EL JAMES - FIFTY SHADES DARKER (2011)

One of the last of my September reads........

EL JAMES – 50 SHADES DARKER

Blurb......

Romantic, liberating and totally addictive, the Fifty Shades trilogy will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you for ever ...

Daunted by the dark secrets of the tormented young entrepreneur Christian Grey, Ana Steele has broken off their relationship to start a new career with a US publishing house.

But desire for Grey still dominates her every waking thought, and when he proposes a new arrangement, she cannot resist. Soon she is learning more about the harrowing past of her damaged, driven and demanding Fifty Shades than she ever thought possible.

But while Grey wrestles with his inner demons, Ana must make the most important decision of her life. And it's a decision she can only make on her own ...

Well, I’ll try and find something positive to say about this unfortunate read. It’s only 532 pages long and despite not being what I would call a typical page-turner you can eat the pages up quite quickly! And I suppose anything that creates a media buzz and makes people who usually wouldn’t read, pick up a book can’t be a bad thing.

So why did I read it? Well, in the Keane household, I have a habit of reading what my wife has read previously, just so we can compare afterwards. Typically she reads the likes of Linwood Barclay, Harlan Coben, Tess Gerritsen etc, so whilst these aren’t on my A-list of people I would typically read through choice I have enjoyed some of these authors, some more than others. Anyway the girls at her work were reading these and chatting about them in the summer; ergo it’s my time a couple of months down the line.

I have to say James can write better than I can, though whether she is a good writer is doubtful in my opinion. For the record; I don’t write and I don’t have any aspirations to write but a big part of me has admiration for those who do and those who strive to, irrespective of whether or not they have any great talent.) But hey, she’s sold a zillion books and has probably made a sizeable chunk of change doing so, so good luck to her.

So back to the book............mildly interesting at the points where Ana interacts with others, sex parts – dull, tedious and repetitive. Worst parts – Ana’s continual naval-gazing where she ponders her Christian, and the situation and anticipates seeing her hunk of Steele, but not before getting in touch with her inner-goddess first. The only mildly interesting person in the book is Christian’s gopher, Taylor but that’s probably because he sits on the edge of things most of the time. I did find myself pondering my naval and trying to get in touch with my inner god, to see if perhaps Taylor knocked out Christian with a tyre iron, having finally decided he was fed-up being a paid slave, and whether could he be the right man for Ana....... but hey, life like a lot of books you read, doesn’t always turn out as you hope.    

I do wonder whether, Ana’s Christian, that abusive, controlling gazillionaire hunk of a man who, perfect in every way will finally start expelling fragrant diamond-encrusted stools in an effort to finally put the seal on their troubled relationship.

Anyway Ana and Christian, Christian and Ana......roll on book 3....crikes, I can hardly wait!

2 OUT OF 5