Fifty Shades Duo: Fifty Shades Darker / Fifty Shades Freed

Fifty Shades #2-3

by E.L. James

Fifty Shades Darker
Daunted by the dark secrets of the tormented young entrepreneur Christian Grey, Ana Steele has broken off their relationship. But when Christian 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.

Fifty Shades Freed
Anastasia Steele always knew that loving Christian Grey would not be easy, and being together poses challenges neither of them had anticipated. But, finally together, they have love, passion, intimacy, wealth, and a world of infinite possibilities. Then just when it seems that they really do have it all, tragedy and fate combine to make Ana's worst nightmares come true...

Genres: Romance, BDSM, Fiction, Erotic Romance, Erotica, Adult, New Adult

1242 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 12, 2012

About the author

All you need to know should be on here:
http://www.eljamesauthor.com/

Please come talk to me on twitter: @E_L_James

If you are interested in the play list from either of these books - please visit my youtube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/eljamesau...

Reviews

[April Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are steamy and purely addictive from start to finish. I could not put them down. I found myself wrapped up in the main characters and turning pages to find out where it would lead to next. Without a doubt, I'll be reading them again.

[Jyoti Achameesing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christian is a remarkable character and every woman would die to get such a man. A control freak who finally meets his match in Ana. Christian character has evolved during this triology. Ana matured into a young and confident woman. This couple fought against all odds and remained together. Christian takes good care of Ana as lover. As a husband he is more endearing. Now as a father he complete the family man. How much a man can change with the love of a right partner! I look forward to see the movie , which is all over in the media. Fifty Shades of Grey was just a magical and rich journey of intense emotions.

[Ebrar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want everyone to know that you’re mine.”- Christian

“I am yours. look.”- Anastasia

“It’s not enough.”-Christian

“What do you mean?”- Anastasia

“I want your world to begin and end with me.”- Christian ..

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Grey I decided to reread FS Darker. So glad I did.
I think I enjoyed more the second time around.

[Prabhjot Kaur · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fifty Shades Darker starts off with Ana being away from Christian at the start but they get back together and she forgets all the abuses she endured in the first book. I didn't think I could hate anyone as much as Bella from Twilight but Ana proves me wrong. She was even worse than Bella in every sense of the way.

They end up getting married and having a baby in the last book but there's also a twist to gain sympathy points for Christian and his abusive behavior. This series is one of the worst I have ever read.

0 stars

[Keesha]

Darker was my favorite of the series. I finished the books in time for the Big announcement about the actors playing Ana and Christain. Needless to say I was not happy with the picks but will try to keep a open mind.

[Lark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked it a lot more than I thought I would.All everyone talked about was the sex and kinky sex which I felt there was hardly any of. It was a love story and i was nicely surprised at how the characters developed emotionally throughout the 3 books.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've already read this trilogy more times than I can even begin to recall but I had to read it again! Once filming on the movie wrapped, I did a re-read of the entire series and it is still my favorite trilogy! I found myself smiling and swooning more times than even before! I was picturing the movie actors in my head and now I'm even more excited to see it come to life of 2.13.15! Can't wait!

{I'm adding this to my log for personal record.}

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked each book of the trilogy better than the previous - with the third novel my favorite of the three. I am glad I read them (cultural literacy); however, I would not recommend them to everyone.

[Sandy S · Rating 4 out of 5]

IN MY OPINION


Fifty Shades of Grey-The Trilogy <--

Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed make up the trilogy written by E L James. At this point, the reviews are numerous, merciless, angry and seductive. I had planned to write a review based on the storyline, but I think I shall divert down a different path. But I must say that without a doubt, the media hype and categorization of the trilogy as ‘mommy porn’ is what brought these books to the forefront of reader curiosity and at the time, I hadn’t thought about reading any or all of the books. But a couple of emails from a marketing director, and an agent (requesting my thoughts) brought me up short. Maybe I should read the books and see what all the fuss is about? So $30 and 3 nights later, I had completed the trilogy and now I offer my opinion-because yes-everything I have read about the series is strictly an opinion based on personal views. Descriptions from erotica, erotic romance, soft to hard core porn and BDSM have been used to categorize the genre, but in my opinion, the truth may very well lie somewhere in between or in a combination of descriptive titles and subjects.

Many reviewers opposed to the storyline content have attacked the quality of the writing comparing it to fan fiction and drivel. I will not address quality, as many other books I have read and reviewed, have been of a much poorer quality than this particular series, and yet the storylines have been interesting.

Erotic Adult Fiction: Erotic adult fiction is now a female driven genre both as a reader and an author. Once the domain of men, women writers (usually under author pseudonyms or initials only) are pushing the envelope of erotic fiction. Once considered written porn, the genre of erotic fiction is fast becoming main-stream adult literature.

Why the rise in popularity? Several reasons.

The popularity has increased with the advent of ebooks. The anonymity for the reader, hidden behind the electronic age of virtual books, allows for anyone to purchase a book, without the fear of retribution, side-long glances from the 18 year old store clerk or 60 year old librarian, and instant gratification (so to speak) for availability-similar to the days of Playboy and Hustler wrapped in brown paper on the upper shelves in the magazine section at the local corner store. Women and men no longer have to fear being judged by a stranger for their choices in reading material.

Society’s Moral Values

Over the years, society has eased up on what they perceive to be "deviant’. What was once considered ‘deviant’ are quite diverse and can range from murder to rape, too fat to too thin, etiquette faux pas, and fetishes to perversions. Fetishes are usually harmless-an odd attraction -voyeurism e.g.. Many people believe as long as no one is hurt or being forced, and everyone is over 18, who are we to judge. But there is always the fine line.

But if a fetish escalates into perversions or something illegal e.g. whereby voyeurism leads to sexual assault, rape or murder, then society has laws and treatments for people with this kind of deviant behavior. Once thought as deviant behavior, especially for women…..reading erotic literature was considered immoral and in some cases, a sin (for those who follow religious dictates)….they would have hidden an erotic novel, tucked the book away in a sock drawer. But many of society’s mores have become the norm. What was once unacceptable as reading material, is now a main stream best seller.

Many erotic storylines involve explicit sexual descriptive narration. The language is graphic and there is virtually nothing off limits except children and familial relations. Many women are now reading novels or series of novels featuring homosexual storylines. And of course, many of today’s erotic fantasy novels involve MMF storylines-with multiple partners at one time. Again…fantasy is the operative word. Some of the Harlequin Romance novels are considered tame with their ‘suggestive or implied’ sex as compared to most of the romantic/erotic adult storylines released today.

Television and the film industry have long had a rating system for what is perceived as appropriate for different age groups. Now the ‘rating system’ has been applied to many of the different books and novels, due to the ‘graphic nature’ of the content. And saying that….the ebook revolution does not discriminate against the virtual shopper. Identification is not required when ordering a book online from most of the websites…..all that is required is a valid charge card and an email address (for ebooks). Saying that, I wonder how many minors (under 16) are reading erotica and sexually graphic storylines with the advent of ebooks?

Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy

Yes, there is some BDSM (BDSM is a term that stands for such patterns in sexual behavior as Bondage and Discipline, Domination and Submission, Sadism and Masochism. –bdsmguide.org). Like everything in life, there are degrees and valuations, and varying shades of grey (pun intended). Like a sliding color wheel, the BDSM content is revealed in shades and degrees. But the author never crosses the imaginary ‘hard-line’ into true hard-core savagery. The ‘heroine’ is never forced or coerced, she is aware at all times and enters into the relationship wholly aware. The storyline Dom/sub relationship is never carried over into a public social context and the practice is always safe and consensual. Yes, there are times when a soft-line is pushed, but it is addressed throughout the story.

Now to backtrack slightly-this series is NOT about BDSM. This story is about addressing the truth, acknowledging responsibility, the loss of power and control, and the fight to gain it all back. This story is also about acceptance, finding love, losing and making steps towards recovery. The BDSM content is minimal, but has apparently caught the interest of the public, as does anything that goes against the ‘norm’. The practice of BDSM is wide ranging and is often misinterpreted by the lay-people not involved in the practice. BDSM has been labeled everything from a fetish to a perversion, but when the people involved are consenting adults, wholly aware of the circumstances and the situation, the behavior or role-playing is acted out according to a specific script of behaviors and actions. There are rules, agreements, safety words, consequences and varying degrees of pleasure (all safe and legal)-to which a question must be addressed-Who are we to judge a lifestyle that is different from our own?

Informed Consent-Psychological Definition:

Informed consent is a legal procedure to ensure that a patient or client knows all of the risks and costs involved in a treatment. The elements of informed consents include informing the client of the nature of the treatment, possible alternative treatments, and the potential risks and benefits of the treatment.

In order for informed consent to be considered valid, the client must be competent and the consent should be given voluntarily.(about.com/psychology)

Should we apply the definition of INFORMED CONSENT to all actions between consenting adults? Within the context of The Fifty Shades trilogy, a NDA (a non-disclosure agreement) and a Dom/Sub contract is a major premise that is addressed throughout the storyline.

The Fifty Shades series is about a man with demons buried so deep he turns to BDSM for control. But the underlying current of BDSM becomes blurred when the title character of Christian Grey, at 15years old, becomes the submissive to a woman several years older. As a sexual predator, the woman holds power and control of the teenage boy, shaping him into the man who would one day run a billion dollar enterprise. And it is this relationship that directs and controls all of his future endeavors and needs. Even in the world of high finance and business, power and control is the ultimate aim.

The series is written from the ‘heroine’s’ point of view. We are privy to Anastasia Steele’s intimate thoughts and ideas, as well as her fears and worries about the man with whom she has fallen in love. And she is NOT without some power of her own. As the story progresses, the lines of control slowly blur, until it is Ana who has the ultimate control – of a man’s heart and his soul.

I guess like everything in life, we must make decisions based on research, trial and error, and public opinion. And in the end, sometimes the only opinion that counts, is your own. If you are asking me “Would I recommend reading the series?”, I would have to say yes. Not because it will qualify for a Nobel Prize in Literature, but because it is, in all honesty, a love story with a HEA. And I for one, ALWAYS want a HEA (Happily Ever After) and Fifty Shades delivers.

see all of my reviews at : thereadingcafe.com

[Thalia Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

50 shades Darker was very INTENSE! You really got to know the characters in this one, my favorite of all 3. 50 shades Freed was excellent as well. You get to see Ana coming into her own!

[Yasamin Yaldaei · Rating 2 out of 5]

یه نوجوان درون دارم که هنوز این جور داستان ها رو دوست داره.همون نوجوان درون که همون دوره واقعی نوجوانی هم سری گرگ و میش رو دوست داشت.
و یه بخشی از وجودم هست که نمیدونم دقیقا اسمش رو چی بذارم ولی این بخش وجودم علاقه خاصی به کاراکترهای مذکری داری که یهویی بر خلاف طبیعت شخصیتشون عاشق میشن! از رت باتلر و آقای روچستر دنیای کتاب ها گرفته تا چاک بس تلویزیونی و ادوارد کالن سینمایی، یکی از دلایلی هم که باعث شد من از مجموعه ۵۰ سایه متنفر نشم، این بود که "کریستین گری" هم واسه من جز اون کاراکترهایی که گفتم قرار گرفت.
اتفاق ها خیلی کلیشه ای بودن، سبک روایت از زبان آنا بعد از گذشتن ۱۰ صفحه از کتاب به شکل کاملا قابل انتظاری تکراری بود، از نظر اروتیکی هم که جیمز خلاقیت قابل توجهی به خرج نداده بود که تو سبک اروتیک کتاب خاصی محسوب بشه.
ولی به هرحال هرچی که بود باعث میشد حوصلم سر نره و پشت سرهم کتاب رو بخونم، که احتمالا باز هم به خاطر کاراکتر آقای گری بود.
هرچند شخصیت پردازی قوی نبود، ولی به هرحال ریشه سادیسمی کاراکترش رو دوست داشتم.
ولی آخرش من و نوجوان درونم و اون بخش از وجودم که داستان های عمیق و معنی دار دوست داره ، به توافق نرسیدیم که در مجموع چه نظری در مورد این کتاب دارم.

[Kawtar Morchid · Rating 3 out of 5]

i waited till i've finished the entire serie to give my opinion about it.the reason why i started reading it in the first place would be the amount of mediatizing the book and later on the movie got.i got curious and i wanted to know why is this book became that famous.now that i've read it the question rose again.it's neither a good or a bad book. for it's genre,it would be a medium quality book.the kind of book you would read,put aside and forget about it.away from sexual scenes,the story is great but it's badly written.but since the story is kind of original i gave it 3 stars.

[Wijdan · Rating 5 out of 5]

these trilogy are freaking great... I am out of words for them. If you love romance, I highly recommended. I fall totally in love with the characters. I've read it multiple times and still cannot stop loving it or be bored while reading them. Tastefully written and good character development. Read this one!

[Lily · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fifty shades of a bullshit-waste-of-time.

[Valerie Ogden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing romantic love story. What woman doesn't want to meet a handsome billionaire, have him fall madly in love with you AND you get to "fix" him!!! If only!!!

[Steff Fox]

| Reader Fox Blog |


"Please don't hit me," I whisper, pleading.

I think the absolute funniest--and subsequently most depressing--thing about fans of Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James is that so many of them make the baseless and uneducated claim that it doesn't promote abuse. And I think that says a lot more about society and it's woeful lack of education regarding women, consent, and sex in general than it really does about the people reading this book. But at the end of the day, its popularity was enough to result in one of the very few books that is widely known to romanticize deeply problematic and abusive behavior from men toward women. It started a conversation, it's been called out, and I do hope that there are some people out there who are better for the increased discussion of abusive behavior as a result of how many people came to read this novel. I, myself, picked it up once upon a time to see what all the fuss was about. Safe to say, I DNFed this book about half-way through, throwing it as far as I possibly could away from me the very moment he started sucking her toes. I still cringe to this day just thinking about that disgusting scene.

But I digress.

You see, when I read Fifty Shades of Grey, I had already been introduced to several of the criticisms surrounding the novel. Ultimately, I decided to pick it up so that I could criticize it with an actual understanding of what happened in the book. And the truth of the matter is that a part of me did understand why this book had quickly gained massive levels of popularity. It was an easy read, though this was largely due to its poor writing quality and absolute lack of literary merit--grammar mistakes everywhere, dismal characterization, substantially pathetic plotlines, and the writing style of a 12-year-old--and it was new.

At first, a part of me wanted to give James some credit and hope that she was going to write a story about a girl who stumbled into an extremely abusive relationship, grew to see the relationship and the despicable excuse for a human for what he is, and eventually get herself out. Now that would have been a story I could have respected. Unfortunately, James doesn't have the intelligence or education for that and it should have been readily apparent to me simply from the fact that she couldn't write to save her life. So, instead, the world was saddled with a poorly written, utterly damaging account of a woman falling into an abusive relationship and never getting herself out.

You really don't have to look far to see this fact proven, though the novels really should be enough to prove the claim alone--again, I despair at the complete lack of education women are given on the matter of abuse in this world, but I suppose that serves the men who want to abuse them so I doubt they're in any hurry to see it change--but, in case you don't see the abuse in the books, here are a few quick links that shed a bit of light on the truth:

Actual quotes from the book that show signs of abuse.
I cringe, I cry, I vomit.

Fifty examples of abuse pulled directly from the first book and half of book two.
Honestly, if you read any of these I would suggest reading this one because it's incredibly detailed and the most revealing that I've read thus far--I'm sure there are others I haven't found--but I always somehow seem to keep coming back to this one when I need to explain to someone why I fucking hate this book and the degradation it represents.

10 reasons Fifty Shades of Grey is abusive.
A list of signs that show you're in an abusive relationship and how they relate to Christian Grey...shocker.

Five lies about abuse that fans often perpetuate.
This one kind of breaks my heart a bit.

More examples.
Also, just FYI...a broken person acting abusively because they were "broken" does not make their behavior less abusive or okay. If I got hit as a child that doesn't give me the right to hit other people. And it doesn't mean anyone should forgive or love me for it.

More examples.
With videos this time!

A brilliant review from someone I deeply respect and admire that really breaks down a lot of issues within the book.
Seriously, I love this girl and her reviews.

And I mean, adding more would just be ridiculous but I went through about fifty links (ha, see what I did there?) and there were tons more where these come from. And a large part of me wishes that this had been a book about a woman getting into an abusive relationship and finding her way out--that would have been a book well worth reading. Unfortunately, Fifty Shades of Grey is garbage that supports the idea that abuse is romantic and that if you stick around with your abuser, eventually you'll end up happy. Not only is this 100% false, but it's disgusting and insulting and depressing. And I've spoken out about this numerous times in the past and probably should have sat down to write this review a long time ago. It always infuriates me to see how abuse is romanticized in novels.

It is fortunate, in my opinion, that so many people are able to see this book for what it is. And it's been reviewed and talked about so many times that I don't even know how much of an impact my voice is going to have. But in light of my desire and sort of project to really delve into the problem of Romanticized Abuse in Novels--I reread Twilight last year in order to discuss it more thoroughly, though I still have to write official reviews--and spread awareness I decided it was high time I wrote this. And if you're looking forward to learning about the other problematic books to hate for this reason, stick around because I'm about to reread the abhorrent, disturbing, and problematic  Shatter Me  series to provide precisely the sort of in-depth review that spreads awareness of just how bad the abuse romanticism is in that series.

| Reader Fox Links |

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this series probably 4-5 times. I have watched the movie. I am a fan of the Fifty Shades of Grey Series. These books were out before I even got into the habit of writing reviews, I know who doesn't write reviews?! Now I write reviews for every book I read.
So to make it easier on myself, I am writing one review for the first three books and pasting to each book.
I fell in love with the very secretive Mr. Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey book #1. This was my first real hardcore "sex" book that I had ever read before. Yes, I am pretty vanilla...lol.
Anastasia and Christian's story intrigued me and I was drawn in. Besides everyone was talking about this book and series. So I had to check it out as well. Once I started the first book, I was sucked in. I couldn't get enough of these books. The first two books in the series, Fifty Shades of Grey and Fifty Shades Darker, leave you on a cliffhanger to draw you into the next book...what's going to happen?! The third book, Fifty Shades Freed, has a closure to Anastasia and Christian's story.
I do recommend these books. It's a series you will be unable to put down and I guarantee you will read these books more than once.

[Shania Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

these two books are the better books but also very boring especially in the really cheesy scenes that make you want to shut the book and stop reading it, but a lot more stuff happens. they get married anna falls pregnant, christian sees mrs robinson again, anna and christian almost break up, but thats not all.
i find these two are better then the first as the firsts story line is actually very unlikely to happen that way

[Joanne Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark and dangerous!! Absoloutley love the trilogy. thrilling, exciting and hard to put down. I found myself drifting off in to the world they shared almost becoming Anastasia. Truly wonderful love story, with a story behind it that makes you fall in love with Christian Grey. Looking forward to the film. Hope it recreates the world of Anastasia and Christian the
way it is portrayed in the books.

[Camryn Noble · Rating 5 out of 5]

These two were so much better than the first. I hated the first one. 2 stars. For some reason, I rated this as 5 stars when I rated book two and three individually as 4 stars. I apparently need to stop reading so much and brush up on my simple math skills.

[Allison Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is interesting that these two books are put together. It is pretty much how I read them - as fast as I could staying up much to late at night just to find out what happens. The ending was pretty blah and typical, but I enjoyed getting there.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would read again

[Jackie Glenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, and it completed the trilogy to my satisfaction.

[Badriya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why did this book have only 3 sequences like really I am not a bit happy that this is the end I wish this lasted forever book like eternity I would have turn to mortal

[Nancy Horovitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly I liked this book better than the first.

[Fifty Shades · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just thought this synopsis of the book would be more appropriate:

When an unknown British TV producer suddenly presents the world with Fifty Shades of Grey, she claims it is nothing more than a fantasy spun from imagination and Twilight-inspired daydreams. But behind the glossy marketing and billion-dollar franchise lies a far stranger tale—one built not on invention, but on appropriation.

At its heart is Anastasia Steele, a heroine who never reads like a modern American college student, but rather like a teenage girl from the late 1980s—awkward, immature, and startlingly real. Her voice is not imagined; it is remembered. Her insecurities are not constructed; they are lived. And her story feels less like fiction than a diary smuggled into the pages of a so-called "romance".

Opposite her stands Christian Grey, a fantasy stitched together from pop-culture tropes and unmistakably modeled after icons of the 1980s—most notably George Michael, with his copper-toned hair, magnetic charisma, and hidden torment. Together, Anastasia and Christian form a pair that never quite fits the narrative James claimed to have written.

What emerges instead is a roman à clef—a novel that disguises reality as fantasy, lifting memories, identities, and personal histories and repackaging them as bestselling erotica. The contradictions are everywhere: a supposed adult written with a teenager’s mind; a British producer with no writing background somehow channeling the intimate psychology of an Eastern European GenX girl; and an author who misinterprets her own protagonist so badly it exposes the cracks in her claim to creation.

Dark, ironic, and unsettling, The Real Story Behind Fifty Shades reveals what the franchise never wanted readers to ask: not whether the books are erotic, amusing, or moving—but whether they were ever truly fiction at all.

[Marla Nayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sequel to Fifty Shades of Grey and is again an erotic romantic drama. These were not written as books. The first one started as a short story that was published in a magazine. Readers wanted to know what happened next, so the next chapter was written, then the next, then the next, until there was a whole book, then another, and then another. I started trying to write the plot down a bit, but it is rather convoluted. In this film we start to find out about why Christian is a sadist (originally calling himself a dominant, but later changing to what he thinks he really is). We learn more about his background and his family. The relationship between Christian and Ana has ups & downs; they agree to live together, and at the end decide to get married. While all this is going on Ana takes on a job at a publishing company. There are unwanted sexual advances by her boss. Meanwhile, Christian bought the publishing company and arranged for the boss to be fired. The movie ends with the boss clearly planning some revenge (keeping in mind this is the 2nd of 3 movies/books).
The factor I found most interesting about the book was that it is written very much from Ana’s point of view – it is her thoughts about everything. There is more time to explore how she feels and how she reacts to the whole situation. I found the erotic elements of this book stronger than the first book (perhaps that’s what the audience asked for).

[Pooja Banga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fifty Shades Darker
Daunted by the dark secrets of the tormented young entrepreneur Christian Grey, Ana Steele has broken off their relationship. But when Christian 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.

Fifty Shades Freed
Anastasia Steele always knew that loving Christian Grey would not be easy, and being together poses challenges neither of them had anticipated. But, finally together, they have love, passion, intimacy, wealth, and a world of infinite possibilities. Then just when it seems that they really do have it all, tragedy and fate combine to make Ana's worst nightmares come true...

[Book Hoarder · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think everything I could say has been said. But I'll repeat this: This is not BDSM. This is harmful to the community, and this is harmful to real love relationships. This is abuse. This is nauseating. This isn't healthy.