Fifty Shades Darker - E. L. James (Review)

Summary: Daunted by the singular tastes and dark secrets of the beautiful, tormented young entrepreneur Christian Grey, Anastasia Steele has broken off their relationship to start a new career with a Seattle publishing house.

But desire for Christian still dominates her every waking thought, and when he proposes a new arrangement, Anastasia cannot resist. They rekindle their searing sensual affair, and Anastasia learns more about the harrowing past of her damaged, driven and demanding Fifty Shades.

While Christian wrestles with his inner demons, Anastasia must confront the anger and envy of the women who came before her, and make the most important decision of her life.

Rating: 2/5

Review: Alright guys, I'm back for another round of Fifty Shades - DARKER EDITION. Taking me an abnormally long time to read, I have finally finished Fifty Shades Darker. While I clearly had a lot of negative things to say about the first book in the series, I read it incredibly fast. It was in terrible need of an editor, but the pacing wasn't too bad and I found myself (begrudgingly) invested in moving forward. I was very upset to realize HOW MUCH SLOWER this book was, in addition to being insanely repetitive.

According to what I've heard from a lot of women who enjoy the books, this one seems to be a favorite because Ana and Christian begin to move away from the BDSM theme and toward a more stereotypically romantic relationship. I appreciated the fact that there was a bigger focus on consent and discussion about making Ana feel comfortable but it began to get boring real fast for me. I'm not into gushy romance novels unless they are particularly well-written. This isn't even mediocre. It's horrible. The only way for me to excuse the child-like writing level would be to include a lot of drama and crazy sex, which is what I started even reading the series for (LETS BE HONEST) but that was all but taken out in favor of love and marriage and blahblah who gives a shit, am I right? Uninteresting characters put into a traditionally romantic plot. Sorry if I didn't find the mere suggestion of a full-time BDSM relationship which quickly dissolves into the past to be enough to really spice up the plot, but like .. at this point it has become meaningless. Perhaps it will come back in the third book?

Fifty Shades of Grey - E.L. James (Review)

Summary:When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.

Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.

Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

Rating: 2.5/5

Review: OKAY, I have so much to say about this book, I’m a little overwhelmed by it. I am always extremely intrigued by any book that seems to capture a large audience out of nowhere. I was even more interested when I found out this was an erotic novel for women BY a woman that was attracting so much media attention. Given my personal interest set, I had nothing but positive hopes for Fifty Shades. I love open discussions about sex and I want nothing more than to support a book that is offering women an easy way to discuss their sexuality and preferences with not only their significant others, but their friends.

To begin with the positives, many of the sex scenes and some of the erotic conversation throughout the book did push my buttons, in a good way. I have a thing for overtly masculine, hyper-confident stern men in business attire - SO, I was certainly willing to be forgiving here. In particular, I enjoyed the idea of Mr. Grey wearing the tie he used on Anastasia to the graduation in front of everyone. Good imagery. Some of Mr. Grey’s dialogue was sexy in a sort of ridiculous, fantasy-porno kind of way, which I’m willing to take. I know a lot of people complained about the way the sex scenes were written, and while it certainly could have been better (no denying that), they weren’t the worst. Ideally, a porn company can hire Mrs. James and have her simply come up with some sexy scenarios and they’ll make a hot video out of it. That’s about all I want from her though. If I could have chosen a hot actor, picked some ideas out of her horny imagination, and had them film them I would have been more than satisfied. Unfortunately, a WHOLE LOTTA CRAZY comes with this shit.

My Sister's Keepers - Jodi Picoult (Review)

Summary: Jodi Picoult tells the emotionally riveting story of a family torn apart by conflicting needs and a passionate love that triumphs over human weakness. Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate — a life and a role that she has never challenged…until now.

Rating: 2/5

Review: There seems to be two groups of readers with passionate opinions on Jodi Picoult books - those that LOVE her and see no faults in her writing, and those that completely turn their nose up at it and would judge me for even picking this book up. I worry that I may sound like the second group by the end of this review, but believe me I am willing to give anything a try and I actually have a weakness for light reads. Anyone who thinks they’re “above” beach reads, or some erotic supernatural romance can kiss my ass. I can’t help feeling mildly depressed though when I read all of the reviews on Amazon and Shelfari hailing the brilliance of My Sister’s Keeper when I had to read through shitty one-star complaints about Freedom.

Getting right down to it… this book just wasn’t very good. The premise was actually very interesting and what initially drew me into the story (no, I haven’t seen the movie) and I have to give Picoult credit where it’s due. Her strongest talent is creating scenarios with which to base stories, as well as moments within her books that do create an internal struggle in the reader. She presents a very difficult choice and forces you to grapple with it. Okay, good. Unfortunately this is where my praise ends.