Every time I got on the subway over the summer I saw someone reading this book. "FIFTY SHADES OF GREY" seemed to be following me. This caused me to read mixed reviews online and decide that I would wait just a little longer to really see if I wanted to spend time/money on this book. I finally broke down a couple weeks ago and bought it (due to there being over 100 holds on it at my local library).

This novel, by E.L. James is about a college student named Anastasia who meets an older and rich man, Mr. Grey, whom she starts a relationship (somewhat) with. Unknown to her at first, he is into some more intense forms of sex, that being BDSM. This book is about her introduction into some elements of dominance and submission and also the relationship that exists, or doesn't exist, between her and Mr. Grey.

Before reading this I had read all the positive and negative reviews of this book, so I thought I knew what I was getting into. I was not entirely correct.

I guess my first real issue with this book is the lack of real BDSM sex. I understand that this was written more to the general world and not to people who consider themselves erotica fanatics. I just wish the sex scenes were better in regards to what they did, I was slightly bored. This is not to say that everyone will have this issue. If you have read any of my other book reviews, then you can see that I like my erotica on the more intense side.

Another issue that I had with the sex scenes was that Anastasia's inner monologues were distracting for some reason. If you are trying to focus on the sex (as I am of course)this "talking" kind of kills the mood. I have read reviews about other people getting tired of Ana talking about her "inner goddess" the entire novel, but I only found this annoying when it interfered with the sex scenes.

Due to the storyline, I would recommend this for those who like more romance and less erotica in their books. If I had gone into this expecting a simple romance with a man who had some big "secret" then I would have rated it higher.

I found this to be an easy and relaxing read, I was able to read it over my 2 days off. At over 500 pages, I had thought it would be tougher to get through (due to the reviews that I have read about how bad the book was).

As most people know this book is the first in the Trilogy. It leaves off in a way that kind of made me want to see if things get more intense in the next book, but I am not too sure how much I want to get Fifty Shades Darker. Have no fear, I WILL review the next book if I decide to read it.

Overall I am glad I satisfied my curiosity about whether or not this would be a good book, but I do wish it was better and had more variety and intensity in the sex scenes (with less inner dialogue of course).