Book Club January 2020- The Mister
By: E. L James
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: Vintage
Pages: 503
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): London, 2019. Life has been easy for Maxim Trevelyan. With his good looks, aristocratic connections, and money, he’s never had to work and he’s rarely slept alone. But all that changes when tragedy strikes and Maxim inherits his family’s noble title, wealth, and estates, and all the responsibility that entails. It’s a role he’s not prepared for and one that he struggles to face.
But his biggest challenge is fighting his desire for an unexpected, enigmatic young woman who’s recently arrived in England, possessing little more than a dangerous and troublesome past. Reticent, beautiful, and musically gifted, she’s an alluring mystery, and Maxim’s longing for her deepens into a passion that he’s never experienced and dares not name. Just who is Alessia Demachi? Can Maxim protect her from the malevolence that threatens her? And what will she do when she learns that he’s been hiding secrets of his own?
What I thought
To be honest, I was a bit shocked that this book was picked. Not because it’s a romance novel, but because of the author. And also, the person who picked it doesn’t tend to like raunchy reads, so that surprised me too.
Now, to be completely frank, I was also not excited that this book was picked. But it’s the first pick of 2020 for book club and I wasn’t going to miss it in any way.
If you are unaware, E.L. James is the author that wrote the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy. Now, I do remember reading them but that was about 8 or 9 years ago. I don’t remember disliking them, but I do remember not thinking highly of the writing and not getting the hype behind them. Suffice to say, I never had the desire to read anything more by James ever again.
The Mister follows Maxim, an English Lord, and Alessia, his Argentinian cleaner. Obviously, they fall in love and they each have their own tragedies and have a bunch of sex. That’s basically the book.
I was reading a review on Goodreads, since I like read when other people dislike things as much as me, and they said “This is a 150 page story told across over 500 pages” and I have never felt something so hard. That pretty much sums up this book. Strip away the terrible (horrible) writing, there is no story. This is a novella at m and there are so many scenes that could’ve been cut. I mean, 50% of the book is sex scenes for the sake of having sex scenes.
I’m thankful that this was the book I brought on a 2 ½ hour flight, since it forced me to read about half of the book. I will say, the second half was a lot more tolerable than the first, because things actually happening other than them looking at each other and fantasizing about how they wish the other person would be in love with them but, of course, that would NEVER happen. The second half (or maybe even just the final quarter) was the only reason I didn’t completely hate this book. There were some semi-redeeming plot points that at least made the read enjoyable and easy to finish.
What Book Club Thought
Thank goodness everyone was on the same page with this one. No one liked this book, although some disliked it less than others. One of the biggest complaints was how unlikeable both of the characters were. Logan, who picked the book, specifically said that she dislikes weak women which is Alessia in a nutshell. Maxim also doesn’t have many redeeming qualities and we definitely discussed how Stockholm Syndrome-y this situation is.
If you must, go ahead and read this book. But don’t expect anything from it other than a nothing story with terrible writing. There are so many other romance novels that are much better and I feel like James’ books give romance novels a bad name. If you are looking for a good romance novel, let me know. I could easily give you many better recommendations. Don’t bother with this one.