Review: 50 Shades Darker

4.5 out of 5 Stars

Hello to you my friends! :) Hope your week was eventful. After having a very busy teaching week, I went on a reading frenzy since my last post completing 4 books that I'll be reviewing over the next few days. Here is the first, and I hope you come back for more. :)

Genre: Erotica
Author: E.L. James
Rating: 4.5 Stars out of 5
Series: Fifty Shades
Blurb:
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.


As the second installment in Fifty Shades, 50 Shades Darker I was truly hoping for a continuance in stream of consciousness with added character development and a more thorough editing process. What I got was much better editing, gradual and in depth character development, and a teensy bit of frustration. On its own, this book was entertaining, well-written, and a breeze to read...but I didn't love it as much as the first.

Click below for a detailed review after the page jump!


The book starts with Ana and Christian apart, but alas, they are soon together again. :) There are 3 sub-plots in this book that keeps you entertained and of course keeps to James' style. Touching on that, I ADORE how James writes differently from most. She doesn't have one astronomic issue that goes on and on until finally, in the second to last chapter (of course) all is resolved and the reader is exhausted by the seemingly simple answer, blah, blah. I love James' complexity, reasoning and storytelling so much that I implore her to write another novel about, well, anything.

Moving on, Ana was much more irritating in the book. I understand her lack of confidence and inferiority complex but I was exhausted (and surprised) by her relentless hounding of Christian and internal debate about Mrs. Robinson. That being said, I know that the reason behind this was about growth. Ana is a young woman who has never been in a serious relationship and she certainly isn't in a "normal" relationship...that being said, I remember my first real relationship and what I battled with (i.e. jealousy, trust, nerves) which Ana is going through on an adult scale. Even though I am sympathetic to her, it is very frustrating to see that she is so insecure in some moments and so extremely bold in others. I wanted to take her across my knee at times!

Also, James started out a little slower in the beginning of this book. I didn't feel compelled to keep reading until about a third of the way through..and then I didn't put in down until 5am when I completed it Friday night. The ending of this book wasn't as cliff hangery (yes I know that isn't a word) as the first, but I still had to begin reading the third installment almost immediately.

Although I couldn't call this book anything else but wonderful, comparing it to James' previous book, 50 Shades of Grey is, thus far, my favorite.

             Happy Reading!