis flared up just reading about Ana’s sexual gymnastics. And for some reason, I kept thinking about her contracting genital warts. Soon, however, Ana’s endless pyrotechnic climaxes resembled repetitively watching porn: after a while, it leaves me bored and yawning. That said, there was a definite infectiousness to the plot; and taking Viagra to stiffen my resolve, I persevered.

James’ strong suit is her ability to elicit sympathy in the protagonist. I wanted to find out what happened to Anastasia, and that lent the story a compelling, page-turning quality. James is a polished novelist. Her dialogue is crisp, her prose poised, and her paragraphs well-parsed. The author’s considerable skills notwithstanding, would I pick up an erotic romance like this again? Probably not.

But that’s just me.

945 of 1030 people found the following review helpful.
Where to start with this?
By GadgetChick
The success of this book baffles me. While I am not an avid reader of “erotic fiction,” I have read some, and everything that I’ve read is so much better than this, it’s ridiculous. If you’re contemplating buying this book, here’s what the book is, if this helps you make a decision:
- Take Stephenie Meyer’s ham-handed, awkward writing and turn down the “quality” dial about four – maybe five – notches. Romance novel readers can look at it this way – the writing is about two levels worse than the worst Harlequin romance you’ve ever read.
- Add in a Stephenie Meyer-esque heroine, a woman so boring it is hard to imagine how anyone – much less an extremely rich, sophisticated, smart, experienced dominant – would ever see anything the least bit interesting in her. Just like Bella in the Twilight novels, Anastasia is mostly just a cipher, a complete blank that women can project themselves onto. She’s not that smart, she’s not that funny, she has very pedestrian beliefs, goals and ambitions, she has standard mommy-didn’t-love-me and divorced-parent issues. Actually, Anastasia is Bella, just this time around she gets into sex.
- Add in some clumsily-written sex scenes and a whole lot of mostly inaccurate, overblown information about BDSM. Then couch the sex scenes in a whole lot of very boring dialogue and “plot” (mainly consisting of the main characters’ emails to each other – is there anything more boring than reading someone else’s emails?) so there can at least be a pretense that there is a story here, and that the book isn’t just bad BDSM erotica.
Part of my problem with the book is the poor quality, including everything I’ve mentioned above. My other main problem with the book is just how unbelievable the story and the characters are. There are very few experienced doms out there who get involved with uninitiated subs this way. There are very few doms with Christian’s resources that have to resort to uninitiated partners, no matter how “fascinating” (not) they are – they can pretty much purchase as much experience and expertise in their partners as they need, and generally, they need and want a lot of experience – bringing someone up to their level takes time and effort and becomes boring pretty quickly. I would actually caution women who might be interested in this kind of arrangement with a dominant, now that they’ve read the book – experienced doms who look for uninitiated subs do not usually have good intentions of bringing someone along into the lifestyle slowly, and buying them cars and computers. It’s something people should steer clear of, not seek out.
I don’t know. I guess if this gets some housewives hot and bothered and spices up their bedroom life, there’s no harm in it. Husbands everywhere will probably get some awesome experiences out of this whole temporary BDSM-lite erotic-fiction craze. But, the really tragic thing is that there are authors of erotic fiction out there, who have been working for a long time, who actually have – you know – WRITING SKILLS – who will never be as rich or as famous as the woman who wrote this very lackluster book that is getting all kinds of unwarranted attention, for no good reason.
If readers of this are really interested in this whole BDSM erotic-fiction thing, without the thinly-veiled, poorly-constructed romance subtext, I highly recommend the Sleeping Beauty series that Anne Rice wrote under a pen name, A.N. Roquelaure. The first one, The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, is available for Kindle here on Amazon. It’s much better written, overall, than this book, and also much more creative (and thus, much hotter).

2940 of 3224 people found the following review helpful.
Could not finish
By RiverinaRomantics
1.5 stars

I don’t enjoy writing bad reviews, honestly it puts a sick feeling in my stomach, but at the moment I am feeling too annoyed not to write one. So please don’t get snarky – I do realise I am in the minority with my opinions.

OK, I couldn’t finish this book. I tried, holy hell did I try – but by 88% I was so annoyed I had to put it down.

And after a lot of contemplation I have decided not to rant and rave, but simple state in point form what I didn’t like.

~ The writing was too sterile. There was no depth and I found it hard connecting to any of it. There was a whole heap of – I touched him, he touched me, I did this, he did that. And it wasn’t engaging at all.
When I read I want to be able to feel the emotion, not be told how a scene is playing out as if the heroine is actually an observer.

~ The sex – it wasn’t hot at all. I wouldn’t even classify it as erotic. For some strange reason I have the opinion that you need to be able to refer to your vagina as something more erotic than ‘down there’ before you can pull off a significant hotness rating.

~ Christian – ok, he was relatively hot but not enough to get my blood pumping. He wasn’t alpha enough for me. One moment he is trying to be hard core the next he is gasping because she is wearing his underwear.
Now if that was my dominant alpha, he would have given me a cocky smile, licked his lips and gave that ‘how you doin’ look, But no, he gasped like a little girl.

~ The price….I don’t get it. How can a publisher charge this much for a book written so badly??

…..ok, I could go on, I could practically write a novel, but I won’t.

I will take my Inner Goddess (seriously if I had to read that line one more time I would have caused self harm) and my find something else to read.

See all 2115 customer reviews…

Colors symbolize emotions, so much, so that they influence our thoughts and make us understand things differently. Through ages, colors have been given varying connotations, driven on occasion by their natural occurrences, while galore others by their distinct associations with sure elements. Gray color is a mix of two colors with incisively opposite properties and therefore, carries the calibers of both. White and black colors in varying combinations, give the respective shades of gray color. White is a color that reflects all light and appears the brightest. Therefore, the color symbolism of gray is matched with abundance and illumination. Black, on the other hand, absorbs all light and reflects nothing. This makes it the color of the concealed and nothingness. The two constituent colors of gray have an effect of counterbalancing each other’s attributes. Therefore, it is strongly affiliated with remainder and neutrality.

‘Gray area’ is an expression applied to describe murky elements, which may be neither considered positive (symbolized by white) nor negative (symbolized by black). Gray is linked with sadness and despondency. This interpretation is derived from occasional gray clouds in the sky that prevent sunlight from reaching the Earth, thereby creating a causing sad feelings of gloom and inadequacy atmosphere. Artists through the respective sects of painting have employed gray skies to spotlight unhappiness and sentiments. Renaissance painters applied the shades of gray for painting the costume of the peasantry, the bourgeois, and the underprivileged, which were a real life depiction and a technique for highlighting the other significant distinct features of their pieces. The holy men and the hermits of the Elizabethan era in England also used gray costume to signify simplicity. Gray was a usual choice of the European painters for creating underneath painting, which a monochrome basic painting applied as a base for the full-fledged colored painting. One of the classic examples of a gray scale under painting is Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres’ ‘Odalisque.’

In the European nations, the color symbolism of gray advocated mourning, death, and lamentation, because of the color of ashes. The Biblical interpretation of gray is repentance, selflessness, purity of thoughts, fasting, and worship. It is linked with the season of ‘Lent’ (days without delay preceding the Holy Week). Gray is universally symbolizes intelligence, due to it is reference to the gray neurons in the brain. Gray may be employed in combining with dissimilar colors. The color system in such cases derives it is necessary reputation from the other colors being used. Gray color on an individual basis portrays formality, sophistication, seniority, deference, experience, wisdom, reliability, traditions, security, vegetated life, lack of distinction, sentiments, demise, dirt, and pollution.

Shades Of Gray

COURAGE WEARS MANY FACES

The Civil War may be over, but for twelve-year-old Will Page, the pain and bitterness haven’t ended. How could they have, when the Yankees were responsible for the deaths of everyone in his entire prompt family?

And now Will has to leave his comfortable home in the Shenandoah Valley and live with relatives he has never met, persons engaged in a struggle to eke out a living on their farm in the war-torn Virginia Piedmont. But the worst of it is that Will’s uncle Jed had refused to fight for the Confederacy.

At first, Will regards his uncle as a traitor — or at least a coward. But as they work side by side, Will begins to respect the man. And when he sees his uncle stand up for what he believes in, Will realizes that he will have to rethink his definition of honor and courage.

From Publishers WeeklyOrphaned by the Civil War, 12-year-old Ben learns a lot of unexpected truths from his Uncle Jed, a “coward” who refused to fight in the war; PW said, “thoughtfully told, the novel captures the hardships that followed the last war fought on U.S. soil.” Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
good book for boys or girls
By Taryn Burgin
Shades of Grey is an excellent book. It is about a boy whose dad and his brothers go to fight in the war and end up getting killed. Also his sisters died because of malnutrition and his mom died of depression. So Will had to go live with his aunt. But he doesn’t want to because his uncle refused to fight in the war. One element that I noticed a lot was flashback. Will kept remembering how his life was so different when he lived in Winchester.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
Shades of Gray
By J Ward
Orphaned, angry, and bitter, twelve-year-old Will arrives in the Virginia Piedmont immediately after the Civil War to live with relatives he has never met. Will’s father died fighting for the confederacy and his mother and siblings also died as a result of the war. Now Will’s only home is with his Uncle Jed, a pacifist, whom Will considers a coward because of Jed’s refusal to fight in the war. But as Will matures physically and emotionally he recognizes his own fears and weaknesses and the battles he fights in the Piedmont are far different from the battle he thought he had come to fight with his Uncle Jed. Recurring conflicts between Will and the other characters keep the book exciting for young readers. Teachers will find Shades of Gray an important addition to their Civil War study materials for its contribution to helping young readers understand the lasting effects of the war on the communities and families divided by the conflict. Ages 9-12.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
Shades of the Civil War
By Sunni
Shades of Gray by Carolyn Reder is a wonderful book of learning how to respect people. Will’s family has died. His mother died of a sickness, as did his sisters. His brother and father died in war. He moves in with the closet relatives he has, his Aunt and Uncle Jed. Will doesn’t respect his uncle because he wasn’t in the Confederate Army, but he wasn’t in the Union Army either. Will thinks of his uncle as a traitor and doesn’t want anything to do with him. As time goes by, Will learns that just because you weren’t in the war, doesn’t mean you aren’t brave.

See all 52 customer reviews…

Relationship Enrichment Seminar

Dr. John Gray author of the best vender “Men are from Mars, women are from Venus”

Dr. Gray cited as a preamble to his talk that when his book ‘Men are from Mars, Women from Venus’ had come out he was questioned whether one may make generalizations in terms of the behaviour of men and women. The only response he gave was whether they resonated with what was written in the book and 100% of the time they replied ‘Yes’.

1. The divergences amidst Men and Women are universal. Women all over the world complain that “He doesn’t understand”. “He doesn’t listen”. “Only time he touches me is when he wants sex”. And men all over the world complain that “She doesn’t want to have sufficient of sex.” (Unless the woman is around 37 years. At this magical age women want more of sex than ever before.)

2. Women like affection from men much more than sex. They want to be hugged. John learnt to hug his wife.

3. Men like to be logical. Women like to part and talk even if there is no point in their sharing and talking. Men need to have an objective. They need to see the point in doing something. They can’t share for the sake of sharing.

4. Men tend to do one thing at a time. Women do a great deal of things at a time. Men have a tunnel vision. 95% of their attention is concentered on just one thing and 5% on checking of the environment. Women are just the opposite. They are without disturbance taking in everything that there is in the environs whether it is utile or not.

5. John narrated the incident of his wife asking him to get a lot of milk while coming home from work. He forgets. She considerately puts it down to his thinking of work. She asks him again. Again he forgets. She takes it personally. It’s not that the milk was forgotten but that she was forgotten. Women behave in this manner.

6. Men have their own caves on which the sign states “Please do not disturb.” Men like to retreat into their own world where they feel they are in control. Women likewise have caves but the sign on their caves is “I need to talk”. When a man asks a woman what’s defective and she says “Nothing” it actually means “Nothing, unless you care to listen and give me an probability to talk.”

7. 90% of women go into therapy because they want to be listened to. They want to be asked questions. They want to feel special. Men hate to be questioned. If men want to talk they’ll talk. If they don’t want to talk they won’t. When a man is locked in his cave, the woman thinks that something is wrong with him and goes in and asks questions. This is a defective move for the woman to make. Men hate to be interrogated.

8. When a woman touches a man she may want to be cuddled. But for a man anyplace he is touched leads to Rome and he thinks accordingly that it has to lead to sex.

9. Men want to forget the troubles of the day. Women want to remember. A man will say “Forget it, it’s no huge deal.” For a woman she will not rest till the problem is talked about. Her response to the man, who wants to just forget in regards to it and not make a huge deal out of it, will be “How may you be so insensitive.”

10. Men will have to never tell a woman how she will have to feel. In fact if she is unhappy, the man needs to be unhappy with her for a while rather of providing advice.

11. If the man is at a loss for saying anything when the woman is sentiment bad then rather of supplying counsel he could build her up a bit by saying “I know how much you work for the duration of the day to make the kids and myself feel happy. It ought to be very exhausting.” Her unconscious response would be “He understands.” The woman craves for understanding.

12. Women make noises to get attention. Men make noises to signal “Please leave me alone.”

13. To cope with stress, sometimes, women while speaking tend to speak in long sentences and then pause. Men think that the pause is a signal for saying something. Wrong. For the woman the pause is just a semi-colon. Men need to restrain themselves in giving advice.

14. When a woman is trouble and a man tries to give a solution 99% of the time her response will be “Yes….but”. When she is relaxed then give the solution. After she has been given the probability to talk when it comes to it.

15. If a man tries to walk in a woman’s shoes, she will be more more than willing to grasp his point of view. Men tend to suppose women to agree with their point of view because they feel it is plainly the best point of view.

16. Men are efficacy oriented. Must do it the easiest and quickest way. Women on the other hand feel that taking the shortest path amongst 2 points is boring. Women like variation. This is in particular true in the bedroom. Men go by the same formula each time while women want variation. Men like uniforms and the same uniform. Men look good in a tuxedo or a suit and that’s it. Every time the same tuxedo or suit. Women like to alter their dress; from time to time thrice or even more times in a day.

17. When John’s book ‘Men are from Mars, Women from Venus’ was on the bestseller list for 6 years in a row, John realized how narrowly focalized in life he had become. He only gloated when it comes to his book being no. 1 on the bestseller list. John was missing the little things of life where his wife and children were concerned. Women are competent to see the little things in life and be happy.

18. The more narrow the focus of a man the more stressed he is bound to get. He can’t observe anything else other than what he is focusing on at that moment. Women deal with a large total of troubles at the same time and the way they cope is to talk in regards to them.

19. Men use their brain sequentially viz. one percentage at a time. Where women are concerned it is normally the whole brain at once.

20. Women lower stress through talking and sharing. The collectiveness and togetherness which they share is portion of their feminity. Men lower their stress by being alone. Women’s attitude is that if we can’t do anything regarding it then let’s talk regarding it and suffer together. Men’s focus is on solving the problem. And if they can’t solve the problem then they make the problem decrease rapidly by forgetting when it comes to it.

21. Men always want to be right.

22. Women, unknowingly sabotage their success. They put themselves down because they want support. Women bond by putting themselves down. For example if one is late for a peculiar function in the office, the woman will say what an imbecile she is by not catching the right train or missing the connection because of some stupid fault she made and so on. And other women who are also late will do the same.

23. Or if a woman is having a problem with the computer, she will call the so called expert from the computer division and tell him that she doesn’t recognise anything with regards to computers and that she is very happy that he has come to her rescue and thereby push the guy way up there. But when he proposes a solution which she have a tendancy to disagree with, she doesn’t know how to tell him because if she does it, it makes him come crashing down and he reacts by saying that she has wasted his time. In this case one needs to resort to face saving gadgets like ‘whatever you have suggested will I am sure help me to figure it out (even if you see no utility in the suggestion).

24. As women more and more enter into the workplace their need to being listened to and understood is not being met. The workplace is efficacy oriented. They are getting more and more isolated. They have to raise their children alone. Unseen and unheard. And this is causing them to go more and more into depression. The man focusses on work no matter what the troubles are that are being experienced at home.

25. Man is efficacy oriented. He needs to feel needed. He needs difficultnesses to be solved. If there are no occupation prospects or there is no venture called for to do something then the man feels depressed.

26. When women feel nurtured they feel happy. They are happy with the little things of life. Man likes to measure himself versus the goal he has set for himself. Men behave like squirrels. They focus on one thing, dash towards it and once they reach there then they turn their focus on another thing and make a dash there and so on and so forth.

27. Men see the news on TV specially after coming home, because the difficulties they listen regarding and see make their troubles seem that much smaller.

28. John’s soul sings when he teaches. Need to find one’s path and go along it. The fact that one feels fear is because it is one’s path. If it was not one’s path then one would not be so worried in regards to whether one made an affect or not.

29. The truth is I is worthy of to be the way I am. I need not be bothered to be perfective in order to be loved. Once one lives in an atmosphere of perfective trust the more authentic one becomes, and the more authentic one becomes the more irresistible one becomes. The closer we are to who we genuinely are the more persons will love us. There will always be persons who do not love us.

30. Forgiveness is the key. If an individual hurts then one needn’t hurt back. As Gandhi said, An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.

31. Women give more. Men want to get more.

32. Women want flowers to be purchased by men. And they ought to be cut- flowers. So that the flowers die and hence the men have to go out and buy them again and again. They do not want the romance to go out of the relationship. Men on the other hand feel that if they have done it once there is no requirement to do it again and again. But women want things and messages to be repeated again and again.

33. Women on occasion give hints viz. On Sunday they will mention that they are getting their hair cut on Thursday. This is to be taken as a warning signal. The hair cut must be noticed. If a woman has to ask how she looks after she has had a hair cut then there is no value placed on the man’s comment. It has to be noticed without being asked. Women put in much more crusade in looking good. Men put in more effort in their work.

34. Man wants to be appreciated. Woman wants to be listened to and noticed. Men stress more on what they do while women stress more on their being.

35. Men think that by being flexible they are Mr. Agreeable and that is cherished by women. Really speaking women want men to take charge and suggest something which they agree on. Mr. Agreeable is boring. The idealisti metaphor is to have a man with a plan and a woman with a smile.

36. Sometimes the woman feels that she does everything according to what the man wants. At this point it is necessary for the woman to say “I’ll do it this time your way but next time we’ll do what I want.”

37. Women are always keeping score in a kinship viz. When a woman does anything for a man she always gives herself a point. Men keep score in business. Men need to keep score in a kinship too. They need to do something for the woman so that they too score points from the woman’s point of view.

38. At work the man’s perspective is not to unnecessarily interfere. A man feels that if he doesn’t ask then he is giving total freedom to the woman. But a woman who is a subordinate wants to be asked regarding her work because silence is taken to mean ‘non-involvement’.

39. Women like the little stuff. Chit-Chat. Occasionally ask galore personal questions. The magic words are ‘What else?’

40. To free a man a woman needs to say ‘You don’t need to say or do anything and you don’t need to feel bad.’

41. Listening brings about healing.

42. Women by nature give. But when they find that they are not getting anything in return they need to give to themselves. Men have no problem in giving to themselves. Men don’t give sufficient to others.

43. Men prefer women managing directors while they learn the job. After learning the occupation they prefer a male manager.

44. Men sprint faster. Women win the long distance.

45. In men testosterone lowers stress. In women oxytocin lowers stress. Affection, considerateness, being noticed is what develops the oxytocin in women. Therefore men need to learn new achievements to manufacture oxytocin in women. Foreplay is more essential for a woman than a man. A woman needs 20-30 minutes of stimulation. A man needs just 2-3 minutes.

46. Women want sensible men but the peril is that if men become too sensible then women don’t like it. They want men to be considerate but not to be too sensible just like them.

47. Don’t try to repair or alter your partner.

48. When husband and wife are business collaborators then there needs to be clear rules. There needs to be a clear demarcated time when no business is talked about.

49. Duty is necessary but being authentic is more important.

50. Women may be equated metaphorically to the moon. When the moon is full, women crave for sex. When it is half-full, a woman may have it not have it, it does not matter, and when it is a new moon she couldn’t care less.

51. There are dissimilar types of sex viz. Healthy, home cooked sex, Ferrari, junk feed sex, and Gourmet sex. Once a month one could have Gourmet sex which means bringing in the romance by going out for a dinner and coming home to an atmosphere which tardily climaxes. Whenever he wants sex, and it is a quickie then give it to him. Provided on other occasions there is good, regular homemade sex. In order to arrive at a significant understanding one could have 3 candles signifying the 3 types of sex. Either collaborator finds it very difficult to know the real mood of the other. Depending on which candle is lit and by whom one may behave accordingly. The candle becomes the sign of the mood.

Christian Gray

On the same day Mare Welsh receives the happiest news of her life, she likewise receives the worst. Her husband, Jack, was killed on his way home from work, leaving Mare alone to raise their one year old daughter. Now, a year later and deep in the throes of depression, Mare sees Jack everywhere. He even shows up to talk to her in the shower. Her well-meaning friends stage an intervention to fetch her back to the real world, and it works a little too well. A day later she meets Tate, the new youth pastor at her church. At 25, Tate is seven years her junior, but Mare can’t stop her wild attraction to him. And in spite of the fact that he always catches her in the midst of an embarrassing situation, the sentiment appears to be mutual. Mare decides to give Tate a chance, as long as they keep their romance a secret. But soon she has too a good deal of mysteries to keep straight, including the fact that her dead husband still follows her around, making fun of her for her for dating a younger man. Can Mare get over her insecurities and hug her newfound love, or will she concede the views of her friends, neighbors, and meddling dead husband to tear them apart?

Christian Gray Photo

Christian Gray Photo

Christian Gray Image

Christian Gray Picture

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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
Can’t wait to read another!
By Kandee
Read this book in 2 days! It’s THAT good! The characters come to life and seem so real. I actually laughed out loud in parts and cried in others. Can’t wait to read another Vanessa Gray Bartal book. Gonna go get one right now!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
A Christian Cougar
By Jeannette M. Shields
This book was so much fun to read! All the characters were very realistic and believable. I loved how Mare’s friends cared so much about her to give her a makeover, rather than pitying her behind her back and letting her stay in the slump she was in.
I found myself smiling and laughing a lot.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
Funny and Relatable
By Krissta
This book by Vanessa Gray Bartal was funny, heartfelt, and a great read. You truly relate to the characters, and feel like you’re standing in the room with them, talking to a friend. So excited to read more from Vanessa!

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There is galore ways you may recognise the dissimilar meaning of the dove. The meaning of the doves is derived from the emergence of it is story. Therefore, you are going to get a dove tattoo which implied the most significant characteristic for you if you take you time to recognise when it comes to it is story. It may simplify your searching task if you manage to know the significances of the dissimilar dove tattoos.

A dove tattoo is a Christian symbol of peace. Peace dove tattoos occur to be a many times requested design amid a great deal of peace lovers. Many persons emboss dove tattoos on their bodies in remembrance of a close relatives or friends who have passed away. A couple of doves are likewise very mutual and universal symbol of love.

Doves have a very enduring quality that a heap of people lack i.e. a dove is a mate for life. So, dove tattoos are also recognized as a sign of undying and long lasting love. Dove tattoos in Chinese culture may be inferred as a symbol of long and healthful life. In European, it is considered as the Holy Spirit by Christian representation. These tattoos may be tattooed in respective sizes, colors and dissimilar compoundings as well.

Peace dove tattoos have plentiful color selection, from simple black outline, meticulous black outlines, brilliantly colored to refined and tasteful neutrals tattoos. There are respective combinings of the peace dove tattoo designs. Such as dove and flowers, dove and olive branch, dove and dancing flames, dove and butterflies. If you are the peace lovers too, you may ink two or more doves together on the shoulder or arm and have an indication of your personality. Tattoos with dove designs in general represent independence and purity.

Being the symbol of the Holy Ghost in the Christian faith, the dove tattoos are applied as a depiction of Lord Jesus Christ’s story in the Holy Bible. It relates to the Great Flood and God’s commandment to Noah to manufacture an Ark to carry ever animals and birds.

The world of tattooing looks bright and increasing in popularity. Amongst them peace dove tattoos are a class apart for their singularity and mysticism. Dove tattoos are inevitably bird tattoos and have unfathomed significances in the tattoo world. Since the evolution of time, and almost unanimously all over all religions worldwide, the dove bird has referred the humane spirit or soul, and is many times connected to the celestial beings.

As birds travel in the air, they were thought to commune directly with the supernatural beings, and were oftentimes considered as the leader which passed spirits of the dead to it is heavenly abode. Often in tattooing two doves are portrayed together symbolizing the dual distinct elements of nature. Dove tattoos are likewise affiliated with the occult and the supernatural forces. Peace dove tattoos are one of their important art form in their tool kit or flash book since it is increasing in popularity.

Peace dove tattoos are an evolution in themselves. Peace dove tattoos have been since ever a sign for numerous meaning that was linked with it. Irrespective of caste, creed or sex, both men and women sport these tattoos of serenity and love.

Christian Grey

Daunted by the singular sexual tastes and dark mysteries of the beautiful, tormented young enterpriser Christian Grey, Anastasia Steele has broken off their kinship to begin a new career with a Seattle publishing house. But desire for Christian still dominates her each waking thought, and when he proposes a new arrangement, Anastasia cannot resist. They rekindle their searing sensual affair, and Anastasia learns more in regards to the harrowing past of her damaged, driven, and demanding Fifty Shades. While Christian wrestles with his inner demons, Anastasia ought to confront her anger and jealousy of the women who came before her and make the most crucial decision of her life. Erotic, sparkling and suspenseful, Fifty Shades Darker is the irresistibly addictive second part of the Fifty Shades trilogy.

ReviewTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING FIFTY SHADES Trilogy
 
“In a class by itself.” 
—Entertainment Weekly

About the AuthorE L James is a former TV executive, wife and mother of two based in West London. Since early childhood she dreamed of writing stories that readers would fall in love with, but put those dreams on hold to focus on her family and her career. She at long last plucked up the courage to put pen to paper with her initial novel, Fifty Shades of Grey.

Christian Grey Pic

Christian Grey Image

Christian Grey Pic

Christian Grey Photo

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101 of 107 people found the following review helpful.
The Magic Continues… in Darker Shades!
By searockstar
In this second book of the Fifty Shades Trilogy, the romance continues between Christian and Ana from Ana’s point of view… and what a busy POV it is!

I have enjoyed this story since it was on the author’s website, so it’s no surprise I loved this book! The edits have indeed improved the story. “Darker” opens up with the couple apart, but soon Christian and Ana are re-negotiating their relationship.

As in the first book of this trilogy, some aspects of the writing are sophomoric, mainly in relation to periphery characters, but don’t let that deter you (!) because there is brilliance here too. The relationship between Ana and Christian is just so good. Their frank and open communication is fantastic and their story is not only totally engaging, but downright addicting! Christian (aka, Fifty) is one of the most memorable, delicious characters I have ever read. His voice is unique and clear and mesmerizing, yet he is revealed entirely through Ana’s experiences and perception of him (quite a talent, Ms. James!). For both Christian and Ana, everything they think they know about their lives gets tilted at odd angles and makes their growing relationship feel like a thrill ride. All the usual suspects return to keep the “action” going (with at least 3 different mini-plots), and, of course, there is the continuing fallout from Christian’s severe childhood (and possible adolescent) trauma. Issues of independence, trust, acceptance, submission and, most importantly, unconditional love are all in play. Despite the intensity and conflict the tone remains witty and playful and romantic.

Readers complain about Ana a bit and, I must say, she took me out of my comfort zone at times. I think she’s bolder than I would be in her constant questioning of Christian. But I tend not to like confrontation, so it’s likely just me. But those who hate misunderstandings will appreciate that no stone goes unturned between these two ‘. It is refreshing to read about people who are completely guileless with one another. Ana can also come across a bit schizophrenic when her thinking swings from “I want this”, to “I don’t want this” to “do I want this”? However, this tension feels true to life. Her choices were not easy (too many shades of grey!). Overall, I really like Ana and I certainly enjoyed having a front row seat to her busy inner world. Those (very popular) inner characters may have been overused in this second book, but they are fabulous nonetheless.

Something interesting to note: The original story was published one chapter at a time for the subscriber’s reading pleasure, so each chapter of this book feels like “a full experience”. This format created highly eventful and revealing chapters for the books and the overall story feels “episodic” not unlike the structure of “Outlander” which I found unique and very readable.

I also noted Ms. James fleshed out several scenes with additional action and dialogue in this book during editing, which was great for me as an original reader. I thought she did a splendid job filling in some gaps and deepening the story. The author also summed up the day’s events from time to time in this version. I didn’t mind it, but it dragged the action down for me a bit. New readers will likely benefit from the summaries as I remember needing to summarize in my own head previously. The only quibble with this format is the repetition (Christian sets his “mouth in a hard line” about 10 times throughout the book; Ana wonders if it “will it always be like this” about 3 or 4 different things and she reminds us many times that she wants to know more about Christian), but it didn’t pull me out of the story at all. In fanfiction, it doesn’t feel repetitious when it takes 2 years to tell the story.

The sensuality is once again hot, hot, hot. It doesn’t feel gratuitous to me, but there is a lot of it. The sexual experiences between Christian and Ana and their growing intimacy are central to the story in FSD and are gloriously full of the darkest and lightest shades of grey.

I can name a hundred heart-soaring, heart-rending and breathtaking moments in this book. There are many favorite scenes that I am already looking forward to re-reading (Portland to Seattle, anyone?). I am a fan, what can I say? Although British-isms still abound, there are typos, and a couple of the mini-plots are duds, I don’t care. It’s imperfect, but it’s so very unique in its style, its structure and its content. I adore it and highly recommend it!

46 of 49 people found the following review helpful.
Sixth Star if I could… Wow!
By P.A. Lupton
I really wish I could manually add a 6th star to Amazon for this book. I never would have believed it was possible but Fifty Shades Darker is even better than Fifty Shades of Grey. Hard to believe, but true. Reading this book reminded me of a quote that I love by Alan Cohen, “Scared and sacred are spelled with the same letters. Awful proceeds from the same root word as awesome. Terrify and terrific. Every negative experience holds the seed of transformation.” Reading Fifty Shades Darker is like witnessing metamorphosis in action.

What I love the most about this book is the way the events and characters change and develop. I love that Christian Grey transforms from utterly immovable to flexible. Every negative emotion he feels eventually becomes something positive, or at least something he can learn and grow from. He learns the delicate balance between give and take. He learns to open his heart and to accept love–and he learns to give it as well. Everything cold becomes warm, and everything hot–well that’s about the only thing that stays the same, still hot.

These two characters are so contradictory and conflicting, and yet complement each other so well. Each trial, every obstacle, every hardship the two experiences are overcome and ultimately strengthen the relationship. This is truly one of the most amazing love stories I’ve read.

I would like to add one more thing regarding a popular misconception about this book. I’ve read a lot of comments from readers saying it is too far out of their comfort zone because of the BDSM elements. I would like to address this because I don’t think readers should shy away from it for that reason. EL James has a way of writing that brings out the heat in a love scene (I literally get butterflies sometimes while reading) but in my opinion she does it in a very tasteful way. I’ve read other BDSM novels and I think these books should really be classified as mild erotica, which contain some MILD elements of BDSM.

There is a well defined plot with well developed characters. The romance is both sweet (I love the emails between the characters) and steamy, and to me the sex scenes do not feel gratuitous. It really is just an amazing and beautiful love story, and I think the BDSM elements are an integral element the plot in this novel.

78 of 88 people found the following review helpful.
Repetitive and redundant.
By Elizabeth McKinney
Someone please give this author a thesaurus and an editing team that cares. It’s not just that the same actions are repeated over and over (and over… and over again), it’s that the same words are used to describe them every time. It’s like someone put 50 words in a bag, pulled them out and mashed them into a semblance of a sentence, then tossed them back in the bag and repeated the process to fill 300+ pages.
Inspired by another review I actually used my Kindle to count the ones that were most painful/annoying to read:

Lips bitten: 25
Eyes widened: 21
Eyes rolled: 51
“oh my”: 45
Scowls: 48
Gasps: 62
“jeez”: 76
Smirks: 91
Flushes/blushes: 133
F-bombs dropped: 173
Whispers: 251

Do the math! Lips are bitten and eyes are widened in every chapter. Someone gasps once every six pages. The main character “flushes” at least once every three pages.

Yes, the British author uses British colloquialisms that make no sense in the Pacific Northwest. Yes, the female protagonist is two dimensional and boring. Yes, her leading man is given a forced and contrived backstory in an unnecessary attempt to make sense of his kinkiness in a vanilla world. The sex scene was okay the first time I read it, but by the time it was recycled for the twelfth time or so it was just boring. Yes, in between the repetitions listed above the author inexplicably throws whatever was on her “word a day calendar” into character conversation where it sounds silly and awkward. But none of these things really destroy a good book quite like reading “I flush” for the hundredth time. Oh my!

Apologies to the fans out there. Imagine I’m writing this review with an “apologetic smirk.”

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With age comes the aging process. Cell regeneration slows down and this causes changes to our bodies that in a great deal of cases are more noticeable in dissimilar parts than others.

For the woman who is in her fifties and over, the aging procedure is more noticeable. Firstly with your hair and then your face. As cell regeneration slows it is procedure our skin becomes paler and looses the shine we had in our youth. Cell regeneration in our hair causes each strand to turn white that gives us that greying look.

Grey hair may manufacture an effect where on firstborn inspection you believe you are thinning on top of your head and going bald. This is a natural reaction as the grey colour produces this effect.

Modern hairstyling proficiencies include cutting styles and colouring of the hair. With long grey hair it will become straight and look thin so a shorter haircut will provide more body as the weight is removed. Choosing a hair colour that is one shade lighter then your natural hair colour will blend with your paler skin and will not be so noticeable.

Using a technique called low-lighting may dramatically modify the way you look. This technique is employed by a hairstylist who will have assorted shades of your natural hair colour ready to dye each grey strand. The technique is gathering a section of the grey hair and applying a shade of the colour to each division that will result in an all over blending.

The hairstylist will colour up to ninety percent if not all of the grey hair. As each section or strands are coloured with a dissimilar shade the overall effect will be that it mixes together to look natural. No one will say to you that they love your new colour as they will not detect any dissimilar other than you look fabulous.

When using low-lights a permanent colour is used and this means you will need a touch up each eight to twelve weeks, depending on how well you have been looking after your hair.

If you want to be more adventurous then cover up grey hair with bold rich colours such as copper or copper-gold for that wow factor that will get you noticed.

50 Shades Gray

**3rd edition basi cover

Noir was a mega-city plagued by a sun blocking mass called Dry Clouds that had mysteriously appeared three decades earlier. The Dry Clouds covered half the planet and forced those living under them to subsist in endless night. On this world, corporations were in charge and breaking your contract with them could mean the termination of your life.

Kimberly Griffin, a Life Closer (legal assassin) existed in a world of death. She Closed people for a living. It was a lonely demeaning existence, though she wouldn’t confess it. There was not one thing to drive her in the bleak reality until one day she ran into Kat.

Kat, also known as the Pandora Project, was hunted by bio-mechas called Un-Men. She was an experiment of the Sphinx Corporation, and they were testing her to see if she could be the extreme weapon. Kat refused to be a killer and tried to discover the truth behind her existence. Could she be a new form of bio-mecha?

Kim ran into someone close to her had been murdered. Is Kat the key to finding out who did it? Or will her association with Kat only cause her more grief?
Pandora of ancient times opened a box and let all good escape. Would Pandora be the hope the planet needed? Or would she ruin the world?

**Complete list of Shades of Gray series**

(STARTING POINT QUADRILOGY)
1. Noir, City Shrouded By Darkness
2. From Moscow, With Love
3. Cerberus Versus Pandora
4. Sisters

(ZOMBIE TWILIGHT QUADRILOGY)
5. Night Of The Twilight- The Chimera Strain
6. Dawn Of The Twilight- Outbreak
7. Day Of The Twilight- Patient Zero
8. Land Of The Twilight- Closing of Days

(MYTHS AND DESPAIR QUADRILOGY)
9. Rise of the Gorgons
10. Woe To The Watcher **Coming 12/2012**
11. Woe To The One Who Has Held His Heart’s Tongue **Coming Soon**
12. Woe To The One Who Thought They Could Only Hurt **Coming Soon**

50 Shades Gray Photo

50 Shades Gray Picture

50 Shades Gray Picture

50 Shades Gray Picture

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11 of 15 people found the following review helpful.
Great Series!
By Book Addict
I highly recommend this series! Shades of Gray is filled with action, adventure, and mystery! It is an excellent science fiction thriller. Kat (the Pandora Project) is my favorite character! She has no memory of her past and has to survive in the strange and dark world of Noir that she finds herself in. Who is it that is watching her and testing her?

One of Kat’s only clues to her past causes her to cross paths with a Life Closer (legal assassin)called the Phoenix. Will this person help her, or be just another test to survive?

Shades of Gray Book 1 – Noir, City Shrouded By Darkness is great! And the series just gets better from here!

Here is the rest of the series:
Shades of Gray #2 From Moscow, With Love ( sci-fi mystery thriller series)
#3 Shades of Gray- Cerberus Versus Pandora ( science fiction action adventure suspense series)
#4 Shades of Gray- Sisters ( science fiction action adventure suspense series)#5 Shades of Gray- Night of the Twilight- The Chimera Strain ( science fiction horror zombie thriller series)
#6 Shades of Gray- Dawn of the Twilight- Outbreak ( science fiction horror zombie thriller series)
#7 Shades of Gray- Day of the Twilight- Patient Zero ( science fiction horror zombie thriller series)
Shades of Gray #8 Land of the Twilight- Closing of Days (science fiction zombie horror series)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Kept my attention
By J. Robison
Yes there are a lot of typos in this story. But it is not hard to follow. The story is quite engaging and is different than the ordinary. This kind of reminded me a bit of the movie Total Recall with Arnold in it. I enjoyed it very much.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Shades of Gray…
By May
The Shades of Gray series revolves around two characters; Kim, an assassin and Kat, an experiment turned loose on the world.

In the first book, Kat and Kim meet each other, and let’s say, they don’t become the best of friends. Kat tries to discover her origins while the androids continue to hunt her. Kim must discover who murdered someone close to her. All in all, an action filled mystery thriller.

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