** spoiler alert ** 
 This book was highly recommended by several people whose judgement I would generally trust, so I was really looking forward to it and had high expectations. Unfortunately, having finished it, my overall impression is meh. 
 We are introduced to Christian Grey and learn that he was an abused child who developed an interest in BDSM as a way to deal with his childhood trauma. Christian doesn't do traditional relationships; he doesn't share a bed with anyone; he doesn't like being touched and he certainly doesn't 'make love'. His childhood experiences have shaped him into what he is, and he obviously hasn't come to terms with them, since he's been seeing a shrink for many years. Yet, despite this, within days of meeting Ana, he's sharing the intimacy of 'vanilla sex', sleeping beside her & doing Meet the Parents. He needs to be the Dom control freak when the author wants a hot sex scene, but at other times he's just your regular gazillionaire with a Blackberry. It felt false. A person with abuse issues doesn't do an overnight 180 on their outlook, no matter how 'bewitched' they might feel. I wonder if the author felt she had to have a reason for Christian's tastes that would be palatable to the reader. I would have found his change of heart toward Ana to be far more believable if he'd been portrayed as just your regular ole kinky bastard who gets off on spanking women. 
 And as for Ana, she was just tiresome. The dialogue about her inner goddess might have been entertaining if it'd been used once or twice, but after the twentieth time, it was just yawn-inducing. I could understand why Ana went along with Christian at first, as people in love do crazy things to please their partner all the time. However, as she continued to play along, despite huge misgivings, I lost all sympathy for her. Ana, you're not a Sub, but you are becoming a victim. I almost cheered for her when she left him in the end, but having read some other reviews, I understand she goes back in the next book. Lame. 
 I felt there was no emotional depth to these characters. Christian's behaviour was inconsistent, and Ana was just a drooling fangirl. As she went on and on about how gorgeous and perfect he was, I found myself thinking "Well of course he's a beautiful billionaire. Of course he's got a helicopter and a private jet." Let's pull out all the cliches, why don't we. (It would be really nice to read a book once in a while with an overweight, butt-ugly rich guy as the love interest.) 
 If the next book were perhaps written from Christian's POV and showed him dealing with the aftermath of his breakup with Ana, and coming to terms with some of his inner demons, I might have given it a shot, but since it seems to just be more of "Ana goes for a spanking", I think I'll pass.