Fifty Shades Darker & Fifty Shades Freed [Book Review]

SPOILER ALERT. If you haven't read books 2 or 3 in the Fifty Shades series, you may want to stop here. =)

When I posted my review on Facebook, I got some great feedback. I was worried that people were going to think I was weird for reading "sex" books. But, as I mentioned in my first review, I truly liked the main characters and the story.

I think my Aunt Barb's comment to me really eloquently says what I was trying to say - in far less words. Christian Grey is a damaged soul whose true nature was brought out by Ana.

In Fifty Shades Darker, Ana starts off moving to Seattle to begin a new career. Life after college. Except her best friend, Kate, is off on a family vacation. Ana is alone for five whole days, crying. Sad. Missing her Mr. Grey.  Mr. Grey is equally as overcome with sadness.  After only a week apart, Christian offers Ana a new proposal, far less than the soft and hard limits of the first, with more freedom - more vanilla - and Ana simply cannot refuse. 


As their Rater R affair continues, you get to learn more about the other characters in the book. I loved Christian and Ana, but there is something about Jason Taylor, more commonly known as Taylor, that gets me. He has a job to do, but he's human. James allows Taylor's personality to come through several times during book two and three. 

Jason Stratham, from numerous action movies is my Taylor. He was easy to depict.


In my last review, I showed you my thoughts for Christian. I just realized that I also have a thought on who could play Ana.  Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants)...

Or even Amanda Seyfried. Darken her hair about (Remember, Christian isn't attracted to blondes...)

Why I'm not a Hollywood casting director, I am not sure. And I could go on all day discussing possible characters, but I won't. ;) You're welcome.


Another one of my FAVORITE parts of the books are the emails back and forth between Christian and Ana. They bring a much needed sense of humor, especially when everything is so hot then cold, dark and then light. There is nothing vanilla about their affair, that's for sure.


Leading into book three, Ana starts to learn more about Christian's past - learns the extent of his damage. And we learn more about Mrs. Robinson. Who I hate immediately. I feel EXACTLY how Ana feels about the wicked old woman. Nothing she tries to do to redeem herself is ever enough for me (err, Ana).

In Fifty Shades Freed, you do see a much more free Christian. Even though things will always be somewhat crazy between the two, Ana and Christian are perfect for each other. There is compromise and disobedience on almost every page.Which makes for a great read.

There is one thing I agree with - as said by one of the characters in the book. Ana is a tease. I realize she is young. I realize that she has been shown something she isn't entirely sure of. But, in one sentence she says she wants nothing to do with Christian's past lifestyle and in the next she's asking if they can go into the "playroom." It actually started to annoy me pretty early on.

"Let's use the handcuffs."
and then 10 minutes later, it's like:

"Look at my bruises. I am mad at you."

It's like Christian can't win. And that's when I start to feel bad for HIM. His mouse has turned into a stubborn tease of a woman. That along with his mommy issues, you see a pattern emerging. Thankfully, James finishes out the story and you get to see what happens to all of the players. I was not left hanging. And that makes me very satisfied.

Much like the Stephanie Myers did for Twilight, E.L. James adds a small section to the book - towards the end. It basically replays the entire first chapter of the first novel, but in the eyes, mind, and voice of Christian. Again, you see a WHOLE new side. A very sexy side, might I add. ;)

Fifty Shades of Grey [A Bloggers Book Review]

One thing I don't think I've ever really shared with you is that I am a bookworm. I caught the bug so early on, and can remember walking home, three miles from school, with my nose stuck in a book. It was pure luck I didn't walk off of a cliff or into a manhole.

I may have made mention that Marcos bought me a Kindle Fire for Christmas. I love that thing - and 1-Click purchasing from Amazon? - makes this book geek happy. I can read my favorite book; anytime, anywhere. At night, with the screen brightness turned down low, so as not to bother anyone, is my ideal time to read. It's quiet, I can concentrate on the characters and the story. I can laugh, cry, or roll my eyes to no one but myself.

While I've read numerous genres of books, I do like me some chick lit, romance and suspense/mystery. I can go for slapstick funny or morbidly serious. A book is better when it has all of my favorite components combined. Favorite authors? Janet Evanovich, Nora Roberts, Susan Mallory, Linda Howard, and Iris Johansen. If they have new books out, I am not far behind.


I will tell you that I did enjoy the Twilight series. I was late to that party, though. It wasn't until the first movie, did I bother to read any of the books. And when I did finally purchase all of the books, I couldn't put them down. I was in a spell. If you haven't read them, you may laugh. If you have read them, you know what I am talking about. I read them in less than 3 days. I am a hopeless romantic - the books drew me in.

When I started to hear about this new series, Fifty Shades of Grey, I wasn't looking to jump on another bandwagon. I did, however, read through some reviews on Amazon, in addition to the synopsis for each of the books in the trilogy. My interest was piqued, but not enough to spend $30 on three books.

Then I saw on a blog, someone mention she just read the series. I also read through all 50+ comments about her readers' thoughts on the books. Those comments are what made me decide to bite the bullet and see what the hype was all about.

Some of the comments where in unison to the blog author's thoughts, while others were vehemently against the "porn."  

No stranger to romance (hey, I've started stealing my mom's Harlequin and Silhouette books at an early age and I am married. With kids. Guess how they got here?!), I wasn't scared. But, I was deeply  curious about the relationship between Anastasia and Christian. 1-Click and I downloaded the first book in the series, Fifty Shades of Grey.

After some of the reviews I read about James' work, I wasn't sure what to expect. I tend to notice repetitive words, incorrect grammar, etc. It's a hazard of my job. And while the book wasn't classic literature worthy - I don't think it was meant to be. It's entertaining, for sure. And I was drawn in almost immediately.

I've seen the question posed many times over the web: Who's your Christian Grey?
To be honest, I had a hard time picturing him. Not that James didn't do a nice job of using descriptive words; I think I was swayed by what I heard from other people. My mind was literally blank. He was Mr. Grey, that is all. It's like I saw him from head down, no face. Weird, I know.

There are readers out there that compare the Grey series to the Twilight series; comparing Christian to Edward.  I couldn't do it. Christian was no Edward, bottom line.

As I started to think about it more, as I grew more intrigued with his character, I considered Paul Walker,  Robin Thicke (too much Duets?! or this?) and Ryan Gosling.

via Google images and then edited by moi.

Who is Anastasia?! That one I also had a problem with. She was so weak in the beginning. Low confidence. I realized I don't particularly like weak, submissive characters. Which caused a little bit of a problem considering the topic of Fifty Shades. Not to give too much away, let's just saw that I grew to like Ana.

Her posse? Rich, smart and beautiful Kate - loved her. Jose? Desperate. Was he supposed to be a "Jacob?" Not impressed, but eventually he plays an important enough role. Just not sure how much I loved how he was introduced.

Besides the obvious "romantic" (uhem) stuff that goes on, there is a real story there. We get to meet Christian's family. We get to meet the other people in Christian's life. And the ones in Ana's. Because of the obvious "romantic" (uhem, again) stuff that goes on, Ana is conflicted. You can clearly see that.

If this series is truly becoming a movie, I see it as ONE movie. That's how I felt the books were written. The story didn't end, couldn't end until the last page of the last book.

If you are not fond of detailed "romantic" (uhem, yet again) encounters, you can certainly turn the page to get to a meatier part of the story. If you aren't comfortable with the topic, it's understandable. I didn't think I would be. But I considered it research. Lame, I know.

 Fine Print: These are my thoughts, my review. I wasn't asked my opinion, but I wanted to share it anyway.