I just finished reading Fifty Shades Darker. Much like the first book, there is a lot that just does not hold up to the standards that the hype surrounding this series has set. The book starts three days after the first book ends. With the way it continues, it might as well have been the next page of the first book. It does have a hopeful start in the prologue, which goes into Christan's point of view and letting the reader glimpse into his nightmares. This, however, is one of the only parts of this book to stray away from Ana's point of view. Although the title suggests that this story will be darker, it really should have stated lighter. Christan's character mellows out, so even the lame attempt at BDSM scenes go to plain vanilla sex, with the rare addition of a little bondage.

The new addition to this story is seeing more into Christan; seeing his flaws and his fears, he becomes an almost believable character. Unfortunately, also added to this continuation are a few crazy exes. First there's ex-sub Lelia, who shows up unstable and armed with a gun questioning what Ana has that she doesn't, after she leaves her husband for a new boyfriend who dies in a car crash. After that is finally all settled, there's a final confrontation with ex-Dom Mrs. Robinson, who is crazy on a whole different level and tries to end the relationship between Ana and Christan.

Sadly after the excitement of dealing with the exes, the story changes to the point of view of an earlier character who is royally pissed at Christan for an event that cost them their job. It's obvious who it is, and the whole mysterious vigilante angle is very boring and lacks creativity. The story did still capture my interest, and it had a few parts that really made me laugh. Altogether, though? It was just as poorly written as the first book.