I love this period of history, when the rules are starting to lapse and things are starting to become a bit freer. I really liked this opportunity to learn about the history of black society in this time. It's something I'll admit, I hadn't thought much about, but I will definitely be doing more research into it going onward.

The characters were this book's greatest strength. The four girls are strong, intelligent and tell the story beautifully. Though I liked some characters more than others, the story wouldn't be the same if even one of these girls was missing. It showed different ways to be a woman and different ways to be black, whether striving out to set up your own business, skilfully evading your etiquette tutor, setting out into a world of activism and protests or simply trying to secure a husband so that she cans survive on in a world that is so cruel to women, each girl brought a different story to the mix and I loved every one.

I liked how there was the suggestion of lives without husbands in the mix. It's clear that each girl is on a journey of power for themselves, not just a journey to get with the dashing man that each of them finds along the way. I have no doubt that each girl will end up in a life that she has built for herself with no need of a husband but oh look there's the perfect man by her side anyway.

I didn't know this was a duology at first, so be warned it doesn't all wrap up at the end! I can't wait to read the conclusion though!

I found this book enjoyable -- a little slow-paced but not boring. I was invested in all the heroines' stories, and I rooted for them all. I also appreciated the underlying current of race and class matters that was woven into the story and told from black and mixed-race points of view.

I did find the plot too simple, and I could usually foresee what was going to happen. Sometimes I thought the writer overexplained, and some of the language felt more present-day than it should have for a story set in the early 1900s, eg black excellence, uncoupling. Was this language commonplace during that time?

The Davenports is a solid debut. I would recommend it to anyone looking for an easy read.

in 1910s Chicago, THE DAVENPORTS tells the story of four young Black women navigating life within a family of wealth – an unusual status for Black families in the United States at this time. Formerly enslaved, William Davenport builds the Davenport Carriage Company, amassing his fortune and place within society. His daughters Olivia and Helen find themselves yearning to follow paths that are not acceptable to the family. Ruby, Olivia’s best friend, has interest in their brother but the relationship doesn’t go as planned. Amy-Rose grew up with the Davenport children and now works as their maid but has aspirations to open her own business and dreams of marrying someone that society deems is not right for her. Will each of the young women find a way to get what they want?

I loved that THE DAVENPORTS was inspired by a real family, the C.R. Pattersons who owned C.R. Patterson & Sons Carriage Company. All of the main characters are Black which was great to have that representation as I haven’t read much historical fiction from this time period lately and liked that it was focused on African American history. The narration rotates between each of the four young women. The characters are well-developed and felt very genuine. I enjoyed the dynamics between them and their families and the ways they questioned their places in the family and society, daring to challenge status quo while they explored how they aimed to move forward in life. Despite having wealth, the young women as well as their families faced difficulties and dangerous situations, giving a reminder that the power of money only goes so far during this turbulent time in the U.S., especially for Black families. There were parts that were difficult to read but are pieces of history that are necessary to be acknowledged. The plot moved along at a good pace that had me eagerly turning pages. I liked how the romance aspects were written. When I reached the conclusion, my heart sank as I had forgotten that this is the first book of a series. I was disappointed to not find out how each of the girls’ plot lines resolved, but that just leaves me with something to look forward to in the next book.

I thoroughly enjoyed THE DAVENPORTS and would highly recommend it. Although a YA book, I think it appeals to a wider audience. This is book one of Krystal Marquis’s The Davenports series. I will definitely be reading future books in this series.

Thank you to Dial Books for the giveaway ARC

I thoroughly enjoyed this historical romance and would be happy to read other stories featuring these characters.
Well plotted, vivid background and fleshed out characters I loved.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

As a historical romance and a BIPOC reader, there is something delightfully exciting about learning that a book set in 1910's Chicago will take you on a journey to help four young women find happily ever after.

The Davenports follow the perspectives of two Davenport family daughters, Olivia and Helen, as well as their maid Amy-Rose and Olivia's best friend Ruby. I grew to like them all and the other Davenport family members.

A part of me wished desperately that this was a four book series in the same format as other romance novels and been given the time and depth to get to know each character per book. Perhaps this is a subjective preference of a reader who finds it difficult keeping track of multiple perspectives. However following their journey to finding love, marriage and fulfilled goals has been a giddy experience.

I love that this is a book that approaches important themes around racial justice, misogynoir and familial ambitions through a historical lens. It is a book that doesn't shy from the recent history that came before it and how the characters look to their future with a mixture of optimism and worry.

I don’t really read young adult fiction anymore but I enjoyed this. I thought there was also an interesting exploration of intraracial class dynamics. The only down side is I did find it somewhat hard to keep up with who is who with the extent to which character perspectives changed.

The Davenports are a rich and successful family living in Chicago. They are an accepted part of society despite being black and only one generation away from slavery, this being 1910. The three Davenport children are of a marriagable age, the eldest daughter Olivia is beautiful and being aimed at a society wedding but has her eyes opened to the world by a young lawyer. Son John loves the family friend/employee Amy-Rose, an independent woman who does not meet with his parents approval. Youngest daughter Helen falls for her sister's suitor and family friend Ruby needs to marry well to help her parents.
This is a strong YA read but as an adult I found it somewhat trite. There is a really good idea here, the wealthy members of Black society at the turn of the century and the prejudice they suffered plus the beginning s of the Civil Rights Movement and I think this is the sort of book I would recommend to my students.

Being dubbed the black Bridgerton, this book was so much more. Set around 1910 the book covers lack of equality and the effects of slavery during that period. Set in Chicago, love and following your dreams are the order of the day. A really great read.

Oooof. This book gave forbidden love in beauty. Loved the cash. Each and everyone of them was unique in their own way. Which isn’t easy to do with four main characters .

I read 70% of the book in 2 days. It was a page turner for me. I loved the secret meetings. The looks. The dances. The parties. The conversations. All excellent. I’m not a huge historical romance reader but I loved this so far.

Only thing I wasn’t really on was the breakups at the end. It felt like they came out of nowhere. Didn’t really build up on that.

But asides from that, it was a really nice read. Strong debut.

A lovely sparkling story that really swept me away. This is a fantastic debut and I'm really excited to read more from Marquis.

I'm a huge fan of period stories. I loved The Gilded Age and this very much reminded me of that. It's the first in a series of books and there is a cliff-hanger which has left me wanting to read more.

I love the four different POV - it was like reading 4 stories which blended together. I am looking forward to reading more in the series.

I read an eARC of The Davenports so thank you to the author, the publisher and Net Galley for allowing this.

I started reading this and then suddenly I’m halfway through the book and realised it is quite late at night. I was really invested in this and the time reading it just flew by. I expected this to be quite a gentle, slow read but in fact it was far more exciting than that!

The synopsis made it seem like this would be a historical romance about female characters looking for husbands, but they had so much more depth than that. These women had dreams beyond just marriage and they see real growth throughout the book. This is set in the early 20th century and women are expected to marry according to their parents wishes.

This book is told from four different character points of view. The chapters were quite short so I didn’t mind this as we were swiftly getting round to each character. At first I had a really preference for Helen and Amy Rose. They both had ambitions beyond just marriage and I really liked their drive. Olivia and Ruby show real growth in their stories and I came around to them quite quickly. Olivia in particular as she starts to care more about her community and activia I’m really won me over.

I really liked this book, strong female characters, well written and excited. I felt the ending was a bit abrupt and while I was happy with the ending for two of the characters and liked the connections three of the others made, I did feel like I needed more closure. However I did wonder if the author had ended it this way to make a point around something the characters had desired perhaps not being as important as other things they’d discovered. (Sorry that’s so vague, I’m trying not to give anything away!)

It’s well worth reading the author’s notes too. I found it quite fascinating to see the history and research behind this book and the reasons behind the choices the author had made.

I thought the author did a great job of taking a historical romance novel and creating something substantial and meaningful.

I chose to read The Davenports because of its unusual subject matter, a time period and place I knew nothing about: Chicago in 1910 when many Black Americans were successful and rich – a real life Bridgerton. I was so excited by the concept of four female narrators – all people of colour - with different experiences in such a dynamic time! I mean, what book gives you that? The only one I can think of that comes close is ‘Girl, Woman, Other’ and I was enthralled by that.

The novel introduces us to four young women making their way on the marriage mart in Chicago in 1910. The Davenports are a successful black family; Mr Davenport has made his fortune through building carriages for wealthy people from a beginning in slavery and now his children get to live an easy and luxurious life. We have Olivia Davenport the eldest Davenport daughter, who is dutiful and keen to live up to the expectations of her family and society that she marry ‘well’ and for her that means a British man called Jacob Lawrence. Then her sister, Helen who is not so keen on being married off but would like to be part of the business and the potential expansion into horseless carriages. Then we have Amy-Rose, a mixed raced maid who’s been with the family since she was a child and lastly we have Ruby, Olivia’s best friend who has also been part of the family since childhood.

We follow these four women, who all fall in love with the wrong people as they navigate their way through the Chicago social scene in 1910. And that’s about it. Its pleasant enough but there is no jeopardy, very little excitement and attempts at any conflict feel forced.

This book took me ages to read because it was so boring that I had to push myself to read it, and often I’d find something more interesting to do! How disappointing? The author’s note at the end is the most interesting thing as it shows what she was trying to do but she really fails. All the girls are the same, and lovely, warm welcoming young women, there is no real difference between them, so they are bland carbon copies of each other, and there is so little historical flavour as to be non-existent. It isn’t an area of my expertise but surely even in an era when there was some African American ascendancy there would have been masses of racism and it would affect these women? Its just brushed off. Even with the character who is an ‘activist’ (surely this is a very modern word/concept?) none of the wide range of racism he must have faced seems to have affected him. How did he become so educated?

The men they all fall in love with – none of them are interested in not being married – are just as bland as well. It’s all instalove of course. I had a real problem with the British one as well, the author makes no attempt to give him a British accent or any comment on why he’s in Chicago or any of his history. We didn’t have slavery in the UK – does the author know that? We certainly had people of colour in the gentry and even the aristocracy – very few and far between unfortunately – but he would have had an absolutely fascinating story. How did his family reach England? How did they make money? What specific kinds of prejudice did they face? And it goes on and on about Amy-Rose suffering from prejudice from both the black and white communities – but wouldn’t he suffer from a similar thing? Most Black people in the UK 30+ years before Windrush would be mixed race.

Inaccuracies are things that drive me insane in books and always jump out at me. The girls are 20ish in 1910, so born in 1890, their father is an ex-Slave – so he was how old when slavery finished? He would have been a child! Even if you assume he had his children at 40, he’d have only been about 10 at the end of slavery. And whilst I’m not saying that is impossible, just that it should have been addressed. Is he an older father because he struggled with the concept of having children after everything he’d faced in slavery? Even if that was your formative experience as a child if you’ve then had another 50 years out of it there will be other things that have affected you too? Surely the life of an ex slave is the most fascinating of subjects – so why isn’t it explored here?

For such an interesting subject matter which such potential the author makes this a bland book with little conflict or drama. Two and a half stars rounded up – we need many more books where there are young women of colour as central protagonists and whilst this may not be the best, maybe it will pave the way for others?

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a free copy of this book in return for a review.

Compelling and gorgeously descriptive, Krystal Marquis’ The Davenports is an expertly written historical YA that will appeal to fans of Downton Abbey or swoon-worthy, character driven romances.

It follows the the lives of four young black women (two of whom hail from the titular Davenports, a wealthy Black family) navigating love, life and America’s social elite in 1910s Chicago.

This was such an incredibly enjoyable read, which sees each of our young and determined heroines bravely pursue their own paths to happiness and success, whilst simultaneously navigating the complex (and often unfair) societal expectations that dictate their lives.

I loved how well written and vibrant all our protagonists were, but I must admit Helen and Amy-Rose (both aspiring, entrepreneurs and business owners) did steal my heart. Helen for her spirited ingenuity and goal orientated drive that disregards what her parents (and society) expect of her and Amy-Rose, for her determination to turn her skills into a viable business (in the hopes of giving up her job as a maid to become a salon owner.)

Though the arcs of Olivia and Ruby’s emotional journey were also really good—particularly Olivia who felt goes through the biggest transformation when she

The romance was definitely intense at times and the chemistry between some of the girls and their love interests was certainly swoon-worthy at times but, the pacing was a little inconsistent. The first half felt a little slow and the last hundred or so pages felt a little rushed.

But nonetheless,amidst the drama, luncheons and glitzy soirées the incredible emotion that’s conveyed through the lives of these young women was incredible. And getting to explore the differing socioeconomic backgrounds of each girl, who despite their differences, all yearn for the same things (to be given the opportunity to decide their own fates) was definitely an eye opener.

Particularly when realising, though these girls are fictional, their experiences are (somewhat) based on real emotions and historical events (such as the Jim Crow laws and the treatment of African Americans) that did impact soo many real people.

If you love historical romances then I definitely recommend checking this out but do be aware this is the first book in a a series and does end on a bit of a cliff hanger for each character.

The Davenports is set in 1910 Chicago and tells the story of the two Davenport daughters Oliva and Helen, their maid Amy-Rose, and their best friend Ruby, as they try to navigate high society in a rapidly changing country. They are part of a wealthy black family and Mr Davenport is a former slave who has built an incredibly successful carriage manufacturing business. The story has its roots in history, inspired by the story of a man born into slavery who eventually relocated north, became a blacksmith and then opened his own successful carriage manufacturing business.
The plot of The Davenports focuses on the way that different characters are challenging societal expectations of them, be it due to race, gender or class, when it comes to both their ambitions and who they fall in love with. For example, Helen’s love of engineering challenges society’s gender norms and Amy-Rose’s ambition to run her own business and marry outside of her social class challenges norms surrounding class. There is also conflict between societal expectations regarding who each character should marry and who their heart is actually with. For example, Ruby’s parents want her to marry John Davenport to secure their financial future but her heart is with a man called Harrison Barton and John’s heart is with Amy-Rose, despite the class barrier that exists between them. The way that the relationships in the story overlap is a really interesting component to the story and it’s something which I think sets The Davenports aside from other YA historical fiction novels.
Through the character of Olivia Davenport and her love interest Washing DeWight, The Davenports explores the social movement against the Jim Crow Laws and Olivia’s understanding of and passion for the civil rights movement builds throughout the novel. Education about slavery and the early push towards race equality in America seems to be missing from history classes across the world. Whilst I feel that ultimately change is needed within the education system in reflection of this, I do feel like YA books could be a valuable vehicle for educating young people on these topics in addition to this and characters such as Olivia could be powerful in facilitating this.
The chapters alternate between four perspectives: Olivia, Helen, Amy-Rose and Ruby but I feel the book would work better focusing on the story of one of the characters rather than alternating so many perspectives. Having four separate perspectives got too much and soon as you started to settle into the story of one of the girls, the chapter would change and our focus would be completely shifted. This meant I didn’t have chance to forge a connection with the characters and therefore I didn’t find myself rooting for them. Whilst all of the perspectives were interesting, utilising the opportunity for a series with each novel focusing on a different character/love story would have allowed us to explore each character in greater depth.
The final chapters see the couples face significant turbulence in their relationships, resulting in break ups. These break ups were orchestrated quickly and rather messily in some cases and whilst I appreciate that a bit of a ‘will they, won’t they’ plot is likely to entice readers to the sequel, suddenly putting all four relationships on the rocks seemed like overkill. Only one conflict is resolved by the end of the book and getting such little resolution made the book feel like it ended prematurely and this left a bad taste in my mouth, despite me having generally enjoyed the rest of the story.
I did find it interesting that this story is a YA novel despite the characters being either adults or on the very cusp of adulthood. To fit within the genre, aspects of the story such as sex were really glossed over and this was something that missed the mark for me. One of the later chapters of the story closes by implying that Olivia loses her virginity to Harrison but it’s not made clear and I think this was a big misstep by the author as it’s something which plays an important part in Olivia’s character development and coming of age story.
Overall, I felt that the concept of the story was really interesting but unfortunately the delivery of it fell flat.
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
I have posted an extended review on my blog www.yourschloe.co.uk and the post is linked.

It was a nice easy read, I found it a little similar to Bridgertons. The book follows the lives of three siblings with very different hopes and aspirations and ow they go about life achieving them. I just found the end quite unsatisfying as there were quite a few loose ends which I would have liked all tied up.

This book really gripped me and held my attention, I loved the focus on each of the 4 women and howweget to know them all over the course of the book. .this ends on a cliffhanger which although annoying, I definitely need to know what happens next and cant wait for the next

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy in return for an honest opinion

I gave the story 5 out of 5 stars. It was almost a tear jerker but I managed to hold it in. The Davenport’s children and their best friend, go through ups and downs in their love life and in society trying to find a place for themselves. Ruby was the only character who had any hope of a resolution but even that crashed and burned. I can’t wait to read the second book and see how the Davenports rescue their love life. The story seemed to be a standalone, until the end when you realise that, nope the author is not going to wrap it up in a nice bow. The story and the characters end in a mess as life often does. I can’t imagine living in that uncertain time of the 1900s and it pains me that people of colour still face a lot of the issues that were ongoing in the 1900s. We’ve made a lot of progress but there is so much more to be done and changed in society.

This was like a Netflix binge all in my head!

The Davenports are a wealthy black family living in 1920’s Chicago, head of the family, Mr Davenport being a former slave. We follow the POV of both daughters, Olivia and Helen, their maid Amy-Rose and Olivia’s best friend Ruby. Each of them balancing societal expectations with their own.

If you’re looking for a historical YA romance then this is 100% for you. I found it easy to visualise the whole story and I loved getting to know each of the characters and I was rooting for them all to find their own path & happiness despite all the obstacles put in their way. I would’ve liked a bit more of the history to be explained but overall I really enjoyed

Thank you to NetGalley for approving me to receive this book in exchange for an honest review

what an amazing book. it is Incredible! thanks for the copy netgalley and penguin random house south africa