Lately, there's been a huge hype concerning the controversial trilogy of books that we all now know as Fifty Shades written by E.L.James. The opinions differ: there are some who loved those books and others who keep saying that they are complete garbage. I resisted the urge to read them for so long and then, when news of the movie surfaced, the internet exploded again. There were articles, news and posts about Fifty Shades everywhere. Finally, I gave in and decided to read the books. I have decided to post a review for the entire trilogy and not for each book. Keep in mind that these books fit in the Erotica and BDSM genre when you read my review.
OVERALL RATING: 2.5/5
- Book One: Fifty Shades of Grey; my rating: ★★☆☆☆
- Book Two: Fifty Shades Darker; my rating: ★★★☆☆
- Book Three: Fifty Shades Freed; my rating: ★★☆☆☆
Anastasia Steele is a literature student whose life is about to change completely. When her friend, Kate, gets sick and can't make it to a very important interview with Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc CEO Christian Grey, Ana feels forced to go instead, for the sake of her friend. But Christian Grey is nothing like Ana has ever expected him to be. Not only is he very powerful and rich, but he is also young and very handsome. In the beginning, Ana finds him intimidating but most of all, intriguing thus developing a mysterious attraction towards him all of a sudden. When she walks out of his office, Ana is convinced their paths will never collide again but Christian finds himself drawn to her and they meet again.
And so begins a very strange relationships between the two of them. While at first, Christian tries to push Ana away from him, he realizes he can't stay away from her and neither can she - so they start a relationship. But Ana eventually finds out that Christian is not who he seems to be; he secretly practices BDSM.. He can't be the boyfriend she wants him to be. But Ana can't let go of him no matter what - she continues to feel drawn to him. So Christian convinces her to sign a contract that will make her his submissive. Things seem to work at first, but eventually Ana decides that this isn't the life she wants. After many arguments and reconciliations, their relationship hits a breaking point when Ana realizes she can't take anymore - she breaks up with Christian and leaves.
What follows is chaos. Neither Ana nor Christian can live without each other anymore but they also can't seem to live with each other. Eventually they make up and Christian promises to change for her. And he does and for a while everything seems to go great for the two lovers. But Christian is too controlling and too overprotective of Ana, at times treating her like an object that belongs to him, and Ana is too weak to stay away from him even if she doesn't approve of his ways. As a mysterious new character comes into the story, everything changes. Ana's new boss, Jack, seems to be a decent man at first. But he turns out to be a creep and that often makes an argument for Christian and Ana.
After many pages of the same nonsense, fighting and then making up, promises of change that are broken at every turn, obsessive Christian and whiny Ana who only complains but doesn't act, the two of them seem to work everything out when Christian pops the question. And so, Ana unexpectedly becomes Mrs. Grey and everything is alright between the two of them. Until everything goes wrong again and they keep having the same arguments over and over again: Christian's inability to open up to her, his habit of not telling her anything, his former lover Elena, Ana's creepy boss and her docile behavior. But it's a romance book so everything has to end perfectly, and it does. Which is a bit cliche and cheesy if you ask me, for this kind of book to have that ending.
Overall, I found these books to be alright and nothing more. They weren't great, I don't know what all that hype was about but maybe I just prefer other kind of books and the trilogy wasn't really my thing. What I disliked most about these books is that Christian often treated Ana like an object, like she wasn't allowed to even think for herself, let alone speak and that Ana was so obsessed with him that she rarely objected at all. The books were a very fast and easy read but I don't feel like I have improved my reading experience at all after having finished them.
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