There have been half a dozen Fifty Shades of Grey books published, and some of them rank far higher than others on the quality scale. The Fifty Shades of Grey books and movies have been wildly popular. In fact, the Fifty Shades books became the bestselling books of the decade in the United States, and the bestselling book of all time in the United Kingdom (according to the publisher). With the books being so controversial, however, the Fifty Shades of Grey movies had to change the books in a few ways.

While viewers are mostly set in their rankings of the Fifty Shades of Grey movies, they're not in the same agreement about the books. Naturally, any book series being so popular causes lots of discussion and lots of debate about how they stack up against each other. This ranking considers Goodreads ratings, general reader feedback and reviews, and the subject matter of each book to determine which one comes out on top.

6 Fifty Shades of Grey

The First Book In The Fifty Shades Trilogy

Perhaps because it's the first of E.L. James' Fifty Shades books and it took her a while to find her footing. Or perhaps it's because the subject matter of Anastasia and Christian's BDSM relationship was so poorly handled, but the first and best-known book is at the bottom of the list. There's no real way to sugar-coat it: Fifty Shades of Grey is a deeply problematic book that isn't that well-written.

This makes sense. Fifty Shades of Grey started as Twilight fanfic, so it has all the problems inherent in Twilight's toxic relationship, with the added layer of a bungled BDSM relationship that is not actually healthy BDSM, but an abusive relationship. There are some real problems with Fifty Shades as a whole, but the first book arguably does the most to romanticize Christian Grey's emotional abuse and overly-controlling ways. While there are some fun, frothier moments, the awkward sex scenes don't make up for the rest of the first book's many shortcomings.

5 Grey

The First Book In The Fifty Shades Trilogy From Christian's POV

Grey, the first book in the story's retelling from Christian's point of view, suffers similarly from being the first book in Christian's trilogy, just as Fifty Shades of Grey did. Interestingly, while the original books started as Twilight fanfic (though they were changed quite a bit to keep from running afoul of copyright laws), Twilight author Stephenie Meyer later borrowed from E.L. James' idea to retell the story from the male love interest's point of view.

It's not a surprise. Grey was quite successful, and the idea is an interesting one, especially for the (mostly) female readership who might be starved for emotional intimacy and to know what their partners really think. Still, it has the same issues built into Fifty Shades of Grey as it's the same story, just from Christian's viewpoint. The writing is better, and Christian quite frankly serves as a more interesting protagonist than Ana, but it ranks lower than most of the Fifty Shades books. both in Christian's own trilogy and on this list.

4 Fifty Shades Freed

The Final Book In The Fifty Shades Trilogy

In Fifty Shades Freed, the third book in the Fifty Shades trilogy, Ana and Christian are married and Ana finds out she's pregnant. One would think that having "won" Ana might mean that Christian relaxes his controlling tendencies. They would be wrong. While it doesn't descend to the levels of the first book, there's quite a bit of backsliding in the third book regarding the more problematic elements of their relationship.

That said, the writing is a step up from the first book. While it could never be argued that the Fifty Shades books are literary masterpieces, there's a marked difference from the first book to the third, and then later again in Christian Grey's trilogy. Still, despite being the third and final book, Freed isn't the best of the original trilogy, which is why it's ranked in the middle of this list.

3 Fifty Shades Darker

The Second Book In The Fifty Shades Trilogy

Fifty Shades Darker sees Ana and Christian getting engaged, and with that evolution in their relationship comes an evolution in the books. It is undoubtedly the best of the Fifty Shades books, with the writing being an improvement from the first book. In truth, Fifty Shades Freed and Fifty Shades Darker could switch positions on this list and it wouldn't change much. In terms of Goodreads rankings, they're both neck and neck at 3.83.

Still, Fifty Shades Darker is ranked higher on this list simply because their relationship is – slightly – less toxic than in the first and third books. In the second book, Ana has started to grow out of her mousy, submissive girlfriend role and has begun to gain a spine (and a personality in her characterization). Christian, meanwhile, actually does try to curb his controlling and possessive tendencies, and while that causes its own problems, it wouldn't be a romance book without drama. The balance of stronger writing and a less squicky dynamic put Fifty Shades Darker at the top of the original trilogy.

2 Freed

The Last Book In The Fifty Shades Trilogy From Christian's POV

Freed is the final book in Christian Grey's point of view trilogy and - for now, at least - the final book in the Fifty Shades universe as a whole. This final book dives into Christian's mind and readers finally get insight into how he feels about his marriage, his struggles with Ana being pregnant, and his job. It's much-needed context for a character who, though his predilections were explained, still remained largely a mystery in the first few books.

For those who love the Fifty Shades books, Freed is and was more than worth the wait. At almost 800 pages, Freed could and should have been trimmed, as it sometimes gets bogged down in unnecessary details. The filler offers little to the story and it's clear E.L. James didn't want to say goodbye to Christian. Still, anyone invested in Christian's story will soak up all the little details about a troubled, complex character from his own sometimes murky inner thoughts.

1 Darker

The Second Book In The Fifty Shades Trilogy From Christian's POV

It probably shouldn't be a surprise that the Christian Grey trilogy ranks the same as the original Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy; they are, after all, the same story, just from a different perspective. Darker is the second book of Christian's trilogy and it ranks number one on this list. It's clear E.L. James had the most fun writing this book out of Christian's books, and, arguably, the Fifty Shades trilogy.

Darker tops the Fifty Shades of Grey ranking for a few reasons. For starters, Darker is much snappier, more efficient writing than Freed; at 546 pages, it comes in 212 pages shorter than Freed, making the read feel like it zips along faster, even for a book that's quite long. As this is the section of the story in which Christian really grapples with his abusive control issues, it's also the most interesting of the Fifty Shades books, especially coming from his perspective. Darker has the most to play with, and does it well, at least when compared to the other books. For those into the overall story, Darker easily comes out on top.