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

Really? What's the fuss about?

Would you try another book from E. L. James and/or Becca Battoe?

Probably not.If this is "mommy porn" it's for a much, much younger mommy . . . like a twenty year old. Becca's delivery was fine. She sounded like the naive college student she was meant to play.

What could E. L. James have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I'm all about sexual tension but it was way into Chapter 4 and the couple had yet to even kiss! All the hype about the "heat" . . . I got tired of waiting for the action to begin. Also, the main character kept asking herself questions. It became a bit tedious. And, if her roomate said, "I think he really likes you" one more time! Enough! I quit listening before Chapter 5.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The narrator did a good job of portraying the character.

What character would you cut from Fifty Shades of Grey?

Where do I start?

Disappointed

Would you try another book from E. L. James and/or Becca Battoe?

This was a big disappointment for me. I am obviously in the minority, I just did not like the book at all. The narrator was not very believable which may have been part of the problem, but I really did not find the idea good either. I did not like the book at all. I would never put myself in the situation to be a submissive first of all.
I much prefer a much different life style then this.

Would you ever listen to anything by E. L. James again?

Probably not

How could the performance have been better?

She was just not believable. I did not like the narration.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment

Any additional comments?

Don't waste your money. I don't feel to know how the book ends so I won't buy the other books.

Dislike Narator

What disappointed you about Fifty Shades of Grey?

I loved reading the book but can not stand he narrator in this audio version. Super disappointed by that.

Would you ever listen to anything by E. L. James again?

YES

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Becca Battoe?

Not sure but someone who sounds older thank 12, the fluctuation this was read with was awful. I could not get past minute 5 and want to return this book.

Big words but no real substance.

I understand that this is a first book in a series but I would have liked to go deeper into the characters. I found the characters doing some bad acting for each other with no real emotions behind their words. Hey, baby always came across as forced or not a true feeling. Maybe the next books go deeper into the emotions and the substance that make up Ana and Christian.

Bad, but I kept going anyway

What would have made Fifty Shades of Grey better?

The story was so weak and their was sex every other minute, it got so old. There was no build up to all of that sex and no story to speak of. I did listen to all 3 books, but other than the intreaging subject matter, I couldn't tell you why. Curiosity of the unknown. She did put a more positive spin on this world I knew nothing about.

What could E. L. James have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

More story is what this series really needed.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I never listened to exotica before and don't know what the narrator could have done better, it was the story that is the main problem.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

This book did keep me curious to know about the different experiences to come and I continued for that reason only.

Any additional comments?

I wondered what all the excitement was about and bought this series before I took note of the reviews and only after I was half way through did I go back and read the reviews which matched my opinion. I will be much more careful in the future to read reviews.

A sappy romance novel

I expected a more adult book with some substance and depth. Although the story was intriguing, it was written in an embarrassingly teen-dreamy style. My husband and I were listening to it together on a driving trip an gave up and quit about 1 1/2 hours into it. Not a great introduction to audible listening.

How old was she?

Predictable and poorly written. The thoughts/words of the main character could "sounded" as if they were coming from a high school freshman not a college graduate. .

Like looking at a horror you can't look away from.

I read the whole trilogy because I found it so comical and silly, I couldn't stop reading it. It made me laugh and have so much fun discovering the utterly rediculous plot line, I just had to read the next to books. It was like reading a sketch performance of Saturday Night Live or Mad TV. Darkly cheesy.

Needs a new Narrator

Would you try another book from E. L. James and/or Becca Battoe?

Yes to E.L. James
Hell No to Becca Battoe, unless she was reading a book on valley girls, then it would be a great fit.
She was way too Valley girlish and made Christian and Anna sound ridiculous. I was actually nice in giving her 1 star.

Would you recommend Fifty Shades of Grey to your friends? Why or why not?

Not the audio version of it.

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

Nothing I'm afraid. She made the book unbearable to finish.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The book would have been great if you had a better narrator.

Any additional comments?

Redo it with a better narrator and let me try again.

What’s all the hype about

This book just made me angry. I wondered from the beginning why the protagonist is written to be such a pushover and let’s herself be taken advantage of. Nothing redeeming about this book. It’s just shock value I think, and not a very good story or interesting characters.