Summary
There have been half a dozenFifty Shades of Greybooks published, and some of them rank far higher than others on the quality scale. TheFifty Shades of Greybooks and movieshave been wildly popular. In fact, theFifty Shadesbooks became the bestselling books of the decade in the United States, and the bestselling book of all time in the United Kingdom(according to the publisher). With the books being so controversial, however, theFifty Shades of Greymovies had to change the booksin a few ways.
While viewers are mostly set in their rankings of theFifty Shades of Greymovies, they’re not in the same agreement about the books. Naturally, any book series being so popular causes lots of discussion and lots of debate about how they stack up against each other. This rankingconsiders Goodreads ratings, general reader feedback and reviews, and the subject matter of each bookto determine which one comes out on top.
1 Aspect Of Fifty Shades Of Grey Ruins The Romance (That Other Romances Do Better)
One aspect of other romance stories that has been done well in the past is ruined in Fifty Shades Of Grey, hindering the main couple’s chemistry.
6Fifty Shades of Grey
The First Book In The Fifty Shades Trilogy
Perhaps because it’s the first of E.L. James’Fifty Shadesbooks and it took her a while to find her footing. Or perhaps it’s because the subject matter of Anastasia and Christian’s BDSM relationship was so poorly handled, butthe first and best-known book is at the bottom of the list.There’s no real way to sugar-coat it:Fifty Shades of Greyis a deeply problematic book that isn’t that well-written.
This makes sense.Fifty Shades of Greystarted asTwilightfanfic, so it has all the problems inherent inTwilight’s toxic relationship, with the added layer of a bungled BDSM relationship that is not actually healthy BDSM, but an abusive relationship. There are some real problems withFifty Shadesas a whole, butthe first book arguably does the most to romanticize Christian Grey’s emotional abuse and overly-controlling ways.While there are some fun, frothier moments, the awkward sex scenes don’t make up for the rest of the first book’s many shortcomings.
Fifty Shades of Grey
Based on the book by E.L. James, Fifty Shades of Grey is the first film in the trilogy that follows naive literature student Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson), whose life changes upon meeting the complicated and tormented billionaire Christian Grey (Jamie Dorman). Drawn to each other, the two start a romantic relationship where Steele uncovers Grey’s secrets - and explores her own personal desires.
5Grey
The First Book In The Fifty Shades Trilogy From Christian’s POV
Grey, the first book in the story’s retelling from Christian’s point of view, suffers similarly from being the first book in Christian’s trilogy, just asFifty Shades of Greydid. Interestingly, while the original books started asTwilightfanfic (though they were changed quite a bit to keep from running afoul of copyright laws),Twilightauthor Stephenie Meyer later borrowed from E.L. James' idea to retell the story from the male love interest’s point of view.
It’s not a surprise.Greywas quite successful, and the idea is an interesting one, especially for the (mostly) female readership who might be starved for emotional intimacy and to know what their partners really think. Still, it has the same issues built intoFifty Shades of Greyas it’s the same story, just from Christian’s viewpoint. The writing is better, andChristian quite frankly serves as a more interesting protagonist than Ana, but it ranks lower than most of theFifty Shadesbooks. both in Christian’s own trilogy and on this list.
4Fifty Shades Freed
The Final Book In The Fifty Shades Trilogy
InFifty Shades Freed, the third book in theFifty Shadestrilogy, Ana and Christian are married and Ana finds out she’s pregnant. One would think that having “won” Ana might mean that Christian relaxes his controlling tendencies. They would be wrong. While it doesn’t descend to the levels of the first book,there’s quite a bit of backsliding in the third book regarding the more problematic elements of their relationship.
That said,the writing is a step up from the first book.While it could never be argued that theFifty Shadesbooks are literary masterpieces, there’s a marked difference from the first book to the third, and then later again in Christian Grey’s trilogy. Still, despite being the third and final book,Freedisn’t the best of the original trilogy, which is why it’s ranked in the middle of this list.
Fifty Shades Freed
The final film in the Fifty Shades trilogy, Fifty Shades Freed follows the newlywed lives of Anatasia Steele and Christian Grey. Still riding high from their wedding, Ana and Christian are brought back down to earth when a break-in at Christian’s company heralds the return of an old nemesis, and outside forces threaten to pull the couple apart once more. Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan reprise their roles as Ana and Christian.
3Fifty Shades Darker
The Second Book In The Fifty Shades Trilogy
Fifty Shades Darkersees Ana and Christian getting engaged, and with that evolution in their relationship comes an evolution in the books. It is undoubtedly the best of theFifty Shadesbooks, with the writing being an improvement from the first book. In truth,Fifty Shades FreedandFifty Shades Darkercould switch positions on this list and it wouldn’t change much.In terms of Goodreads rankings, they’re both neck and neck at 3.83.
Still,Fifty Shades Darkeris ranked higher on this list simply because their relationship is – slightly – less toxic than in the first and third books. In the second book, Ana has started to grow out of her mousy, submissive girlfriend role and has begun to gain a spine (and a personality in her characterization). Christian, meanwhile, actually does try to curb his controlling and possessive tendencies, and while that causes its own problems, it wouldn’t be a romance book without drama.The balance of stronger writing and a less squicky dynamicputFifty Shades Darkerat the top of the original trilogy.
Fifty Shades Darker
The sequel to Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker continues the story of Anatasia Steele and Christian Grey. After leaving Christian in the previous film, Anatasia finds herself inexplicably drawn back to him despite her reservations about their relationship. As the two grow close again, secrets from Christian’s past come back to haunt him, and Anatasia must decide if her love for Christian outweighs everything that comes with being in a relationship with him. The film stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan as Anatasia and Christian, with a further cast that includes Eric Johnson, Bella Heathcote, and Kim Basinger.
2Freed
The Last Book In The Fifty Shades Trilogy From Christian’s POV
Freedis the final book in Christian Grey’s point of view trilogy and - for now, at least -the final book in theFifty Shadesuniverse as a whole.This final book dives into Christian’s mind and readers finally get insight into how he feels about his marriage, his struggles with Ana being pregnant, and his job. It’s much-needed context for a character who, though his predilections were explained, still remained largely a mystery in the first few books.
For those who love theFifty Shadesbooks,Freedis and was more than worth the wait. At almost 800 pages,Freedcould and should have been trimmed, as it sometimes gets bogged down in unnecessary details. The filler offers little to the story and it’s clear E.L. James didn’t want to say goodbye to Christian. Still,anyone invested in Christian’s story will soak up all the little details about a troubled, complex characterfrom his own sometimes murky inner thoughts.
1Darker
The Second Book In The Fifty Shades Trilogy From Christian’s POV
It probably shouldn’t be a surprise that the Christian Grey trilogy ranks the same as the originalFifty Shades of Greytrilogy;they are, after all, the same story, just from a different perspective.Darkeris the second book of Christian’s trilogy and it ranks number one on this list. It’s clear E.L. James had the most fun writing this book out of Christian’s books, and, arguably, theFifty Shadestrilogy.
Darkertops theFifty Shades of Greyranking for a few reasons. For starters,Darkeris much snappier, more efficient writing thanFreed;at 546 pages, it comes in 212 pages shorter thanFreed, making the read feel like it zips along faster, even for a book that’s quite long. As this is the section of the story in which Christian really grapples with his abusive control issues, it’s also the most interesting of theFifty Shadesbooks, especially coming from his perspective.Darkerhas the most to play with, and does it well, at least when compared to the other books. For those into the overall story,Darkereasily comes out on top.
3.66
3.82
3.83
4.10
4.08
