Was James too jealous?

[Adelee Grobler]

I think that it wasn’t right of James to sometimes treat her that way. I do however understand that it was complicated for him to show his love due to it being frowned upon. He was possessive with her. Though it turned out that it was because he still saw her as property, and not just because of jealousy.

[Janelydia Mwangi]

I feel that James was not jealous but possessive. A man's ego is always affected when it comes to justify that you can win any woman's love. There friendship began in childhood a factor that is common with growing boys who possess girls they like but with a light touch. To James, Lily was the mother-figure he lost at an early age who gave him the motherly feelings through her caring nature and so could not wish to lose her. This possessive nature makes him angry and in some instances he misbehaves. Lily's independent life is also a threat as she will be exposed to more men than when she was a slave.

[Reema Aydieh]

In some situations, his jealousy blinded him and made everything he said to come out as offensive. But I guess the time he spent away from Lily and the situation along with how people treated her fueled his reactions. Even though I feel that it should have been a reason for him to control his feelings more effectively.

[Josie Wert]

He was jealous. There is no other way to describe him towards Lily. And this is what turned me off about him. I guess he made a perfect villain.

He was so jealous at times that he used her race/his ownership of her as a weapon to get him to make her do what he wanted. His split personality was the real evil to me.

[Yulisa Sanchez]

I agree that James was too possessive over Lily and the lines blurred between being her slave master and significant other. I especially found it hard to believe how extremely jealous James was of Lily and Elijah, especially since there was nothing romantically between them. This shows how James' jealousy would be problematic in the future.

[usef nahg]

sometimes the author managed to show his protectiveness perfectly but i totally agree that some scenes felt more on the possesive side and are a little uncomfortable.

[Kashmir Lalla]

I think he mixed jealousy with anger and fear. James feared losing the woman he loved since it was a taboo love, from different wealth classes and the master-slave dynamics. I think he was also still angry from their childhood experience and all that resulted in the overprotective and borderline offensive treatment of Lilly and the black family.

[Janelydia Mwangi]

Of course too possessive towards his mother-figure Lily as he also invested in her not only materially but also time spent with her and also emotionally( his love for her).

[Preye I]

He did truly love Lily it was obvious but he was very jealous. I understand how it could be seen bad because it was an interracial relationship and Lily was a slave. And James did act inappropriately at some times. I feel like he needs to grow as a character for their relationship to be seen as okay

[asteel18]

I was so annoyed with James every time he growled and snapped at people, and especially when he felt the need to hit people (even if Tucker deserved it). It was excessive and really made me dislike him.

[Larissa Sawers]

Not sure how to take this topic. He technically owns Lily. In his mind, despite what is said or written, she is a slave who belongs to him. Is his possessiveness too much, then? It is hard to overcome years of conditioning by society. His jealousy in the book felt like frustration and a childish tantrum. The blurb called him altruistic; I didn’t see it.

[AvishaJain_13]

James was a little too jealous but I think jealousy sells well which is why it fit well in the story and also, Lily didn't seem to entirely mind it so I'd say that yes, there was a little jealousy but it wasn't a problem.

[Eunice Geres]

Yes. He is possessively jealous. His jealousy is very inappropriate. But I guess it's because of the frustration of not being able to do what he truly wants to be because society back then is not really accepting.

[Honest-reviewer]

I agree with you. It seemed like he was way too possessive about Lily. I don’t think it was just his love for her, maybe he wanted to control her.

[Astral Magi]

I also feel that he was overly possessive. Perhaps that was a natural outflow of his desire to keep her safe in a world full of cruelty.