Fifty Shades Darker: Book Two of the Fifty Shades Trilogy
- Erotic Fiction & Erotica
Daunted by the singular tastes and dark secrets of the beautiful, tormented young entrepreneur Christian Grey, Anastasia Steele has broken off their relationship to start a new career with a Seattle publishing house.
But desire for Christian still dominates her every waking thought, and when he proposes a new arrangement, Anastasia cannot resist. They rekindle their searing sensual affair, and Anastasia learns more about the harrowing past of her damaged, driven and demanding Fifty S
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Identity (Eyes Wide Open, Book 1)
Eyes Wide Open is the mind-bending thrill ride from New York Times bestselling author Ted Dekker which can be experienced THREE different ways. You choose:
1. As an episodic story. Read Eyes Wide Open as four shorter sequential “episodes” much like your favorite TV show. The ride starts with IDENTITY which is FREE in ebooks. Think of it as the pilot, offered free. If you like the story, continue with MIRRORS, UNSEEN and the grand finale, SEER. Begin the story for FREE now. Or…
Price:
It’s awful, but oh so addicting,
After surviving 50 Shades of Grey, and after taking a break for a few days from Ana and Christian’s tortured romance, I girded my loins and cracked open the second book of the trilogy, 50 Shades Darker.
For those of you intrigued by the words “butt plug” or “fisting,” half of you will enjoy your lucky day, because one of those is kinda sorta featured in this book. As it is, the only fisting we ever see – ever come close to seeing – is that of Ana’s or Christian’s hands in the others’ hair. And that happens a lot. Not as often as Ana or Christian gasping, or Christian setting his lips in a hard line, or Ana biting her lip, or Ana coming undone, or Christian frowning. In fact, Christian’s frowning is such a “thing” that, when Ana frowns, another character observes that she’s turning into Christian.
It’s just … WHERE THE HELL WAS THE EDITOR?
But I digress.
To dig too deeply into the spectacle that is 50 Shades of Grey is to approach Sisyphean frustration. Trust me, because I know of what I speak. I spent an inordinate amount of time wondering how it was that Christian Grey was 27 and a billionaire as I read the first book. I don’t think we are meant to really ponder this stuff. I think we’re supposed to strap on our dildos and have at it, as it were.
Okay, so. When we last left Christian and Ana, she had walked out on him, horrified at the depravity entailed in his life of BDSM. (Go ahead and Google THAT, people. I had to, so you might as well.) As with its muse, Twilight, we see our heroine descend into despair, but unlike Bella’s months on end, Ana really only suffers for five days. Christian gets in touch with her, and it’s game on, kids. Christian is prepared to let go of his need for dominance in his playroom, because all he really wants – all he really needs – is Ana. She has admitted that she loves him, but it takes Christian a little longer.
Now, before you start thinking that this is the end of the Red Room of Pain, let me tell you that it is not. Don’t worry – Christian keeps the room, and Ana remains inexplicably drawn to it. So those butt plugs come in handy (no pun intended), although – SPOILER – Christian does point out that for the anally virgin, a finger is a better start. So Ana has something to look forward to, so to speak.
Back to the plot, such as it is. It turns out that one of Christian’s former subs remains fixated on him, so she enters the story to muck up Christian and Ana’s relationship. Also causing trouble is Ana’s boss at the publishing house. He wants her, which pisses off Christian, who reacts as only Christian can. Meanwhile, Christian and Ana’s romance progresses in fits and starts. She loves him, he really cares about her, can he say the “L” word, can they get past his need for control, why does he love her, why does she love him, can he overcome his tortured childhood, blah blah blah.
What you really want to know about are the sex scenes, right? RIGHT? I’m pretty sure you butt plug searching people aren’t concerned about the dialogue.
In this book, they rock the headboard in an elevator, on a boat, in Christian’s childhood room, in the shower (again – evidently they enjoy that spot), Ana’s apartment bedroom, Christian’s apartment bedroom, and – YESS! – the Red Room of Pain. Oh, and on top of a piano and a pool table. There may be more. Did the desk happen in this book, or the previous one? I think they wind up on Christian’s desk in this one, too.
During one of the many times Ana challenges Christian, they are in the library, competing in a billiards game.
“You know, Anastasia, I could stand here and watch you leaning and stretching across this billiard table all day,” he says appreciatively.
I flush. [SHE FLUSHES A LOT. That's another thing that is repetitive, and so again, I ask, WHERE THE HELL IS THE EDITOR? Oh - those are "shouty caps," according to Ana. Back to the program.] Thank heavens I am wearing my jeans. He smirks. [HE SMIRKS A LOT. So does she. Sometimes they smirk, bite lips and eye roll, all at the same time.] He’s trying to put me off my game, the bastard. He pulls his cream sweater over his head, tosses it onto the back of a chair, and grins at me, as he saunters over to take his first shot.
He bends low over the table. My mouth goes dry. Oh, I see what he means. Christian in tight jeans and white T-shirt, bending, like that … is something to behold. I quite lose my train of thought. He sinks four solids rapidly, then fouls by sinking the white.
Foreplay, Christian styles.
And now, for the butt plug seekers:
“What’s this?” I hold up the silver bullet thing.
“Always hungry for information, Miss Steele. That’s a butt plug,” he says gently.
“Oh …”
“Bought for you.”
What? For me?
He nods slowly, his face now serious and…
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|And the award for the most unlikable lead character in a book goes to…,
Anastasia Steele! Oh my God, was she awful! “I want you…I can’t please you…I’ll never leave you…I can’t give you what you need…and on and on and ON!” Grow up! At one point in the book, she stated that she doesn’t understand why Christian likes her. You and me both, sister! And then there’s the sophomoric writing! It’s soooo repetitive…repetitive…repetitive! But wait! Just when you think the same phrase is going to be used, YET AGAIN, the author throws in some arbitrary word that causes you to have to use your Kindle dictionary and doesn’t fit in with any of the other elementary wording that takes place throughout the book. Who uses the word “avuncular” in everyday talk? Am I really supposed to believe that a word that advanced is coming from the same person who constantly refers to her female anatomy as “down there”? I’m rolling my eyes (which is quite ironic because that was a central theme in this book)! I haven’t even finished the book but after the marriage proposal, I could take no more! I had to stop what I was doing just to write this review! And I probably won’t finish the book because it will most likely be another 100 pages of “His eyes are gray…He looks impassive…I bit my lip…Gasp…Oh my…He finds his release…blah blah blah!”
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|More of fifty shades of highly overrated tripe,
Side note to anyone who cares ( I am an avid reader and curious by nature. Everyone was going on and on about this and the sucker that I am, I read it and hated it. This is my OPINION. If you don’t like it, you DON”T have to read it!!!!!) The book DOES suck by the way!!! The last time we met our intrepid hero, I mean dom, he was standing in shock over Ana leaving him all alone in his red room of pain. What did he expect her to do jump and down and thank him for that beating? The book was an exercise in how not to write a sequel. There is virtually no plot. Ana can’t even go five days without her needy, controlling sorry excuse for a boyfriend. Yes, he’s needy and controlling and can’t seem to get his head around the fact that Ana should have a life. All they have in common is sex which isn’t a good foundation for any relationship, and are soon back together. It has’t even been a week! There isn’t much of a plot, just Ana and Christian questioning each other and themselves.
And amidst all this supposed romance is page after repetitive page of sex. Not much there considering all the stuff they seem to do to each other. It gets really boring by the way. At one point I felt like a spectator at the horizontal olympics. I mean, come on! If they’re at each other that much, how can she even walk? That’s all they seem to have in common. It’s “I don’t trust you,” “Don’t leave me”, ” How can you find me attractive?” I wonder about the mental stability of both characters. Not to mention an annoying back story about how Christian doesn’t like to be touched and about his need to dominate women just because they remind him of his mother. There’s a little sub-plot about a former submissive who’s so unstable and emotionally fragile you wonder about Mr. Grey and why he’s not in prison. I also find it hard to believe that at 27 he’d be at the helm of some massive corporation and still feels the need to whine about how Ana left him and how he needs her. Buddy, you’re a ruthless gazillionaire and head of a powerful corporation. People need you, you don’t need anybody!
But alas, Christian is finding his fragile, needy, stalking, controlling self, and can’t seem to find a leash long enough to put around Ana who constantly needs breathing space from her handsome psychotic boyfriend who was basically molested by an older woman we call Mrs. Robinson in the book. This woman gave birth to his sadomasochistic tendencies. He says she helped him by beating the crap out of him (he’s so stupid he can’t see it for child molestation) and he can’t bear to be touched because of what his birth mother’s pimp did to him (he constantly refers to her as the “crack whore” how touching and downright annoying).
He can’t break ties with Mrs. Robinson and tell her to go to hell. Guess who does? Ana tries to, but she’s no good at it…it’s his adoptive mother who was by far, the strongest woman in the book. Towards the end, I was kind of tired of all the sex, the whining, the stalking, the whining, the sex, more whining, there’s a marriage proposal in there somewhere. I can’t imagine why’d she want to marry a mess of a man who is so broken by the mere thought of leaving him, he constantly needs reassurance that she won’t do it again! Another mess of a novel. By the time Christian’s helicopter goes missing, you wish he had stayed missing so Ana can go whine about her insecurities in peace. Another boring end to boring characters who really should have been put out of their misery before they even made it to book one.
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|Who am I?,
When I got word that Ted Dekker was releasing four serial novels over the course of four weeks, all dealing with the search we all go through finding out who we are, I was definitely intrigued. He didn’t disappoint.
Identity is wide-open from the beginning. After a few pages of meeting the characters, this takes you on a journey at warp speed. And this is a journey we all go on, aiming to find out who we really are.
What I liked:
1) It’s Dekker. As a fan of his work, I’m game for anything he writes.
2) Fast-paced storytelling. Some authors feel the need to build the story over time (and I love that), but this one, probably due to its short nature, doesn’t afford the opportunity to do so and jolts you along from the starting line.
3) The story’s ability to make you think. Classic Dekker, leaving you scratching your head and looking inward as you finish.
What I didn’t like:
1) At the beginning, it felt as if he rushed the writing. The first chapter didn’t seem very well-written to me. But it picks up from there.
2) The initial feeling that he used recycled characters. Christy initially reminded me of Renee from The Priest’s Graveyard and The Sanctuary, and Austin initially reminded me of Seth from Blink. But as the story goes on, this fades.
3) The error! Is the locket mentioned in the story from Target or WalMart? For those who read this, you’ll see what I mean. Maybe this is cleared up in future installments (I’ll revisit this review if it is), but it stood out to me, and with Dekker being such an accomplished writer, it seemed this wouldn’t be overlooked so easily.
All in all, if you like Dekker’s work, or if you like psychological thrillers, this story is for you. Enjoy!
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|A Page Turner Extraordinaire,
Ted Dekker has a keen knack for creating nail-biting page turners. This book is no exception.
Identity, part 1 of a 4 part series, sets the stage for two characters who are suddenly faced with the dilemma of mistaken identity. This premise is very Hitchcockian in terms of the psychological harm that is done to these 2 young people to convince them they are not who they think they are.
In order not to reveal any spoilers, I won’t divulge too many details into the story. The characters, Christy Snow and Austin Hartt are two young, smart individuals who are brought together by their unfortunate past. Christy, who is very self-conscious and desperate to understand her past, has a strong attachment to a locket that contains only the sample picture that came with it. She has no family that she can remember. When she realizes the locket is missing, Christy sets out to retrace her steps to find it only to put herself in a very difficult situation. She and her friend Austin, who also has no memory of his past but is brilliant to a fault, end up in St Matthews hospital as patients in their psych ward. The rest of the series will continue their journey as they discover the secrets of St. Matthew Hospital and the secrets of their past.
Ted Dekker has once again proved to be the King of creating a series that keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire ride. Identity is fast-paced and addictive. I read the story in one sitting and quickly purchased the next book, Mirrors, to pick up where Identity leaves off. Bravo to Dekker’s promotional team as well for how they have presented this series. Offering the first book at a deep discount is sure to attract many NEW fans as well as Dekker veterans.
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|A teaser at best,
A very short read at only 54 pages. The “book” is simply an introduction to the series with no resolution whatsoever. A marketing teaser that attempts to entice the reader into wanting more. Since it is currently free on Kindle, it is a good opportunity to find out if you are indeed interested enough to purchase the rest of the story.
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