Ana is initially naive about Christian's sadism and the power dynamics in their relationship but as the novel progresses she comes to understand that his behaviour is cold and controlling.

On 1 June 2015 James announced that she was in the process of writing another book in the Fifty Shades series due to popular demand from her fanbase.

[9][10] The theft, which occurred on 8 June,[11] has been compared to the 2008 leak of Stephenie Meyer's Midnight Sun, a then-unreleased companion novel that retells the events of Twilight from the perspective of Edward Cullen.

[12] Whereas the leak of Midnight Sun caused Meyer to put the work on hold until 2020, James stated that Grey would be released as scheduled.

"[16] In the US, The Washington Post also found little of the original series in the rewrite: "Where Ana had bizarre quirks, a perplexing 'inner goddess' who was an Olympic-caliber backflipper, and a general sense of naïve wonder that lightened Fifty Shades and reminded readers not to take the story too seriously, there is none of that here.