Fifty Shades Freed

What would you do if you were Anastasia Steele? Throughout the 3^rd and final book in the Fifty Shades trilogy I found myself asking what I would do if I were in Ana’s shoes? Would I stay with Christian through his insecurities? Would I try and help him push through those walls he has had up since he was 4?  If I loved Christian as much as Ana, my answer would be yes. Love makes us do crazy things but in the end love is what gets us through the day and especially the night. 

Freed picks up a few months after the events of Darker – Ana and Christian are married and life couldn’t be happier.  There is still someone following them and threatening them but besides that they are still the loving, happy, crazy couple they have been.  Christian is slowly coming undone due to his love and need for Ana; Ana is becoming more attached to him the more she learns about his past and his mental state.  The book reads more like an action adventure book due to the stalker and situations Ana, Christian and their family get into.  It was much smoother reading this than the first two most likely because I like action and adventure in my books.  In the midst of all the chaos, Ana realizes she is pregnant and has to figure out a way to tell Christian even though she knows he will not be happy. All in the life of Mr. and Mrs. Fifty Shades.

The first thought after finishing the book was even though the book was about freeing Fifty Shades and opening him up, Anastasia came into her own as well.  She met a handsome, successful man who treated her like a queen. He gave her everything in life that she could ever want but she never wanted any of it – she only wanted him.  But besides the love she has for Christian, she also found a love and strength for herself.  The strong, independent and forceful woman she was when she drank comes out when she wasn’t.  She came into the woman she was supposed to be and never looked back.  She wasn’t the submissive anymore – she became a dominant just not in the bedroom. 

Some have said it was too perfect of an ending.   Can someone like Christian Grey really be “cured” or “saved?” Perhaps but even Ana will admit that 2 children in and Christian will never be 100% “normal.”  He has his demons and always will.  He had a traumatic life and there are some parts of that he will never get rid of no matter how much love he has in his life.  But he has gone much further than even Ana imagined. 

In the end it isn’t about the dominant submissive anymore. It is about something deeper that neither Christian nor Ana ever wanted to face, arguably the most feared outcome – rejection.  We all have a fear of rejection either at our job, by our friends and loved ones and the world.  Christian never game himself to anyone for fear of being rejected and not being able to come back from that.  He already was rejected by his mother and it took him a long time to open up and free himself partially of that.