Fifty Shades of Grey

Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy

By: E. L. James

Narrated by: Becca Battoe

Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

More than 150 million copies sold worldwide.

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.

This audiobook is intended for mature audiences.

Look for E L James’ passionate new love story, The Mister, coming April 16, 2019.

©2011 E L James (P)2012 Random House

Critic reviews

• Finalist, GoodReads Choice Awards, Best Romance

E.L. James delivers

My husband and I listen together, Becca lost us when she attempted men's voices, just read em straight.

Went viral due to Nature of content, not writing

Okay, all women have sexual fantasies; many enjoy reading erotica with a believable storyline and, of course, hot, steamy sex scenes. Kindle, Audible.com, etc. make it possible for people to read/listen to erotica in public without others seeing the title or suggestive book cover. I believe this, along with the average person's curiosity about BDSM and D/s, is the only reason Fifty Shades went viral.

The book reads like an author's first attempt (and it is a good attempt) at writing. She does a good job with character development and does have better-than-average writing skills. I appreciate the author's verbiage and seemingly wide-ranging knowledge of American and British literature as well as eclectic taste in music. The way she wrote about literature, music, and especially BDSM, however, felt stilted and studied...not natural. On the flip side, she was obviously more comfortable writing about the dynamics of relationships, friendships, sexual tension, buildup, and release, and her writing style was smooth and flowing. (she just needs a good editor for some of the redundancies!)

If -- If this book were properly and professionally edited, it might be better visually read than listened to.

In my opiion, this particular narrator completely missed the mark. This book may have been better read by a man who can credibly perform women's roles. I almost put the book down a few times due completely to the narration. Maybe I'm being too harsh; audible has me spoiled with some of their brilliant narration performances.

Knowing what I know now, would I spend the credit again? Yes, but with much lower expectations. Looking for well-read sizzling BDSM D/s fiction? Try "A Good Student" by Elliot Mabeuse--after completing the Grey series. Student is slightly more realistic with very, very sexually explicit content.

I am in no way bashing this book. It just does not belong on NYTimes or Audible's top 100 list, much less top 10. So, lower your expectations and have fun listening!

Fifty shades of gray

As far as books of this genre go, the erotic scenes were embedded in the whole story and were done well.

However, in gereneral, the writing quality of the book is quite poor. There are too many unnecessary repetitions that irritate the reader. Also the whole book is like a TV show where you have product placements on the scene. Some parts really sound annoyingly like advertisement.

The narrator was just OK, but she wasn't very successful with the different voices, especially the male ones. I usually was not able to understand who was speaking.

On the whole, I think it is a very sad story. All throughout the book, my dominant feeling was of sadness.

Awesome book.. great reader

was my first time using audible... won't be my last! narrator was expressive and easy to listen to. .. conveyed the book better than I ever could have read it myself

Spectacular!

If you could sum up Fifty Shades of Grey in three words, what would they be?

HOT

What did you like best about this story?

Details

Have you listened to any of Becca Battoe’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

no

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When he stayed the night for the first time with her

Any additional comments?

Must Read!
A cant put the damn book down kind of read...

drug on

What did you like about this audiobook?

The book and story were great, however, I'm not fond of the narrator. She seemed to drag it on and was boring to listen to.

How has the book increased your interest in the subject matter?

somewhat

Does the author present information in a way that is interesting and insightful, and if so, how does he achieve this?

yes

What did you find wrong about the narrator's performance?

Boring and not very enthusiastic.

Do you have any additional comments?

no

Narrator's Voice ruined it for me

What made the experience of listening to Fifty Shades of Grey the most enjoyable?

I did read the series before and although many would read the book for the sauciness (as I did the first time) after a while I was just interested in what was going to happen with Christian and Ana. The trilogy could have been shortened to one book because I feel this was dragged out. I found Christian's story interesting and that is what kept me reading after the first book.

Would you be willing to try another book from E. L. James? Why or why not?

hmmm not sure.

What didn’t you like about Becca Battoe’s performance?

Her voice for this particular book is horrible it's annoying. She does not have a nice voice for the sexy and sensual parts. Her interpretation of a hot man's voice is just disturbing I was annoyed at the performance. She sounds like she is whining when she reads Ana's part. I think maybe a man to narrate the book would be better. I say that because the most important character in this book is Christian and he is the one you want to hear whisper or say sensual things.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I like the title as is.

Sweet Story of love.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, it was a very sweet story.

What did you like best about this story?

Ana's innocence made it more real than if she was an older woman or more experienced woman. I loved that she is intelligent and didn't allow herself to become swept up in his world. Well, she didn't totally allow herself to become swept up.

Which scene was your favorite?

This was the best of the 3 books. I loved the e-mail exchange. It's such a simple thing, but I felt it was so sweet.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes. I was shocked, amazed, and laughed at the e-mail exchanges. Such as sweet story.

My review

Narrator made me feel I was in a movie. Really liked the speech and intensity.

Loved It!!!!

Where does Fifty Shades of Grey rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Ranked number one

What other book might you compare Fifty Shades of Grey to and why?

Say You Love Me because of the sensual plot

Which scene was your favorite?

Anastasia's first glimpse of the playroom. Christian's reaction was dumbfounded and comical

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed and cried both.

Any additional comments?

I will more than likely get the last two books in the trilogy.