- Title: Grey
- Author: EL James
- Publisher: Vintage
- Publish Date: June 18, 2015
- Book Form: Ebook
- Pages: 576
- Genre: Romance, Erotica
- Dates Read: Dec 31, 2019 – Jan 5, 2020
- Rating: ★★★
Christian Grey exercises control in all things; his world is neat, disciplined, and utterly empty—until the day that Anastasia Steele falls into his office, in a tangle of shapely limbs and tumbling brown hair. He tries to forget her, but instead is swept up in a storm of emotion he cannot comprehend and cannot resist. Unlike any woman he has known before, shy, unworldly Ana seems to see right through him—past the business prodigy and the penthouse lifestyle to Christian’s cold, wounded heart.
Will being with Ana dispel the horrors of his childhood that haunt Christian every night? Or will his dark sexual desires, his compulsion to control, and the self-loathing that fills his soul drive this girl away and destroy the fragile hope she offers him?
– Goodreads
Grey was another book that I kept from my Down the TBR posts. It’s the second one I have read, and the second one I have not been impressed with. So right now I’m 0/2 and planning to read a third, Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen, this month. I hope that one will be better!
I kept Grey because when the 50 Shades books came out, I enjoyed them. I loved being part of the hype of a hot new series. I know everyone wanted to know what was going on in Grey’s mind. Now that I know, I wish I didn’t. However, this book may be fun to read alongside 50 Shades. I think it would be cool to compare scenes and see it from both Grey and Ana’s points of view.
So back in the day, I thought Grey was hot shit. I now see again that my tastes have changed. Physically, sure, he’s probably attractive. But personality wise? Nah fam. He’s so controlling and stalker-ish. A lot of the thoughts he had about Ana and their relationship had me cringing and thinking, ‘who is this guy?! Like, just because you have money doesn’t mean you can talk/think that way!’
The first half of this book seemed to drag on forever. It was like I couldn’t get into it and I was just mad at everything Grey was. After the 50% park it picked up and I enjoyed it a lot more. I loved the emails between Grey and Ana. Honestly, if the whole book was just that, I would have loved it. I also liked seeing the flashbacks from Grey’s childhood. They didn’t really make me realize why he is the way he is, I just thought they were interesting.
This was also my first book of 2020, and it’s safe to say I was disappointed. It took me forever to read – six days! I was mad at Grey for 80% of the book. I wanted to slap Ana – and not in the way Grey does – and ask her what she is thinking being with him?!
Unfortunately, I won’t be recommending this book. Even though I loved the emails and flashbacks, it just wasn’t enough to redeem it.
Have you read Grey? What were your thoughts? Let me know in the comments!
Until next time…
Mithah Reads 