Catching up with the rest of the planet (again)...

I've been immersed in a juicing Detox for the last 6 days (only 1 day to go, hurrah!! because it sucks.) And El Husband was away for 4 days, so for distraction I finally decided to see what all the fuss was about and read Fifty Shades of Grey. To be honest I knew precious little about the series, other than EVERYBODY is reading them, and that they are about a dominant/submissive relationship. That's it. That is all I knew. No, I don't know where I have been either. Clearly in some kind of children-coma. However, I have now rectified the situation and as EL James would say- and does many many times in the books- Oh my...

From what I could see they are essentially Bella's story had the Cullens not been in town when she moved in Forks. There are many similarities to Twilight in the story and characters, also in various lines and scenes too. The apparent winning formula is the same; Clumsy pretty girl, who perceives herself as average wins heart of tormented Adonis with dangerous secret. In contrast to Twilight though, Fifty Shades is the X-rated version -  not just laced but saturated with extremely detailed sex scenes. E L James either knows her stuff or is a very thorough researcher.  I stormed through all three in the space of three days, which I guess is a review in itself. Makes you wonder though as a writer whether, commercially, the formula is the key? That would make me a little sad if it were true.

I don't just think it'll be the book industry that gets a helpful lift from this series, and given the current economic climate who can begrudge that? Methinks there’s going to be a run on silver eggs at Christmas...