Fifty Shades Freed by E L James

(Fifty Shades trilogy, book 3)
When unworldly student Anastasia Steele first encountered the driven and dazzling young entrepreneur Christian Grey it sparked a sensual affair that changed both of their lives irrevocably. Shocked, intrigued, and ultimately, repelled by Christian’s singular erotic tastes, Ana demands a deeper commitment. Determined to keep her, Christian agrees.

Now, Ana and Christian have it all – love, passion, intimacy, wealth, and a world of possibilities for their future. But Ana knows that loving her Fifty Shades will not be easy, and that being together will pose challenges that neither of them would anticipate. Ana must somehow learn to share Christian’s opulent lifestyle without sacrificing her own identity. And Christian must overcome his compulsion to control as he wrestles with the demons of a tormented past.

Just when it seems that their strength together will eclipse any obstacle, misfortune, malice, and fate conspire to make Ana’s deepest fears turn to reality.

WARNING: This book contains very graphic sexual situations, and frequent profanity.

I really wanted to love this book. I have been on the fence about this whole trilogy since I started reading the first book, and I can honestly say that I’m not really impressed. I think my favorite part of this book were the bonus chapters at the end where it takes you back to him meeting Ana during the interview, and visiting her at Clayton’s…only it’s narrated by him. Now THAT was enjoyable!  

You know, I think I just got annoyed with their whole relationship by the middle of this book. I know it was designed to be tumultuous and clearly they both have to find a middle ground if they want to make it work, but I found myself irritated. I got tired of watching Ana constantly run around trying to discern if he was angry with something she did. They are married, and yet she is walking on eggshells around him. Not only that, but when Ana did stand up for herself (which was incredibly rare) she never stood her ground. Christian would immediately resort to using sex in an effort to distract her from the argument, and he’d have her under his spell hook, line, and sinker. It just frustrated me. One of the most overused lines by Ana in this whole trilogy: “Please don’t be mad at me.” He says over and over he didn’t marry a submissive, but honestly…I think he kind of did. Ana didn’t bother me much in the first two books, but she wore on me in Freed. I got sick of hearing how absolutely, breathtakingly, beautiful Christian was. I get it...he’s smokin’. I already had the emblazoned in my mind after reading the first book, and yet I’m still constantly being reminded how she just can’t believe how gorgeous this man is. Once again…I get it. Oh, and the amount of times Ana cried in this book was about five too many.

I was never sold on Christian throughout the first two books, and Freed didn’t really do much to change my mind. His possessiveness and over-the-top controlling ways just grated on me to the point where I almost didn’t want to finish this book. The incident with the hickeys on their honeymoon, for example, pissed me off just reading about it! Oh, and the way he lost his marbles all because Ana went out for drinks with Kate while he was out of town. Are you kidding me?! I could go on and on, but I digress. The main reason I have never really rooted for Christian, is because I don’t care for guys that treat their wives like their property. He feels like his opinion should be the “end all, be all” and it doesn’t really matter what Ana thinks.  I didn’t even mind the controlling Christian when it was in regards to him being a dominant in the Red Room of Pain (those scenes were always pretty hot) but the way he feels the need to control every aspect of her life is just tiring.

A couple positives: The ending was good, the epilogue was fantastic, and the bonus chapters at the end with Christian as the narrator were great. I liked them because they are from Fifty Shades of Grey when he was still looking at Ana as a possible submissive, and it was fun to see the effect Ana had on him in his own words. Overall, the trilogy was alright but not as great as I expected and this book in particular was kind of a hot mess and almost exhausting to read.

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Fifty Shades Darker by E L James

(Fifty Shades trilogy, book 2)
Daunted by the singular tastes and dark secrets of the beautiful, tormented young entrepreneur Christian Grey, Anastasia Steele has broken off their relationship to start a new career with a Seattle publishing house.

But desire for Christian still dominates her every waking thought, and when he proposes a new arrangement, Ana cannot resist. They rekindle their searing sensual affair, and Ana learns more about the harrowing past of her damaged, driven, and demanding Fifty Shades.

While Christian wrestles with his inner demons, Ana must confront the anger and envy of the women who came before her, and make the most important decision of her life.

WARNING: This book contains very graphic sexual situations, and frequent profanity. 

Well, I think I like this book better than the first; however I’m not sure I’m sold on this trilogy. It just seems a little hard to buy, in my opinion. This book goes more in depth to the demons Christian is battling, and explains more of why he is the why he is…mentally and sexually. I know I mentioned in my review of the first book, Fifty Shades of Grey, that I didn’t really want Christian and Ana to end up together. My mind has been swayed slightly after finishing this book, but I still don’t find him all that likable. I like that you get more of a background on Christian in this book, and honestly I did start to feel for him after hearing of all the trauma he sustained throughout his childhood. However, it seems like every time I started to pull for him and Ana’s relationship, he would do something that just flat out irritated me and made me revert back to my original opinion…that 70% of the time I don’t really care for him. The incident involving Christian and Ana’s job at the publishing company just flat out made me want to smack him!

I appreciated that the author let us know a little more about Christian and Mrs. Robinson’s past relationship, because I was intrigued by it after reading the first book. You finally get to see her through Christian’s eyes, as opposed to Ana’s view point, which is obviously not positive. The storyline regarding the other submissive that you are introduced is a little whacko. Maybe E.L. James felt there needed to be another antagonist, but I didn’t really buy into that part of the story.

Christian and Ana both take big steps in their relationship in this book, and you really get to see how his feelings towards her have changed. The end of the book was slightly predictable, but overall I’d say it was a smidge better than Fifty Shades of Grey. I’m not in love with this trilogy, but I feel like I have to read the last book just to see how this ends. 

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