Fifty Shades Freed

Summary (from the publisher): When unworldly student Ana Steele first encountered the driven, damaged young entrepreneur Christian Grey, it sparked a sensual affair that changed both their lives irrevocably. Shocked, intrigued, and ultimately repelled by Christian's singular sexual tastes, Ana demanded a deeper commitment; determined to keep her, Christian agreed. Now, together, they have more-love, passion, intimacy, wealth, and a world of infinite possibilities. But Ana always knew that loving her Fifty Shades would not be easy and being together poses challenges neither of them ever anticipated. Ana must somehow learn to share Christian's opulent lifestyle without sacrificing her own integrity, identity, or independence; Christian must somehow overcome his compulsion to control and lay to rest the horrors that blighted his past and haunt his present. Just when it seems that together their love can conquer any obstacle, tragedy, malice and fate combine to make Ana's worst nightmares come true.

Review: I’ve finally finished the final installment of Fifty Shades and man, am I sad to see it go. This series has been such a great fix on the lowbrow, romance fantasy fiction front for me. It’s all soooo implausible and unrealistic, but who the heck cares? Don’t read it if a fun romance with a twist isn’t what you’re looking for. I think I mostly just love how much Christian loves Ana. 

I was bothered by how dramatically fifty has changed in this novel. Gone is the dark, controlling, twisted man of the first novel. By the end, a loving, family oriented man has taken his place. Additionally, to add some drama to this third novel now that the couple is happy, James goes hard on the villain front and the life-risking crises, which was less than great, in my opinion. Also, I was just so dang annoyed by how much Ana and Christian fight. They spent the majority of the novel pissed at one another. (But making up is always nice ha.) 

One thing I did enjoy about the novel that the others lacked was a glimpse into Christian’s point of view. The novel had some bonus materials after the conclusion that shows what Christian was thinking when he first met Ana. It’s obvious a continuation of the Twilight mimicry and mirrors Meyer’s unfinished novel that’s from Edward’s point of view. But I loved the variation in the point of view and thought it was a nice twist. 

I’m sorry to be done with this trilogy. It was a nice guilty pleasure reading. However, I did like how James concluded Christian and Ana’s story over all. 

Stars: 4