In this installment we essentially begin with Christian topping...from the bottom. A deeply disturbed young man, immensely successful, intelligent, handsome and manipulative. He is essentially, as Dr. Flynn puts it......."an adolescent". I agree with the assessment.
With Christians petulant behavior, it appears as though he will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Which would explain why his is as successful as he is. But the story is out of balance.. We find Christian making amazing life altering changes, while his Ana makes surprising few. I wasn't convinced that Christian was as much "healing" as he was just trying to win his end game.
Ana on the other hand has begun to depersonalize Christian in this installment, constantly referring to him as "Fifty". Some could argue that this is a term of endearment, but to me it's like complimenting someone about how good they look for their age. Ana's insecurity in herself frankly made me want to bash my skull in against a brick wall. I can understand insecurity, we all have them, but for Christ's sake it made me wonder who was more "Fifty shades of fucked up"....her or Christian?
The nearly plot constant arguing between the two characters, Christian and Ana nearly drove me insane. I don't even have this kind of drama in my real life! To read about it....?? I found it exhausting. Had I been dating either one of them, I would have kicked them to the curb and told them to chill the fuck out and stop creating all this damn drama!
I am amazed at how inappropriately people seem to act around Christian. A shrewd businessman, very direct with his personal staff, yet his so called "friends" in the book, namely Elena, act amazingly out of bounds and he does nothing? Jose is drunk and makes a pass at Ana in book one, and Christian is ready to flog the man. Again I understand Elena is a trusted friend, so to speak, but not even me and my friends act like that around each other. I'm also fascinated at the dynamic that Christian feels he CAN have friends, but Ana cannot. Because Christian is that insecure....juvenile.....controlling......manipulative.
And then there is the poor, very messed up and sad Leila. I did like the way Ana was handling that scene. I would have actually liked to have seen that go further. Enter intervention with Christian. As Leila's former Dom, it is his responsibility to care for her. A good Dom does not neglect a sub, or if said Dom sees another sub in distress it is their responsibility to come to aid. A sub is NOT to fall to neglect. Period. I felt that this whole part of the story is what opened everything up. Christian and Leila's "relationship" has very distinct and clear cut boundaries and each knew how to act within those parameters. Outside of those boundaries, I almost feel as though Christian is faring better than Ana.
I have been doing a little re-reading on this book series and it's base of origins. I keep hearing that this is supposed to be "all the rage" on the east coast and with the soccer moms....not to mention the BDSM tone of the books. Frankly, I'm trying to figure out what the hell these people are reading if this gets them fired up. As I said in an earlier synopsis, this is pretty tame reading actually. The author obviously fumbles her way through the BDSM portion and the sex scenes are marginal as I felt as though the author was holding back. I have read other authors, namely Joey W. Hill and Maya Banks who also write similar stories. Their books are no holds barred and farrrrrr more racy than this. Anne Rice's Beauty series also leaves this in the dust. Or maybe I am just hardcore lol. This is more like beginner BDSM to me.
Joey W. Hill's Knights of the Boardroom Series? Now that will leave you with a pair of wet panties.
Despite my.........negativity, I do like the books. Sort of. The characters are frustratingly endearing, even though you want to hit them lol. As I said in my first synopsis, I was kinda hoping the main characters would annihilate each other. In a way, I hope they still do. I really get tired of everyone getting a "happily ever after". Just once, I want the book to end fucked up. I want to be disturbed. When I finish a book, I want to sit on my sofa with my mouth hanging open, saying "damn". I want the book to haunt me. I'm not sure that is going to happen with this series. I'm starting to like the characters, lol. But you neeeeeever know. And I can always hope lol. Cuz, I'm twisted like that lol.
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