The third book in the Fifty Shades trilogy proved to me that there is such a thing as overkill. I admit, right off the bat, that I could not put these books down, and read them straight through, one after the other. I became completely engrossed by Ana and Christian's kinky, seductive, and tormented love story. 
 My problem with this final book is that it didn't really do much, mostly just meandering from one romantic and/or sexy scene to another. There were some story arcs that played out, but huge chunks of the books would pass by before the author seemed to remember there was a plot thread to pursue. It's all very nice and entertaining to read about Ana and Christian having wild times in all sorts of exotic and luxurious locations... but after three books, I almost wanted to say, "Enough is enough! Just finish the damn story!" 
 And yet... couldn't stop reading. I actually came to care about the characters very much, especially gorgeous, perfect, dominant Christian with his inner pain and suffering, the ultimate lost boy. Ana is a fine heroine, gaining backbone along the way and finding a way forward with strength and dignity. 
 Like the Twilight series, it's a tad embarrassing to admit liking these books so much, but the fact that I devoured all three books in seven days pretty much speaks for itself.