Fifty Shades - "We Deserve Better"

[faithbw]

I have to give it up to those of you who even made it to the sex scenes. I did not. I think I read three chapters before giving up on 50 Shades. The writing was terrible! I felt brain cells dying every time I read the book.

Ana was so annoying. I really hate klutzy women with low self esteem who always berate themselves yet somehow manage to become the center of attention of some hot guy. Bella also fits this molds (which is why I also didn't finish Twilight). Those types of characters belong in chick lit, where at least the plots are sometimes humorous and we're suppose to laugh at the heroine's clumsiness. However, even in those novels, those women can become tiresome if left in the hands of the wrong author.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by faithbw

I have to give it up to those of you who even made it to the sex scenes. I did not. I think I read three chapters before giving up on 50 Shades. The writing was terrible! I felt brain cells dying every time I read the book.

I agree the writing isn't that great but for me it was the repetitiveness of the words and character actions that got on my last nerve. I'll never understand why it's so popular. *shakes head*

I just finished Knight by Kristen Ashley which was said to be like 50 Shades. Now there's a book I wasted money on. It is the worse book I have read and I thought 50 Shades was bad. This one the writing is so bad you will have no clue what the hero is saying. It's like he is a Sim and talking Simish to me. The dialogue is mostly I guess supposedly street talk but it came across to me as gibberish. I wont be buying anymore indie books because this book is the perfect example why we need professional editing. After reading Knight, 50 Shades actually looks really good to me.

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I agree the writing isn't that great but for me it was the repetitiveness of the words and character actions that got on my last nerve. I'll never understand why it's so popular. *shakes head*

I just finished Knight by Kristen Ashley which was said to be like 50 Shades. Now there's a book I wasted money on. It is the worse book I have read and I thought 50 Shades was bad. This one the writing is so bad you will have no clue what the hero is saying. It's like he is a Sim and talking Simish to me. The dialogue is mostly I guess supposedly street talk but it came across to me as gibberish. I wont be buying anymore indie books because this book is the perfect example why we need professional editing. After reading Knight, 50 Shades actually looks really good to me.

now the phrase "a book like 50 Shades" may come to mean that it's a terrible book

besides a lack of editing, one of my pet peeves are authors who write stories that are around 100 pages or less that are series, then they break up each "part" and charge $3.99 for each. pft. i recently borrowed a series like that...and the writing was horrible; cliche, lack of editing, just...*shakes head* when i run into books like that, i just know the author was in it JUST for the money. it's like they're making fools out of the readers.

[xg4bx]

i've heard it said that the literary quality of the actual erotica is equivalent to drunk sexting.

[ProfCrash]

Not true. There is some really good erotica out there

[Asawi]

OK, I admit, I had no idea what this book was about until I saw SNL the other day. There were scenes with masturbating women reading the book. (It's not big at all over here in Sweden)
Then I came across this topic, and my vote was that I wasn't planning on reading it.
Then I browsed through this thread and got curious. "Surely it's not that bad?!" I though. "Found" a copy and, to quote Ana: Holy crap!
I read the first chapter, 15 pages or so, and it was like reading a teen magazine. Did not appreciate that and speed read the rest of the book. Super speed read rather, turning the pages and just giving each a quick glance. That was enough to pick up on the excessive use of "Holy crap" and also quite a few misplaced "Oh my" caught my eye.
Stopped and read through a couple of the sex scenes, and they didn't do much to me. Once again I was back in a teen magazine with the way they were written, and that felt kind of odd considering the S/M/Bondage theme.
This definitely feels like a YA book, with the emphasis on "Y", except I'm not sure I would have liked my daughter reading such a "glossy" book about a young woman letting this man control her.
About a year ago I read an "almost true" story about a S/M relationship and that was shocking and thought provoking at the same time. It really challenged the reader, and it made me rethink my views on this. "Fifty shades..." just makes me shake my head and wonder how come sex still sells so well.

Oh, and I forgot... I will not read the second and third book unless I become a submissive and my dominatrix orders me to. I've never seen myself as very submissive though, but from the "almost true" story I learned that things aren't as clear cut as that, so you'll never know...

[ProfCrash]

What was the name of the almost true S/M book?

[Asawi]

It was in Swedish and I don't remember exactly, but it was something like "Own me", I borrowed it from the library, so I don't have it any more.

[faithbw]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I agree the writing isn't that great but for me it was the repetitiveness of the words and character actions that got on my last nerve. I'll never understand why it's so popular. *shakes head*

That's one of the reasons why the writing is so bad.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by faithbw

That's one of the reasons why the writing is so bad.

Is there going to be some big reveal soon that this book was actually written by a computer that gleaned raw material from the Internet, and the whole thing is some graduate school comp-sci project?

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

The books sell, so the author is obviously doing something right. I doubt I will read them.

Since most books need to be bought before reading, we are unable to accurately gauge whether or not the books are good.

[beautifulsoup]

I voted "female, will not be reading them."

But I'm tempted to try the first one, because of all the horrible reviews - and other websites where I've seen horrible reviews.

And of course, the whole thing about it being a rip-off of Twilight. Or based on it - or whatever. Ah, the intrigue!

[covingtoncat73]

I won't be reading them. I am not really into Romance. I do like some "chicklit" like Sophie Kinsella, that is more on the humor side of things but am more into fantasy, sci-fi, some literary fiction, and some mystery.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by beautifulsoup

I voted "female, will not be reading them."

But I'm tempted to try the first one, because of all the horrible reviews - and other websites where I've seen horrible reviews.

And of course, the whole thing about it being a rip-off of Twilight. Or based on it - or whatever. Ah, the intrigue!

I didn't feel it was anything like twilight. Sure she used character names originally and some similar plot elements but it's very original enough for it to be its own story. Basically you have a rich man who is a sociopath with mommy issues and you have a girl who has self image and self esteem issues. They get together. He controls hers she slightly rebels they fight and have sex. Rinse and repeat. Nothing is resolved and it really fizzles out in the third book. There is nothing special about these books other than a author who has duped many readers.

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

Since most books need to be bought before reading, we are unable to accurately gauge whether or not the books are good.

False. With most books you can download a sample. That should me more than enough to determine whether the book is good enough to buy. Every purchase you make involves a degree of risk. When you try a new dish at a restaurant, you might not like it. No rational person would insist on getting the meal for free and then only paying if you liked it. You don't know for certain if you will like a car before you buy it. That doesn't mean cars should be free. You do get to test drive a car, but that is very small sample. A book sample might be 10-20% of the book, while a test drive is a much smaller sample relative to how long you will use the car. When you buy a house, you only have a small "sample" a couple tours of it.

Books clearly provide more tools for determining if you will like it than do other products.