Recently, I have been burying myself in the Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy, by E.L. James. And as hard as I try, I cannot stop thinking about these books. According to James, she received inspiration for the trilogy when she started writing fanfic for the Twilight characters Edward and Bella, who then became the inspiration for the main characters Christian Grey, and Ana Steele. But I’m not complaining because without her writing that fanfiction there would be no Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. Books in the trilogy include the infamous Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed. I’m currently in the middle of reading Fifty Shades Freed, so I won’t spill the beans on what happens there; but I will be comparing the first two and why I think Fifty Shades Darker should be made into a film first.
(Note: This will contain spoilers, so if you don’t like knowing things before they happen don’t read on, or do your choice.)
Fifty Shades of Grey is where Ana and Christian meet. Ana has to interview the reputable Christian Grey because her best friend, Kata Kavanagh, is sick with the flu. Christian is CEO of his own company and is only 27 years old. Ana is 22 in her last semester of college and is shy, passive, and has little confidence in herself, but is strong-willed and doesn’t like being controlled, while Christian is over-confident, controlling, and unpredictable. With their polar opposite traits, reading about their interactions, was for me, the ultimate struggle. The book being similar to Twilight has Christian who holds a dark secret. A secret that he wishes to share with Ana because he just couldn’t resist her from the time she fell into his office. No, he isn’t a vampire; he is a male dominant, who engages in BDSM with willing female submissives. It’s a lot to take in and is not a book for those who frown upon just the idea of sex.
To me the book repeated a lot of things. Okay we get it, Ana is unsure of what to do, but how many times can you say that. The characters were not very developed and I felt that the story was missing a great deal of drama. However, the last chapter of Fifty Shades of Grey is where the story really takes a needed and much appreciated change of events. After Ana becomes acquainted, somewhat, with Christian’s sexual needs and agrees to be his submissive, she allows him to do something she hates. Ana’s decision makes her hate Christian instead of bringing them closer together. When Ana leaves, Christian for the first time feels helpless and needy. This is where you see a change in both the character development of Christian and Ana. Christian begins to question his BDSM lifestyle and finally loving someone and Ana realizes despite all his controlling and fetish lifestyle, she loves him and that they need each other to grow.
In Fifty Shades Darker, James jam-packs all the drama and I loved every minute of it. There’s the heart-wrenching break up. They get back together eventually and I found myself fist-pumping. On the other hand James introduces Mrs. Robinson, the woman who introduced Christian to BDSM at the tender age of 15, and Leila a crazy ex of Christian’s who wants to be the only one in Christian’s life and will stop at nothing until Ana is out of the picture. While reading this book, I began to feel bad for Christian because he treats Ana and his family as objects that are supposed to be there and bend under his whim. He really has a hard time with the word compromise. Ana, being in love with Christian, has to take on a lot of his baggage. Christian is the first man she ever loved and its Christian, this confused, hard to understand man. Nonetheless they have a beautiful connection that I wish I had. Fifty Shades Darker makes for a better movie than the first book. The characters are at a more developed state than in the first book, as well as more commotion to keep my attention. So I will sadly have to wait until it comes to theatres. If you do decide to read the books, you shouldn’t focus on just the sex but a love story that blossoms between two searching individuals.