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

Ohh my.. what a disaster

What would have made Fifty Shades of Grey better?

A different write perhaps? Or a whole new story or a completely different plot.

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

Not write it.

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

Irritation, anger, felt like throwing things

Good Book, Narrator not for me!

great book but I was not a fan of the narrator. Think I am going to buy it again but sample narrators a little more!

If you like narrators, look elsewhere

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

Jennifer Ikeda (sp)

Any additional comments?

This is one of the worst narrators I have heard yet. The electronic voice is more enjoyable and talented than I found her to be. TERRIBLE!!

WOW!!!!!! Never thought it would be this bad

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I really had a tough time with this book it did not flow and I couldn't get into it. I didn not know where it was going. After a 5 chapters if I am not intersted then it's a waste it time. Don't believe the hipe of this book it is really bad.

If I hear the word "murmur" one more time...

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

if I wasn't so curious about the book, the narrator and the word "murmur" would have caused me to put this book down for good. This definitely plays to women's subtleties but the s&m is a bit too much.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I couldn't finish it

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

i found her voice to be annoying with an awkward cadence

Was Fifty Shades of Grey worth the listening time?

definitely not

ok book, lame reader

What disappointed you about Fifty Shades of Grey?

reader sounded like a whiny pre-teen. for an extreamly adult oriented book; readers voice sounded too young. main character was 21 years old, but reader sounded 12 years old. this is off putting because the book is basically a porno. also when the reader reads the male parts her "man voice" was unconvincing at best.

What do you think your next listen will be?

not sure

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

becca battoe probably would have been great if she had used her "big girl voice", as opposed to the voice of a child.

What character would you cut from Fifty Shades of Grey?

maybe none, the story was very easy to follow. if it had been a more complicated read perhaps some cuts would have been in order.

Any additional comments?

this book is a ok chick flick, at best

steamy but not great writing

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The story was a cute love story, but not the best written book of all time.

"Oh my" this is terrible!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

If it was a different book, written by a different author, read by a different narrator. I occasionally make myself read something popular just for cultural reference, but this was pure garbage.

How could the performance have been better?

In Becca Battoe's defense, the text she's reading is ridiculous. How much can you polish a turd?

Any additional comments?

If this book didn't have the BDSM element to give it hype, no one would have read it. The writing is appallingly bad. I think it was the 50th "oh my" that made me turn abandon it. Now I'm off to figure out how to delete this piece of poo from my phone and erase the memory of it from my brain.

Who?What?Why?When?

So many people were talking about the book, so I decided to judge for myself. I should have listened to the reviewers. Who would like this? What would they like about it?Why would they like it? When they started, why would they continue reading. She writes about unlikeable characters, make young women look stupid, and needs to get a better vocabulary. It upsets me that this is a best seller, there are so many better books out there.

Bored characters

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I wouldn't use the woman reading it. She makes the characters sound like they are bored.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Ana - she is more like who I would consider myself to be

How could the performance have been better?

The reader could make the characters sound like they are not bored. Maybe use Elizabeth Wiley for future reading....

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Use somebody else to read this please. It would make it so much better. I love the book and couldn't wait to have it on audible and was extremely disappointed with the reader. Sorry, nothing personal I've just listened to enough audibles to know that it could have been so much better:(