Elena introduced Christian to the BDSM lifestyle. Following her rules helped him channel his anger and gave him the ability to focus on goals. He stayed with her five years before spreading his wings. He works long hours and doesn’t have much down time, but in addition to flying and boating, he enjoys unwinding with a sub in his playroom. It is a secret pleasure – and he intends to keep it that way. His family hasn’t a clue – he has never brought a girl home before; Elliot thinks he is a monk. Christian has since gone through many submissives over the years. He always enters into contractual agreements with the women so there are never any misunderstandings. It is the only kind of relationship he is capable of, and once the women want more from him he cuts ties. Susannah was his latest, and that ended about two months ago. The premise of Grey holds so much potential. As readers, we wanted to know why Christian fell in love with Ana and what made him pursue her as he did. We wanted to know what made a man so set in his ways change his mindset for the woman he loves. I’m not really sure this book offers any definitive answers to that. In fact, I’m not sure we learn much more than we did in the other books, and that’s a real shame. The biggest flaw with the 50 Shades trilogy is James repetitive writing style and her use of phrasing that belongs in a bygone era. (How Christian’s trousers “hung in that way” and Ana’s irritating “inner goddess”.) You would expect that by her fourth book, and considering that there has been extensive criticism about her writing ability, she would have made more of an effort but this does not seem to have been the case. In fact, it appears that James has looked at the transcript of 50 Shades of Grey and purely altered the perspective, adding a few memories of Christian as a child. There are clues there for the reader to make their own mind up, but this is not what I would expect from a book that is supposedly meant to answer those questions left unanswered by its predecessor. Fortunately, things really began to change for the better after a quarter of way through. Somehow the story was no longer on its axis, and righted itself. Just when needed, I was once again catapulted into that familiar place I remembered from the first FSOG reading experience, where I was in awe of Christian, and was immersed in their journey, his complexities and his budding love for Anastasia Steele. For instance, people being angry, and castigating Christian for wanting to use "Anastasia" instead of using "Ana". Yet now we know that the sound of Ana was too close to Ella, his mother. And that brought too many ugly memories to the surface. We would have never known or understood that before. People just thought that he was a mean, control freak, uncaring person.

Sheehy, Christine (13 April 2012). "The 'mommy porn' seducing women". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 20 November 2012 . Retrieved 29 August 2012.As of 2017, Hunnam said he had still never seen the movie because that whole to-do was too painful of a memory. He is DANGEROUS and UNPREDICTABLE with a hair-trigger temper. James comes very close to weakening Christian too much in "Grey." Through Anna's eyes it is easier to convey the danger by showing her constant apprehension and fear of Christian's reactions. But once we are inside Christian's head and privy to his thoughts, how do you transform him through love without losing dangerous and mysterious elements? The danger must be tempered with compassion and love but never to the point of emasculation. Therein lies the problem. I think she succeeds.

Barnett, Laura (13 April 2012). "Mommy porn?: Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James: review". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018 . Retrieved 6 April 2018. Christian Grey exercises control in all things; his world is neat, disciplined, and utterly empty—until the day that Anastasia Steele falls into his office, in a tangle of shapely limbs and tumbling brown hair.He tries to forget her, but instead is swept up in a storm of emotion he cannot comprehend and cannot resist.Unlike any woman he has known before, shy, unworldly Ana seems to see right through him—past the business prodigy and the penthouse lifestyle to Christian’s cold,wounded heart. However, I do not like that EL James felt the need to justify Christian’s proclivities. Why can’t he just like kinky sex? There doesn’t have to be a seedy reason why, or a history of abuse, to make his sexual preferences understandable. EL James goes a good way into showing Christian’s thoughts on his past, something the reader had yet to be privy to. He is physically BEAUTIFUL. Women are affected by male beauty just as men are by female beauty. Although some men would like to think this isn't so important to us. Emotional and spiritual maturity allows both sexes to see beyond the surface and experience love when beauty is not a factor. But initial attraction to the beautiful is deeply embedded In our psyches. And women are drawn to the beautiful male. Even when we are not physically beautiful ourselves we long to be beautiful and long to be desired by the beautiful male. It goes much deeper than mere sexual fantasy. Billboard Charts Top 5 Classical Music Albums". Classicalite. 23 October 2012. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014 . Retrieved 16 November 2012.Bonomi, Amy E.; Nemeth, Julianna M.; Altenburger, Lauren E.; Anderson, Melissa L.; Snyder, Anastasia; Dotto, Irma (August 2014). "Fiction or not? Fifty Shades is associated with health risks in adolescent and young adult females". Journal of Women's Health. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 23 (9): 720–728. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2014.4782. PMID 25144515.