A Book Review

Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy

A few weeks ago I was browsing Pinterest and saw that a lot of my friends were pinning the Fifty Shades of Grey series onto 'Books Worth Reading'.  I had no idea what the books were about or why they were so popular, but because it was getting rave reviews I decided to check it out.  

I've been informed that these books started off as Twilight fan fiction.  Okay.  But if you were going to end up turning it into a novel why wouldn't you develop the characters a little more?  Or maybe have an actual plot?  You could tell the author has very little experience in writing a book and I must suggest she go to a few writing classes to help her out.  I don't believe she knows the meaning of the words plot and progression and both would have helped out this series tremendously.  

Fifty Shades of Grey (Book 1):  When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.

 
Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.

My problem with the first book was that it was dull and repetitive.  The first few chapters started out interestingly enough, but once the author dug into Christian's past it got a little weird for me.  The book never developed past Christian's weird "tastes" and Ana's reactions to it and I was left wondering why someone even published this book to begin with.  There is, of course, a sort of cliff hanger at the end which is supposed to make you want to read more to find out what happens.  I had already paid $30 for the entire series and wasn't going to pay then not read them.  

Fifty Shades Darker (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, Anastasia cannot resist. They rekindle their searing sensual affair, and Anastasia learns more about the harrowing past of her damaged, driven and demanding Fifty Shades.
 
While Christian wrestles with his inner demons, Anastasia must confront the anger and envy of the women who came before her, and make the most important decision of her life.

I was very disappointed to find that the so-called cliff hanger didn't leave us in suspense for very long (5 days to be exact!) which left no time to develop what the characters were feeling about the situation.  The "plot" for this book felt very rushed and forced.  These aren't characters that you want to root for (at least I don't) and there isn't anything about them that makes them overly attractive to the reader.  The book left me feeling frustrated because nothing was really happening except for the endless amount of "romance" that went on about every three pages.  I mean, come on, how many ways can you describe what goes on in a couples bedroom?

Fifty Shades Freed (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.

I have to admit that I actually liked the third book.  There were problems of course, with a rushed plot and not a lot of time for character development, but it was definitely the best of the series.  I even rooted for Ana.  Her character was strong and courageous (at a certain point) and I felt somewhat satisfied when the major story line was wrapped up.  However, there was no climax and no ending that left you feeling complete.  It almost seemed like the author didn't quite know how to finish, so she just abruptly stopped.  But then, the oddest part of it all was the few additional chapters after the book was over.  There was an epilogue that wrapped up a few things, but felt oddly disjointed from the rest of the book.  And then there were two chapters written from Christian's point of view.  The first one gave a little insight into his life with his parents as a child which was nice, but it felt out of place.  And then there was a chapter that actually came from the first book, but she wrote it through his view instead of Ana's.  Was I the only one wondering why she put it at the end of the third book?  Both of those chapters felt out of place as well.  It's like the author wanted to share those views, but didn't know where to put them in the book so she wrote separate chapters and threw them into the back of book three.  They didn't belong and added absolutely nothing to the story.

My advice is to read at your own risk.  If you don't mind reading books with very little plot development, then you may like the series.  But if you like something that'll keep you interested until the very end you might as well look elsewhere.