In a Nutshell: An erotic romance trilogy.
Published: May 25th, 2011, Sept 13th, 2011 and April 17, 2012
Format: Physical
Number of Pages: 514, 532 and 579
Finished: May 2020
Rating: 4.5⭐ (for all 3 of them)
Diversity: None
My Thoughts
I actually really enjoyed this trilogy and wish I had read it years ago but I had listened to all the nay-sayers and everyone shaming anyone who liked it or even dared to read it. I was in my early 20s and at the time let the shame get to me and followed the crowd, I mean everyone was saying how it's awful and abusive so...it must be...right? Also I had been in an abusive relationship when I was 19-20 so I did NOT want to read that at the time, which is certainly valid but now having read it...I wish I hadn't listened to others to be completely honest and just read it for myself.
Is it very well written? No, but that rarely if ever bothers me. I'm a character-driven reader and here for the feels. Christian is fucked up, of course he is. But as the trilogy goes on you learn WHY, and that shit happens. He has childhood trauma and a lot of it and I got to thinking...if Christian was a woman...would anyone blame him (instead her) for being fucked up? No, I really don't think they would, or at least not for the most part. I think people would understand and be sympathetic but of course he's a man..he should just man up or something I guess? Oh wait...that's toxic masculinity talking...
He never got the help or understanding growing up that he needed. And BDSM is, in my opinion, SO NOT THE POINT of the story (and for that matter isn't really that large of a part of it). It is so far from the point that I saw. The bitch is just that...a bitch (which will only make sense if you've read it).
I found the story complex and layered and I really felt for the characters. There were a lot of instances where I thought "this needs to be talked about more and dealt with" and guess what? Every. Single. Time. it was. Ok, once in awhile (not often) I wish things had been fleshed out a little more but it's not like they were ignored. You just had to wait sometimes to get to where they'd be dealt with and talked about.
Ana, oh Ana. I loved her character arc! I ended up relating to her at times and loved seeing how strong she was, became and her standing up for herself. Does Christian do things that aren't ok? Of course he does. As stated he has a lot of trauma, from childhood, that never got dealt with when or as it should have, and people are messy. He's real. Does that make everything he does ok? HELL NO! And I am not claiming that it does. Hence what I said in the last paragraph. Ana stands up to him and for herself. The character development through-out but ESPECIALLY in the last book was amazing! For both of them.
Is Christian scary sometimes? Yes. But Ana ends up sticking up for herself and being SO FREAKING STRONG. Her strength was amazing. And just what he needed. Did she have to stay with him? No. She had every right to leave (and at one point did). Christian needed someone strong to stick up to him as well as help him through all the aforementioned trauma. He does also have professional help as well. Ana could've left him, and I would've understood, but she loved him and Christian did deserve love, the trauma and lack of care wasn't his fault, he wasn't easy to love. Sometimes people aren't easy to love but still deserve it. Shades of Grey.
She didn't deserve all his crap either, but was strong enough to stand up to him and to love him and to eventually make it work. It wasn't easy. But life isn't always easy. It's hard to talk about and I wish I could find better words. Love isn't a fix but hard to love people deserve love too, they just need someone strong enough but that is no one's personal responsibility, or even just one person's responsibility (as I said he did have a therapist too). Sometimes people don't work and that's ok, sometimes they do work but with hard work that can be worth it. Each person and situation is different.
Also...so many things i'd heard about (and believed before I read it) about Fifty Shades of Grey online that turned out to be nothing but lies. I even heard someone say something along the lines of "let me save you, the third book of Fifty Shades is just Christian asking Ana for anal, her saying no, and then Anal in the end" and...there is never a question of Anal and there is no anal...at all.
But stuff like that (many other things, that's just one example that I remember) that are spouted online from people that ACT like they've read the books in an effort to make sure no one reads the books, or just people shaming others in general, but let me reiterate that i'm talking to past me as well. Granted I never claimed to have read the books when I hadn't but I acted above them, believed what others said without reading for myself, and i'm sure I shamed anyone who dared to read them or wanted to by following the "holier-than-thou" crowd. And for past me, I am so sorry. That is wrong and was wrong of me.
It's fine to not like books, and I understand why people would not like Fifty Shades of Grey, and it's fine to not even want to read books for any reason. We can have different opinions and that's fine. What I have an issue with is people shaming others for reading something, acting like they are above others and stuff like that. I'm tired, i'm pretty sure you already get my point.
There were minor things in each book that made me give all of them 4.5 instead of a full 5 stars, but I loved the entire trilogy. Now at some point I need to watch the movies.
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