After its publication, ‘Fifty Shades Freed’ rose to massive popularity, selling more than 9.3 million copies. The novel’s success added to the 150 million reads mark the entire series achieved after its conclusion.

Story

Though ‘Fifty Shades Freed’ has a relatively better story than its predecessors, it still follows a pattern many people dislike. First, the novel praises abuse. Even after Ana and Christian become husband and wife, there are still elements of abuse embedded in their relationship; this makes the story unrelatable to many people as it glamorizes the abuse instead of admitting it is wrong. 

From the story’s beginning, Ana and Christian start arguing about the slightest issues, and when Ana realizes she is pregnant, Christian becomes jealous of his child.

Another issue with the story is the presence of useless subplots. All the Fifty Shades Trilogy stories contain subplots with little meaningful value, and ‘Fifty Shades Freed’ has its fair share of them. A prominent irrelevant subplot gets introduced when Ray, Ana’s stepfather, gets placed in a medically induced coma after an accident. Though the development has the potential to discover Ana’s life deeper, it does not explore the possibilities surrounding Ray’s accident. Everything returns to normal for Ana, making her stepfather’s accident have no consequence for her.

Because the story focuses on Christian and Ana, other characters seem rushed and inadequate. An instance of this is the antagonist, Jack Hyde. Though there is more room to explore Jack, the story creates a one-sided villain out of him and makes his actions have no future consequence on Ana or Christian; this makes him an insignificant villain.

Characters

Though ‘Fifty Shades Freed’ adds a wider variety of characters into its story, it still suffers the same thing its predecessors do; characters with little impact. Characters like Elizabeth, Hannah, Welsh, Eric Lincoln, and even Ray served as just fillers for the story. Though many of the characters listed play minor roles, there are instances when they have the potential to do more. 

Characters like Elizabeth, Eric Lincoln, and Welsh have more value that could have made Ana and Christian’s story more dramatic. For one, Eric is a potential antagonist that the story does not explore fully. His hatred for Christian makes him the perfect villain as he has more power to go head-on against Christian, and with Jack Hyde as an accomplice, the story could have turned out better. However, there is little focus on Eric, and only his name gets mentioned.

Also, some of the primary characters suffered from blandness. Even the primary characters, Christian and Ana, lack depth as their relationship only stops at arguments, fights, and sex, making them bland.

Dialogues

In the final story of the Fifty Shades Trilogy, the dialogues were slightly better than the previous. For one, Christian becomes a more open person and relates better with Ana and other characters; this adds to his character depth as his interactions drive the emotion for some parts of the story. However, the dialogues in the novel still suffer from blandness and one-sidedness. Ana’s perspective restricts other characters from propelling the story as Ana has to narrate everything.

Writing Style and Conclusion

‘Fifty Shades Freed’ still employs the first-person perspective in its storytelling. Though the first-person perspective can produce a detailed story, E. L. James’s inability to fully explore makes the story and the characters bland.

With its bland characters, medially good dialogues, and average ending, ‘Fifty Shades Freed’ barely leaves a lasting impression on its reader.

FAQs