{
    "id": 329275,
    "slug": "shades-of-grey",
    "nstc": null,
    "title": "Shades of Grey",
    "subtitle": null,
    "collection_title": "Shades of Grey",
    "collection_part_number": "1",
    "annotation": "<p><span><strong>From the bestselling author of&nbsp;<em>Thursday Next</em>&nbsp;&mdash; a brilliant new novel about a world where social order and destiny are dictated by the colors you can see&nbsp;</strong><br />Part social satire, part romance, part revolutionary thriller,&nbsp;<em>Shades of Grey</em>&nbsp;tells of a battle against overwhelming odds. In a society where the ability to see the higher end of the color spectrum denotes a better social standing, Eddie Russet belongs to the low-level House of Red and can see his own color&mdash;but no other. The sky, the grass, and everything in between are all just shades of grey, and must be colorized by artificial means.<br />Eddie's world wasn't always like this. There's evidence of a never-discussed disaster and now, many years later, technology is poor, news sporadic, the notion of change abhorrent, and nighttime is terrifying: no one can see in the dark. Everyone abides by a bizarre regime of rules and regulations, a system of merits and demerits, where punishment can result in permanent expulsion.<br />Eddie, who works for the Color Control Agency, might well have lived out his rose-tinted life without a hitch. But that changes when he becomes smitten with Jane, a Grey, which is low-caste in this color-centric world. She shows Eddie that all is not well with the world he thinks is just and good. Together, they engage in dangerous revolutionary talk.<br />Stunningly imaginative, very funny, tightly plotted, and with sly satirical digs at our own society, this novel is for those who loved&nbsp;<em>Thursday Next</em>&nbsp;but want to be transported somewhere equally wild, only darker; a world where the black and white of moral standpoints have been reduced to shades of grey.</span><span>&nbsp;</span></p>",
    "description": "<p><span><strong>From the bestselling author of&nbsp;<em>Thursday Next</em>&nbsp;&mdash; a brilliant new novel about a world where social order and destiny are dictated by the colors you can see&nbsp;<br /></strong><br />Part social satire, part romance, part revolutionary thriller,&nbsp;<em>Shades of Grey</em>&nbsp;tells of a battle against overwhelming odds. In a society where the ability to see the higher end of the color spectrum denotes a better social standing, Eddie Russet belongs to the low-level House of Red and can see his own color&mdash;but no other. The sky, the grass, and everything in between are all just shades of grey, and must be colorized by artificial means.<br />Eddie's world wasn't always like this. There's evidence of a never-discussed disaster and now, many years later, technology is poor, news sporadic, the notion of change abhorrent, and nighttime is terrifying: no one can see in the dark. Everyone abides by a bizarre regime of rules and regulations, a system of merits and demerits, where punishment can result in permanent expulsion.<br /><br />Eddie, who works for the Color Control Agency, might well have lived out his rose-tinted life without a hitch. But that changes when he becomes smitten with Jane, a Grey, which is low-caste in this color-centric world. She shows Eddie that all is not well with the world he thinks is just and good. Together, they engage in dangerous revolutionary talk.<br />Stunningly imaginative, very funny, tightly plotted, and with sly satirical digs at our own society, this novel is for those who loved&nbsp;<em>Thursday Next</em>&nbsp;but want to be transported somewhere equally wild, only darker; a world where the black and white of moral standpoints have been reduced to shades of grey.</span><span>&nbsp;</span></p>",
    "additional_content": null,
    "bestseller_60": null,
    "imprint": null,
    "language_code": "eng",
    "original_language_code": null,
    "page_count": 400,
    "duration_seconds": null,
    "publication_date_first": "2009-12-29",
    "publication_date_latest": "2009-12-29",
    "cover_url": null,
    "editions": [
        {
            "isbn": "9780670019632",
            "product_form": "BC"
        }
    ],
    "ratings_count": 0,
    "read_count": 0,
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    "favorite_count": 0,
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    "reading_status_want_to_read_count": 0,
    "rating_average": null,
    "ratings_distribution": {
        "1": 0,
        "2": 0,
        "3": 0,
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        "5": 0
    },
    "created_at": "2025-09-19T13:20:36+00:00",
    "updated_at": "2025-11-05T00:27:26+00:00",
    "publisher": {
        "id": 4179,
        "slug": "penguin-us",
        "name": "Penguin US",
        "created_at": "2025-09-19T13:08:37+00:00",
        "updated_at": "2025-09-19T15:10:59+00:00"
    },
    "contributors": [
        {
            "id": 197966,
            "slug": "jasper-fforde-2",
            "key_names": "Fforde",
            "names_before_key": "Jasper",
            "prefix_to_key": null,
            "contributor_role": "A01",
            "readable_contributor_role": "Author"
        }
    ],
    "genres": [],
    "subjects": [],
    "campaigns": []
}