Book Review - Fifty Shades Freed

Fifty Shades Freed by E L James
Released 26th April 2012
Paperback 592 pages
Genre Adult
Rating 2/5
Source Purchased
Where to purchase Amazon

Amazon Summary

Romantic, liberating and totally addictive, the Fifty Shades trilogy will obsess you, possess you and stay with you for ever.

When Ana Steele first encountered the driven, damaged entrepreneur Christian Grey, it sparked a sensual affair that changed both their lives irrevocably.

Ana always knew that loving her Fifty Shades would not be easy, and being together poses challenges neither of them had anticipated. Ana must learn to share Grey's opulent lifestyle without sacrificing her own integrity or independence; and Grey must overcome his compulsion to control and lay to rest the horrors that still haunt him.

Now, finally together, they have love, passion, intimacy, wealth, and a world of infinite possibilities.

But just when it seems that they really do have it all, tragedy and fate combine to make Ana's worst nightmares come true ...

My thoughts...
As the third and final book in the Fifty Shades trilogy I was hoping that the story would go out with an almighty bang, instead it went out with more of a small pop, leaving me slightly disappointed. I know that James is a romance writer and the book isn't supposed to be a thriller, but the storyline was written in a way that could have given the reader a much more thrilling experience. Rather than ride along the wave of the

The last installment picks Ana and Christian up on their honeymoon, as you can imagine no expense was spared as you follow them across Europe, reading this book during the hottest week that we have seen this year made me feel like I was in Cannes with them. The story follows them as they adjust to married life, with Ana wanting her independence and Christian wanting to take control of Ana's life. With all newlywed there are issues that need working through, but I feel that with the Grey's neither will ever be 100% happy with each other and they will always want to change something about the other.

There are plenty of jaw dropping, page turning moments that will keep you reading, just like Fifty Shades of Grey and Fifty Shades Darker did. As already mentions I feel that these moments could have been a lot more dramatic and a lot more thought could have gone into them. It almost feels to me like the book was quickly put together with no real time put into the suspension moments. Work went into building them up but to no avail.

As with the first two books there is a lot of repetition which can be very frustrating, it would be nice for Ana to do something other than blush! But if you have already read the first two books you should already expect this and you get used to it as if it is normal.

The ending of the story was satisfactory, which doesn't happen very often. You got to flash forward and see what they are doing in four years time, which I really liked and gave the book a happy closure. However after the ending it goes back to when Christian was a child and first went to live with the Greys and then when he first met Ana. While it was interesting to read Christians thoughts as a child, I don't think reading there first meeting from his point of view added to the story or to his character and I do think that it was really unnecessary.

Overall I didn't hate the book and I did enjoy reading it, I got the ending that I wanted and the book did manage to tie up most of the ends, with the only exception the Mia and Ethan story. For someone wanting to read a well written, well thought out story, with a knowledge for good literature then this isn't the book for you. For someone wanting a quick and easy read, maybe a holiday book, then this will be perfect for you.

Until next time, keep reading x

Fifty Shades Darker - The Review

Fifty Shades Darker by E L James
Released 26th April 2012
Rating 2/5
Where to purchase Amazon

Amazon Summary:

Daunted by the dark secrets of the tormented young entrepreneur Christian Grey, Ana Steele has broken off their relationship to start a new career with a US publishing house.
But desire for Grey still dominates her every waking thought, and when he proposes a new arrangement, she cannot resist. Soon she is learning more about the harrowing past of her damaged, driven and demanding Fifty Shades than she ever thought possible.
But while Grey wrestles with his inner demons, Ana must make the most important decision of her life. And it's a decision she can only make on her own ...

My thoughts:

Fifty Shades Darker is what it is; it isn’t a literary masterpiece however it doesn’t need to be. Unlike so many sequels, it picks up right where it left off without leaving any unanswered gaps, and by doing this the story flows better. 

Fifty Shades Darker is darker, however nowhere near as dark as it could be. You get to explore Christians past, hence the darker reference, however his previous life could have been delved into in a lot more detail instead of quickly mentioning and moving on.

Christian is as controlling as ever, and you do get to understand why Christian is the way he is, why he is so incapable of love and you get to see a completely different side to him, a more vulnerable side. By doing this he becomes a tad more likeable.

With that being said, I’m still unsure about Christian and am still a little baffled as to why Ana has stuck around for so long, for me it isn’t completely believable. However I find myself getting swept away with the story and tend to forget about it, only momentarily thinking about the incompatibility of the two main characters. 

As for Ana, she is still a naïve young woman and, there is no further development to her character; she is the way that she is with no exceptions. In the first book as she was getting to know Christian you could understand her testing him, however she hasn’t learned from her mistakes and continues to push him to his limits leaving me screaming at the book!

With all of this being said, I am still reading and am onto the third and final book. As much as I love to stick my nose up at the book, I am going to keep reading just so I can see how it all ends. If you are a snob about your books then this isn’t for you, however if you are looking for something to read whilst on holiday then this could be for you.

Until next time, keep reading! x

Fifty Shades of Grey - The Review

Unless you have been living on the moon for the last few weeks you have surely heard/read people talking about this book, come across a status or tweet update on Social Media or even read it yourself. It is the fastest selling book of all time in both paper and digital formats and has been dubbed as ‘mummy porn.’ As one to always jump on the bandwagon I thought I’d see what all the fuss was about…

Reading the blurb on the back it seemed like the kind of book that I would normally read, how wrong I was as this is definitely not chick lit.

Fifty Shades of Grey is the debut novel from E L James and it forms part of a trilogy with Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed proceeding. As far as debut novels go I would say that this is by far the most successful and has managed to reach women, and men, of all ages and from all walks of life. Not only has it reached all these people but it has actually managed to stir up something in people and got them reading.

For the first time ever, I have come into work and everyone is talking about a book, not a tacky reality programme on the TV, or the latest celebrity gossip or even office gossip, but a book. Fifty Shades of Grey appears to have done what Harry Potter did for children and Twilight did for teenage girls.

Now onto the story… the book has been dubbed mummy porn so in all honestly I didn’t know what to expect. However I was still shocked and a little taken aback by the erotic nature of the story, something that I wasn’t expecting to happen in so much detail, maybe it’s just the prude in me. With this being said, I read on. Once I had gotten over the sexual encounters I was able to focus on the actual story itself and managed to get used to spanking, metal balls and ties.

Anastasia Steele is a shy young and innocent college graduate. Christian Gray is a billionaire playboy with a troubled passed with a need to control and dominate every aspect of his life and a rather unusual preference when it comes to sex. After a one off meeting, where Ana is interviewing Christian for the college newspaper, she falls for the charms of the mystic creature that is Mr Gray and he too becomes intrigued by the young Ms Steele that stumbled into his office.

Without giving too much away, Fifty Shades of Gray explores forbidden love- Ana falls head over heels for a man that seems unable to convey any emotions and says “I don’t make love, I fuck.” A story that you may say has been told so many times before, however James has taken a new approach to the age old tale and created something that the modern day women, from the Sex and the City era, can connect with and enjoy.

I have to admit that I did struggle to get into the book and connect with the characters at the beginning, but I was told to stick with it and I did and am pleased to say that I am glad I did. While the writing isn’t the best I have ever read, (I lost count the number of times that Ana flushed or blushed crimson) you kind of forget about it and become too engrossed in the love story unfolding before you. 

I am now onto Fifty Shades Darker and am desperately looking forward to reading where this fascinating story goes.

Fifty Shades of Grey get a 3/5 from me

Until next time, keep reading! x