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Many of E L James’s 50 Shades of Grey followers are well
aware that she just released a new book called The Mister. I, however, had no idea and found it while surfing for
a good romance in the Charlotte airport on a long layover that turned into an
even longer delay, so I gave it a go.
EL James is very well known for her 50 Shades of Grey series
and subsequent movies, and I’m willing to bet a vast majority of the Western
World has either seen or read at least one of them. I know I picked up the
first book out of curiosity and was embarrassed and surprised throughout the
entire thing. I continued reading and ended up falling in love with the
characters and their personal growths throughout the story as well as breaking
the bounds on my comfort zone. By the end of 50 Shades, I felt like the story
had everything you could want, but I along with others believe that the first
book is rocky at best. The final two (sorry, but I haven’t read the two from
Christian’s POV… yet) are much better, but they still sat on the edge at times.
After seeing many poor reviews for this book on Amazon, I went into The Mister with a sliver of doubt and trepidation.
Let me tell you, I was wrong! The Mister is now one of my favorite romances, and if I ranked them,
it would definitely hold a spot in the top 8! In the beginning, there were so
many F bombs that I thought it was getting a little extreme, especially in the
first chapter. I’m not sure if I became desensitized to them or if they were
used more sparingly later in the book. Although language is relatively heavy
throughout, it was always appropriate to the story and what was happening.
Early
in the book, a room that our main girl, Alessia, is not allowed to enter comes into the story. At this point, I was annoyed.
Really, EL James, can’t you be a little more creative?? However, to my delight, but I’m sure others’ dismay, this secret room
is not equivalent to the highly regarded ‘Red Room.’ The way it is teased, I
really thought that was exactly what it was going to be, but James surprised
me. Kudos! to her, because I had a good laugh when I realized she had tricked us
all!
This book is mostly told from Maxim’s point of view,
although we had a good amount of content from Alessia. James did a great job
with character development of both of the main characters as well as our side
line characters who I’m sure will play larger roles in any future books this
story produces. I had a love-hate relationship with our broody, rich, and promiscuous
Maxim in the beginning. This quickly turned into a love-love relationship! Alessia
is a brave, strong, and loveable woman who has been through experiences most of
us fear. I felt connected to Alessia and Maxim’s story and am invested in their
outcome. At the end of the book we are left with a bit of a hanger that leaves
room for continuation of the story; however, if could very well be the end of
the tale. I love E L James’s way of tying up loose ends and fully completing a
story, like she did with 50 Shades of Grey, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed!
James touches on tough subjects like sex trafficking, grief,
and suicide that truly pulled on my heart strings, but had so much joy and love
I felt lighter after finishing the book. This novel was well written and well
developed, without holes or rough patches! It does switch between 3rd
and 1st person at scene change, but it actually liked it. This
romance digs deeper and gives us a story that can fully absorb our minds and
hearts. It truly has everything I want in a romance. I am exceptionally
impressed and hope for more on Alessia and Maxim!
In response to so many bad reviews I read on Amazon, I want
to add that this book is not like 50 Shades of Grey in respect to BDSM. So if that’s
what you want, you will not get it with this book (which I found refreshing). However, it is a 'Provacative Romance' like her website says. Also, I’m not sure why people found the characters dull, I did not in the
least.
P.S. EL James on the off chance you read this (I’m well
aware the likelihood is incredibly slim): I do wish for a Albanian translation
guide to Alessia’s favorite phrases. Then I don’t have to keep looking them up
hoping I’m finding the right thing, and so I know exactly what she is trying to
say! Zot! (I hope this means ‘God!’
because that’s what I found…)
For The Reader:
Romance: Heavy sexual scenes
Language: Heavy language
Violence: minimal domestic violence, some gun use and
fighting, kidnapping violence
Triggers: Sex-trafficking, attempted rape(not graphic), mention
of suicide and grief, domestic violence, kidnapping
My comment: I think EL James did a fantastic job with the
sensitivity of the triggers mentioned above and none of them are exceptionally disturbing.
None of them are reasons to avoid this book, in my opinion.
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