Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James Review

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From Goodreads: When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind - until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time. 

The unworldly, innocent Ana is shocked to realize she wants this man, and when he warns her to keep her distance it only makes her more desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her - 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 adoptive family – Grey is man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a passionate, physical and daring affair, Ana learns more about her own dark desires, as well as the Christian Grey hidden away from public scrutiny.

Can their relationship transcend physical passion? Will Ana find it in herself to submit to the self-indulgent Master? And if she does, will she still love what she finds?

Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

Rating: 2/5

Plot: 3/5

Characters: 2/5

Ending: 4/5

Underdeveloped characters led to cliche writing. The plot was clearly the main focus. I gave the ending a better rating because I was glad it was over. Maybe it's because the world of modern BDSM is new to me, but it all seemed so fake and unreal. The plot was interesting to me because it was new (the only reason I read the other 2 books in the series). Like I said, though, because the plot was the focus, everything else suffered: Anastasia was too dumb and unrealistically inexperienced for my taste; her character was developed based on what fit the inane story. Christian's back story seemed convenient and over-dramatized at the wrong times, and not talked about at the appropriate times.

No sane woman would stay with this man, especially Anastasia who is portrayed as strong and independent, her only "flaw" being her inexperience. And I don't think alone would cause her to fall in the arms of Christian Grey. She may see something in him she trusts and wants to believe in but the way her thought process works doesn't mesh with the way her character is written.

This is basically just a book if you want a thrill and you can easily skip to the good, naughty parts.

A Season of Eden by J.M. Warwick Review

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From Goodreads: He's my teacher. I shouldn't be alone with him. But I can't help that he's irresistible. 

I let the door silently close at my back. He stared at me, and a taut quiet stretched between us.

"I like hearing you play," I said, moving toward him.

He turned, in sync with my slow approach. He looked up at me but didn't say anything. I rested my clammy hand on the cold, slick body of the baby grand. "May I?"

The muscles in his throat shifted, then he swallowed. "Eden."

My knees weakened, like a soft tickling kiss had just been blown against the backs of them. "Is it okay?" I asked.

His gaze held mine like two hands joined. He understood what I was really asking.

"Let me stay," I said. "Please."

"You're going to get me in trouble," he said.

Rating: 2.5/5

Plot: 4/5

Characters: 3/5

Ending: 3/5

I read this book a while ago so I apologize if it's not too detailed but I do have a great memory. I had high hopes for this book: I got it free from the author (who is a very sweet person btw) and was so excited to read it because I have read books about student-teacher relationships and I admit, I do like books that go into touchy subjects, but it was more...I guess clean than I was hoping for.

But I got past that and tried to clear my head and focus on the story. Problem was, the writing was not up to par. If I was reading this maybe 5 years ago, I wouldn't have noticed but I guess I'm used to more interesting writing. It passed to tell the story but held no interest. After the almost lyrical writing of Maggie Stiefvater and Ellen Hopkins prose, I think I've been spoiled. I probably wouldn't have even noticed as much if the story was more interesting. I felt like I was more in Eden's head and listening to her thoughts than actually being with her while she lives her life. Eden is going through some tough times and I feel like they weren't explored enough: Eden was written so cliché and her emotions were warranted but she was either to emotional and quick to recover or not emotional at all and her actions made no sense. She could have been more believable if her past was explored more and the writing was better.

Now, the relationship with her teacher. I felt their connection within the writing but then when I had a moment away from them, I would wonder what they really had in common. It seemed like she was just looking through him the whole time because she needed something to hold on to. She wanted something different. Which is okay, but she never comes to realize it. And if their connection was real, I would have liked more content of their relationship. After all, you can't give your characters such strong feelings for each other and not show more about how they developed.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book unless you're bored and have nothing else around. It;s not terrible but I don't think it;s worth the time.