Olivia, and Helen Davenport are part of a wealthy Black family, who's father escaped slavery by founding a carriage company in Chicago. Olivia spends her days shopping and spending time with her good friend Ruby, while Helen would rather be in the garage fixing cars with her brother, John. They are each trying to navigate the changing world, and how they fit in to it.

I enjoyed this for the most part, but found the pacing to be a bit weird. I felt like it dragged at times, but skipped over other important things that could have been explored more. This was heavily romance based, which I would have loved for it to look deeper into the historical aspects of this time period, especially since this was loosely based on a real family. I liked our four main characters, with Amy-Rose, the girl's childhood friend, turned maid being my favourite. Her storyline was the most intriguing to me, and I was rooting for her to open her hair salon the whole time! Helen was my second favourite, I love how she wanted to follow her own path regardless of what society thought. I wasn't that invested in Ruby or Olivia's stories, but I still enjoyed them none-the-less. I thought that all four romances were very similar in the way they unfolded, so that was a let down as there wasn't really any variation. I was a tad disappointed in the end, just because there are SO MANY unanswered questions. I was unaware this wasn't a standalone, so I was a bit shook when I realized we were being left on massive cliffhangers!

This novel follows the Davenports - a wealthy Black family in 1910s Chicago - and their daughters Olivia and Helen, and the girls’ friends Ruby and Amy-Rose, as they navigate familial expectations, love, gender norms, classism, race, and more.⁣
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I absolutely ADORE this story. It is a stunning novel that does an incredible job exploring the Black community in Chicago and depicting how Black people started and contributed to so many entrepreneurial and political endeavors during the time period. The discussions between our main characters and their love interests about their identities as Black women and men from different walks of life was also very engaging.⁣
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This book is perfect for fans of Bridgerton and historical romances, and is just such an amazing debut. I cannot tell you just how captivating Krystal’s writing is, and how you just feel transported straight into the Davenport home, chasing behind Helen, Olivia, Ruby, and Amy-Rose.⁣
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I will warn you that this book does end on a cliffhanger but I promise you, it is so worth the read! I cannot wait to read the sequel.

Bridgerton meets America meets the young adult genre. I'm a fan.

While this book follows four different female protagonists, I didn't feel bogged down but the dual POVs and found they kept the book moving at a pretty good pace. I also enjoyed them all equally which is a hard feat to accomplish. I was really invested in each of their character journeys and their romances. In the beginning the romances were looking like they could be messyyyy and I was so curious about how they would turn out!

I liked the pieces of history sprinkled throughout. This book is very well thought out and I enjoyed learning things I didn't know before.

What's important to me when reading a book is that I have a good time. I definitely had a good time with this and am intrigued by what book 2 will bring.

Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A sweet and historical story, pulling in the energy of the successful tv series showcasing the time period from a new perspective.

While this was very romance-centred, the world was still absolutely amazing. The characters, the writing, the romances, I really liked it all.

We follow four different characters: Helen, Amy-Rose, Ruby and Olivia. The Davenports are a wealthy Black family in the 1910s. I was equally intrigued by each of the perspectives included in this book, perhaps the most by Helen, who was a very unconventional girl for this time.

I just hope the sequel comes out quick because I would like more from these characters!

3.5*

The author did a great job in the world building. Writing from four perspectives can’t be easy but it was smooth and not awkward in the slightest. The issue I have with this book is this romance. Like the book was so heavy on the romance but every relationship with essentially forbidden romance. I can’t get over the fact that everyone was in love with someone their parents wouldn’t approve of. Also the historical aspect of this book was lacking. I wish that Olivia’s work with Washington was mentioned more or the Davenports past, especially Mr. Davenport in having to rebuild his life. At the end of the book it was briefly touched on by Mrs. Davenport but I would’ve liked to know more about their past.

Author Krystal Marquis skillfully plays with the ideas of duty and desire,how they can be divergent, and how that affects one's choices. Set at the turn of the century (1910) and told using four different young women's perspectives, we see these main characters deal with societal, familial and financial obligations and expectations. The women are:

Olivia Davenport: Courting the son, Jacob Lawrence, of another wealthy family, it’s expected the two will marry. But Olivia is captured by the ideas of workers' and civil rights and wants to do more than donating money. She also becomes enamoured with a charismatic lawyer involved in these causes.

Helen Davenport: Olivia's younger sister, who chafes against the expectation that she will be decorative and make a good match, when all she wants to do is be the awesome mechanic she actually is and build the family's carriage business. Helen also develops feelings for her sister's intended, Jacob.

Ruby Tremaine: Her parents need Ruby to make a match with John, Olivia and Helen's brother, for financial reasons. Though initially working to the same end, Ruby's plans are derailed when she finds herself falling for Harrison Barton, an attractive, but less well-off man from Louisiana.

Amy Rose Shepherd: A former playmate of Olivia's, she now works as Olivia's maid, but dreams of opening her own hair salon and has scrimped to save every last dollar so she can purchase a location in town for her new business. She also develops feelings for John Davenport, which he reciprocates.

I liked how Marquis gave us women at different economic levels of Black society in Chicago and the opportunities available to them. Though two are in the upper echelons of wealthy Black residents, the pressures, restrictions and bigotry from white residents, are never far from their lives. But that doesn't mean this is a book of pain and suffering, except the pain of romantic love, discovering one's identity, and wrestling with one's duty versus what one's heart wants. I enjoyed this story a lot, and look forward to reading what's next for these vibrant young women.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin Young Readers Group for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Keeping this short. Overall, this book was okay. I did appreciate the historical fiction aspects of this book, mainly seeing rich Black families like the Davenports and Tremaines interacting in a world that we're predominantly told is white and privileged. It's a part of history we're not taught about at all, so it was nice to see how successful and influential Black families could be. We also get to see the difference in Olivia and her siblings' upbringing, versus those members of her household and community who didn't grow up as privileged. We get to see the stark contrast with how Amy-Rose and Mr. Branson are treated for being part-white, and the increasing pressures Helen and Ruby experience in navigating their social lives and marriages.

That being said, this book is primarily a historical romance, and while I have not watched Bridgerton, everything I've heard about the show, sort of gave me similar vibes with this book–except of course, this book is written by an actual Black author so imo it is superior even if I didn't love the romance. Some of this book was kind of predictable. And I was not a fan of Helen's romance mainly because everything about her spoke to her not being interested in romance at all. I would have rather appreciated if she didn't end up having to fall in love like all the other characters. The ending leaves things sort of open, which explains why this is probably going to be a series of books. We don't exactly get happy endings for all the characters, and even the ones we do, it is sort of bittersweet.

I did like the inclusion of the Jim Crow laws and Olivia's activism. I think I would have liked to see more of that overall, but I think that's just because I prefer historical fiction to historical romance. Though, I did thoroughly enjoy the balls and dresses and dancing, because who doesn't enjoy that. This book really kind of read like a movie/Netflix show, and I think I would probably enjoy it more in that format.

Overall, 3/5 stars.

I haven't been this interested in a historical romance since Bridgerton S.2! I'm not usually one for multiple POVs just because I prefer to focus on one character's perspective and experience the world through them, but Marquis' use of it as a storytelling tool was definitely the right choice for the book.

I love a Chicago setting and The Davenports, a historical romance set in 1910, was such an enjoyable read.

We follow four young women as they navigate life and love in alternating POV. There are family expectations to uphold and “suitable gentlemen” to marry.

Helen was one of my favorites from going against the path her parents have laid out to her lessons to refine her manners. She was such a load of fun.

The lives and loves of Olivia, Helen, Amy-Rose and Ruby left us wanting so much more and I can’t wait for book 2. I think this would make such a great TV series too!

I absolutely adored The Davenports and shame on all the history classes I ever took for not discussing this lost part of history!

I keep describing this one as Bridgerton with an all black cast, but place it into turn of the century Chicago.

I loved it, I loved the various nods to different levels of “society” and the real depiction of all the problems with society as a whole.

I loved each girl/siblings slow uncovering of the very different life they want for themselves and the courage to do it.

There is room for a sequel and I am anxiously hoping for one!

Set in 1910, The Davenports tells the story of one wealthy Black family in Chicago. The oldest daughter Olivia struggles with balancing her family’s expectations that she will marry a wealthy Black man with her desire to become involved in civil rights. The youngest daughter, Helen, would rather be working in a garage than courting suitors. Olivia and Helen’s childhood friend and maid, Amy-Rose, has grand ambitions to open her own haircare business. She also has always been in love with the girl's brother, John. Olivia’s best friend, Ruby is under immense pressure from her family to secure an engagement from John, even though someone else has caught her eye.

Inspired by the real-life story of the Patterson family, The Davenports is a thoroughly unique story shedding light on an often forgotten part of history. It carefully balances a soapy story about wealthy women navigating romantic relationships and social issues of the time. It reminded me so much of the American Royals series. Both reimagine U.S. history and follow four young women from various walks of life. If you were a fan of that series, check out The Davenports!

I listened to the audiobook version and would highly recommend it! I loved the narrator, but I wish the various perspectives were narrated by different voices because it became challenging to figure out which character’s perspective the section was told from.

Thank you to @penguinteen and @prhaudio for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

This book is a young adult Bridgerton like. But written better. I had really high expectations going in but it was just all right. I think it suffered from too many points of view and the (not) ending was just frustrating.

Scandal. Drama. Powerful Women.

This historical YA novel has it all.

Personally, I really enjoyed this book. I glanced through the other reviews and think it’s kind of funny…this book is written for teenagers. Personally, I think it’ll be a big hit with them. If you aren’t exactly thrilled with it, I highly suggest trying out some of the adult Bridgerton-esque books.

At first, I had a difficult time keeping up with who is who, who likes who, and what is going on. It’s a much deeper story than they all like somebody they’re not supposed to—they also are struggling with figuring out their place in the world, their interests, and who to trust.

The unique perspective of this book is woven into every aspect of it. It’s close enough to when slavery ended (except did it really?) and during the Jim Crow era that the complexities of race, the effects of slavery, and the fight for equal treatment are all interwoven into the story. It would’ve been inaccurate to exclude it, and I’m thrilled the author faced it head-on. With that being said, this book also focuses a lot on Black joy. It focuses on Black love. It doesn’t only talk about trauma, but about resilience.

I can’t wait to read the sequel and see how it all plays out. Following Ruby, Olivia, Helen, and Amy-Rose was delightful. I shouldn’t pick a favorite, but my eyes are definitely looking out for Helen and Amy-Rose’s stories.

Thank you PenguinTeen & NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. My review is live on Goodreads and will be posted to Bookstagram the week of 02/07!

Such a cute and fun book. You don’t get to read a lot about rich black people in the past so it was a nice treat.

This one is for the Bridgerton fans but make it Black!

I want more historical romances like this!

Here we see rich, Black families thriving in Chicago while navigating love and following one’s dreams during the Jim Crow era.

This book doesn’t shy away from the horrors that Black folks faced especially being so close to enslavement, but we also get to see Black success celebrated and young Black folks allowed to fall in love and make foolish choices along the way.

While I loved all of the characters, Helen and Amy-Rose were my faves, and they both had angsty and swoon worthy romances full of banter!

This book truly is a breath of fresh air when it comes to historical romance!

Book spotlight and review
The Davenports
Krystal Marquis
Published by: Penguin
Publication: January 31, 2023
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Special thank you to @penguinteen and @krystabelle_reads for my digital ARC and opportunity to review this new book!

Qotd: if money were no object, what would be your favorite place to go read?

(Check the comments for the synopsis)

I honestly didn't have too many expectations going into this book as I knew very little of the subject matter. Prior to reading this story, I wasn't aware of any extremely wealthy black families in the early 1900s. To hear this novel was based off a real family was very cool.
While a bit slow for me at first, it quickly picked up, and I couldn't wait to find out who was going to breaking what rule next. And while there are 4 storylines going throughout the book, I found myself invested in all of them. I especially loved the twist of them falling for the "wrong" gentlemen.
I really enjoyed that it was something different and fresh and exciting. This could easily be a book to spark conversations and perhaps promote exploring more not often talked of topics and stories. I definitely recommend grabbing a copy of this tomorrow when it drops. Be prepared, though, I think we will be waiting for a sequel...

#thedavenports #krystalmarquis #penguinteen #blackwealth #yareads #yahistoricalfiction #newbooks #readhistoricalfiction #bookstagrammer #bookreader #yellow #flowers #unique #different #conversationstarter #getthebook

Quick Stats
Age Rating: 13+
Over All: 2.5 stars
Plot: 2/5
Characters: 2/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 2/5

Special thanks to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.

Pitched as a YA Bridgerton* type novel inspired by the real life events of the Davenport family in 1910s Chicago, this book brings to light a period of African American History often overlooked.

The idea of this book is to dive into what the lives of affluential Black families in the North may have been like. A diverse, but real-life-inspired take on the beloved romantic, high society type of historical novel. This premise was so interesting to me, and this aspect of the book did come off as well researched and compelling. I am not typically a historical fiction girly, and yet the historical, political, and socioeconomic aspects of the book were by far my favorite part. In fact, I think they may have been the only aspect that I enjoyed. It was a significant part of the story, so I don’t necessarily wish there was more of it (though I wouldn’t have complained if there were), but all the other aspects of the book: the characters, the writing, the actual plot, were… subpar at best.
The Davenports follows 4 alternating POVs and storylines: Olivia, the elder Davenport sister; Helen, the younger Davenport sister; Amy-Rose the childhood friend/maid of the Davenport girls; and Ruby Tremaine, Olivia’s best friend and neighbor. Each girl follows both a sort of coming into herself/coming of age storyline, and a romantic storyline. Not a single one of the girls has a personality. Each girl had one, singular goal outside of their romance (except for Ruby, whose only goals were romance-oriented), and they had no substance as a character outside of their goals. They were cardboard cut out girls with no emotional impact.
Similarly, the romantic interests had no personalities, and the romances and couples themselves had no spark. I felt the slightest bit of a spark between Ruby and one of her romantic leads, but it was very minimal, and not enough to invest me in their relationship.

As for the plot… what plot? There was the premise of the Davenport family and co in their world, and there were storylines that existed for each girl, but there was no cohesive plot, no driving force behind the story. It led to the story feeling exceedingly slow and boring. If this wasn’t an ARC, I likely would have DNFed. Now, I don’t think this aspect is inherently a bad thing. I personally need the books I read to have a strong plot and driving force, I need faster paced books, and this is much more on the slow-paced, slice of life end of the spectrum. But I know people who don’t need or want that kind of book, who crave slice of life. It’s not for me, but it is for others.

I think this book has a much better premise than it does actual execution, however, I think that if it is something you’re interested in, you should definitely give it a shot.

*I really dislike the Bridgerton comp. The only similarity is that it follows high society… but Bridgerton is regency era london high society, and this is 1910s Chicago high society. Relatedly, the largest selling points of Bridgerton are the romance, drama, and smut. This book is YA, therefore there is no smut whatsoever—and there shouldn’t be. There is drama, I guess, but I was never convinced by it, nor was I swept up in it. And there are romances… but they’re one of the weakest aspects of the story in my opinion, and they do not have a guaranteed HEA. Some do, some don’t.

Okay, that cover! The cover of this book and the blurb first caught my attention. I am a sucker for any book that takes place in Chicago, especially the gilded era, and this book did not disappoint. This was easily one of the best YA historical fiction books that I’ve ever read.

A quick summary of the plot: The Davenport sisters are complete opposites - Olivia is the perfect older daughter and Helen is as unladylike as it gets. They are also the only daughters of one of Chicago’s richest and most influential Black families. The book swaps POV with Olivia, Helen and two other narrators, the sisters’ childhood friend and maid Amy-Rose and Olivia’s best friend, Ruby, the daughter of a family with political ambitions.

Each girl is grappling with familial and societal expectations placed on them, while also trying to figure out what they want for their own lives. The plot largely centers around their differing experiences as young Black women searching (or avoiding) love, but I thought it was great that the plot also balanced topics like colorism, gender expectations and economic status. I thought that this book fills an important place in YA literature, by tackling serious subjects in a gentle, slice of life way.

The star of this book is the rich and interwoven relationships between all of the characters, including a cast of young men courting the girls and a whole host of supporting characters. At the beginning of the novel, as more characters were introduced, I was worried that some would be underdeveloped. As the book progressed I felt that even some of the smaller characters were great additions to the story. Take for example, Helen’s governess. She is introduced as a bit of a two-dimensional villain, but as Helen gets to know her, so does the audience and it was delightful to hear her backstory.

While I loved the cast of characters, the POVs did also create an interesting problem. It took longer than it normally would for me to be fully engaged with the book (30% through), because the beginning of the book really feels like such quick flashes with each character, which makes it hard to be fully immersed or invested in each girl’s story. Ultimately, I’m glad that I stuck it out.

*Slight Spoilers Below*

Trigger warnings: police brutality and white supremist violence. While this book discusses many serious topics and does not depict much violence on the page, there is a scene where Olivia attends a civil rights march and is non-seriously injured.

This book ends on a bit of a cliff hanger for several of the girls and it feels like it’s leading into a sequel, though I haven’t seen any mention of one. Some of the story lines wrapped up nicely, while others felt like they ended a bit suddenly. I don’t love cliff hangers but would absolutely read a sequel to this novel.

I think this is a book I would enjoy listening to, but since I only had the (poorly formatted PDF) eBook ARC, I went with what I had. This is billed as a YA romance so it's less steamy than I am used to... and can I admit I found it refreshing to not have to swim through pages of explicit intimacy?

I'm old. I like a hint but don't need all that, <i>personally</i>.

Anyway... the thing about historical romance based on a real person is that it makes me want to look up the real person it's based on. This title is based on a real person- CR Patterson & sons, a formerly enslaved man who became a wealthy and respected entrepreneur.

I have many thoughts about this book- most of them are pretty good. I got the sense though that there was so much happening- the three girls in this book all meet and fall for someone and we travel through their attempts at romance, at evading their parent's controlling arms and money. This could have been an intriguing trilogy but as it is, it skirts over three separate relationships and doesn't give me the satisfaction I'm seeking in a romance.

I have never watched nor read Bridgerton so I don't understand the references, but the depiction of life among upper crust Black people in society is a vibe! I wish I got more of a feel for the decadence but maybe I was just reading fast and the author didn't want to linger on their wealth.

Fave was Helen, the rough and tumble tomboy with no interest in love unless it involves a car. I love a lady mechanic and she's skilled, despite knowing her role is to be pretty and made up with great manners and attract a man.

Least fave was Amy Rose if only because I am not one for 'he could never love a poor girl like me, how dare I think I could belong with a man like him. Sis GET UP or get OVER. Whew.

ANYWHO. For a person that does not read YA this was a solid read. I am not likely to venture too far into YA but when I do, it has not been a disappointment!