To think fifty shades of grey is a nightmare?

[keely027]

Being tied up and bossed about by a man doesn't make me go weak at the knees? Or am I just weird?

Actually I'll retract that statement as I wouldn't my DD reading it as a teen. It's just the style of writing, reminded me of teenage fiction.

Too tired today, I shouldn't be posting

You certainly would, Maisy.

I've read part of the first book. Before I bought it (yes, I paid money for it - what an idiot), I had no idea about the sub/dom/abusive aspect.

I haven't read it and don't intend to- if I did it would be to see just how crap it is but can't bring myself to.
Have seen lots of 'in bed with Mr Grey' and 'just reading my mummy porn' comments on facebook though. Hmmm.

Reminded me of Judy Blume, only not that good! No, not well written, and I thought Ana came across as a teenager rather than early twenties.

Sorry, posted too soon....

Meant to add that I also think it's a bad thing to have an abusive relationship presented in such a way that women (or men) think it somehow desirable. I too have friends on Facebook who have made comments like "need to find myself a Christain Grey" and "Mr Grey, yes please".

Fine if it's a fully consenting sub/dom relationship, but, so far as I can see this book isn't really that at all.

Yes it made me think of Judy Blume too.

It's very tame, she isn't his sub really. He proposes it but it never really happens, they break up, get back together again and slowly over time he changes and admits why he liked it etc. A couple of times they try out a riding crop or similar but it's nothing to get excited about imo. It's nothing like The Story of O. I still wouldn't let a teen read it though

I've unfortuately read it (didn't pay for it!). I think the only thing it's good for is to show women what an abusive relationship is like. It's definately not BDSM (Not the BDSM I've encountered at least)

I loved it. Agree it is badly written but it was totally addictive, I couldn't put it down. Read the trilogy in a week.

Get very at all the people who claim to hate it, yet have read all 3 books in less than a week. Why would you spend all that time reading "crap"?

I think they just like to be in the mumsnet 'I hate 50 shades' club

HotelFoxtrot (and others who liked it) WHY did you like it? And those of you who would like to meet a Mr Grey, Why? what is it about him that you like?

"I enjoyed reading all 3 but it reminded me of a teenage novel really and was poorly written. Probably belongs with the Twilight saga "

At least Edward has being a vampire as an excuse for his stalkerish tendancies.

"YABU if you don't like it then don't read it. The fact that others do is nobody else's business"

I will disagree with you there. When scores of teenage girls are growing up with these sorts of characters being romantiscised, and scores of so called intelligent women are confirming that this relationship is something to aspire to, it is other peoples business. I don't want my daughter to grow up thinking that if a man stalks, assaults and belittles you, it is a sign of how much they love you.

It was a page-turner, I found it gripping.

I enjoyed the storyline, wasn't that interested in the BDSM.

DontstepontheMomeRaths thanks I'm looking forward to it

One woman on FB that I know has a lush dh. But she's always talking about Mr Grey or posting pics of hot guys (in her opinon) I told her she should buy herself something from Lovehoney and get her dh involved

A friend of mine posted on Facebook the other night that she was only a few chapters in and bored. I posted a link to this review and all of a sudden several other women came out of the woodwork saying "thank god, I thought I was the only person who hated it!"

isn't it the fiction version of 'grief porn'?

I bought it for holidays, thinking it would be crap in a gripping holiday crap kind of way. To anyone thinking of forking out - can I just say that in fact it's just plain unreadable crap. Basically the author has seen how mum readers liked Twilight and has copied the concept very closely (even down to the tortured piano playing FFS), just adding oodles of ridiculously written sex. Made herself a fortune. Now I am fond of reading crap but could not get through it at all. I find it dull as ditchwater but also worrying because of all the teens who will absorb this pattern of a relationship which is your basic EA and DV situation with oodles of money thrown in.

"At least Edward has being a vampire as an excuse for his stalkerish tendancies." That made me

For those who don't know: it was originally written as Twilight fanfic ie a story about Edward and Bella with added kinkyfuckery. People who like Twilight (another appalling pile of shite that sends disturbing messages to young women ie violent abusive men are rillly SEXEH! and the most important thing in the world is to be loved by one) are not exactly regular readers, on the whole.

So, those of you who did enjoy the books (and I am not immune to the power of crap fiction in general, I used to read Richard Allen in my teens) - do you read much fiction generally? And have you ever read any erotic fiction before, or just the sex scenes in chicklit or Jilly Cooper?

I'd only read a few, prior to the 50SOG trilogy. But I am now reading more. But I do read a lot of fiction as well, always have. I'm a bit of a book worm but I can read almost any rubbish

"People who like Twilight (another appalling pile of shite that sends disturbing messages to young women ie violent abusive men are rillly SEXEH! and the most important thing in the world is to be loved by one)"

The difference between Twilight and FSOG is that Edwards tendancies to act like a possesive bellend are excused by him being a vampire. No one in real life wakes up to find their boyfriend in the room and thinks "oh, it must be because he's a vampire".

Christian Greys abusive ways are accepted and shown to be acts of love, and his tendancies to assault her passed off as an aspect of bdsm, which it is not. This does happen in real life, and women fantasising over this sort of character only causes women to believe the bastards who tell them "its because I love you, I want you all to myself" etc.

The review sums it up perfectly:

It's this kind of ignorant trash that sets feminism back decades. Women who defend this book are, however unwittingly, participating in some of the most blatant misogyny I've ever witnessed, giving the impression that some women enjoy being debased, abused, and controlled (outside of a consensual dom/sub relationship). This is not a book about BDSM, this is a book about one sick, abusive man and his obsession with a young, naive invertebrate. It's a book about a girl who has absolutely no sense of self, who sacrifices any pretense of individuality in order to hold onto a man who doesn't even show her the faintest glimmer of respect. It's about two attention-starved individuals with the emotional maturity of toilet paper convincing themselves that their relationship is 'like, the best thing ever, OMG'. It's trite, insulting, and dangerous. I fear for any impressionable young women who read this and think that this is how an ideal relationship should operate. If nothing else, it should be issued as a guidebook to mothers around the world to show their daughters the kind of man to avoid at all costs. This book does good men (and indeed, all of humanity) a disservice.

blimey, Frank, I didn't think there was anyone who hated this shite more than I do

but I was wrong

Hallelujah, I was despairing at the popularity of this book. The more people see it as the dangerous, misogynist rubbish that it is, the better.
And I have not even read it, just hate what I have heard.

AF, you can read the full review, it doesn't pull any punches!

I started reading it on a long-distance flight, to pass the time. Needless to say, I haven't finished it.

The plot is nonsense- at the emotional level of a teenager - and how many 22 year-old university students are virgins?! Yes, Christian Grey's character is abusive, controlling & waving red flags. I find it disturbing that the female character Ana is not respected by him, and effectively abused. A horrible book.

If I'd known more about the book before I bought it......