If you’re not familiar with the premise by now, the original trilogy series follows the impressionable and naive soon-to-be college graduate Anastasia Steele and her budding romance with the impossibly gorgeous billionaire Christian Grey.
Announced only June 1, the new book, simply titled “Grey,” is essentially the same exact book as the original 2011 title “Fifty Shades of Grey,” but with a twist!
This time, instead of being told from the perspective of the virginal Steele, women get to read the exact same story from the much dirtier, kinkier mind of Christian Grey.
Since women basically fawn over Grey — the Universal Pictures adaptation made over $569 million worldwide at theaters — the idea is that women want to hear filthy juicy tidbits from the mind of the mysterious billionaire.
To date, the series has sold over 125 million copies worldwide. Business Insider was sent a a review copy a day ahead of its anticipated release. I eagerly volunteered as tribute to start reading through the book.
After all, when the initial series first came out, I was declared the “Fifty Shades of Grey” expert. (You can decide whether or not that’s a good title to have.) I was the only one who openly admitted to reading all three books in the series, and didn’t really care what anyone thought.
Fifty Shades Of Grey
The Christian who Ana described in the original book? She was seeing that guy through rose-colored glasses. And, who can blame her? She’s a 21-year-old getting wined and dined and is being sent rare first-edition copies of books from this billionaire who has randomly taken interest in her. In the original 2011 book, it’s like something out of a Cinderella story … with bondage.
It’s clear early on in “Grey” that Christian is seriously 50 shades of messed up, as the character famously says — in a somewhat more vulgar vernacular — in the original title.
When reading the first few chapters, it’s evident that all he wants to do is get in Ana’s pants.
After their initial meeting during an interview Ana conducts, Christian absolutely must know more about her, so, naturally, the resourceful billionaire that he is, he gets a background check on her (definitely boyfriend material).
When he discovers her place of employment in a hardware store, he heads there to pick up a few things just to see her again. Showing up to a girl’s place of employment after you run an illegal background check on her isn’t sweet, it’s really creepy. Universal
Here’s how that visit goes.
When he first sees her he tells her it’s “a pleasure” to see her again. Meanwhile, he’s thinking:
A real pleasure. She’s dressed in a tight T-shirt and jeans, not the shapeless s— she was wearing earlier this week. She’s all legs, narrow waist, and perfect t—.
At one point, he allows Ana to walk ahead of him. The gesture isn’t to be a gentleman, but so he can size her up to see if she would make a good submissive to his dominant in the bedroom.
Letting her walk ahead gives me the space and time to admire her fantastic ass. Her long, thick ponytail keeps time like a metronome to the gentle sway of her hips. She really is the whole package: sweet, polite, and beautiful, with all the physical attributes I value in a submissive. But the million-dollar question is, could she be a submissive? She probably knows nothing of the lifestyle—my lifestyle—but I very much want to introduce her to it.
