Fifty Shames of Earl Grey

Okay, I know I said I was going to read The Man Who Sold the World next in my last post. Sometimes, I just end up putting the book down for a bit so something else gets read before it (for example, I still plan on finishing the Marquis de Sade book I started ages ago). However, I will not finish The Man Who Sold the World so sorry to you Bowie fans out there. I just could not get into the author's writing. I kept trying and trying but I never even made it past the intro. Anyway, onto the review.

 

Level: Explicit

Genre: Parody

Obtained: Borrowed from a friend

Reviewed by: Nic Echo

Cover:

Hmmm ... not really sure what to say about the cover. Clearly, it's a play of the Fifty Shades covers, which makes sense. Plus, it has nice sense of humour with the tea bag. However, I don't feel like the humour is overdone in the cover.

About the Book:

It's a Fifty Shades of Grey parody. What more do you want?

Rating: 7/10

As the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey grew, the market became filled with material relating to it. Fifty Shames of Earl Grey is one of the many Fifty Shades parodies out there, but what makes this one different than the others? Why read this one out of the hundreds of Fifty Shades parodies out there?

Now, I can't really compare Fifty Shames of Earl Grey to other Fifty Shades parodies out there simply because I have not read them. That's not to say I haven't read anything making fun of the bestselling trilogy (a few snark reviews, a parody fan fiction, and a brilliant chapter by chapter snark by the lovely Jennifer Armintrout), but I haven't really read any other parodies of E.L. James' erotic work (though I use the word erotic lightly here). However, that is not to say I haven't read or seen parodies of other works, which often leave me disappointed. Often times, I feel that the jokes in parodies aren't very creative and are jokes that I've heard in most parodies out there. Now, that's not to say Fifty Shames was completely void of the generic parody type joke, but I felt that the jokes branched out a bit more than your typical sex joke.

Another issues I find in a lot of parodies is that they rely on the same joke and don't branch out more within the original material. I felt that Fifty Shames of Earl Grey did a fantastic job at bringing forth more than just sex (especially in a parody about a book known for its sex). For example, Fifty Shames played on Christian's stalker tendencies and Anna's lack of intelligence. It also pokes fun on how vanilla Fifty Shades of Grey really is and the fact that it started out as a Twilight fan fiction.

The final problem I'd like to bring up when it comes to parodies is that often times it feels like they don't make fun of the feel of the original piece. For example, in the Fifty Shades parody I mentioned earlier, the author has Anna using words like vagina and cock when one of the main issues people complain about is the fact that Anna constantly uses the term "down there" to refer to her sex. Not once in the Fifty Shades trilogy are such crass words used. In Fifty Shames of Earl Grey however, I thought the Merkin stayed in tune with the original work quite well. The characters were more like caritures of themselves, which I think is an excellent thing for a parody.

All together, I found Fifty Shames of Earl Grey a delightful and light-hearted read. What's more is I was not disappointed for a change. It brought forth a variety of jokes that poked fun of a wide array of the Fifty Shades trilogy. I can't say I laughed out loud at the piece, but it certainly brought a smile to my face.

What I'm Reading Next:    

 

I promise this will actually be the next book I review.