50 Shades Darker is the second book in the Fifty Shades Trilogy. It is paperback with 532 pages. It is written by E L James and it was first published by The Writer's Coffee Shop Publishing House, Australia, in 2011. This edition was published by First Vintage Books in April 2012, copyright 2011 by Fifty Shades Ltd.

As stated in the book, this is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely incidental.


The overview is as follows:

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 Shades. While Christian wrestles with his inner demons, Anastasia must confront the anger and envy of the women who came before her, and make the most important decision of her life.


When first starting this series, I was appalled by the fact that this story is being blabbed across the world as being an erotic BDSM story. It was just screaming abuse to me. Something I know all too well. It actually annoyed me and nearly turned me off the series. In fact, it took me a while to even pick up the second book. But, being as I have never been able to start a series, and not finish it, I had to go for it. I made the decision to completely ignore the BDSM hype of it and see it as a story of the repercussions of a fucked up childhood. And how it impacts a person overall. Now that I have done that, it changes my ideas on the series.

Without giving anything away, this should have been called Fifty Shades Revealed, as a lot of info came into light in this book. It answered a lot of questions and though it had its dry moments, it kept me engaged. In fact, I started the book yesterday afternoon and I just finished it this evening. I think by understanding it is not actually based on the reality of the BDSM community and/or why someone chooses that lifestyle, and thinking of it as more of a book about why people are who they are and somewhat of a drama, it has made this book more appealing.

The happening in the second book reveals a lot of information, and at the same time, opens up new questions. I still feel that it could have been written better, but I don’t hate it as much as the first book.

I read this book very quickly after deciding to treat it like a drama rather than a BDSM erotica. After doing so, I found myself wanting to know more about the who’s, and they whys. I am starting on the last book tonight.

Usually when I buy a book I read it a couple times, sometimes more if it is great. But I always like to give it a second look, just to see if things make more sense after you know the whole story. With this series, I haven't even had the urge to dive into it again. It was fine to read it to see what all the hype was about. But that was as far as it went for me.