HQ | May 2019 | 352 pgs
Source: Library
I'd mixed reactions reading the author's first novel, Sometimes I Lie, but I thought her writing was engaging so I decided to give her next book another try. Regrettably, it turned out this book was much more of a disappointment than her first.
When the book opens, the reader knows that our main protagonist, Aimee Sinclair, is an actress and she is not to be trusted. Although she isn't really a superstar, she's well-known in the industry and have starred in various films. One day after filming, she finds her husband's cell phone and wallet on their dining room table but he's nowhere to be seen. At first she isn't that concerned, after all they'd had a row the night before. However, her nonchalance turns to anxiety the following morning as she realised her cards have been denied and that $10,000 has been withdrawn from her bank account. With the disappearance of her husband, her initial suspect is him but the teller told her it was Aimee herself who closed out the account. Now here comes the unreliable part because Aimee has sort of a memory disorder due to a traumatic childhood. So what really happened to her husband and is she even responsible for his disappearance?
This story is narrated by Aimee between the present day and the past when she was a six-year-old girl. What seemed like a compelling read became a difficult reading route to me because of some disturbing topics. The reader knew she'd had a sad and a difficult childhood but what was later revealed in the end turned out to be too far-fetched and revolting to me. I understand there must be a certain level of "shock value" in psychological thrillers but this is way over the top. The author's writing was good (otherwise I'd have DNF'd it) but I just wished the story shouldn't have gone to that direction.
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- ISBN-13: 9780345803481
- Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
- Publication date: April 2012
- Format: Paperback, 514 pgs
- Source: Personal Library
I am sure many of you must have heard or read some reviews on this trilogy; after all these books are hard to miss, as they are often seen under the best-selling section in the book stores and/or that many readers have read and raved about them. I have to admit I was piqued with curiosity of the hype of this trilogy and thought this is a thriller at first glance of the book cover. I was wrong; this trilogy has nothing to do with mystery or crime but of romance - erotic romance, as the back of the book indicated. Well, I have nothing against erotic romance and a few friends of mine are reading it so I decided to jump on the bandwagon.
Literature student, Anastasia Steele gets to interview a young entrepreneur, Christian Grey, who is brilliant and good-looking yet intimidating at the same time. He intrigues her and despite knowing their difference, Ana wants this man and little does she know that Christian wants her too. However, Christian has secrets and his agenda, but the top of it all is, he has this singular erotic tastes and he wants Ana to be the one for his own dark desires. Ana would then embark on this daring and passionate physical affair but would she be able to resist or consumed by Christian's dark desires towards the end?
The beginning of the story was great; for I felt the sparks of attraction between Christian and Ana. Unfortunately, my interest in the story began to wane towards the middle as I felt it was the same old emotional struggle between the couple throughout the chapters (i.e., Ana gets frustrated over their so-called relationship and after some comments or a few 'jealousy acts' by Christian, they would be back together in bed, again). There was a point where I felt like throwing the book against the wall because I was getting tired of their charade. Also, I felt it was not well-written though it made an easy read to me.
Another thing I think I was not wowed by the story is the stalking and controlling behaviour of Christian. While some readers may think it is kind of romantic to have the hero to stalk and control the heroine, however it is another different story in reality and I hope one would not mix the fantasy in fiction with reality. And you know what, the controlling behaviour in Christian reminds me a lot of a co-worker in my ex-company, though he is not at all good-looking or charming like Christian, ha. This ex-co-worker of mine loved to give (unreasonable) orders and couldn't seem to take no for an answer, and I suppose this is probably another reason why I wasn't impressed with this book, despite all the hype. That said, I have Book 2 and 3 in my TBR pile but I am not in a hurry to read them. I suppose I would wait for my reading mood to strike, and I hope the storyline will get better.
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