Book Club---Fifty Shades of Grey

Alright!  Are you all dying to talk about Fifty Shades of Grey???  I am!!!!  Overall I loved the book.  It was everything I love in a book.  It was easy to read, it caught my attention almost instantaneously, and it was a definite page turner, not to mention the emotions that were evoked from me by the characters and story line ;). 

There were a few things however that annoyed me a little about the book.  The similarities to Twilight by Stephanie Meyer were uncanny.  To me, Fifty Shades was an NC-17 rated version of Twilight.  I jotted down a few of the comparisons...

• The similarities of the main characters.  Ana and Bella, both described as somewhat homely, not caring much for their appearance, and both very clumsy.  Christian and Edward are both incredibly wealthy, handsome (okay drop dead gorgeous), and with "issues."
• Both Christian and Edward warned Ana and Bella to stay away from them because of said "issues."  Both men warned the ladies that they were dangerous and the women should keep their distance, yet both women ignored the warnings.
• Both Edward and Christian obviously have a "thing" for expensive European cars
• Ana and Bella each lived with their father (or step-father) while their mothers lived several states away (both in a warm climate) with new husbands.
• Both Ana and Bella had a friend who wanted more than a friendship and who made Christian and Edward jealous.  For Bella it was Jacob and for Ana it was Jose.....hmmmm both start with a J ;).
• Both stories took place in the Pacific Northwest

I may have been hyper aware after my husband jokingly told me that Fifty Shades was Twilight for adults but the more I started thinking about it the more I started noticing little details that were very similar.

Another thing that bothered me was Ana constantly bombarding Christian with questions about his past.  I almost felt sorry for him.  He obviously had an extremely traumatic start to his life leading to issues he was always trying to deal with.  I felt like she was being insensitive by not taking it slowly with him telling her his life story.  I really find this funny because I expected to think very poorly of Christian considering the things that he wanted to do to Ana, but I ended up siding with him and getting annoyed and angry at Ana. 

Alright...enough of my babbling.  Your turn!  Please post what you thought about the book!  I have written some questions below to ponder while you post!

• What do you think about Ana's Inner Goddess?  Do you have one?
• Who did you tend to favor....Christian or Ana...or neither?
• What is it about this book that makes it so popular?

 I hope you enjoyed the book and I look forward to next month's book club!  Happy Thursday!

Kristen and Alyse