50 shades darker book review

Fifty Shades Darker

By e. l. james.

After its publication, ‘Fifty Shades Darker’ became a massive hit and sold millions of copies. Though it was not as successful as its predecessor, the novel made waves worldwide.

About the Book

Article written by Joshua Ehiosun

C2 certified writer.

As the second novel in the Fifty Shades trilogy,  ‘Fifty Shades Darker’  had a fair share of recognition and fame. Though  ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’  received backlash for its romanticization of toxicity, the backlash from its sequel was on a smaller scale.

The Fifty Shades Trilogy is a series that has garnered the praise of many. However, people do not love the trilogy for its impeccable stories. They love it for its intense sexual content. 

‘Fifty Shades Darker’  has a story that does not seem to have a lasting impact on its reader. The novel contains too much sex and irrelevant subplots that make it bland. 

The story starts just three days after Ana’s breakup with Christian. Then without any progressive conflict, she gets back together with him after a short conversation; this makes the purpose of the first novel useless as there is no room for exploring Ana’s time away from Christian.

After Ana gets back with Christian, he starts changing for the better and becomes a more loving person. The problem with this layout is that it is too sudden. The story does not give the characters enough time to explore their nature and faults, and it just brings the characters back together and inculcates love as the cure for the years of trauma and suffering Christian faced. 

Though the story tries to explain Christian’s character change by introducing Dr. Flynn, Christian’s therapist, into the scene, it does a terrible job when Dr. Flynn admits to Ana that her being in Christian’s life has done more change than him.

There are times when the story introduces useless subplots. An instance of an irrelevant subplot in the story is when Christian goes missing and returns just one day after having an accident with his helicopter; this made the novel unrealistic as it eluded the concept of the consequences of a helicopter crash and just made Christian miraculously unhurt.

‘Fifty Shades Darker’  used the first-person narrative to tell its story, making the dialogues rely on the primary character, Ana. Though the novel had a better plot than its predecessor, conversations lacked complexity and consequence. 

In the story, there were many times when Ana’s interactions lacked depth. For example, her relationship with Jack Hyde relied on her conversations with him. However, there was no prominent danger with Jack, as her conversations with him never included any element of intensity or fear. The story also removed all effort to make the scene of Ana’s assault realistic. Other instances of poor dialoguing exist between Ana and Leila.

‘Fifty Shades Darker’  introduced better characters into its story. It also gave its primary characters more depth as it explored what made them the way they were. The novel made other characters like Jack Hyde and Leila impact the story.

Though some characters got developed better, Ana had little character development. She was still the same person in the first novel, and even with the heartbreak from Christian, her character progressed rather blandly.

Writing Style and Conclusion

‘Fifty Shades Darker’  employs the same writing style as its predecessor. Tension drives its emotional output as its shows how Christian’s traumatic past haunts his relationship with Ana. Though the novel has a style similar to its predecessor, there is a drastic reduction in the sexual tension because the tension shifts to the antagonists, Leila and Jack Hyde.

The novel had a good ending. However, it failed to maintain a lasting impression on the reader because it removed elements of realism and provided a diluted happy-ending approach.

Is Fifty Shades Darker a good story?

‘Fifty Shades Darker’  is a medially enjoyable novel. Though it contains many sexual scenes, it also tells a tale of hate, jealousy, greed, and trauma. People into extreme romance and eroticism will enjoy the story. However, without ignoring some errors, it will not be enjoyable.

How long does it take to read Fifty Shades Darker ?

With an average reading speed, ‘Fifty Shades Darker’ will take about nine hours to complete. However, with a slower reading rate, it will take even longer.

What are some good quotes from Fifty Shades Darker?

“But I’m a selfish man. I’ve wanted you since you fell into my office. You are exquisite, honest, warm, strong, witty, beguilingly innocent; the list is endless. I’m in awe of you. I want you, and the thought of anyone else having you is like a knife twisting in my dark soul.”

“I’m anything but fine. I feel like the sun has set and not risen for five days, Ana. I’m in perpetual night here.”

Is Fifty Shades Darker boring?

Many people have stated they dislike  ‘Fifty Shades Darker’  because   it is boring. Though the story actively tries to create tension, suspense, and action, it falls short for many people. However, the novel sold well in the millions, showing that many people liked it.

Fifty Shades Darker Review

Book Title: Fifty Shades Darker

Book Description: 'Fifty Shades Darker' delves into Christian and Ana's reunion and their journey in giving love another chance after their initial breakup.

Book Author: E. L. James

Book Edition: First Edition

Book Format: Hardcover

Publisher - Organization: Vintage Books

Date published: October 2, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-345-80358-1

Number Of Pages: 515

• Writing Style
• Lasting Effect on Reader

Fifty Shades Darker Review: Might Have Loved You Then

‘Fifty Shades Darker’ tells the story of Christian and Ana after their first breakup. Realizing they cannot live without each other, they give love a second chance.

• There is action in the story
• The dialogues seem lively
• Too much sexual content
• The characters are bland
• The story contains plot holes

About Joshua Ehiosun

Joshua is an undying lover of literary works. With a keen sense of humor and passion for coining vague ideas into state-of-the-art worded content, he ensures he puts everything he's got into making his work stand out. With his expertise in writing, Joshua works to scrutinize pieces of literature.

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Ehiosun, Joshua " Fifty Shades Darker Review ⭐ " Book Analysis , https://bookanalysis.com/e-l-james/fifty-shades-darker/review/ . Accessed 4 April 2024.

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E.L. James gets 'Darker' as Christian Grey narrates latest kinky 'Fifty Shades' tale

Back by popular demand … it’s Christian Grey.

E.L. James has delivered a fifth book for insatiable fans of her erotic Fifty Shades of Grey series, who just can’t get enough of the kinky, titillating antics between the gorgeous but damaged billionaire tech entrepreneur and his lip-biting lady love, Anastasia Steele. 

With readers evidently still panting for more after the original blockbuster trilogy ( Fifty Shades of Grey , Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed ), James decided to re-enter the infamous Red Room of Pain and retell the tales from Christian’s point of view.

Grey , Christian’s version of Fifty Shades of Grey , arrived in 2015 and was an instant No. 1 USA TODAY best seller .

Now, here’s Darker (Vintage, 546 pp., ★★ out of four), with Seattle’s bad boy of bondage narrating Fifty Shades Darker . Two down, one to go!

With some 150 million copies sold worldwide and two heavy-breathing movie adaptations in the bag (the third is on the way early next year), it’s easy to see why James would want to dip into this well again and again. But the thrill is gone; recycling is just not very sexy.

Whatever you think of the novels' literary merits or the characters' sexual proclivities, James filled some sort of deep need in her (primarily) female readers. The original books (dubbed “Mommy Porn” by meanies) were narrated by Ana, an innocent 21-year-old college senior (and a virgin!) who meets the dazzling, mysterious 27-year-old Christian when she interviews him for her student newspaper. 

Sparks fly, a non-disclosure agreement is trotted out and Ana has to decide if she’s willing to indulge control-freak Christian’s alarming tastes in the boudoir. (Hey, this is a family newspaper.) But what really made these books a phenomenon is the romance. Watching Ana fall in love. Watching Christian fall in love. Watching Christian watch Ana eat (or not). Watching Christian reveal, bit by bit, his horrendous childhood. It’s a redemption story. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, the NC-17 version.

In the original trilogy, we see Christian through Ana’s eyes. In Grey and Darker , we get Christian via Christian, and his alluring arrogance translates too often as Big Jerk. And it’s not very Alpha Male for the formerly steely Christian to continually whine, in italics , about his insecurities when it comes to Ana.

This time around we get more details about Christian’s business deals (boring) and his relationships with former sexual partners/stalkers Elena and Leila (eh), plus additional flashbacks to his childhood (revealing if icky). But there’s just not enough supplemental material to justify 546 pages of soggy rehash, unless you’re dying to relive the explicit sex scenes from the male point of view (with terminology that’s more even graphic than in the original books).

Christian, fans know, is a “good man,” one twisted by things beyond his control, and an environmental- and Third-World-friendly businessman to boot!

It’s interesting in this cultural moment to remember that Christian nailed it in Fifty Shades Darker when he warned Ana about Jack Hyde, her slimy sexual predator of a boss.  Darker offers very few surprises, but it’s just as satisfying the second time when Jack gets a sharp boot where it really hurts.

Presumably, Christian will soon be narrating Fifty Shades Freed . And then we’ll be Freed at last.

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FIFTY SHADES DARKER

From the fifty shades trilogy series , vol. 2.

by E L James ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 17, 2012

A fun summer read—not the best thing you’ve ever read, not the worst, but not to be taken too seriously.

Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey move into a deeper, more committed relationship, impacting her fledgling publishing career and placing them both in physical and emotional danger.

Following the wildly popular Fifty Shades of Grey (2011), Ana and Christian reconcile after their breakup.  Their intense attraction and growing emotional attachment offers the reader a lot of passionate lovemaking scenes, as well as a couple of “beyond vanilla” sexual interactions. As Christian works on overcoming his dark sexual past while placing faith and emotional stock in his relationship with Ana, it affects past relationships, for better and worse. Old lovers come out of the woodwork, threatening their happiness and their physical well-being. Conversely, Christian’s connection to his family is strengthened through Ana’s gentle, supportive influence. Meanwhile, Ana has started as the assistant to an editor at a small Seattle publishing company, setting up a string of professional hazards and triumphs that ultimately lead her to a promotion, but also set up a dangerous situation for Ana and Christian that will act as the segue into the third book in the series. Fifty Shades Darker continues the saga of Ana and Christian, the zeitgeist erotic romance that’s hit a chord with women everywhere, with the same universally appealing themes and the same writing weaknesses.

Pub Date: April 17, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-345-80349-8

Page Count: 538

Publisher: Vintage

Review Posted Online: Aug. 8, 2012

ROMANCE | CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

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IT ENDS WITH US

by Colleen Hoover ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 2, 2016

Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...

Hoover’s ( November 9 , 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.

At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.

Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Atria

Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016

GENERAL ROMANCE | ROMANCE | CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

More by Colleen Hoover

by Colleen Hoover

THE IDEA OF YOU

by Robinne Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 13, 2017

A fascinating, thought-provoking, genre-bending romantic read.

When Solène Marchand takes her 12-year-old daughter to a concert by the hottest boy band on the planet, she doesn't expect to fall in love with one of the singers.

Middle-aged art gallery owner Solène hasn’t dated since her divorce, but when her ex-husband buys their daughter and a group of her friends tickets to Vegas and a backstage concert experience, then backs out at the last minute, she steps in as escort. The five guys in the wildly popular English boy band August Moon appeal to women of all ages, but Hayes, the brains behind the group’s success, flirts with Solène at the concert meet and greet, invites them to a party after the show, then pursues her once she gets back to Los Angeles. He’s only 20 and he’s incredibly famous; his attention is flattering and heady. The two fall into an affair that’s supposed to be light and easy, but before long they can’t ignore their intense emotional attachment. Solène is hesitant to tell her daughter, but when she procrastinates, Isabelle learns about it through an online tabloid, which damages their relationship and leaves Solène open to censure from her ex. Then, once the affair goes viral, she experiences the darker side of Hayes’ fan base. What started out as a jaunty adventure turns into an emotionally fraught journey, and Solène must decide what she’s willing to risk for her happiness and what she won’t risk for her daughter’s. Actress Lee, who appeared in Fifty Shades Darker , debuts with a beautifully written novel that explores sex, love, romance, and fantasy in moving, insightful ways while also examining a woman’s struggle with aging and sexism, with a nod at the tension between celebrity and privacy.

Pub Date: June 13, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-250-12590-3

Page Count: 384

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Review Posted Online: April 3, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017

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Review: Fifty Shades Darker

Recap : The second book in the Fifty Shades of Grey series, Fifty S hades Darker delivers just that — a certain darkness not seen in the first book. Darker picks up right where the first book ends. The differences have become too great for Ana Steele and Christian Grey. But their break doesn’t last long, and once again, we’re caught up in the whirlwind romance — and mindblowing sex — that is their relationship. But Darker introduces new characters.

There’s Ana’s boss, Jack, yet another man who clearly has a thing for Ana. He gets creepier and creepier as the book goes on, proving that maybe Christian Grey has a point with his absurd overprotection. There’s also Elena — or as Ana refers to her, Mrs. Robinson. Elena is the woman who corrupted Grey when he was just a teenager, the woman who Christian refuses to acknowledge molested him. She also predictably becomes Ana’s mortal enemy and a persistent force to be reckoned with. There’s also Leila, a woman from Christian’s past who has some serious psychological issues.

And though these challenges make the progression of Ana and Christian’s relationship difficult, the two overcome many of their issues as best as they can, and look toward a permanent future together.

Analysis : Finally some depth! Fifty Shades of Grey gets the readers engrossed with oodles of sex. Darker doesn’t disappoint either, but the new characters add a new layer coldness and some action to an otherwise romantic novel. Jack makes inappropriate advances on Ana! Leila breaks into Ana’s apartment! Mrs. Robinson still wants Christian! Though the Leila storyline is particularly outlandish, it makes the story and the relationship between the two protagonists more serious.

As the book goes on, we also learn more about Christian’s childhood and why he is the way he is. Again, we’re getting deeper and darker, which both answers a lot of questions for readers and leaves us wondering more. In Darker , author E.L. James pulls us into the story with more than just sex.

That’s not to say there aren’t some truly ridiculous sequences of events — like the predictable and eye-roll-worthy marriage proposal or that Ana now wants to be treated more harshly during sex. The writing also continues to be poor. But again, if you’re looking to read a book for its literary wonder, this is the wrong book. If you like dirty, scandalous, and romantic, this is the book for you.

MVP : Elena. She’s one of the novel’s biggest villains, but she’s an interesting character and certainly keeps the reader guessing. With Ana so adamantly against her, and Christian so convinced that there are no lingering romantic feelings between the two, it’s hard to pick sides. And Elena’s insistence on becoming friends with Ana is equally as confusing to the reader as it is to Ana. There’s no greater moment of satisfaction than a particular party scene between Ana and Elena toward the end.

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Tagged as adult , book reviews , books , E L James , erotica , fiction , Fifty Shades Darker , Fifty Shades of Grey , novel , romance , series

30 responses to “ Review: Fifty Shades Darker ”

This trilogy has completely consumed me. I’m so in love with the way this book is written, in such an amazingly sexy, yet tasteful manner due to its nature, suspensful attitude. E. L. James, drags out the “sex goddess” in every women whom is brave enough to attempt.

I’m also intrigued by these books. I love the story and it’s hard to put down and stop reading. I’m always wondering what’s going to happen next. As for Christian, I don’t know if I like his ways of having sex especially the spanking on the butt. Interesting but not too many men that I know would do this and as for Ana, she is right for standing up to Christian as I know alot of women would just fall for him and never say a word to him. She’s definitley has the gutts to put him in his place. Way to go Ana.

I can’t put the books down, I read the 1st and 2nd book in 6 days. I am so cought up in this romance. I love how E.L has created the suspense, Grey surely is portrayed as the Dominant/heartless handsome man in the first book, but I love how he has become this vulnerable man, as Anastacia has proven to be one tough, loving, sexual goddess. I love their characters! I hope the third book doens’t dissapoint! Have you read it?

Sorry! If it wasn’t for the sexy parts of the book, the rest is just garbage. I still can’t wrap my head around a character who would call her lover, “sir” and then take such abuse from a guy? Thank goodness, this book was lent to me and I never spent my hard earned money or used my library card. I did, however, waste a few hours trying to finish this book, hoping it would get better. Only the truly lonely and pathetic would love a book who glamorizes a man abusing a woman and find it ever so amusing.

‘the truly lonely and pathetic’ har har.. everyone is reading it- which therefore says a lot about the country.

I absolutely agree with you. I dislike almost all of the main characters, especially Ana and her incredible lack of self worth. I couldn’t stand her inner dialogue throughout anther book- I got thirty pages into Darker and then gave up. Not for me I guess.

I did waste my money on Book 1 and now Book 2. Someone told me Book 2 was a lot better and just to hang with it. I really don’t feel it has any depth at all in the storyline to really keep me reading. I’m half way through this book and ready to just toss it. It really makes me sad that I go into Walmart and there’s about a hundred of these books on the shelf. Our courtry’s morals are down the drain. I’m with the other replies in this post.

I totally agree! My co-worker and I tried to read it because we wanted to fit in at our office (Lately, it’s ALL anyone has talked about)…. But it’s killing us. I swear… If i hear the words “panties” “holy cow/fuck/crap” or “inner goddess” again, I might punch someone… I only want to know what happens in any major plot points… Does anyone know of a Cliff’s Notes version?

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i bought the book out of Curiousity, but I was really hooked. Anatsasia and Christina Grey both beguiled me. I love the way it was written, t’was not just about sex—i love how E.L. James created the character. Now, Im about to read the book 2 and Im soooooo excited to meet and know the new characters.

Christian Grey is just my type, it reminds me so much of a “relationship” I had with someone but it didn’t go so far as sex- complicated, secretive, un-understandable to anyone who wasn’t in it and suffice it to say, damaging. I read the book in 1 sitting and am now in the process of ordering the 2nd. My boyfriend calls it my pervert book haha.

It was a hardcore Harlequin Romance. The circling at the beginning, the capitulation in the middle, and the cliffhanger at the end. We want what is best for Ana and Christain which is a haapy ending.

Although I find it garbage reading, I am giving you a link to download it for free at least those interested waste only their time not their money as well lol http://myreadingcorner.weebly.com/books.html

Pingback: Review: Fifty Shades Freed | Lara's Book Club

I could do without all of the BDSM…other than that I thought the book was captivating. I love a great LOVE STORY and in the 1st book we read about a budding love that wants to flourish but the sun continues to be hidden by the “grey” clouds. I thought a comment above was funny about a boyfriend calling it a pervert book because the guys in our family call it the “porno book” or the “the devil book”..LOL..but they think its hilarious to pass the book around and do popcorn reading where they just open up the book to a random page and read a few paragraphs aloud to each other…pfft! MEN! Leave the Christian Grey reading to us women! =)

I would just like today that Ana is irritating in the way of pushing an obviously damaged person to talk about his past. When Christian tells her how he got his scars, Ana should have left it at that but she has to keep pushing him to talk about it. I do understand however that you would want to know more but when someone has a damaged childhood like Christian they don’t want to talk about it all the time.

i love this book so much it is unbelievable, i feel that people have actually ruined the book for other people because they go on about the sex so much… i feel that the storyline is very captivating and i cannot help but fall in love with christian grey and wish that he was actually my boyfriend in real life.. this book is really amazing and i am so happy that i bought.. almost finished the second book and cannot wait to start on the third part of the book.

Personally the books are interesting 🙂 Truth be told, you have to do what works for you; and this is what worked for them. You have to have an open mind to read books such as these…

We aim to please pips….we aim to please…

I am also glad I didnt spend my money or time finishing the first book of the trilogy. The writing is so poor and characters so unbelievable. No smart woman would ever agree to such a relationship. These books are garbage and all the people who have fallen in love with them are crazy and obviously have never read anything of substance.

sick book. Women we are worth more cause we all know that in real life men who do this kind of thing to women use them just for that. Sick, that this kind of book would be a best seller?really??is that how sad our world is?

I am so consumed in this book that I have lost my sleep. Hours spent just to finish reading it. I wonder how it will be like to materialise this Trilogy into a movie.

I cant wait for the movie can only imagine hw Mr Grey will look like…….*anxious*

there is a movie coming out? when? this is exciting

The first book was interesting and left me wanted for more, this love is irrational, a man who’s broken not normal or moral. He has he’s way of coping with his situations, he has a dark past, he never has trouble being loved and to love. He’s been lonely for so long, and so when Ana enters his life thoughts get heavy. Christian is fighting with the demons i do think he’s in his normal state of mind and might have a mental illness perhaps, he’s scared emotionally and physically for sure, judging by his coping mechanism – spanking , fucking hard. Although I don’t like sad endings and so I’m eager to finish the rest of the books in this series.

i mean to say – he HAS trouble being loved and to love

apologies for the typos

Hi from South Africa! Agree…the writing is not good. There are mistakes and even plagiasm! The first book didn’t impress me at all. The second…mmmmm. Much nicer. There were more romance and love and…at least some action. I even cried when all thought Christian was dead. Nothing wrong with calling each Mr and Ms….Been there….dated a CEO… The characters according to me….way to young though. The romance is so strong…overwhelming. Perfect man. Perfect woman. Writer did her homework. Ana fits well into the description of Virgo…her birthday being 10 September. Fifty shades freed….I loved it. Read it!!!!

So there is a villain at this book.I haven’t read it well.But I think Jack and Elena are threatining

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Fifty Shades Darker (James)

Fifty Shades Darker (Book Two of the Fifty Shades Trilogy) E.L. James, 2011 Knopf Doubleday 544 pp. ISBN-13: 9780345803498 Summary 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. This book is intended for mature audiences. ( From the publisher .) See our Reading Guides for the other books in the Fifty Shades Trilogy: Fifty Shades of Grey , the first book; Fifty Shades Freed , the third.

Author Bio E L James is a former TV executive, wife and mother of two based in West London. Since early childhood she dreamed of writing stories that readers would fall in love with, but put those dreams on hold to focus on her family and her career. She finally plucked up the courage to put pen to paper with her first novel, Fifty Shades of Grey . ( From the publisher .)

Book Reviews Sorry, There are no mainstream press reviews online for the Fifty Shades Darker , the second book in the Shades of Grey trilogy. See Amazon and Barnes & Noble for helpful customer reviews .

Discussion Questions Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips) • Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction • Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for Fifty Shades Darker : 1. Talk about Ana's state of mind at the beginning of the book. Why does she allow Christian back into her life? 2. Does Ana's explanation about why she never said the safeword at the end of book one make sense to you? Christian wonders whether he can ever trust her again...and she apologizes. Why? 3. Jack, Ana's boss, is one of the new characters introduced in this installment. What do you think of him? Does your opinion of him change as the book progresses? 4. What do you think of Elena, or "Mrs. Robinson" as Ana refers to her? Why does Christian refuse to acknowledge his teenage sexual encounter with her? Why does she desire a friendship with Ana? 5. What's wrong with Leila? 6. What more do you learn about Christian's past? Does that knowledge provide further insight into his character? 7. Why does Ana wish to up the ante (or discipline) with Christian? 8. Talk about the party scene between Ana and Elena toward the end of the book. 9. What do you think of the marriage proposal? 10. Is this just a dirty book—or are there deeper issues at stake here? 11. What about the ending—is it satisfying? Or is it merely a set-up for the sequel? 12. If you've come this far in the trilogy, you'll most likely read the 3rd installment. Any predictions? Or have you had enough? 13. Do either Ana or Christian change from the first book through the end of the second (or does your attitude toward them change)? Has their relationship evolved...or does it remained as it was previously? 14. Review the questions from Fifty Shades of Grey —some of them pertain to this book as well. 15. Time for honesty: are these books a turn on? Would YOU do this? HAVE you done this?

( Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks .)

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Fifty Shades Darker Review

Just turn out the lights..

Fans of Fifty Shades of Grey will undoubtedly be pleased with the continuation of this tale of one woman doing her best to fix the man with whom she is, perplexingly, in love. The characters, however, are at best skin deep, the various storylines remain unexplored, and the chemistry between the cast is minimal. Anastasia's bending over backwards to please Christian is far more frustrating than endearing, and his forcing her to acquiesce to what he wants for her is more than a little horrid. The last movie in the trilogy is due out in a year's time so perhaps it will cause all that has preceded it to make more sense.

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‘Fifty Shades Darker’ Review: Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan Loosen Up For Sexier, Sillier Sequel

Kate erbland, editorial director.

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Don’t let that title fool you: The second entry in the “Fifty Shades of Grey” cinematic trilogy is by no means a darker outing than its predecessor, and the franchise (already set to wrap up with a third feature in 2018) is all the better for it. Whipping up a proper tone for the big screen versions of E.L. James’ wildly popular novels was always going to be the films’ biggest problem, and while director James Foley might not quite nail it, wily injections of humor prove to be an unexpectedly helpful addition to the kinky franchise.

Picking up mere days after the events of Sam Taylor-Johnson’s 2015 “Fifty Shades of Grey,” Foley’s film quickly shifts gears away from the doom and gloom of the first film to give audiences something sexier, sillier and a fair bit soapier. After gliding through a series of literally tattered childhood memories that serve to illuminate just why Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) is — as he so memorably puts it — “fifty shades of fucked up” and a sad-faced opening credits sequence that shows the sorry state of Anastasia Steele ( Dakota Johnson ) post-breakup, “Darker” starts to have a lot more fun.

READ MORE: ‘Fifty Shades Darker’ Trailer: Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan Rekindle Their Steamy Love Affair

Desperate to win back Ana, Christian goes to the usual over-the-top ends to impress her, from giant bouquets of delivered roses to  the purchase of an entire set of large-scale portraits shot by Ana’s  other  obsessive devotee, the ever-maligned Jose (Victor Rasuk, friend-zoned as ever). But what Ana wants is something much more simple and respectable (in BDSM parlance, something “vanilla”), something that may never fully satisfy the more complicated parts of Christian’s sexuality. Yet life without Ana just won’t do, and Christian agrees to “renegotiate terms” to satisfy his lady (no actual business meetings and signed contracts required this time).

Ana’s newfound liberation, frequently punctuated by Christian choosing to pleasure her first (in the world of “Fifty Shades,” oral sex is the most reliable barometer of the state of a relationship), never feels fully realized, thanks to a screenplay dominated by scenes comprised of actual nonsense where whole stretches pass with nothing of substance or believability takes place.

Ana will demand to not be locked up in Christian’s spacious apartment, a kept thing, and mere seconds later, she’ll readily be agreeing to move in. It’s a cycle that repeats almost endlessly throughout the film’s slow-moving first hour. If Christian — or the script — felt at all smarter, it would seem like a nasty trick. At least the sex is actually sexier this time around, more bent towards play, rather than punishment.

Still, Ana does get some of the things she wants most in the world, even if they go against Christian’s very grain. As Christian begins to let Ana in — both physically and emotionally — she learns considerably more about his background, and his particular likes and dislikes. From his messy childhood to a genuinely shocking affection for “The Chronicles of Riddick” (not actually a joke), Ana and the audience both discover shades to Christian the first film never even bothered to hint at.

With both Johnson and Dornan appearing far more comfortable in their roles this second time around, “Darker” drops much of the weirdo pretension that made its predecessor such a humorless slog. There are intentional laughs to be found here, and the soapy shockers that take over during its action-packed third act suit the material in unexpectedly delightful ways. Finally, a “Fifty Shades” film that isn’t afraid of being  fun. 

But fun only goes so far, particularly in a film that still seems bent on loading up somber twists to remind everyone just how “fucked up” this all is. Despite its looser tone, “Darker” does make room for some clunkier, darker elements. Ana keeps seeing a creepy woman hanging around her home and workplace, and her once-accommodating boss (Eric Johnson, whose haircut carries the bulk of his performance) turns quickly nefarious after she rebuffs his unsettling advances. And while tension should all linger around every edge, “Darker” only goes for the scary stuff when the meandering plot needs to push forward.

READ MORE: ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ Sequels ‘Fifty Shades Darker’ And ‘Fifty Shades Freed’ Will Shoot Back-to-Back

Niall Leonard’s screenplay struggles to hold tight to the film’s many subplots, and seemingly important turns are picked up and dropped with stunning irregularity. Even things that seem essential — and Foley loves to make those moments stand out, all the better to drive home that there’s still a whole other film left to watch — fall by the wayside within the space of seconds. Richard Francis-Bruce’s editing is similarly baffling, and cuts between scenes and whole sequences appear with little rhyme or reason (most worrisome is Francis-Bruce’s tendency to cut a sex scene just when things are actually steaming up).

“Fifty Shades Darker” is at its best when leaning towards the light, embracing its unabashedly sillier elements and letting its stars off the chain (or the rope, or the leash, or whatever handsome but foreboding leather-made object can be found in Christian’s Red Room of Pain). Sex is fun! Romance is sweet! And not every slap needs to leave a mark.

“Fifty Shades Darker” hits theaters on Friday, February 10.

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16 Big Differences Between The Fifty Shades Darker Book And Movie

It is always difficult to bring a popular novel to life on the big screen, and it can be even more difficult if that book is a later novel in a popular series of books that expands out the universe further. 50 Shades Darker , based on the second novel in the Fifty Shades trilogy by erotic romance author E.L. James , has to contend with that universe expansion here, and because of it, there are plenty of changes made between the books and the movie.

We could go on and on about the minutia of the changes between 50 Shades Darker on the big screen and within the pages of the book, but this list compiles the biggest changes I noticed during my screening of Universal's 50 Shades Darker. Plenty of other details were changed, of course, and feel free to remark on any changes you feel may have been more noticeable. There are many spoilers in the Fifty Shades of Grey book to movie comparison. Do not delve in if you want the film to be a surprise.

In addition, if you are looking for the Fifty Shades of Grey book and movie differences, head here .

Ana isn't forced to rely on Christian to take her to Jose's art show. Instead, once Ana arrives she runs into Jose, who learns all the photos he took of Ana have sold. Somehow, Ana's intuition makes her realize that Christian was the one who bought them and she turns to see him staring at her. This is different than Christian offering to take her to Portland in Charlie Tango in the books.

After the art show, Ana doesn't let Christian order for her at the restaurant. This change fits her personality better. It shows the non-subservient side of Ana when she orders a Quinoa salad rather than accepting Christian ordering medium steak and French fries for her.

When Jack invites Ana to the bar, no one else shows up. In the books, Jack slowly gets more menacing as time passes. In the movie, Jack is set up as a shady character nearly immediately when he bamboozles Ana into going to a bar with him alone by saying "everyone" goes to happy hour.

There are far fewer sex scenes in the film. Fifty Shades Darker had to fight for an R-rating , so there was only so much "kinky fuckery" that the film could get in. We did get many of the big moments including the spreader , the silver balls, and Ana drawing on Christian with lipstick, but some specific sexual acts and sexual moments are cut out, including but not limited to Ana taking Christian's pants off and giving him a partial handjob and having sex with vanilla ice cream.

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Ana uses an iPhone and not a Blackberry . This makes sense, considering Blackberry phones are not in vogue. It also means that Christian and Ana are texting rather than emailing, so that Jack does not get involved with their communications. Welcome to the tech 2.0 Fifty Shades Darker .

When Leila begins stalking Ana, she shows up in Ana's home rather than Christian's . Other details about Leila's stalking are changed, and the movie doesn't set Leila up so that Ana recognizes she was the girl with bad taste in music on Christian's iPod.

The pool table scene is cut . One big plot in Fifty Shades Darker is that Ana doesn't even know Grey well enough to know all of the rooms in his home. In the second book, she learns about the library, which features a pool table. Ana's a pretty good shot, but she takes on Christian and loses and ends up getting punished for it. In the movie, we only get to see the library and the pool table in a background shot while Anna is learning about Leila.

The party at Christian's childhood house is changed quite a bit . As noted prior, Dr. Flynn is missing, so there is no scene where men are bidding on women for a dance. There are no fireworks, either, although those come on Christian's birthday later in the film. Ana does get to spend time in Christian's---and in the movie there's a Chronicles of Riddick poster!

Ana does not pretend to be "Mrs. Taylor." Instead of going to a hotel after Leila gets angrier, Christian takes her out on a boat and the movie heads into the scene from The Grace in the books. There's also no drive to the mansion in The Sound, although a giant home on the boat trip is referenced.

Jack is also a way bolder stalker in the movie. He gets fired way earlier in the movie than he does in the books, and there isn't ample time to set up his nefarious ways in the office . Instead, the movie has him sneak into Grey's parents' home to do reconnaissance. Then, he also smokes a cigarette and is shown to be stalking Grey's birthday party when the fireworks go off.

Key book characters are cut out of the film . This includes Ethan, who in the books Mia is extremely attracted to. It also includes Dr. Flynn, who helps Christian through his sadistic tendencies and approves of Anna. (Flynn was reportedly cast , too) Neither character is strictly necessary to the plot, but this certainly means a lot of scenes are changed without the characters.

Christian controls Ana's choices far less in the film . In the movie, he is not constantly asking her to eat to keep her strength up. He's also not obsessed with Ana getting back on birth control so he can stop using condoms, although personally I feel a safe sex message would have worked fine in the film.

When Jack is fired, the head of HR tells her to sit in for Jack during one meeting . Instead of offering Ana Jack's job when she's a brand new employee, the film makes her work for the gig. When she attends the meeting as an interim in Jack's place, she pitches a great idea and is asked to stay on by Bruce Altman, aka the guy who plays the stepdad in Rookie of the Year . This makes so much more sense than the way it plays out in the books.

Leila actually shoots at Ana. This really amps up the drama. The rest of the scene plays out similarly to the books, with Ana getting upset when Christian goes full Dom. However, instead of getting drunk with Ethan, who is nonexistent, she goes for a sad, slow walk in the rain without her cell phone.

In the movie, Kate doesn't find Christian and Ana's contract and freak out . When Ana goes for drinks with her pals, Kate does make sure that Ana is okay, but otherwise that side drama is cut out of the movie. Like the book, Kate is on vacation for a good chunk of the movie.

Jose is invited to Christian's birthday party. Like what? So confusing, since Christian is clearly not a Jose fan, but maybe this is an attempt to show he is getting over his jealous streak? Whatever it is, it's weird.

Fifty Shades Darker hits theaters this weekend. To find out what other movies are heading to theaters soon, take a look at our full movie release date schedule .

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways. 

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Fifty Shades Darker

2017, Romance/Drama, 1h 58m

What to know

Critics Consensus

Lacking enough chemistry, heat, or narrative friction to satisfy, the limp Fifty Shades Darker wants to be kinky but only serves as its own form of punishment. Read critic reviews

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Fifty shades darker videos, fifty shades darker   photos.

When a wounded Christian Grey tries to entice a cautious Anastasia Steele back into his life, she demands a new arrangement before she will give him another chance. As the two begin to build trust and find stability, shadowy figures from Christian's past start to circle them, determined to destroy their hopes for a future together.

Rating: R (Some Graphic Nudity|Language|Strong Erotic Sexual Content)

Genre: Romance, Drama

Original Language: English

Director: James Foley

Producer: Michael De Luca , E.L. James , Dana Brunetti , Marcus Viscidi

Writer: Niall Leonard

Release Date (Theaters): Feb 10, 2017  wide

Release Date (Streaming): Apr 25, 2017

Box Office (Gross USA): $114.4M

Runtime: 1h 58m

Distributor: Universal Pictures

Production Co: Universal Pictures, Perfect World Pictures, Michael De Luca

Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

Cast & Crew

Dakota Johnson

Anastasia Steele

Jamie Dornan

Christian Grey

Eric Johnson

Eloise Mumford

Kate Kavanagh

Bella Heathcote

Luke Grimes

Elliot Grey

Victor Rasuk

Max Martini

Bruce Altman

Jerry Roach

Kim Basinger

Elena Lincoln

Marcia Gay Harden

Grace Trevelyan Grey

Andrew Airlie

Carrick Grey

Robinne Lee

Amy Price-Francis

Fay Masterson

James Foley

Niall Leonard

Screenwriter

Michael De Luca

Dana Brunetti

Marcus Viscidi

John Schwartzman

Cinematographer

Richard Francis-Bruce

Film Editing

Danny Elfman

Original Music

Nelson Coates

Production Design

Jeremy Stanbridge

Supervising Art Direction

Peter Bodnarus

Art Director

Craig Humphries

Carolyn "Cal" Loucks

Set Decoration

Shay Cunliffe

Costume Design

Laray Mayfield

Julie Schubert

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Critic Reviews for Fifty Shades Darker

Audience reviews for fifty shades darker.

It held my interest to an extent but the film is too long and badly acted and zero chemistry between Johnson and Dornan. I enjoyed the first film much more. This film proves there is a fine line between titillation and stupidity. 02-03-2018

Monotonous trash, Fifty Shades Darker is even worse than the first film. Christian and Ana give their relationship another try (contract free this time), but things get complicated when a mysterious woman begins stalking Anna and an attempt is made on her life. The writing is terrible, with no suspense or intrigue to the murder mystery plot. And the acting is awful, as the leads continue to have a complete lack of chemistry. The pacing and editing are also incredibly poor; taking all the passion out of the love scenes and the tense out of the stalker/murder plot. Additionally, the soundtrack is intrusive and draws attention to itself rather than creating a mood and fading into the background. Fifty Shades Darker is an inept erotic thriller that is neither erotic nor thrilling.

Throughout the years, cinema has had its high points and its low points. On average, there is a general 50% percent between the good and the bad, but Fifty Shades Darker is on a new level. Let's be clear and say that there really wasn't anything good about the first film. It was a horrible script with a bad plot that wasn't very exciting, but somehow Fifty Shades Darker makes the original bearable. I felt like I was in a trance during my viewing of this picture, wondering why I even chose to watch it. Slowly becoming fascinated with how atrociously bad nearly every single second was, I just had to finish it. If anything is worse than this film this year I will genuinely be shocked. Here is why this film should be seen by every filmmaker as a lesson on how to not make a film. A film can take its time revealing what its premise is truly about in order to savour the flavour of its twists, but when a story never reveals itself, it makes its audience feel robbed. Following the conclusion that had Anastasia Steele leaving Christian Grey at the end of the first film, you'd expect that the sequel would be about one of them trying to win the other back, but that happens within the first five minutes of the film. For the next two hours, you will find yourself watching a series of dates, sex scenes, stalkers following them, and stupid injections into the so-called story that made the film laughable to say the very least. The plot of this film is that they date, develop some sort of relationship and eventually fall in love. That's it, seriously. With no inciting incidents and reluctance to have anything bearing happen, I found myself amazed that this film was even made. Most critics hate on Johnson and Dornan for having zero chemistry with one another, but that was not an issue I had with the first film, in fact they elevated the lame premise for me. That being said, even I can see that neither one of them are giving it their all here. It felt like they were forcing kinky aspects into the film when necessary, solely for the purpose of stimulating the audience. For that reason alone I felt betrayed as an audience member. Making half a billion dollars at the box office the first time around, Fifty Shades Darker barely cracked half of that. It just goes to show that quality does trump all every now and then. I've never read these novels, but it felt like the sequences that had the character of Leila stalking Christian was forced into the story to pad out the run time, making it seem like it had a bigger purpose than what was on the surface. From this stupid element to an element that has Christian facing someone from his past, to being able to overcome certain memories, everything about the small side plots throughout this film felt laughable to me. Look, I was one of the people that defended the original train wreck of a film for not being quite as horrible as people suggested it was, but there is absolutely nothing redeemable about this sequel. In the end, there isn't a single audience I can recommend this to. Sure, it's aimed at older women, but I can even see them chuckling throughout a lot of this film. Their chemistry, along with the overall "plot" of this film was a step down from what was already a lacklustre film. From the horrendous dialogue to the laughter-inducing sex sequences with blaring pop music, Fifty Shades Darker feels like a parody of this genre, unintentionally. I honestly don't know how we live in a time where three of these films are being made, but this film is so terrible that I'm actually curious to see if it can get any worse than this. If you haven't seen either of these films, especially this one, you're doing yourself a very solid favour.

Anime critic Jacob Chapman was once asked whether he would ever review hentai (Japanese animated pornography, for those not in the know). He replied that he wouldn't because it was impossible to review porn objectively. Other genres, he argued, could be judged according to certain seemingly objective standards (a good comedy makes you laugh, a good horror movie make you scared and so on), whereas porn rises or falls (ha ha) purely on the preferences of the viewer. In praising or criticising any given piece of erotic content, one runs the risk of projecting one's own sexual tastes onto the material and, in doing so, putting rather more than is necessary out into the public sphere. When reviewing erotic thrillers or dramas, therefore, one always has to assess any film on the basis of its structural and narrative integrity regardless of our more bestial responses to its salacious moments. Compared to its predecessor, Fifty Shades Darker may provide more by way of titillation, with a conscious effort to make the sex scenes more daring and ambitious (and more public) than before. But once these sections are taken out of the equation, the film becomes a very listless and lacklustre affair - it's an erotic drama which is occasionally erotic but never dramatic. One of the biggest problems with the first film was the lack of agency afforded to Anastasia as a character - something which, it is claimed, she has more of in the books. Without any form of serious resistance (or anything more than mild reluctance) on her part, the film resembles an anaemic version of Dracula, with the mysterious rich gentleman preying on the virginal beauty. If we take this aspect in isolation, Fifty Shades Darker does improve on its predecessor, insofar as they are more scenes of Ana putting her foot down and wanting a relationship on her terms. But in the wider context of things, the film makes so many other steps backwards that this improvement becomes barely noticeable. Fifty Shades Darker (Darker hereafter) suffers from the increased role of E. L. James in its production. Whether you like her work or not, adaptations can often suffer from the author being too close to the work and stifling the screenwriter's creativity; as I mentioned in my review of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, novelists who get involved in film-making so often lack the visual invention to match their verbal acrobatics. Kelly Marcel's script for the first film was largely flat and often risible, but you occasionally got a glimmer of effort being made to shape the material for the screen rather than kowtow to the author. This film's screenplay, on the other hand, comes from James' husband Niall Leonard; it feels more carefully controlled, so that the entire exercise becomes a means of indulging James' ego rather than serving the material or - heaven forbid - entertaining the audience. This increased sense of control is also reflected in the choice of director. Sam Taylor-Johnson didn't see eye to eye with James during the production of the first film, so it isn't any real surprise that she decided to pull out of shooting the sequels back to back. Watching the film did feel like wading knee-deep through wallpaper paste, but you did at least get the impression of the director and cast trying to go against the tide of the material and emerge with something half-decent. With James Foley behind the camera as a workmanlike safe pair of hands, the characters have stopped wading and decided to lie flat on their backs on top, as the waves slowly drag them away. The film feels slow, ponderous and devoid of any pep when either or both of its leading players are fully clothed. The sex scenes in Darker are an illustration of the film's central problem, which the increased role of James and the kid gloves approach of Foley both hint towards. Watching the scenes in isolation, they are decently assembled in terms of the editing and music compared to those in the first film, which often came across as clinical and awkward. The substance of the sex scenes is still tame by modern standards (the Emmanuelle series or The Story of O were far racier than this), and logic regularly takes a back seat; the film doesn't just not get how S&M relationships work, it doesn't always understand how ben wa balls operate. If you watched the sex scenes on their own, they may or may not do something for you - but they are not integrated with the film as a whole, and that's a big problem. In order for an erotic thriller or erotic drama to work, it has to have a compelling story which the sex can either interrupt (in a bad film) or be a somewhat integral part (in a good one). The career of Andrew Davies (who adapted Tipping the Velvet and Fanny Hill for the BBC) is welcome evidence of this. You don't need the most cerebral or original story in the book - Basic Instinct isn't exactly Chinatown in its complexity - but if you don't find a way to integrate the nudity into the plot you end up with a film which feels like two different stories incongruously zipped together. If you don't care about the story, you may as well be watching porn; while Darker can titillate, it cannot captivate. Once you take the sex scenes out of Darker, it becomes a boring, overwrought and very waxy soap opera, in which much is talked about but very little actually happens. Much of the action plays out like an episode of Dallas; here, as there, we get a lot of rich people swanning around doing rich people things and bickering over the tiniest detail. The ball scene is an awkward meld of Cinderella and Eyes Wide Shut, but without the wonder of the former or the creeping sense of dread in the latter. You may have a couple of moments of being impressed by the costumes or enjoying the music, but beyond that there is little to sustain our attention. Even by the low standards of the first film, Darker is a poorly written piece of work. All the character issues that were present in the first film are magnified here; the more stuff Christian buys to impress Ana and convince her that he's changed, the more creepy and suffocating he becomes. For every moment where we are let in to some part of his subconscious and given some reason to question our initial suspicions about him, part of us is always on edge and wanting to leave. But even if the characters aren't an issue for you, the film is choppily plotted and quickly descends into travelogue footage; as in some of the weaker James Bond films, people go to exotic places for no apparent reason, stay there for hardly any time at all and then leave with no explanation. This latter problem - exemplified by the section involving the helicopter crash - only serves to emphasise how stake-free the film feels, and how much its attempts at generating tension or emotional weight fall flat. It's easy to make cheap jokes about how the series started out as Twilight fan fiction, but the script for Darker plays out like fan fiction, insofar as it goes to ridiculous extremes to put the author's chosen couple together - the results of which are regularly an anticlimax. The arbitrary changes in location also prevent any real chemistry from building between the characters, and the attempts to bringing out a darker tone (such as in the opening scenes) feel either desperate or just too jarring to be effective. The final aspect which prevents Darker from being even a passable erotic thriller is the performances. The on-screen relationship between Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson was always awkward, but here the awkwardness is increased by the plot's attempts at raising the stakes. Johnson's irritating breathy delivery is even more annoying here, and her attempts at sounding firm or frightened are unconvincing. Dornan, equally, is too deadpan and often seems to abruptly zone out in the middle of a scene. Where before the pair made an effort in spite of the material, here they are merely going through the motions. Mind you, they aren't the only ones who are unimpressive; Rita Ora is grating, Eloise Mumford is uninspiring, and Kim Basinger looks and performs like a waxwork animatronic. It's a million miles from her work in 9 1/2 Weeks, in terms of either raunchiness or screen presence. Fifty Shades Darker is a dismal and dreary sequel which does away with most of the few qualities the first film possessed. In Foley's hands, with James looming over him in the background, the film quickly descends into a series of occasionally titillating sex scenes intercut with dull, poorly staged and entirely non-compelling character drama. It's not offensively bad enough to be terrible, but it is deeply unmemorable, leaving one feeling hollow, depressed and more than a little short-changed.

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Fifty shades darker review, while fifty shades darker exceeds its predecessor in some ways, in other respects it's just as ridiculous (if not more so) by comparison..

In the aftermath of her her breakup with her troubled billionaire boyfriend Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan), Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) attempts to move on to greener pastures in both her personal life and professional career. Christian then approaches her in the hope of "trying again" with their relationship, agreeing in the process to be much more emotionally open, less controlling and willing to lead as close to a "normal" romance with Ana as he's capable of.

Much to Ana's surprise, Christian makes good on his promise (if not always willingly), in turn revealing more about his tumultuous upbringing to her and easing back on his need to control everything in Ana's life, all while keeping the spark in their relationship alive. However, the pair soon find their hopes for a happily-ever-after in danger from outside forces that include not only people from Christian's past, but those who are still part of his (and Ana's) present.

The followup to best-selling erotic novel-turned blockbuster  Fifty Shades of Grey , Fifty Shades Darker  follows the popular Hollywood sequel trend of incorporating a different genre flavor - here, that of a psychological thriller - as a means of better distinguishing itself from its predecessor. Fifty Shades Darker director James Foley is well-versed in the craft of dramatic thriller storytelling, but his efforts to raise this franchise's bar for quality prove as fruitless as those of Fifty Shades of Grey director Sam Taylor-Johnson before him. While Fifty Shades Darker exceeds its predecessor in some ways, in other respects it's just as ridiculous (if not more so) by comparison.

Written by Fifty Shades of Grey creator E.L. James' husband Niall Leonard, Fifty Shades Darker struggles with tonal issues similar to those that inflicted the Fifty Shades of Grey movie adaptation before it. For every moment in Fifty Shades Darker that's played tongue-in-cheek or with an air of self-aware humor, there are (at least) two that handle the film's soapy narrative proceedings with a straight-face and unintentionally come off as campy, by comparison. The result is another Fifty Shades film that's internally at war with itself; often verging on being a wry deconstruction of the troubled relationship that lies at the core of its story, yet ultimately delivering the lurid, yet hollow romance that is expected from the Fifty Shades "brand". On top of that, the  Fifty Shades sequel suffers from basic narrative issues such as plot holes that require too large a leap in suspicion of disbelief to overlook, as well as a thin amount of actual plot and/or thematic substance in general.

One respect in which  Fifty Shades Darker does surpass its predecessor is its (numerous) sex sequences, embracing a cheekier and more brisk sense of pacing here than it does during its dramatic scenes. Downside is, whereas Taylor-Johnson took a more visually unique and radical approach to constructing the sex scenes between Anastasia and Christian in Fifty Shades of Grey , Foley and his cinematographer John Schwartzman ( Jurassic World ) film these sequences in a more visually-conventional (re: with a 'straight male gaze') and in turn, less interesting fashion. Still, the sex scenes benefit from the film's leads being (seemingly) more comfortable with them too and are more creatively put together than most every other moment in the film. Case in point: one could put together a - dangerous - drinking game, based around every time there's an uninspired montage set to a modern pop song in Fifty Shades Darker .

Dakota Johnson, as she did in the first Fifty Shades , makes a valiant effort in Fifty Shades Darker to give Anastasia Steele a charismatic and compelling presence, despite the lack of personality that the character has in the film's script. Most of the (intentionally) funniest moments in Fifty Shades Freed are courtesy of Johnson too, as she often plays up Ana's incredulity in response to the strange and/or threatening behavior of those around her. Jamie Dornan, for his part, still struggles here to bring more depth to the two-dimensional Christian Grey featured in the Fifty Shades Darker screenplay, handling the character's light-hearted and self-aware moments better than the dramatic situations (where Christian reflects on his trouble past, in one way or another). Although Johnson and Dornan don't have much more romantic screen chemistry in Fifty Shades Darker than they did the first time they played Ana and Christian, the pair - as mentioned before - do seem more comfortable here, both in their roles and opposite one another.

New Fifty Shades movie franchise additions Eric Johnson and Oscar-winner Kim Basinger play over the top sinister, but otherwise flat antagonists in Fifty Shades Freed in the respective forms of Ana's slimy boss/Christian's would-be competitor, Jack Hyde, and Christian's business partner/ex-lover, Elena Lincoln (aka. "Mrs. Robinson"). Costar Bella Heathcote doesn't leave much of an impression either, due less to her performance and more to her character (a woman from Christian's past) functioning as more of a plot device than a fully-realized person. Meanwhile, otherwise talented returning Fifty Shades cast members Marcia Gay Harden, Luke Grimes and Eloise Mumford are relegated to the fringes of the story being told here, save for those handful of scenes where they become somewhat relevant (Harden, in particular) and are then subsequently pushed back, firmly into the background yet again.

Wheres Fifty Shades of Grey oscillated somewhat in artistic intention and storytelling quality, thanks to the efforts of its director to elevate the film's subpar source material, Fifty Shades Darker  is more consistent in its mediocrity - for better or for worse. A better movie can be glimpsed at times throughout the Fifty Shades sequel, but those more enjoyable moments are the results of either the cast's performances or directorial choices, not the script or subject matter.  The sequel is strictly for steady Fifty Shades fans, in other words, and unlikely to change most anyone else's impressions of this franchise. That said, considering how much big business the E.L. James book-turned movie property has done already and with the third film on the way already (as a mid-credits teaser for next year's  Fifty Shades Freed confirms), there should still be enough gas left in the tank for the Fifty Shades film series to make its way to the finish line, based on the remaining fanbase's support alone.

Fifty Shades Darker is now playing in U.S. theaters. It is 118 minutes long and is Rated R for strong erotic sexual content, some graphic nudity and language.

Let us know what you thought of the film in the comments section!

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Fifty shades darker.

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Fifty Shades Darker: The #1 Sunday Times bestseller Kindle Edition

"I rest my head against him, and he kisses my hair repeatedly. This is home. He smells of linen, fabric softener, bodywash, and my favorite smell? Christian. For a moment, I allow myself the illusion that all will be well, and it soothes my ravaged soul." 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. Discover the world of Fifty Shades of Grey: - An Instant Worldwide Bestseller - More than 165 Million Copies Sold Worldwide - The bestselling romance of all time This book is intended for mature audiences

• Book 2 of 3 Fifty Shades
• Print length 504 pages
• Language English
• Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
• Publisher Cornerstone Digital
• Publication date March 19, 2012
• File size 2896 KB
• Page Flip Enabled
• Word Wise Enabled
• Enhanced typesetting Enabled
• See all details
• Next 2 for you in this series $19.84
• All 3 for you in this series $28.77

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About the author, excerpt. © reprinted by permission. all rights reserved., product details.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007KZY1YY
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cornerstone Digital; 1st edition (March 19, 2012)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 19, 2012
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 2896 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 504 pages
• #2,677 in Erotic Suspense (Kindle Store)
• #3,419 in Christian Mystery & Suspense Romance (Books)
• #4,250 in Erotic Suspense (Books)

About the author

E. l. james.

E L James is an incurable romantic and a self-confessed fangirl. After twenty-five years of working in television, she decided to pursue a childhood dream and write stories that readers could take to their hearts. The result was the controversial and sensuous romance Fifty Shades of Grey and its two sequels, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed. In 2015, she published the #1 bestseller Grey, the story of Fifty Shades of Grey from the perspective of Christian Grey, and in 2017, the chart-topping Darker, the second part of the Fifty Shades story from Christian’s point of view. Her books have been published in fifty languages and have sold more than 165 million copies worldwide.

E L James has been recognised as one of Time magazine's ‘Most Influential People in the World’ and Publishers Weekly’s ‘Person of the Year’. Fifty Shades of Grey stayed on The New York Times Best Seller List for 133 consecutive weeks. Fifty Shades Freed won the Goodreads Choice Award (2012), and Fifty Shades of Grey was selected as one of the 100 Great Reads, as voted by readers, in PBS’s The Great American Read (2018). Darker has been long-listed for the 2019 International DUBLIN Literary Award.

She co-produced for Universal Studios the Fifty Shades movies, which made more than a billion dollars at the box office. The third instalment, Fifty Shades Freed, won the People’s Choice Award for Drama in 2018.

E L James is blessed with two wonderful sons and lives with her husband, the novelist and screenwriter Niall Leonard, and their West Highland terriers in the leafy suburbs of West London.

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Fifty shades darker, common sense media reviewers.

More sex, less banter in graphic but bland sequel.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

A key takeaway is to stay firm in your sense of se

Ana is stronger willed in the second movie than sh

Unlike the violence in the first film, which was l

Many long, explicit sex scenes with nudity (mostly

Several uses of "f--k," "ass,"

Lots of Audis, plus Cartier ring, iPhone, Apple co

Adults drink wine, beer, and cocktails at various

Parents need to know that Fifty Shades Darker is the second installment in the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, movies based on E.L. James' best-selling erotic romance novels originally written as Twilight fan fiction. As anyone who's seen the first movie or read the books knows, this…

Positive Messages

A key takeaway is to stay firm in your sense of self; don't give up who you are for someone else. Also encourages acknowledging the difficult or disturbing aspects of your past and processing them so you can move forward with your life and relationships in a healthy way.

Positive Role Models

Ana is stronger willed in the second movie than she was in the first. She's secure in herself and sure of what she wants out both of a relationship and a career. Christian is more flexible and not quite as controlling. He listens to Anastasia and is willing to compromise and discuss what it means to be in a relationship of equals, as opposed to one with dominant and submissive roles.

Violence & Scariness

Unlike the violence in the first film, which was limited to the bedroom, this installment includes gun violence in one scene -- an intruder shoots a gun in Anastasia's direction -- and a scene of potential sexual violence that ends with Anastasia defending herself by hurting the man who's about to assault her. A helicopter crashes, and it's unclear for a little while what happens to the pilot and passenger. A character throws a drink in another character's face. A character slaps another person.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Many long, explicit sex scenes with nudity (mostly bare breasts and buttocks, but also occasional glimpses of pubic hair -- though no full frontal as in the first film). Portrays light bondage and submission/domination scenarios, as well as oral sex and the use of several sex/novelty toys/aides. It feels like there are more sex scenes in this film than in the first one, since Ana and Christian are together for more of this movie.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Several uses of "f--k," "ass," "a--hole," "s--t," "goddamn," "Jesus Christ" and "my god" used as exclamations, plus some "dirty talk."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Lots of Audis, plus Cartier ring, iPhone, Apple computer.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Adults drink wine, beer, and cocktails at various receptions, dinners, and events.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Fifty Shades Darker is the second installment in the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, movies based on E.L. James' best-selling erotic romance novels originally written as Twilight fan fiction. As anyone who's seen the first movie or read the books knows, this is not an appropriate movie for teens. It's filled with sex and has many graphic love scenes, including close-up shots of naked breasts and buttocks and glimpses of pubic hair. In fact, the central couple -- whose relationship started out unhealthy but now has turned into love -- seems to do little else but have sex; at least this time around, the steamy scenes are less violent and more loving. That said, this installment features more out-of-the-bedroom violence than the first movie: There's a scene of gun violence, a helicopter crash, and a near sexual assault. Language is also strong, with words like "f--k," "s--t," and "a--hole" used frequently. Character drink frequently, and there's lots of brand/product placement, especially luxury cars, electronics, and jewelry. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (25)
• Kids say (21)

Based on 25 parent reviews

Making women look passive, weak , desperate for love and sexual toys when in reality they are not like that at all.

What's the story.

FIFTY SHADES DARKER picks up shortly after Fifty Shades of Grey leaves off: Anastasia Steele ( Dakota Johnson ) and Christian Grey ( Jamie Dornan ) have broken up, and she's about to start a job as an assistant at an independent book publisher. But that doesn't mean Christian's not keeping tabs on Ana: He manages to quickly woo her back by saying he wants a real relationship, not just a dominant-submissive contract. As Christian and Ana attempt a "regular" romance, Christian can't stop his compulsion to control her. As a result, he's jealous of her handsome boss, Jack Hyde ( Eric Johnson ), and introduces her to the older woman who first seduced, abused, and dominated him as a teen, Elena Lincoln ( Kim Basinger ). Meanwhile a young, vaguely threatening young woman seems to be stalking Ana.

Is It Any Good?

Although Dornan delivers a more nuanced performance than in the first film, this sequel offers virtually no plot other than providing excuses for the chemistry-free leads to have sex. In the end, the few plusses -- Dornan doesn't look as horrified with his role, the love scenes are more about love and less about domination and submission -- can't make up for the many minuses, like the nonexistent supporting character development and dramatic tension. There are three possible sources of villainy in the stoy: Elena, the statutory rapist who indoctrinated Christian into the world of BDSM; Jack, the publisher with a hidden agenda; and the mysterious young woman who has a bone to pick with Ana and Christian. But neither the dialogue nor the characterization builds the necessary drama to care about any of them.

Unlike the original film, which was at least adapted and directed by women, Fifty Shades Darker was written by E.L. James' husband, author/screenwriter Niall Leonard, and directed by a man, James Foley -- which is a disconnect, since the series' fandom is nearly all women. It's been reported that James has an unusual amount of sway (think J.K. Rowling level) for a writer on a film adaptation, and it shows. But while reading endless pages of erotica interrupted with bits of dinner and party and office conversations in between might work as a book, it doesn't work for a movie. Once again, it just feels like a big-budget waste of the talented cast.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how sex is depicted in Fifty Shades Darker . Is Ana and Christian's relationship healthy? Parents, talk to your teens about your own values regarding sex and relationships.

Why do you think the Fifty Shades books (and first movie) are so popular? Is it an appropriate saga for teens? The author began her tale as Twilight fan fiction; can you see any of Edward and Bella in these characters and their relationship?

Critics of the story claim that it's sexist, unrealistic, and glosses over statutory rape. What do you think?

Are any of the characters intended to be role models ? Are they sympathetic? Why, or why not?

Movie Details

• In theaters : February 10, 2017
• On DVD or streaming : May 9, 2017
• Cast : Jamie Dornan , Dakota Johnson , Tyler Hoechlin
• Director : James Foley
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Universal Pictures
• Genre : Drama
• Topics : Book Characters
• Run time : 115 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : strong erotic sexual content, some graphic nudity, and language
• Last updated : January 4, 2024

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On the 50th anniversary of ‘Carrie’, Stephen King talks about how his first horror novel came to be

“Tabby literally picked it out of the wastebasket and brushed off the cigarette ash. She read it in bed and said, ‘This is good, you should go on.’”

I t’s hard to fathom now, but there was a time when the name Stephen King didn’t mean anything. He was unknown, just some shaggy-haired fellow from Maine with a macabre imagination and a manual typewriter churning out stories with fanciful titles like “I Was a Teenage Grave Robber.”

But 50 years ago, on April 5, that all changed with the publication of “Carrie,” a twisted Cinderella story about a shy, spotty-faced teen who’s tormented by her fanatical mother and cruel classmates until — well, let’s just say she makes them stop. “Carrie” was King’s first published novel — he was only 26 at the time — and it became an enormous bestseller, the first of many in a remarkable career spanning 60-plus books with sales of more than 350 million copies. (King’s latest collection of stories, “You Like It Darker,” comes out May 21.)

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So how did “Carrie” happen? It almost didn’t. To mark the 50th anniversary of Carrie White’s harrowing arrival on our collective nightstands, syllabuses, library shelves, and movie screens, we asked King and others, including prominent horror writers, readers, and longtime friends of the author, why, after all these years, “Carrie” still captivates — and terrifies — us.

Interviews that follow have been edited and condensed.

I tried to get an hour a night if I possibly could. And it was important to me because, you know, at that time, we were, you know, scraping bottom. We had two kids. We were young, and I had a Texaco credit card, and my wife cut it up, and she said, “We can't afford the interest on these things.” So, that went by the boards. She said, “Pay cash for everything.”

Stephen King: Before college, I used to buy a lot of 35-cent paperbacks at Roberts [Pharmacy] in Lisbon Falls — lots of Robert Bloch, Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber. I also read every EC horror comic I could get my hands on. There were piles of them, covers ripped off, at a junk store across from [McCarthy’s] Red & White Market.

Jim Smith, University of Maine roommate : I’d seen this big, hulking guy with long black hair — black as a clarinet — and a black beard. He’d come into the student newspaper, fire up a Pall Mall, and when that one was done, he’d smoke another one. He was a chimney.

Jim Bishop, retired UMaine English instructor : I gave Steve a C+ on the first freshman composition paper I assigned. He decided that he’d better up his game after that, I guess.

Philip “Flip” Thompson, UMaine friend : Steve had a typewriter in his room and he’d rat-a-tat-tat on it all the time. He was writing short stories that he’d sell to skin magazines.

Smith : I never, at any point, knew Stephen King when he wasn’t reading a book. He always had a book. He read a lot of what I’d call muscular fiction, stuff drenched in testosterone, and a lot of classic noir.

Bishop: I’m not sure how hard-working Steve was in a number of his classes, but he was very hard-working on his own stuff.

King and his brother were raised by their mother in the Central Maine town of Durham. As a teenager, he hitchhiked on weekends to Lewiston’s Ritz Theatre to see movies like “Lady in a Cage,” “The Haunting,” and “The Wild Angels.” King graduated from UMaine in 1970 and a year later married writer Tabitha Spruce, whom he’d started dating in college. He worked for a while at New Franklin Laundry in Bangor, making $1.60 an hour washing dirty tablecloths and bloody hospital linens. He was writing throughout, selling stories for as much as $200 to magazines like “Dude,” “Cavalier,” and “Swank.” In 1971, King got a job teaching English at Hampden Academy. Tabitha worked second shift at Dunkin’ Donuts.

King : We were scraping bottom. We were young and had two kids. I had a Texaco credit card and my wife cut it up. She said, “We can’t afford the interest on those things. Pay cash for everything.” It wasn’t really the greatest situation in the world.

Tabitha King , from the forward to a 1991 edition of “Carrie” : We lived in a trailer in Hermon. Steve wrote in a closet-sized room that was supposed to be the laundry room. We didn’t own a washer or a dryer. The room was just big enough for a desk, a chair, a trashcan, and a writer.

Bishop : Steve was not to the manor born. They were living hand to mouth.

Tabitha : We had horrendous battles over the five bucks he spent each week for a carton of cigarettes and his overdue fines at the library.

Douglas Winter , author of the biography “Stephen King: The Art of Darkness” : I remember Tabby telling me she couldn’t stay in the hospital after giving birth to their son Joe because they didn’t have the money.

King : The best-case scenario was very simple: I wanted to support myself as a writer. I wanted to stop teaching. It was like having jumper cables attached to your brain — it drains you. I didn’t like all the [expletive] that went with it. There was a dress code. You didn’t have to wear a tie, but you did have to wear a jacket. And you had to kowtow to the department head and be collegial. It wasn’t my bag.

Smith, King’s college roommate : Steve used to give me a few things to read. There was nothing I could add. I wasn’t looking at it critically, I was just eating it up. When I had a chance to read anything, especially something of length, it was like having dinner rather than breakfast.

Hammering away on an Olivetti typewriter that belonged to Tabitha, King wrote for at least an hour every night. He had read a Life magazine story about telekinesis and thought he might be able to create a story about a teenage girl who made things happen with her mind. He imagined an opening scene in which the girl gets her period in the shower after gym and is mocked and pelted with tampons by her classmates. But he wasn’t sure he could do it.

King : It was intimidating to write from the female perspective. I knew how they talked and how they walked. I didn’t know how they thought . I don’t think any man really does. A young man trying to write female characters was a little different then.

Neil McRobert, host of the “ Talking Scared ” podcast : He’s wondering to himself, “Can I write this story about a young girl?” and “Do I have time to stop writing these stories that are paying the bills to write a novel I may not be able to sell?”

Christopher Golden , horror novelist, coauthor of “The Stephen King Universe: The Guide to the Worlds of the King of Horror”: He gave up — either because he didn’t think it was good enough or because he thought he was biting off more than he could chew.

King : I threw it away. It was too hard, for one thing. And it was going to be too long to be a short story. It was already 3,000 words — I wrote single space then, margin to margin, because paper was expensive.

McRobert : There are two great origin stories in horror literature. There’s “Frankenstein,” which Mary Shelley wrote while trapped indoors during the year without a summer , and there’s “Carrie.”

It was about poltergeist activity, and the article made it clear that there was a troubled teenage girl with a family. And, when she was absent, nothing happened. But when she was there, objects fell off tables and shattered.

King : Tabby literally picked it out of the wastebasket and brushed off the cigarette ash. She read it in bed and said, “This is good, you should go on.” I said, “I don’t know that much about girls.” She said, “I’ll help you.” And then — she could be very sharp — she said, “Use your [expletive] imagination!”

Golden : There are still trolls who say, ‘Oh, Tabitha must have written that.’ The verisimilitude is so great that people think because you’re a dude, you couldn’t possibly have written it.

Smith : He wrote it like he might have been a woman in a former life.

King : It was exciting to put the dress on. I did the best I could.

Golden : King has written about parallel universes, and if there is such a thing, then there’s a universe in which Tabitha doesn’t pull “Carrie” out of the trash. What happens then?

Tananarive Due , horror novelist and academic : The story about “Carrie” being in a trashcan is almost as scary as the book. How close we came to never having it!

King, who was then 25, had already written three novels — all rejected by publishers. (Years later, “Rage,” “The Long Walk,” and “The Running Man” would be published.) Nonetheless, he finished “Carrie” and sent it to Bill Thompson, an encouraging editor at Doubleday.

Smith : Steve was feeling like, “When the hell is it going to happen?”

Winter, biographer: King was pretty much convinced that Doubleday was going to reject it. He was somewhat in crisis mode, feeling a lot of pressure. It’s very much like the early days of NASA — you learn by failing, you learn by rejection.

Grady Hendrix , horror novelist, author of “Paperbacks from Hell” : By 1974, you had editors who realized there was a market for horror. King was the right guy at the right time.

King : I got a message during my free period at Hampden Academy: “Stephen King, please come to the office. Your wife is on the phone.” I thought one of the kids had a horrible accident or they’re going to publish the book.

Telegram from Bill Thompson: “‘Carrie’ officially a Doubleday book. Is $2,500 advance OK? Call for glorious details. The future lies ahead. Love, Bill.”

King : Doubleday was a book factory then. They published tons of books. The big deal was Peter Benchley’s “Jaws,” which was published the same year. “Carrie” was not a big deal.

Winter : $2,500 shows they didn’t have a great deal of faith in the book.

Bishop, UMaine instructor : I got a call from Steve. He’d found out “Carrie” had been accepted for publication and he invited some of us to a party. I think there was a keg of beer.

Before “Carrie,” there were only a few highly regarded horror novels: “Rosemary’s Baby,” “The Other,” and “The Exorcist.” But King’s book about a group of high school students was more relatable. Everyone knew an awkward, unpopular kid like Carrie White and how they’re sometimes mistreated by callous classmates. King certainly did. Carrie White is a composite of two girls he’d gone to school with.

King : One wore the same clothes every day — every day . Then, at Christmas, she got new clothes — a pretty skirt and sweater — and the meanness didn’t go away, it redoubled. It got worse. You could just see her fade and shrivel. It was terrible. I never took part, but I was never somebody who stood up heroically for her and said, “You must stop that!”

Golden : The distance in days between when King was in classrooms with the people who were the inspiration for these characters and the time he started writing “Carrie” isn’t many.

Tabitha : Steve and I were then much closer to high school. We hadn’t scraped it off our feet.

Watch Boston Globe Today How Stephen King’s ‘Carrie’ changed horror fiction

Nancy Allen, actress, plays Carrie’s nemesis, Chris Hargensen, in the 1976 movie adaptation : I went to an all-girls Catholic school and there was a Carrie character. She got up one day to go to the lunchroom and there was a big red stain on the back of her skirt. We all thought, “Oh my God!” Kids in school can be so mean.

Hendrix : King’s also a gross writer. He really goes there in “Carrie.” It was unique at the time for someone to write a realist novel about teenagers and talk about acne and boogers and periods.

McRobert, podcast host : There’s a startling lack of discourse around the fact that this book from the early ‘70s makes menstruation a focal point. Even now in horror — and I read all the horror — you never see menstrual blood.

This girl always wore the same clothes to school every day. Every day she wore the same clothes. And then one year at Christmas, she got different clothes, and the meanness redoubled. It didn’t go away. It redoubled. And you could see her just sort of fade and shrivel. That was a terrible thing to see. I never took part, but I was never somebody who stood up heroically for these people and said, “Oh, you must stop.”

King : A young man writing these women characters. I think it’s one of the reasons it got published. A lot of women read it. It’s like that thing Samuel Johnson said: “A woman preaching is like a dog walking on its hind legs. It is not done well; you’re surprised to find it done at all.”

Sadie Hartmann , a.k.a. “Mother Horror,” author of “101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered” : I was 15 — gawky and nerdy — when I read “Carrie,” and I was taken aback that a man was able to get inside the head of a teenage girl — her experience of being this misfit, of not knowing what to do with her body. Carrie is so very isolated and King was able to capture that.

Michelle Souliere, owner of Green Hand Bookshop in Portland, Maine : The female experience is a horror — a constant body horror — and it’s all right there in “Carrie.”

King : I don’t think you know what you’re writing about until you’re actually doing it. You say to yourself, “What’s this about?” I thought, to a degree, “Carrie” was about the empowerment of a girl who was standing up for herself. I was interested in the idea that Carrie would pull the house down. I just didn’t know what the house was when I started writing the book.

Due, novelist : A lot of women feel seen by “Carrie.” But for me, it wasn’t so much about gender. I felt like an outsider because of my race. I was never personally bullied like what Carrie experienced, but there was an undercurrent of feeling unsafe and unwelcome. ... The prom night sequence, while tragic and terrifying, is the most satisfying part of the novel for me because Carrie is in her full power, and that one brief, shining moment encapsulates what revenge horror is supposed to feel like.

San Francisco Chronicle, July 7, 1974 : “A truly perceptive study of thoughtless human cruelty and resultant suffering.”

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 5, 1974 : “Don’t read it late at night if you’re alone in the house. The last 50 pages are enough to make John Wayne sleep with a night light.”

Hartford Courant, May 19, 1974 : “The so-called youth culture has gone too far when someone who can write well writes such a maudlin and macabre book. ... Anyone who likes horror and sheer dirt will get his fill.”

Despite generally good reviews, the hardcover edition of “Carrie” sold a modest 13,000 copies. (By comparison, “Jaws” sold 9 million copies in the first year, buoyed by Steven Spielberg’s movie, which came out six months after the book.) Still, Signet Books saw potential in “Carrie.” “Are you sitting down?” said Doubleday editor Thompson in a call to King. Signet had paid $400,000 for the paperback rights — the equivalent of $2.7 million today — of which King would receive half. He could feel his legs begin to shake.

King : Tabby was at her parents’ when I got the news. I couldn’t think what to do, so I walked downtown — it was a Sunday and everything was closed except for the drugstore. I bought her a hair dryer.

Smith : It was liberating in the sense that Steve wasn’t going to have to teach students who didn’t give a damn anymore, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to have to work in a commercial laundry. It was the actualization of the picture he had of himself in his head the whole time I knew him.

If you’re even halfway smart, you say to yourself, "Why am I wasting my time doing this? Why am I spending my time? What's it about?” And I thought, to a degree, it was about the empowerment of a girl who was standing up for herself.

King : Now I could just write stories. When the movie dropped, the paperback became a bestseller, and I was off.

Richard Chizmar , friend and novelist, coauthor with King of the novella “Gwendy’s Button Box” : The first time I met Steve was at a 25th anniversary party for “Carrie” at Tavern on the Green in New York. Kathy Bates was there, and Salman Rushdie, Peter Straub, and Jack Ketchum. I still have the postcard invitation. On the bottom, it says: “blue jeans are fine.” People ask me, “What’s he like?” I tell them Steve is blue jeans, sneakers, and a T-shirt. He hasn’t gone Hollywood.

Smith : Steve is still a homey.

Director Brian De Palma’s “Carrie” came out two years after the book, with Sissy Spacek as the tormented title character and Piper Laurie as her monstrous mother, the shrill Margaret White. (Spacek and Laurie both earned Oscar nominations.) The movie, hailed by critic Roger Ebert as “absolutely spellbinding,” hews closely to the book, including the ominous opening scene in the girls’ shower.

King : I thought it was fantastic. The music was just right and I loved the soft-focus look of the shower room, with all the steam coming up. The movie also has that wonderful jumpscare at the end.

Allen, actress : Shooting that shower scene was much more difficult than I would have imagined. It was a frenzy, like something else took over. I remember shooting it in one take. I don’t think we shot it again. We were all traumatized. Everybody was really unsettled.

Smith : Steve got in touch and asked if I wanted to join him at the premiere, which was in Portland. I remember the movie vividly. All that blood. It was a very pleasurable experience.

Paul Tremblay , whose horror novel “The Cabin at the End of the World” is the basis of director M. Night Shyamalan’s movie “Knock at the Cabin” : The movie “Carrie” is in the same emotional frequency as the book. De Palma totally nails not only the teenage angst of the book, but also the sorrow, the tragedy, of what happens to Carrie.

Nat Cassidy , author of “Mary: An Awakening of Terror,” a peri-menopausal homage to “Carrie” : Carrie White became a matron saint for me. As a kid, I’d talk to her: “I’ll be your friend, please don’t hurt me.” I think, without discounting King’s genius as a writer, the fact that De Palma makes an incredible movie at such a key moment — in publishing history, in cinematic history, in King’s writing career — helped create Stephen King as the cultural force we think of him as today.

Golden, novelist : Once King comes onto the stage with “Carrie,” horror really solidifies as an American genre. It becomes about characters who couldn’t exist anywhere in the world except this country. “Carrie” is the “American Graffiti” of horror novels.

Hendrix : The movie did a great service to the book. “The Simpsons” has “Carrie” jokes from time to time. We should all be so lucky.

The movie’s box-office success supercharged sales of the book, which in turn led religious groups and anxious parents around the country to try to ban “Carrie” from schools and libraries.

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom : For a long time, “Carrie” was among the most challenged books in our database. But as young adult literature has evolved and horror has been accepted as a genre, we’ve seen fewer challenges. The first recorded challenge was in 1975 at Clark High School in Las Vegas. Somebody considered “Carrie” to be low-value literature. They called it “trash” and it was removed from the school library.

Due : The version I read was the paperback with the movie tie-in, so Sissy Spacek was on the cover in a blood-drenched prom gown — who can resist that cover? — and my mother was OK with it. Is that one of the reasons I became a horror writer? Of course.

King : I tell kids, “If you can’t get it in your library, rush out to the bookstore and find out what it is that your elders don’t want you to read.”

In the five decades since “Carrie” was published, King has written dozens of books and become one of the biggest-selling authors of all time. His name is known around the world and “Carrie” is considered a modern classic — it’s influenced generations of writers and been a topic of dissertations and literary conferences. But King, it turns out, is ambivalent about the book that ignited his career. He’s grateful for its success, of course, but believes he’s a better writer at 76 than he was at 26.

King : I would say it changed my life, yes, but I’ve never really liked “Carrie” all that much. I realize it’s done a lot for me — because of “Carrie,” I was able to write full time. What I wanted was to spend my time writing stories, and I’ve done that.

Mark Shanahan can be reached at [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter.

Design and Illustrations by Ryan Huddle/Globe staff; Audio players A Flourish data visualization .

Mark Shanahan can be reached at [email protected] . Follow him @MarkAShanahan .