Comments on: Fifty Shades of Grey and Why I’m Going to get Kicked Out of Book Club

By: Billie Rowell

Billie Rowell — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 18:32:00 +0000

The book is not about S&M. It’s about BDSM, which is different. I love that trilogy, haven’t read it in ages though.

By: Billie Rowell

Billie Rowell — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 18:31:00 +0000

It’s not the greatest book I’ve ever read, but it was far from the worst either. The first few chapters are dreadfully boring, but it does get better.

By: Monique Burkes

Monique Burkes — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 04:08:00 +0000

I have no desire to read it either.

By: @serena

@serena — Thu, 03 May 2012 19:31:00 +0000

Terrible writing and ridiculous sex scenes. I am convinced it was written by a man. Stick with Harold Robbins, people….

By: Lissakauf

Lissakauf — Tue, 01 May 2012 16:04:00 +0000

I was having a hard time with it too after doing the download, and being on the rather heavy side with my reading lately… Then a friend got an email copy… which I may or may not read, but free is free. Would you like it?

By: Tina

Tina — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:46:00 +0000

I, too, downloaded the sample. All I could think is “contrived.” I fully admit to enjoying a romance novel on occasion. I like those smutty and fun featuring people I’d want to hang around in real life.

By: Florinda

Florinda — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:15:00 +0000

I keep wondering if I should *attempt* to read this just for the cultural-conversation factor, but almost every conversation about it that I come across convinces me not to–and the excerpts from the book totally reinforce that. Bad writing, terrible premise, and I’ve read much better sex scenes in books that didn’t purport to be “mom porn.” The fact that this started out as TWILIGHT fan fiction does NOT help.

I’m not in a book club, but I could go for one that met at a diner.

By: ShanLastShredsOfSanity

ShanLastShredsOfSanity — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:43:00 +0000

If you want to know about S&M (that’s what this book is about, by the way), just get the Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by Anne Rice (under her pen name A.N. Roquelaure). I’m sure the writing and plot are much better in her books than this 50 Shades of Grey “novel”.

And “mom porn”? Really? To me, “mom porn” is when my husband cooks and cleans for me. THAT turns me on every time.

By: Charlene Ross

Charlene Ross — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:54:00 +0000

Ugh Jessica, my book club picked it too. Fortunately I have a friend who is loaning it to me so I don’t have to waste my money. I’ll read it, if only for the feeling of superiority over the bad writing. I figure at worst it will be a waste of time and at best it will a.) make me not care how tired I am and actually have sex with my husband rather than wishing I wasn’t too tired to have sex with my husband and b.) get off my lazy ass and finish editing my book and get it sold because if that shit can published certainly my shit can be published!

By: shuggilippo

shuggilippo — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:41:00 +0000

So I read this monstrosity last year on “great recommendation” from a friend who I respected as a well-versed-in-literature type.

All I can say is that the very poorly written book made me feel really uncomfortable…on two very different levels. While as interesting as the first BDSM scene was to someone who has never explored that lifestyle, when the same scene is painted again using the same limited imagery, I felt I was doing my relatively intelligent brain a disservice by “reading in circles”. It felt like I was doing the porn thing in all the wrong ways. Like renting really shitty, low-budget porn and watching it on repeat. Ugh. It was bad.

Not to mention making my way TO the bad porn took a toll.

There’s just nothing really that great aside from erotic content you don’t typically see in the mainstream of erotic literature (if we can even really call this literature). It was based off of Twilight for the love of Pete.