Book Review: Grey by E.L. James

After reading the trilogy and suffering through the film, there was a certain attachment inside me that forced me to read ‘Grey’ by E.L. James. I started it just as I was coming back from holidays, as I thought it would be a fast and easy read to ease me back in. Wrong. ‘Grey’ took much longer for me to read (nearly two weeks) than I had expected.

So let’s get one thing straight from the onset, as I know there have been many readers confused by this, ‘Grey’ is the exact same story as ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’. Not much has changed between the two novels so don’t expect something new and exciting. All that is different is the viewpoint, plus tiny snippets of Christian’s background that we don’t find out until the later books in the original series.

For the majority of the book, I found Christian unbearable. I can see now, in a way, why people protested against the Fifty Shade trilogy as one that promoted violence against women. I am not one to speak anything of Christian’s chosen lifestyle as it is a more common choice than one thinks, but he is portrayed much more as a heartless, cruel SOB than he was originally. Christian lovers need to be prepared to handle that.

Again, the book was badly written as it seemed E.L. James did not learn from past criticisms. I didn’t mind, or even notice so much during the first books, but this time round it helped drag out a story I already knew.

Overall, I was pretty disappointed, but at the same time, I wasn’t expecting much, if that makes sense. I would like to think that the Fifty Shades bubble will burst soon, but that is not likely. However, as much as I have criticized this book, it is most likely that I will read anything else she adds to the series. I feel like I have invested so much time now that I have to see things out.

Have you read ‘Grey’? What did you think?