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mirrorchaser's review against another edition
2.0
You guys, I'm practically shaking with rage about how awful this book was. I toggled back and forth between one and two stars at least twenty-five times before settling on one and a half which I rounded up to two for Goodreads. The half star is because I finished it. Honestly though, I think I should have awarded that star to MYSELF for finishing. I have multiple marked points where I noted that I wanted to DNF. I chose to keep pushing because I didn't make it through five books of this series to stop here... but I should have. I should have put it down and saved NEARLY A MONTH OF MY LIFE.
Here's my rub, y'all:
It took me so long to finish because this book lulled me to sleep many a night. I didn't even want to read it most of the time but I was like "ugh, I need to spend some time with these losers if I want to finish this book."
It was pretty tame smut wise which is totally fine with me because [a:EL James|21652032|EL James|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] has been known to overdo it a time or two but it was also pretty tame in every other way and by tame I mean LAME. If you thought [b:Fifty Shades Freed|13536860|Fifty Shades Freed (Fifty Shades, #3)|E.L. James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1336418837l/13536860._SY75_.jpg|18034963] didn't really have a plot, I've got a surprise for you.
At least Ana's books didn't have a plot but they had a lot of sex. We can all just be like "okay, this is erotica. This either is for me or it isn't." Christian's books don't have a plot or a lot of sex or decent characters or good editing or any of the things that Bestselling novels should include.
This book was page after page after page of Christian explaining the mundane tasks throughout his day, thinking about Ana a lot but very superficially, and talking to his security team. I can't tell if James' goal was to make Christian more relatable or likeable or what but it just ended up being very slow.
Most of the book looked like this:
Actual footage of Christian Grey waiting for his black coffee while looking at his photo of Ana and wondering what Mrs. Jones will cook for dinner.
I was so excited for this book because I thought 1) after this many years of writing, it would have to be so much better quality wise 2) after this many years of best selling, James would have a decent editor 3) with so much changing for Christian we would finally get some of that complexity. We might finally learn why he is the way he is and see how he thinks.
Well I'm here to tell you that none of those things happened.
Just for an example of editing issues: 1) Christian shares that he has permission from "Ana's Step-father" to spank her.... nope, Ana's DAD gave you permission to do that. Also, ew. 2) SEVEN uses of the word "Yar," four of which happened before any explanation. I've never seen A Philadelphia Story Christian. 3) SIX uses of "she made me feel ten feet tall."
The scenes we waiting for years to read from Christian's perspective like the meeting with Elena were so shallow.
It is also very clear that this book was written by a woman. I confirmed with my husband that men don't think the same way Christian Grey does. Too much internal monologue apparently.
Overall, just... disappointing. Such a waste of 700 pages of precious reading time.
Here's my rub, y'all:
It took me so long to finish because this book lulled me to sleep many a night. I didn't even want to read it most of the time but I was like "ugh, I need to spend some time with these losers if I want to finish this book."
It was pretty tame smut wise which is totally fine with me because [a:EL James|21652032|EL James|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] has been known to overdo it a time or two but it was also pretty tame in every other way and by tame I mean LAME. If you thought [b:Fifty Shades Freed|13536860|Fifty Shades Freed (Fifty Shades, #3)|E.L. James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1336418837l/13536860._SY75_.jpg|18034963] didn't really have a plot, I've got a surprise for you.
At least Ana's books didn't have a plot but they had a lot of sex. We can all just be like "okay, this is erotica. This either is for me or it isn't." Christian's books don't have a plot or a lot of sex or decent characters or good editing or any of the things that Bestselling novels should include.
This book was page after page after page of Christian explaining the mundane tasks throughout his day, thinking about Ana a lot but very superficially, and talking to his security team. I can't tell if James' goal was to make Christian more relatable or likeable or what but it just ended up being very slow.
Most of the book looked like this:
Actual footage of Christian Grey waiting for his black coffee while looking at his photo of Ana and wondering what Mrs. Jones will cook for dinner.
I was so excited for this book because I thought 1) after this many years of writing, it would have to be so much better quality wise 2) after this many years of best selling, James would have a decent editor 3) with so much changing for Christian we would finally get some of that complexity. We might finally learn why he is the way he is and see how he thinks.
Well I'm here to tell you that none of those things happened.
Just for an example of editing issues: 1) Christian shares that he has permission from "Ana's Step-father" to spank her.... nope, Ana's DAD gave you permission to do that. Also, ew. 2) SEVEN uses of the word "Yar," four of which happened before any explanation. I've never seen A Philadelphia Story Christian. 3) SIX uses of "she made me feel ten feet tall."
The scenes we waiting for years to read from Christian's perspective like the meeting with Elena were so shallow.
It is also very clear that this book was written by a woman. I confirmed with my husband that men don't think the same way Christian Grey does. Too much internal monologue apparently.
Overall, just... disappointing. Such a waste of 700 pages of precious reading time.
urbanesunset's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
readwithali's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoyed the final book, very nostalgic. Christian's POV provided a lot of insight into his character and really solidified the fact that Anastasia really held the most power in that relationship. I loved getting more of what happened prior to and during the wedding since we didn't get much from Ana's POV. This book was MUCH longer than I expected. Bittersweet to finish this because this was my first ever raunchy romance book.
tashomy's review against another edition
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
d_west's review against another edition
1.0
Why did I do this to myself? I love the first round of books but this round nope
penmar's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
bookishfrag's review against another edition
5.0
This book was everything I needed and more. I loved every second it. Seeing Christian make his way through self-hate and unworthiness to acceptance and giving unconditional love was such a bittersweet rollercoaster. I never wanted this book to end. I especially took extra time finishing it as I took it very slow, savouring every word of it. Thank you, Erika for giving this book to us.
— bookishfrag
— bookishfrag
amybradfield's review against another edition
Just got dull.. ended up listening to the end of the book on audiobook
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual content
bookishblasian's review against another edition
3.0
I have a soft spot for this series. I first read it back in high school and I’ve been low key obsessed since then. I was THRILLED when Grey came out. I’m not much of a re reader, but it was nice to read one of my favorite series from another point of view, especially Christian’s. Darker was decent, still part of the series I once loved, but it just wasn’t as enlightening as Grey. I didn’t have any expectations for Freed. I honestly didn’t even know it was being released until I saw it on Facebook. It started out strong, once again reminding me why I loved this series. The middle REALLY dragged on for me. The whole time I just kept thinking, was the book this long the first time around? Why is this taking forever to read? Why are the chapters so long? Am I almost done? I mean honestly, I almost gave up mid book. It’s not that there weren’t interesting tidbits in there, but it seemed like most of it just had me pissed at Christian for constantly punishing Ana and then talking about how much he loved her just the way she was. It was also a lot of Christian at work, talking about random boring work things. It wasn’t even an interesting insight into the life of a billionaire. I was honestly so bored sometimes that I would just skim the pages. The book picked back up again with the pregnancy drama and the kidnapping etc etc (assuming this isn’t a spoiler since it’s been out before lol). By the end of the book, I circled back around to having that soft spot for this series. I have no regrets reading this book. It felt nice to revisit this series once again. But truly, I have no idea why this book was so freaking long. It was almost painful to keep reading because even reading some 40-50 page chapters, it still felt like I hadn’t made a dent in the book. It doesn’t help that I’ve been reading quick KU rom coms up until now. Overall, this was still the same Christian and Ana that we all know and love. It was just a MUCH longer version. Again no regrets at all, but I’m happy it’s over and I have even more closure to the Grey period of my life lol. Also happy to see that I'm not the only one who feels like this book dragged on and was more boring/less passionate than the other books. Maybe E.L. is just over it.