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

Can't get past the narration

I purchased the first and last book of this series on Audible before I had listened to the sample of the book. When I finally did try to listen to the book I couldn't get past the narration. Becca Battoe sounds like a little girl and it felt sick and wrong to listen to her talk about Gray touching her "down there".

I ended up purchasing these books to read on my nook and joyed it much more.

Holy Cow - this is pathetic

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

I am simply appauled at how shallow and inane this book is. My daughter loved it and that shocked me because she's a pretty intellegent woman. It seems I failed to teach her the difference between well written literature with an erotic flavor and just plain garbage. It's not even that the extremes of the erotica bothered me but the dialog is trite and inane. Since I couldn't get half way through it, I can only hope it got better. If you want to read some stimulating erotica, read "Lady Chatterly's Lover," "Fanny Hill," or "Forever Amber." Try some of Diana Gabaldon's books. At least you might learn something about history and about decent writing if you do. The narrator made Ana sound like she was 13 and just finishing middle-school. All I can say is, "E.L., use some that money to take a writing course." So sorry I wasted my credit on this. It's so light weight, it floats on its own.

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

Learn to write and start over

How could the performance have been better?

Find a new narrator.

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

All of the above. Anger, that our education system is turning out people who write so poorly--Sadness that we have dumbed down our educational standards to the point that something like this could even get publihed; and disappointed because I was hoping for a good, stimulating and intellegent read.

Save 20 hours of your life for a better book

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

Better narration and better writing.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Something that hopefully won't turn my brain to mush, like this book did.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Her tone was that of a confused, young woman and she sounded surprised about everything--from the way Mr. Grey wanted her down to the details of the clothing that he wore.

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

Not at all.

Any additional comments?

I tried to give this book a chance and find any "redeeming qualities" that it might possess, but the more I listened, the more I couldn't stand it. The main character is weak, self-deprecating and constantly in a state of confusion. I listened to half of the book and still hadn't reached the material relating to the story's main theme. This is an over-hyped, terribly written book that doesn't deserve a fraction of the attention that it has been getting.

Just Wrong!

I am truly sorry that I read some of this book. I can't even finish it. This is only the second time in my life that I have never finished a book. I guess you get what you deserve when reading erotica like you do watching porn. Just plain crap.

Not good

What disappointed you about Fifty Shades of Grey?

Poorly written. In fact, downright boring. I kept waiting for it to get interesting and half way through I gave up. I don't understand all the hype.

Has Fifty Shades of Grey turned you off from other books in this genre?

Absolutely

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

N/A

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Fifty Shades of Grey?

Rewrite the entire book

This was one of the worst books ever written

What disappointed you about Fifty Shades of Grey?

The reader sounded like a middle schooler and the story was beyond boring.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Certainly something more resembling literature.

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

Anybody

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

annoyance

Any additional comments?

None necessary

Boooo!

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

No I will never read another book by this author or read by this narrator.

What was most disappointing about E. L. James’s story?

The story was written with a repetitive nature that caused a constant bore in listening. The primary character is a college graduate but the book was either not written or not edited by one. The premise of the story is pathetic. I cannot believe that this book is a best seller!

Waste of a Credit

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

A better reader probably would have helped dramatically... as it is, the story felt weak and I couldn't stand the reader and the combination of those two factors made it impossible for me to continue listening past chapter 9.

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

Absolutely not. Ever. She sounds like a shallow teenager.

I hoped zombies would suddenly appear

What disappointed you about Fifty Shades of Grey?

Even zombies don't deserve this- poorly written

Has Fifty Shades of Grey turned you off from other books in this genre?

No because this is not representative of this genre. In fact it's not representative of a book

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

When she attempted a British accent I wanted to stab a fork in my ear

What character would you cut from Fifty Shades of Grey?

The author

Any additional comments?

This is horribly written, there is no good way to put lipstick on this pig. The writer of this mess should be ashamed, poorly researched unimaginative and juvenile. The only thing abused in this book was the English language.

Best seller? I wasted my money

What disappointed you about Fifty Shades of Grey?

I had doubts about this since it is fan fiction for a series I couldn't take seriously. However, the topic had a more adult feel and I was coerced into reading.

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

No.

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

It was uninteresting, juvenile and horribly written.