'Fifty Shades Freed' Fifty Shades #3 by E.L. James

Received from the Publisher

From the BLURB:

When unworldly student Ana Steele first encountered the driven, damaged young entrepreneur Christian Grey it sparked a sensual affair that changed both their lives irrevocably. Shocked, intrigued, and ultimately repelled by Christian’s singular sexual tastes, Ana demanded a deeper commitment; determined to keep her, Christian agreed.

Now, together, they have more – love, passion, intimacy, and a world of infinite possibilities. But Ana always knew that loving her Fifty Shades would not be easy, and being together poses challenges neither of them ever anticipated. Ana must somehow learn to share Christian’s opulent lifestyle without sacrificing her own integrity, identity or independence; Christian must somehow overcome his compulsion to control, and lay to rest the horrors that blighted his past and haunt his present.

Just when it seems that together their love can conquer any obstacle, misfortune, malice and fate combine to make Ana’s worst nightmares come true. Alone and desperate, she must face down the poisoned legacy of Christian’s past.

Wunderkind and infamous CEO, Christian Grey, only knew Anastasia ‘Ana’ Steele for a few weeks when they married. Now the happy couple are spending their honeymoon in Europe, aboard a luxury boat and dreading their return to work, home renovations and the paparazzi.

But Christian has even more reason to delay their return to reality … after confirming that a machine malfunction on his beloved Charlie Tango helicopter was deliberate, more and more accidents and disturbing information is coming to light and plaguing the newlyweds.

An arson attack, a disgruntled former employee with a score to settle and lurking dark-tinted cars have got Christian jumpy and putting extra security detail on his nearest and dearest, especially his new bride.

‘Fifty Shades Freed’ is the third and final book in E.L. James’s surprise-hit trilogy. The first book was ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’, the second ‘Fifty Shades Darker’.

E.L. James’s debut romance erotica series, ‘Fifty Shades’, was a 2011 smash-hit. Little was known about the books when they started gaining fan momentum on Goodreads and Amazon. The books were bizarrely labelled as Twilight adult fan-fiction (minus supernatural aspects and coy metaphoric vampiric lust). The dark blue covers started popping up on book blogs and there were reverent whispers about a mysterious Christian Grey from smitten reviewers.

‘Fifty Shades Freed’ is, without a doubt, one of the most anticipated books of 2012 … and trust me, this finale is worth getting giddy about.

Ana and Christian entered into a whirlwind romance that saw them set to wed at the end of ‘Fifty Shades Darker’. When we revisit them in ‘Fifty Shades Freed’ they are enjoying their honeymoon, cavorting around Europe and dodging paparazzi. Whirlwind or not, Ana and Christian’s romance has proven to be epic and cathartic – a healing balm for megalomaniac Christian whose traumatic childhood had left him a haphophobia (fearing touch) and deeply distrusting of affection. In Ana, however, Christian has found salvation. He craves her touch and revels in her acceptance of his disturbing quirks, she soothes his self-doubt.

‘Fifty Shades Darker’ was a really wonderful second installment in this series, and in some ways it felt like the end. It finished on a high, with secrets revealed and romantic declarations made. But E.L. James is really offering up something special with ‘Fifty Shades Freed’ – she’s writing what comes after happily-ever-after, when the hero and heroine have sailed off into the sunset and all seems right with the world.

Ana still has a long way to go with Christian, as she discovers on their honeymoon. Even with a ring on her finger, Christian’s dead mother still looms large in his head, and his feelings of abandonment will not be cured overnight. Christian is still, well and truly, fifty shades of fucked up;

I reach up and caress his face. “And you’re precious to me, too. You do know that, don’t you?”
He stills, looking lost.
Oh, Christian … my sweet Fifty.
“Believe me,” I whisper.
“It’s not easy.” His voice is almost inaudible.
“Try. Try hard, because it’s true.” I stroke his face once more, my fingers brushing against his sideburns. He gazes at me, eyes wide, gray oceans of loss and hurt and pain. I want to climb into his body and hold him. Anything to stop that look. When will he realize that he means the world to me? That he’s more than worthy of my love, the love of his parents – his siblings? I have told him over and over, and yet here we are as Christian gives me his lost, abandoned look. Time. It will just take time.

‘Fifty Shades Freed’ feels much more psychological than the first two books. Book’s one and two really dealt with Ana and Christian’s relationship hurdles – Ana asking herself if she could accept Christian’s many ‘terms and conditions’, and Christian slowly realizing that he wanted Ana more than he wanted his lifestyle. With ‘Freed’, Ana and Christian are pretty much a given. They tried being apart and it nearly destroyed them both – so even with Christian’s looming doubts, his and Ana’s relationship is the constant. What James is exploring in ‘Freed’ is Christian’s dormant feelings of self-worth and self-loathing, all inherently linked to his dead mother.

This finale sees the series turned up a notch. Everything is heightened; with looming danger from a psychotic ex-employee, Ana combating her husband’s mercurial mood swings and dealing with his now defunct ‘sub-club’ … so many dramas and personal struggles equate to a lot of intense, smouldering sex, fraught confrontations and lover’s quarrels. Christian is still hotly volatile and utterly endearing, but now with Ana as his wife his feelings of territoriality and his need to protect are off-the-charts. Christian’s temper isn’t helped by arson attacks and high-speed car chases sending him into the overprotected stratosphere.

Now, at this point everyone is familiar with the Twilight-linked back-story of how the ‘Fifty Shades’ series was conceived. With ‘Breaking Dawn’ in mind, some twists and turns won’t come as such a huge surprise to savvy readers … but I was still impressed by how James managed to throw a few curve-balls and keep me on my toes, despite having a round-about idea of how ‘Freed’ would shape up.

The ending is catastrophically brilliant, maybe because it doesn’t feel like the end. We’re left with a sense that these characters still have lives to live and their story will keep playing out … and I, for one, would love a little follow-up. Either with a novella, short story or fourth book entirely. I think Christian still has a long way to go, and I’d love to revisit him down the track and check-in to see how he’s coping (especially since there is a lovely hint to some kinky fuckery in the epilogue that had me in giggling curiosity!).

E.L. James’s debut erotic romance trilogy has collectively swept readers off their feet. Christian Grey deserves all his rumored reverence from smitten reviewers, and the ‘Fifty Shades’ series has most certainly heralded a new romance author to watch in E.L. James. I’m sad to see this series end, but when the finale is as delicious as ‘Fifty Shades Freed’, it takes some of the sting out of goodbye. I do hope we revisit the Grey’s again, but in the meantime I intend to automatically-buy whatever E.L. James writes next!

5/5