50 Shades

50 Shades of “Vanilla”

SPOILER ALERT:  Do not read this if you plan to read the book!

So I started reading the 50 Shades series about 4 weeks ago after a friend (Joanne) told me of the references to BDSM in it.  I figured wow, this should be interesting and different and I’m due for a good book.  I got about half way through the first book and was already disappointed.  There wasn’t much sex going on and it seemed pretty “vanilla” (reference to the book) so to speak.  I also had figured out given all the hints that this was actually in fact going to be a love story instead of a sex story.  I immediately texted Joanne and expressed my disappointment in the fact that I wasn’t aware I was going to be reading a love story.  Given my current romantic situation I have been turned off by anything with a romantic plot to it. 

Reluctantly, I kept reading it and although I was disappointed it was a true love story, the first book had a nice happily ever after ending to it and I moved on to book 2.  I went on hiatus from the series about half way through the second book.  I was bored with the same old love story, conflicts, make ups and sex.  I felt like I was married again.  After about a 2 week strike I started reading all the articles and blogs of people who want to ban the sale of the books and are adamantly and unfoundedly against them.  I then decided amidst all the controversy that I had to finish the series.  It took me less than a week to finish the reminder of the second book and the whole third book (with a 2 year old at home, mind you).  After I have caught up on sleep the past few days here is my conclusion about the series.

I’m no literary genius like a couple of the ABDs I know but I wasn’t impressed with the author’s literary skills.  I know she is somewhat new to the game but that’s why you hire good editors (I find the irony of the main character being an editor funny).  She made elaborate descriptions of some of the sex scenes or characters that I found to be too much of a good thing.  It made me easily bored in the details and as a reader I think it is also important to leave some of the minute details up to my imagination.  I hope that there was some censorship issue that forced the reader to call her vagina her “sex” because I found the reference horribly laughable as my friend Melissa and I would make drunken jokes in reference to that.  I have to say though, although there is a lot of sex in this book I was expecting it to be pretty raunchy and that wasn’t the case.  There was only a hand full of scenes where the “playroom” and toys were incorporated.  There was more “love making” than anything else.  I guess given all the outrage from the Christian community over the book I was expecting more.  I also found it to be disturbing how much the main character cried in the book.  Given the fact that her and “Fifty” had only known each other for a short period of time most of the guys I know would have been pretty turned off by all the crying and temper tantrums, especially after sex. 

Ultimately, Ana and Christian fall in love, become a loving a happy couple that transforms into a loving a happy family throughout all the drama and issues and despite their love of “kinky fuckery”.  Although I am not a fan of the writing in this book, I am a fan for what it stands for.  I for one think what this loving and happy couple does behind closed doors is nothing short of perfectly normal yet electrically excitable.