I really enjoyed this historical fiction novel. I really liked that it touched on very real issues of the times to include Jim Crow laws and the start of civil rights movement. I liked that one of the main characters began to understand how privileged she really was and understood and worked to help others less fortunate

I really wanted to love this but ultimately, I was left wanting more.

I have heard great things about this book, and the synopsis really intrigued me. However, the writing style ended up not being for me, which ended up hindering my enjoyment overall,

The Davenports is a historical romance that transports readers to Chicago circa 1910, as seen through the eyes of 4 BIPOC FMCs. While they're in the north post-Civil War, much of the country still views them as less than, irregardless of how wealthy they are.

💭 I'm so torn on how to rate this book because on one hand, I absolutely loved the look into 1910 Chicago from the POV of Black people with wealth. I haven't read anything else from that time and POV. Maybe some of why I didn't love it stems from this not being a genre I read a ton. It discusses some important (then and now) social topics like racism, slavery, and classism and that's the part that I enjoyed most.

Part of me wanted to right it higher to hopefully encourage more people to read it, since it highlights important discussions on society and expectations. Although those topics aren't covered thoroughly or deeply, it was enough that it had me invested in the outcomes for the characters.

I did enjoy it, to be clear, I think it was good. The romance aspect of it just didn't work for me because I couldn't connect with the characters. I think a lot of people will enjoy it more than I did, and even love it. I wanted more character development and I wanted more in-depth with the social issues discussed. Maybe a novella about Mr Davenport (the father). I plan to continue the series, probably.

For what it's worth, my ratings for the Bridgerton books (overall) were all 3-4 ⭐️ - but I love the Netflix adaptation.

🎬 I feel like The Davenports would make an amazing adaptation.

⏳️Overall the pacing is solid, but it did feel a bit inconsistent to me. At 384pgs, it took me just over a month to read when typically that's a short afternoon read for me. In fairness, it was a very busy month and I had a lot of stuff going on with chaotic weather events, so those played rolls in how long it took me to read it. The 4 romances all seemed to roll along at the same pace and timeline - that didn't work well for me.

👥 We get a full BIPOC cast, which I loved. I also appreciated the discussion on the treatment of people of mixed ethnicities. I love that one of the FMCs is exceptional at repairing automobiles, giving us a bit of a varied look into the past.

As a character focused reader, I wanted/needed more time with each of the FMCs - more time to get to know and love them. Without that, I found myself unable to connect or truly care about them and what happened. I feel like if it had been split up with only 1, maybe 2, romances and the rest of them in additional books, I would've gotten to know each FMC on a deeper level.

💞 The romance aspect was good, with some angst and slow burn-ish type tension for some of them. The 4 separate (but interconnected) romances felt repetitive to me with all 4 being into someone who wasn't "right" for them (although for different reasons). I would've preferred a bit of variety.

I quickly found that I was more interested and invested more in the social issues discussed than the romances. The romances felt repetitive overall. I wanted to want to root for them but never was able to really get there because I was unable to connect with and attach myself to the characters.

⚠️ TW/CW: racism, classism, riots

💭 The eARC I read had some formatting issues, and while I tried my best to not allow that to impact my enjoyment of the book, I can't say 100% it didn't.

Thank you to Krystal Marquis and @netgalley for the opportunity to read this eARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

In book one of the Davenport series, we see four young ladies trying to navigate familial demands while also struggling to determine who they are as young women.

This was a very enjoyable read. There are quite a few characters. And love triangles galore.

It's a great look into the life of the black and wealthy and the social demands that are placed upon them.

I'm a bit conflicted on this one. I usually love multiple POV but these felt like they weren't very distinct and their issues were extremely similar if not straight up the same it felt like reading the same thing over and over. Now that's not to say it was bad, I liked the characters and the romances. I saw it called black Bridgerton and that's pretty accurate, it would actually make a great tv show

When I first saw the cover and the synopsis I knew I needed to read this book. Then it sat on my shelf for a couple of years. I decided to finally pick it up and really enjoyed the beginning of the book. I got a little bored in the middle and annoyed at the end. It just ends. No happily ever after. I'm on hold for book two at the library. I really wanted to love it but i just liked it.

In this brilliant new historical fiction book (and the start of a series), readers enter early twentieth-century Chicago and focus on the Black elite community that Olivia, Helen, and Ruby are part of (and that Amy-Rose exists peripherally to). Olivia is ready to do her duty and marry, but the charming civil rights leader Washington DeWight and their instant chemistry throws a wrench in her life trajectory. Helen, preferring cars and mechanics to high society, has no plans to conform, but Olivia’s other suitor doesn’t seem to mind that she likes working on cars, and Amy-Rose dreams of her own hair salon and a future with someone totally unsuitable for her. Ruby, having planned on marrying John Davenport (Olivia and Helen’s brother) for years, is also struggling with her heart, John’s attention, and her parents’ demands. Alternating between their four perspectives, this is a fascinating novel focused on love, change, and self-discovery in the early twentieth century. Marquis has done a masterful job bringing this world to life, and the detail in this novel is absolutely stunning and totally immersive, while readers will also love the different relationships emphasized and developed throughout this brilliant, enjoyable, and complex new historical fiction series.

I decided to DNF this a third of the way through. I thought I would like it, but I didn't. It was boring and I didn't care about the characters. It felt like we were introduced to them in the middle of their stories.

It was jarring to read an e-book that is in PDF format, but that is the fault of the publication company rather than the author. If I focus just on the author's writing & the story itself, I really enjoyed myself. I have been reading a lot of Victorian-era books recently, and this one is one of the most realistic.

I had a hard time keeping track of which character was which but I really enjoyed reading a book, set in this time period, with Black main characters.

Need this book to inspire more diverse reads of this nature! All four of these stories made me feel as if I was watching everything unfold on a T.V screen! Historical fiction about women of color, specifically Black women, need to be more plentiful! Saturate the market, please!

3.5 stars

The Davenports is a story of 4 black women living in elite society in the early 1900s. I found it fascinating that this story was loosely based on the Patterson’s who were inspiring in creating wealth through their carriage business during a time where their skin color made them second class citizens. This was like Bridgerton, but with civil rights. At first I thought it would just be about women trying to find husbands, but it was about women finding themselves. Although it has some heavy concepts, it still feels light and I breezed through it in a few days. I definitely will check out book 2 to see what happens to these smart women.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Chicago, the gilded age, family, romance, secrets, love, intrigue-all the things that make a great story!
The Davenports are a very wealthy family with three young adult children, John, Olivia and Helen. As the story progresses, each of them struggle to find their place in their family, and in the world. They encounter civil rights protests and social class issues, all while trying to please their parents as well as themselves. John struggles with wanting to expand the family business from carriages to cars, which his father isn’t interested in. Olivia wants to make a difference in the world, while at the same time, she helps her mother plan elaborate dinners and parties, in preparation of being the perfect wife. Helen would rather work in the garage , fixing cars and carriages than be the proper lady that she is expected to be. I figured out part of the ending as I got closer, but it was still worthwhile.
3 1/2 rounded up to 4. The Davenport family is very loosely based on the Patterson family of the same time period, and they are both in the car business. But, from what I’ve researched, that’s about where it ends.
With that in mind, this is still a great story with lots of historical perspectives and details. I’m looking forward to reading the sequel to see what the future holds for the family. Thank you to NetGalley and Dial Publishers for this digital copy in return for my honest review.

The Davenports by Krystal Marquis was a well written historical fiction read. I enjoyed reading about these characters and plot points. Looking forward to book 2.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great work of historical fiction centering around marginalized individuals who never get the attention they deserved in the history books. I loved all of the women’s individual story lines and how they all wove together throughout the book. I am excited to see where the story goes in the next installment.

I thought the premise of this book was interesting, and I thought that focuses on a prominent black family in the early 1900's Chicago would be unique as I haven't seen this premise before. I think Marquis's writing is well done, but as far as plot goes it was a bit repetitive. All 4 women want someone unobtainable in some way shape or form, and they are all trying to figure out if it's possible to be with that man. They were all essentially 4 sides of the same coin. Now this isn't to say that I didn't enjoy reading this book, but there wasn't enough to make me want to continue the series. However, since I did like Marquis's writing style, I would definitely give another book a chance outside of this series.

I also wish we got more on father Davenport! He was a freed slave who went from nothing to building a whole automobile empire - I think getting more history from him, and interactions between him and the Davenport women, would've done wonders in rounding out the story. Instead, he only shows up a handful of times, and is cemented in his horse and buggy ways and refuses to change with the times. It felt very counterintuitive for his character. Granted, I know nothing about C.R. Patterson who this story is loosely based on, so maybe he was the same way? But for someone to work so hard to get to where he's at, it felt almost like he was giving up on his empire for the sake of being a hinderance for Helen and her brother.

Outside of boy problems, I did like the glimpses of racism, coloroism, and the mixed-race experience of the early 1900's upper class, but we didn't delve too deeply into them which I think was a hinderance. This was mostly a historical romance - which in it of itself isn't a problem, but since the protagonists are all black women in high society in a time where black people weren't high society, I think we missed the mark since these topics were introduced but only at a very surface level.

All in all I enjoyed the writing and the romance was definitely written well and was enjoyable. But there was just a little something lacking and I wish we explored a little more of what I mentioned above.

Thank you to Krystal Marquis, Penguin Group, & NetGalley for the eARC!

I do really wish there had been more drama involved. I felt for the most part, everyone got what they wanted and for the ones who didn't, it didn't really feel like any big loss to them. I also felt that there were too many characters to keep track of and I actually had to write down who was who and who was connected to who to even keep up. Some of the characters were more likable than others, which is fine, but Olivia and Helen, the two sisters, were written so similarly that they could have just been merged into one person. I also don't like that the book was left off so unceremoniously like they KNEW they were going to write a sequel and it was like "ah well, all this happened but who cares". It made me feel like there was really no point in reading the book at all. I know I'm being negative but I DID enjoy a good majority of it, I just felt that some parts were dragged out for no reason and anything interesting was rushed.

I love historical fiction that centers black characters and their experiences so I loved this book so much and can’t wait to read the sequel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for a copy of this book!

For reference, I dabble in historical romances and inhaled Bridgerton. I've heard nothing but good things about this book, and all of it stands correct! I loved following the journeys of each of the four female characters and deeply appreciated how the author gave us a lens into the real life challenges each of them experienced. I really loved being able to understand more about the ways that Black community built Chicago too.

I would recommend this for sure!

This story has elements of Renaissance with a bit of Downton Abbey. Vey enjoyable read for anyone that enjoys those eras. I’m looking forward to the sequel.