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- Verified Buyer
This is a semi-blank journal, meant to be written in, based on the FIFTY SHADES OF GREY books. Love them or hate them, one thing all readers agree on is that the FIFTY SHADES books are poorly written. Even the most passionate fans will admit this, claiming that the superior storytelling makes up for the bad prose. I can't imagine why the publishers of this journal would choose to highlight the worst aspect of FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, but that's what they've done.The journal opens with three pages of "writing advice" from E.L. James. It's really self-praise disguised as advice. She goes into great detail about how imaginative she is, always thinking up new stories. She brags about her playlists and her wall of visuals and her notebooks, but offers little to the budding writer. Each page is stuffed with quotes from FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, interspersed with widely-spaced lines. There's not much room to actually write in this journal.Quotes like "Stop biting your lip," and "Holy crap!" are given entire pages of their own. If I didn't know better, I'd think this journal was a parody of its parent book. However, press releases from the publisher say it's meant to be sincere. They're pretending that phrases like "oh my!" and "twitchy palms" and "laters, baby" aren't the accidental repetition of an unskilled writer who didn't copyedit her fan fiction. They are being passed off as catch phrases, or, if you're feeling literary, motifs.No serious writer would be interested in this journal. But writers are not its market. Stamped on the back of the plastic cover are the words, "Fifty Shades of Grey (tm) Official Collection." This journal is a knickknack, like the Christian Grey t-shirts or the handcuff earrings or the other gear that can be bought everywhere from Etsy to the local mall. But unlike collectibles that help fans identify with a beloved character, this one is meant to help fans identify with the author.Themed journals can be fun. And yes, a pretty package might make me want to write more. However, a writer would be far better served by an attractive, blank notebook.You do not have to be an aspiring writer to enjoy this journal. If you are a fan of the 50 Shades Series you will love the excerpts within the journal. This 50 Shades of Grey themed journal is a perfect portable size to fit in your purse yet large enough for you to be productive. You can enjoy this by penning your thoughts for your own novel or your day to day thoughts. Thats the cool thing, you can use this journal how you want and reflect on your favorite "Fifty" titles from time to time thoughout. It does note that it is "official collection" but is clearly not made to sit on a shelf and not be used. I think its perfect. I plan to use this to jot down thoughts and poems. Laters Baby!I saw this book in my neighborhood store today. I nearly ran over peoples toes with my shopping cart to get to it. I couldn't wait to get it in my hands and thumb through it. When I saw that it was a journal and that I could write my thoughts in it I just knew I had to have it. I couldn't wait to get home and see if Amazon sold it and if it was cheaper for my budget. I'm happy to say I just ordered my copy from Amazon. Now I just have to wait for it to arrive in the mail.This journal is beautifully put together. I love the excerpts from the books. It's so beautiful, I haven't even written in it yet. People have given it bad reviews because for some reason, they thought it was a personal journal of either Christian Grey or Ana...which I didn't understand because it's not labeled as such. Thank you E L James for the encouraging words for budding writers.It is very helpful and getting your imagination going with little quotes from book and tips from E.L. on what may or may not inspire you . Love life is really spicing up,This was good if you were expected a journal for yourself to write in but if you thought you were getting a book that continued Fifty Shades or expected to explain what happened in last book until kids were born you wont find it. I am using it to write recipes inI purchased this item not that I will use it but because I'm a great fan of the trilogy and waiting in vain for the movie!!! :)My wife loves to write and she recently fell in love with Fifty Shades of Grey. I knew she would love this journal! When it came in the mail her eyes lite up and she wouldn't turn it loose. It arrived 2 days before hand and the binding had never been cracked on the journal .For a ‘used’ product, the specific journal that came to me was excellent in its condition, not damaged at all or written in, in any way. It was only classified as used as it didn’t come in any protective wrapper and someone has clearly looked at all the pages but it wasn’t roughly handled. Loved the ratio of lined pages to quotes/title pages/extracts. There’s more lined pages which is how it should be, considering it’s a journal to be written in. I highly recommend this for indented written use or collection, well worth every penny.This journal is beautiful,it's a must for a fifty shades fan,the paper is good quality,very impressed overall with it this will look nice with my fifty shades booksArrived this morning and absolutely love it wasn't expecting to receive it so quicklyWHAT. THE. HELL!The majority of the pages are blank, which you'd expect in a journal, and every so often you get a small excerpt from the book or some writing tips or a song she listened to on repeat for inspiration.I think overall there was about 3 "tips for writers." All along the same lines of write for yourself.I'm off to go and fire my shrink now. He is obviously not doing his job properly if he allows me to buy things like this! JUST. KILL. ME. It will be less painful than having to endure the pain of knowing I wasted GOOD MONEY on THIS!It's a journal; good size, pages are lined and there is quotes on some of the pages. I got it for a friend who is crazy about anything "Fifty Shades" as part of her birthday present. She liked it.
