Sunday

Review: Grey (Fifty Shades #4) by E.L. James (CR)



Book Blurb

See the world of Fifty Shades of Grey anew through the eyes of Christian Grey.

In Christian's own words, and through his thoughts, reflections, and dreams, E L James offers a fresh perspective on the love story that has enthralled millions of readers around the world.


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?


This book is intended for mature audiences.

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Toot's Review

So it's taken me awhile to write my review of Grey by E.L. James, which if you didn’t know is Fifty Shades Of Grey told from the male leads POV, Christian Grey.
I was really interested in this retelling of the original story to see if there was much of a difference from the story we all know and if it’s been altered a bit since the recent movie. I was also interested in seeing how the authors writing style may have matured since the original as well. Lastly, I wanted to see if there were more details into Christian’s childhood or backstory that we didn’t get in the first telling. So here’s my review and a bit of a synopsis.
Christian Grey is a man obsessed. A man who is in control of his world. That is until Anna Steel crashes into his office and into his life. She is an innocent and definitely not in control of anything. The two will embark on a journey of discovery; in and out of the bedroom and only their willingness to be together and bend their own rules can love prevail.
This book is a cliffy, so be warned. I wouldn’t recommend it if you haven’t read the original Fifty but let me say this, if you haven’t read Fifty, you could pick this one up as a standalone, seriously! Even though it’s a cliffy, it does wrap up nicely. A newbie could walk away with having sampled a taste and know that the two will ultimately be together.
Anywho with that being said, I did like hearing the story from his POV. I personally prefer male POV’s much more then female. I like the darkness of them verses the usual light and fluffy female telling. I also liked hearing him cuss and call her sweetheart and baby in his head, it was a much more endearing telling of the same story verses her take. You walk away from the story understanding his stalker-ish tendencies a bit more and how she becomes a lifeline for him, only to completely screw the pooch and cut the line by hurting her and how it takes him finally bending his ways and deciding rather then fit her into his life, he needs to fit into hers. He tries so hard in the first book to make her into what he needs that he ultimately loses her until he realizes through therapy that rather then make her into what he needs, he should try the opposite and try to be what she needs, which I don’t think came across in the movie or in the first book. So I did love seeing that POV of the story.
What I didn’t like was that we didn’t really get much more of his past. We got some scene snippets and we do feel the heartbreak of an abused child but I really didn’t feel like it added to the story as much as I had hoped. Granted, I don’t want to relive his childhood through the book but I didn’t feel that much more was gained through the scenes that I didn’t know about from the first telling. Also, I felt it was basically the EXACT same story but with a male slant, if that makes sense? Scene for scene, it follows the original Fifty except with a build up or interjection of his life.
I'm not sure if it's worth the read or if it added much that you didn't already know. I'm totally on the fence about this one. Check out what I said above and if you want the new slant on an old store, give it a shot. If this is new to you, give it a shot. If you're tired of the original, this one isn't going to change your mind.
3 stars because I am on the fence







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