Review: Bared to You by Slyvia Day

A review on the back cover of Bared to You notes that this is the book that Fifty Shades of Grey could have been and in many respects I have to agree. The parallels between the two novels are many, though Bared to You is (slightly) more sophisticated than its more famous counterpart. Originally self-published in early 2012, Bared to You pretty much hightailed it to the waiting arms of a traditional publisher and the best seller charts thanks to the success of its more famous counterpart.

Bared to You tells the story of two wealthy and emotionally damaged people who meet. Eva Trammel is a wealthy university graduate who moves to New York to escape her interfering mother and the memories of her childhood. Gideon Cross is a billionaire who has some terrible childhood secrets of his own. The pair meet outside Gideon's building, an 'instant' sexual attraction is felt and an unhealthy, obsessive relationship with each other begins. At least this time around, the author seems to have some awareness that the leads characters do not necessarily bring out the best in one another. Still, some of the novels more obsessive moments made my stomach churn a little (such as Gideon building an exact replica of Eva's bedroom so that she would feel more 'at home' when she came to visit him,) as did the fact that the Gideon seemed to have a constant erection throughout the novel. 

There are a lot of heated sex scenes that are well written in comparison to other novels of this type (Day is the author of numerous erotic novels, most of which have now been picked up by traditional publishers,) and all of the characters seem to be reasonably well-rounded. In particular I enjoyed reading about Eva's flatmate and his sexual exploits that always end badly.

Bared to You isn't a perfect book and I think the ending could have been done a lot better, but the story and its telling is enjoyable enough.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I've read some really positive reviews for Day's books but haven't gotten around to reading this one yet. Even though I haven't read FSoG I am curious to read this one as it's thought of a better version. Great review!
1 April 2013 at 09:35
Kathryn White said…
Thank you Lauren.

Bared to You is by far the better version of FSoG. In many ways they are the same story, but the writing and the telling is quite different. We know that Bared to You is set in an almost fairytale version of New York and the characters are all described as being physically perfect, but there is a far more enjoyable fantasy element.
2 April 2013 at 17:21
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