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

Excellent!

Everything about this book is breathtaking.. the story, delivery, the narrator. I loved it! It is a must to listen to.

Hooked

i binged listened to Fifty Shades, couldn't get enough of it. was a great pick. got me hooked that i cant wait to listen to book two and three.

Disappointed. Needs to be read by man & woman.

What did you like best about Fifty Shades of Grey? What did you like least?

Christian Grey and Ana's love story!!! The narrator I like least. I'm sure she's a lovely person but I didn't like the way it was read.

What did you like best about this story?

I like how you see them have a give and take in their relationship. With love and care on each part

How did the narrator detract from the book?

She was boring and the book was in my opinion read in one note (tone)

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

They have to have the right character for Christian Grey. VERY IMPORTANT!!! Or else the movie will not be good. Plus it really has to be a strong R rating to be good. Any less it will take away from the whole story. Can't be "politically correct", needs to be like real life. I will go see it probably because I fell in love with all the books but am afraid to be disappointed by who will play Christian and even Ana. If the characters chosen to play do not fit right I might not see it.

Amazing !!!!

The story was read very well. Becca made Anastasias character come to life. Very pleased.
Fifty shades Darker and Fifty shades Freed were also just as good. Well done!

Love it

I love this story and the narrator does a great job. Once I got used to her voice. I could picture it all and I am not unpleased!

Valley girl.

I really enjoyed listening to this book but I have to say the narrator sounded too Valley girl for a small town Washington girl. I will continue the trilogy though. Thank you for making this audio book.

Yay

Loved loved loved it loved it loved it loved it!

Loved! Loved loved! Can't wait for the next one!! Yay!

Now I get it.. why the lusterfree reviews

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator for the audible book SUXS. She sounds like a girl doing a 'guy' voice, no smooth transition so as you can imagine she deflates the sexy scenes. I would have preferred someone better or a guy voicing that character which I know doesn't happen often for audible books but I definitely have heard better. Also the multiple references to Twilight was a bit annoying and made me wonder if she even realizes she's doing it. Grant it I LOVE Twilight I don't need to see it in the 50 shades book.

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

If you read that the author was enamored by the Twilight series and were expecting a book with similar pull she missed the mark, at least for me. Her writing style does not flow smoothly like Stephanie Meyer's but in her defense neither does 90% of the authors out there. For me the writing was a bit flat with no real plot kinda like a porn movie. "Blah blah blah blah" and we move onto another sex scene. Seasonings are meant to bring out the flavor in the food. Good food doesn't need to be overwhelmed with seasoning and when they are it's because the food isn't that great to begin with. That's how I feel about this story and the sex scenes. The story line is just something you read between sex scenes. For the next book I've decided to read it instead to see if it helps with the book's flow. Likewise we talked about this books with a couple girlfriends at happy hour and they had similar feelings. The 'love story' is a bit blah and sex scenes (at least in the 1st book) unless you've got a chastity belt on for several years are pretty typical for a couple - minus the room of pain. If all the moms and 40 yr+ out there are devouring this book because of those scenes makes me a bit sad for them because they are missing out.

How could the performance have been better?

The narrator for the audible book SUXS. She sounds like a girl doing a 'guy' voice, no smooth transition so as you can imagine she deflates the sexy scenes. I would have preferred someone better or a guy voicing that character which I know doesn't happen often for audible books but I definitely have heard better.

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

Definitely if Ian Somerhalder is in it :)

Any additional comments?

Debating on whether I should tackle the other 2 books :/

Loved it

I didn't think I'd like a book on tape as much as I do. It was amazingly read along with an addictive story line

Love the Story, HATE the narration.

What did you like best about Fifty Shades of Grey? What did you like least?

The story was great! A must read.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Christian, he is so deep

Would you be willing to try another one of Becca Battoe’s performances?

NO

Was Fifty Shades of Grey worth the listening time?

I would have rather read the book

Any additional comments?

I was so excited when I heard the audio was remastered, however, I was soon VERY disappointed. The narration is dull, unemotional, horrible! I really wish they would have gotten someone much better to narrate this story. I wish I had the time to read the physical book. I'm sure it would have been much better.