Fifty Shades Freed

Fifty Shades Freed by E.L James

I finished the series, finally. Book three was exactly as I expected--which isn’t necessarily a good thing. More of the same from the preceding books.

I’m still a bit baffled as to how these became so popular!  

Fifty Shades Darker

Fifty Shades Darker by EL James

Initial verdict: The second book in this series is better than the first. The writing is still not good, but I did feel that it was planned and edited slightly better than the first. Somehow, through all the annoyances, it held my attention.

This installment actually wanders into some type of plot (gasp!). There is a crazy ex stalking Ana and Cristian goes all protective of his girl. Then there is a crazy guy stalking Ana (theme anyone?) and Christian is all alpha-male annoyed. There is jealousy and make up sex.

Yawn….

Sorry! Where was I?

The sex scenes were more plentiful in book two, though only incrementally more steamy. I actually started to SKIP OVER the sex scenes. There were just too many. They can't resist each other...on the elevator, on the boat, in the shower, pretty much wherever they are a sex scene is sure to follow. He is playing the piano in the middle of the night…and SURPRISE! They do it on the piano. (That is SO stolen from Pretty Woman!!)

My favorite thing is when women say, “But it’s a LOVE story!” I beg to differ with that pronouncement. Christian and Ana have knows each other for an entire 3 weeks now. Having sex on every available surface is not love, kiddos.

My final judgement on this one: Marginally entertaining, but terribly cliche.

I feel like I have to read the third and final book, to see how it ends. My expectations are set pretty low!
I can probably guess...Weeks 4 and 5...Christian and Ana are terribly in love. They go places, they have sex. Everyone loves the irresistible Ana and the guy from the previous book is trying to get revenge for her rejection of him. The older woman from the other book causes problems. Christian protects Ana (and controls her). She loves it. She tries to have a deep thought a few times...but can't manage to complete it. They do it some more. Christian is miraculously cured of his childhood issues with sexual control. They get married and live happily ever after. The End.

Fifty Shades of...You Know

If you haven’t heard about “Fifty Shades of Grey” by EL James, it’s time to come out from under that rock! I usually tend to avoid books that have too much hype surrounding them, but I finally gave in and read this one to see what the massive fuss is about.

Everyone kept telling me that I would be shocked…and I was....shocked by how bad the writing is. The first third of the book is just brutal. I barely made it through. Here are my three main complaints:

• The author was so redundant. The best example I can give for redundancy is the portrayal of the food issue. It is brought up numerous times, in each chapter. Enough already! Some subtlety would have gone a long way instead of beating the reader over the head with certain issues.
• The character development of Ana was also lacking. She is incredibly cliche. I didn't like her at the beginning...and still didn't care about her at the end. I thought that this weak character contributed to the poor writing I perceived, making things seem amateur and clouded with naivete.
• I kept hearing that the love scenes were phenomenal in this book. I found some of them spicy, but most lukewarm. They are actually pretty tame compared to other novels I’ve read. I was expecting really hot material. As for it being S&M? Barely.

Redeeming qualities:

• When I got to the mid-point of the book, I did become intrigued by Christian’s character. James pulled me in and I found myself curious about what had happened in his life to make him the way he is. I will now have to read book two to see his development, if for no other reason.
• The overall question I found myself asking was: When did erotic fiction go mainstream?? And how did I miss it!?! I never thought a book like this would make such waves. Kudos for James for breaking her novel into the mainstream world.

Read it if your curious, just don't read it with high expectations. Some people love it, I am pretty ambivalent. I've heard book two is better. Stay tuned and I'll tell you what I think about that one!