So, I’d decided to read this trilogy, and as promised, I’m now done with the second book. Fifty Shades Darker. And once again, I’m not even sure where to start…

(Read my review of Fifty Shades of Grey HERE)

There will be spoilers from the first book in this review

In my last review, I told you that I like the fact that these book exist, because of all of the discussion that has evolved around both the books and the themes in it. I like that it made people a little more tolerant to the fact that people actually have sex and I like that people talk about the women’s role in a relationship. Because that is a discussion worth being put out there.

Even though our cute and innocent main character, Anastasia Steele, has proven to be very inexperienced and unsure, she actually had her moments in the first book. It ended with Anastasia telling Christian Grey that she can’t handle his habits, and don’t think they fit together after all. That was brave. She showed both Christian Grey, and the readers that you have to stand up for yourself and don’t feel pushed into doing things you don’t want to. There was actually some moral in this not-so-romantic, sexual, cliche story. Anastasia got a thumb up from me at that point.

But then I read Fifty Shades Darker, and I didn't even have to read long before the one thing I actually liked about Anastasia Steele was crushed into little pieces. After a prologue, the book starts with Anastasia Steele 3 days after the big break-up. She is in poor condition, has been crying ever since and, of course, has not eaten either. She’s a wreck, drowning in her own self-pity and loneliness.

This just makes no sense to me at all. Yes, I know that people can be heartbroken and that break-ups are bad (if you don’t, Anastasia Steele and Taylor Swift can tell you in detail), but that moral I talked about? Forget it. What are you trying to tell us, E.L. James? Because the message I get from this part of the book is: Women don’t function without a guy to take care of them. Women are weak, and will end up like wrecks if they end up alone. I don’t even see why Anastasia got to be a brave and strong character in the last book.

Of course she gets to be sad. She just went through a break-up. And I could actually forgive the waaaaay too many pages of Anastasia’s self-pitying if she’d knock some sense into herself at the end. At this point, this could have been a perfect story about a girl recovering from a break-up, realizing that she owns the world and is free to explore it. But it is not. Because of course, the only solution to Anastasia’s well-being is, yes, you guessed it: Christian Grey.

So, they get back together and we’re back on track, dragging ourselves deeper and deeper into this weird relationship between the two of them.

Fifty Shades Darker is the story about Anastasia and Christian wanting to try a relationship together.It’s about the two of them compromising to be able to live with each other. And, it is about the dark past and all the shades of Christian Grey. Fifty Shades Darker is indeed a very accurate title of the book.

A thing that actually is better about this book compared to the last, is that it is a lot more going on. We get to meet Anastasia’s new boss, Mr. Jack Hyde (I know....), Christian’s ex-”girlfriend” Leila and we get deeper involved into Mrs. Robinson and Christian’s former relationship. So, Anastasia faces a lot of dramatic events. Christian’s biggest secret is also revealed, and it results in something really big.

But even though there is more happening in this book, the writing is still really poor and there are many things here that just irritates me too much. Anastasia have so many moments where she just strikes me as directly stupid.Directly stupid. Sometimes her feelings and reactions to what’s happening around her makes me unsure about whether I should laugh at her or cry a little, as my faith in humanity is rapidly sinking. Seriously.

And then there is the sex. It seems to me that E.L.James knows that this is what people liked about the first book, and as a result to this she has tried to squeeze in sex at every possible moment. And I get that. But it’s all the same. After two or three times, I actually skipped those pages because I just felt that I’d read it all before. If you’re going to fill the book with this, it needs to have some variations… I’m tired of Anastasia’s inner goddess and Christian’s eyes getting a deeper color and Anastasia exploding around him and shouting “HOLY COW” in her head.

So… Despite that this book had more content and even some exciting moments, I actually like this book less than the first. It’s just so many things here that are wrong. The writing, the fact that Anastasia reacts in ways that makes me angry and the fact that she can’t stand up for herself for a second. It just frustrates me.

Right now, the only reason that I’m looking forward to the third book is because it is the last.

★☆☆☆☆