Alicia

Yes I must have some masochist tendency's as I tortured myself through the whole series - audible even! Mainly to see if the author and narrator could possibly be so consistently bad through to the bitter end.


My emotions? Frustrated there was no improvement in the writing skills of the author or narration skills of the reader. Disappointment that Ana never matures from her naive, malleable and subservient behaviors. There are times throughout the series that Ana thinks she's acting strongly and standing up defiantly for herself, against Christian, to protect her civil rights. What a bunch of horse pucky! It's sad how she so deludes herself. There are specific items/actions she considers deal breakers but will debase herself for the other 98% of time. She lets Christian roll over her like a freight train, coming and going. I lost track of the times she's trying to figure out how "not to make him so mad or so upset" - over and over. She constantly supplants her own needs for his wants and desires.

The book is grand example of how abusive and controlling behaviors can be exhibited and some classic victim thinking to go along with it.

I struggled through the first couple chapters, wondering how on earth Grey became a worldwide best seller. I ground my teeth at the poor opening introduction scenes and choppy voicing. Numerous times I stopped my finger from jamming the OFF button, mostly due to curiosity. I couldn't decide which was grating on my nerves worse - the writing or the narrating. I finally decided that it was both but by then, I wanted to see where the story went and what others found so exciting about the story.

To me, the prose and wording of the story plays out like a bad B movie. In the hands of a better writer, the characters and story could have been riveting. I ended up finishing the book (fast fwding some) because I was intrigued by Mr. Grey. I wanted to find out what happened in his past that warped his ability to emote, love and interact with others. The altruistic romantic in me won out because I wanted to know if he was repairable (if he could change).

Can't say I cared what happened to Anastasia in the story. There was too much shallowness and low esteem built into her character. So, I lost patience with her in this story. I'm eighty percent of the way through this book and I find Anastasia's roommate and Grey's brother (Elliot) more likeable and interesting than Anna herself.

The intro to BDSM was interesting - probably the real reason why this is a best seller. This subject of erotica isn't usually found on the best seller list so the sex parts were thought provoking and yes, voyeuristically exciting.

Even though I didn't want to read the next story, I didn't find this so bad I wouldn't read the next book (library though). However, I'll READ it instead of suffering through another round of the narration.

Most interesting is whether Mr Grey is going to turn out to be a real stinkbomb or if he's going to turn into a worthwhile guy who is just "kinky" by "normal" standards.

Least interesting/most irritating? Yet another all too handsome, all too cocky, all too rich, all too irresistible, all too egotistical male who is the prime character.

Geez, where do I start? Toss the young valley girl inflections for the twenty year olds. Read, read, read your story first and be better prepared for where the story line is going. Especially at the beginning - the sentences are so choppy and short and staccato. Inflection of voice and pacing doesn't match the story line very well in many places. Hopefully with time and experience she'll improve.

I really don't know, the author doesn't give us a very large world of characters to work with. This is part of the problem.

Yes. The story could have been so much richer if we'd gotten to know more about the family and friends of the two main characters. More background on them, their motivations and their thoughts would have helped deepen the mystery around Mr Grey. Maybe that's another reason why this novel seems to come off as just another soft porn sex read without a lot of substance.

Kagawa - not again. Andrews the narrator - sure.

Not if this is typical of her writing style and characters. I didn't care for the overall feeling of depression and moroseness which seemed (to me) to permeat the story. The prince's character just kept reminding me in way of Thomas covenant (the unbeliever series).

I ended up fast forwarding through chapters a number of times and wishing the story would get more interesting. I have not read any of the other books in the series and have no desire to do so now.

I wasn't thrilled with the narrator's versions of the characters but not sure how much of that is due to the book itself. I'd give the narrator another try.

For me - no. For those who've read the previous books, probably. It continues the story of Megan and Ash (sp?). Though 90% is about Ash and his personal issues.

Glad I got this one sale :)

I LOVE Dick Hill, he's one of my all time favorite narrators. However, even he can't always save a story. As for Andrew, I may try the second book to see if the story line improves. Usually just because I want to see what happens to the main character.

I'm only halfway through the story so far but overall, it's mostly because I'm not getting emotionally invested in the main character. I really don't know much about what he's thinking or what his real motivations are. Nor am I crazy about the mysterious subversive conflict w/ his Dad. I kept having a download issue w/ Audible for the second half of the story. I almost decided to bag it entirely and move on to another book. But I'm persistent and curious so I tried one last time.

I could give you several from other books, but not this one. Not his fault though....

That's part of the problem, I'm not emotionally connecting with the character or the story line very well.

This is the first book I've read by this author. The story line looked interesting and I'm always looking for a new series. For me, the characters were too predictable, a little shallow and the whole story was pretty cliche through out. I wanted to fast forward a number of times whenever I lost patience with the writing style.

I didn't care for this book because the characters lacked depth and I didn't like the narrating/editing on this book. Nothing about the characters dragged me down into the story or made me want to emotionally invest myself into their situations. Still, I wanted to know what happened to the Arcane society so I hung in there to the end. If the next book in the series is like this, I'll give up.

I struggled the most with the narration style and editing of this book. The editing during conversations between characters sounded choppy and far from fluid. It sounded like the parts were read separately and pasted together, instead of being a fluid conversation. There were too many times when both narrators sounded like very bad actors reading a bad play.