Tuesday 5 June 2012

Fifty Shades of Grey (Trilogy)

Author: EL James

Why is the word-of-mouth hit Fifty Shades Trilogy (Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed) so popular? Most critics give credit to the rise of e-readers and their ability to allow for discreet reading. The plotline's not great, the heroine and hero lack character development.

Fifty Shades feels more like a fanfiction story than an original one, and indeed, after a bit of quick research, I found out the series started life as a piece of Twilight fanfiction. You can see the resemblance to Twilight in the brooding, secretive older man who has a dark, twisted past, and a submissive young lady who gets acquainted with the 'dark' side of life and discovers her 'inner goddess' along the way...

More than three friends have recommended the book to me (most of them in publishing actually!), so there must be something compelling about the novels. I guess the dark, racy nature of the story makes for an exciting page-turner.

The critics have given it mixed reviews. Some US states even banned the books from libraries. You should read it anyway, to see what it's all about. You can't escape from it really, they're about to turn it into a Hollywood film!  

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