Black Flamed Candle Books 🕯️📚’s Reviews > Our New Gods > Status Update

Why does everything feel so manipulative with James. The push/pull toxic situationship vibes. Never knowing where you stand. Random love bombing and I love you’s, when he can sense Ash pulling away, questioning what was their reality. Booth not needing the gun for reasons Ash so desperately projected and wanted to be real. An excuse, a reason to reclaim James as his.

Isn’t it so strange how Harry, James’ dad, had a moment of seemingly genuine sincerity and in Ash’s and our minds, we have a moment of hesitancy, to question James, a seed of doubt. Like the unknown space between what really happened before Ash found out about what James did to Raf. Was it self defence? Both narrators are somewhat unreliable. It’s hard to tell what is true within blurred lines.

I hate the pedestal Ash puts James on. I hate how self-deprecating Ash is, always less than.

Also i feel it’s worth mentioning the overlap of stereotype where it’s accusatory of being gay /sexuality and causation because of trauma. Oof I hate that.

Wtf. Talk about enmeshment, abuse and trauma.

How manipulative of James to claim to love Ash when he assaulted Raf. To use Ash as a mental buffer, as an accomplice.

Whilst Ash might not be completely wrong about Raf, it is interesting how we can’t 100% trust him either because of his parasocial/limerence ruminating over a relationship that he is technically, yes, jealous of, hence making his narration seem erratic and unreliable