Review: Fifty Shades Freed

Fifty Shades Freed (Fifty Shades #3)
EL James
Romance, Erotica

When unworldly student Anastasia Steele first encountered the driven and dazzling young entrepreneur Christian Grey it sparked a sensual affair that changed both of their lives irrevocably. Shocked, intrigued, and, ultimately, repelled by Christian’s singular erotic tastes, Ana demands a deeper commitment. Determined to keep her, Christian agrees.

Now, Ana and Christian have it all—love, passion, intimacy, wealth, and a world of possibilities for their future. But Ana knows that loving her Fifty Shades will not be easy, and that being together will pose challenges that neither of them would anticipate. Ana must somehow learn to share Christian’s opulent lifestyle without sacrificing her own identity. And Christian must overcome his compulsion to control as he wrestles with the demons of a tormented past.

Just when it seems that their strength together will eclipse any obstacle, misfortune, malice, and fate conspire to make Ana’s deepest fears turn to reality.

You can read my reviews of Fifty Shades of Grey and Fifty Shades Darker here.

*Commence intense end-of-series feels*

I'll start with what I didn't like:

-The writing. As usual. In Fifty Shades Freed the author reached a new height of ridiculousness with the repeated "hmmmmm" and "woah" in Ana's thoughts. Not in the dialogue!! "HMMM" IS A SOUND WE MAKE WHILE THINKING. WE DON'T ACTUALLY THINK IT. 

-The flashbacks. This is a method that works for lots of different books but somehow fell flat here. One of the fun things in the 50 Shades series is the second-by-second cover of the events (as opposed to, "the next morning") so I did not appreciate skipping the wedding (and wedding night ;-) ) I was promised in book two, and then later telling it in flashbacks. (Also, hello? Wasn't this a Twilight fanfiction? I expected the wedding to take up half the book) It broke the fast storytelling that made these books so addicting in the first place. Luckily, after the first quarter of the book we catch up to the present and the time-lapses stop.

What I liked:

Everything else, pretty much. The characters are hard to truly figure out, but instead of being a flaw it ended up enhancing them - people are complex at their core. The witty banter and emails were hysterical as usual (though I still think book 1 takes the crown for that).

Somehow, despite all the writing complaints, I managed to fall in love with Christian, Ana, and their story. I fully stand by the reason I picked up Fifty Shades of Grey originally- a fad so big and popular must have something that rings true and no, it's not because it's sexy. No other erotica book ever stood out so much. 

The epilogue almost reduced me to happy tears, and the chapters from Christian's POV left me waiting for more (is she writing this or will another Midnight Sun episode happen?). 

Rating: Believe it or not, 5 stars.

Love, 
Esty