Scan barcode
A review by tanya_tate
The Davenports by Krystal Marquis
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Book Stats
Stars: 3.0 Stars
Start Date : 01/30/24
Ending Date: 02/26/24
Genre: YA Historical Romance
Form: Hardback Book/ Audiobook
Page Count: 384
Publishing Date: 01/31/23
Point of View: 3rd Person, Dual POV's
Setting: Chicago 1910
My Blog:https://tanyasreading.wordpress.com/2024/02/26/the-davenports-by-krystal-marquis/
StoryGraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/2980479c-0628-4335-84f9-006b2a844adc
How the hell a book with Four Black Women, where the younger sister who wants to help build cars is going to fall for the older sister suitor, the best friend is trying to get the brother but is falling for the guy she using, the brother is falling for the " maid" who wants her own business, where the older sister wants to be civil rights activist and is falling for another civil rights activist set in the 1910’s be so damn boring?
How can all this drama wrapped up in an almost 400 page book be so damn boring?
Well that was the Davenports.
The Davenports is about four women Oliva and Helen Davenport, Ruby Tremaine and Amy-Rose Shepherd all trying to find love and themselves in 1910 Chicago.
Here are my thoughts about it.
1. This would be better with Two Major POVs (Oliva and Amy-Rose) being the focus instead of four and just have the other two being introduced and mentioned and then bring the two women ( Helen and Ruby) in the next book to be the main focus. Four Women Povs was too much jungle around which you really couldn’t get to really know with all four of them since all was fighting for page time.
2.I feel like Ruby got shafted because I can think of what the other three women wanted to do outside of their romance but I can't think of what Ruby wanted to do. Oliva is thinking about being a Civil Rights Activist, Helen wants to work on cars and help her brother, John with the family business and Amy-Rose wants to open up a Hair Salon. But what Ruby wants to do besides getting her parents off her back? It wasn't clear to me since most of her POV was trying to get John jealous by using the guy she actually fell in with to get her parents off her back dealing with getting a proposal from John.
3. The interactions between the girls were lacking to me. Oliva and Helen were supposed to be sisters but just had their first on page conversation together 124 pages into the book. I have seen conversations between Oliva/Ruby, Helen/Amy-Rose, Oliva/Helen and Oliva/ Amy-Rose but not all four girls together. I kept thinking that they all grew up together and supposed to be friends so they have some interaction together. We could have spent time on seeing some friendships between the four girls who are going through the same thing with their love lives along with the romance....
4. The romance feels like instalove because it is almost like they have like 3 interactions with each other before they feel like they are in love with this person. The main focus is romance and it’s the weakness of this book.
5. The four women main love interests are not really interesting and feel like cardboard cutouts. The only one that felt interesting was Washington Dewight and he got off my nerves a little on how he acted towards Oliva upbringing. Also he felt like a great value Martin Luther King with this set way better MLK JR was born.
6. I felt like Oliva should have been older than 18 because she felt older. I think instead of being her second season out this should have been on her fourth season while Helen would be debuting. The pressure for Oliva to find a husband would be really on her since she would be 20 years old. Which is almost out of the age eligible to find a husband and is considered an Old Maid during that time.
7. The strongest thing about this book was dealing with racism and the raising of the Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights Movement. I really do like the fact the author didn’t shy away from it since this was in 1910’s. Which slavery was abolished only 45 years ago and not even a half century has passed. I know reading the reviews this kind of turns people off since this is supposed to be historical romance but I think it wouldn’t feel right having something that was set only 45 years of the ending of slavery not to have a mention to the raising of Jim Crow Laws and the Civil Rights Movement. You just can’t live in a bubble and act like it’s not happening even if it’s a historical fiction romance because it’s still history.
8. The best part was when they had the demonstration march from the community center to the courthouse. That part really showed the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement aka the struggle for equality. That part also got me a little peeved due to the fact that after the march went into chaos with the police breaking it up and chasing people, Olivia and Dewight kiss while hiding from the police in an alley. Most of yall probably don't know but I was born and raised in Selma, Alabama. So the Civil Rights Movement and the Marches are ingrained in my veins being born in one of the most important cities of the Movement and the Selma to Montgomery March. So having a romantic interlude between the main couple while people are being chased, beaten, hiding from the police and probably thrown into jail just didn't sit right with me.
9. The parents really got on my nerves trying to control everything and getting in the way. Especially Olivia and Ruby's mom who was pretty much saying " He's a good man Savannah. A Good Good Man." about their suitors..
10. The cast feels big and small at the same time for reasons.
11. Big: It’s big since like I said earlier you are juggling four main women plus their four love interests so that 8 people along with the parents and some side characters.
12. Small: It also feels small because it feels like The Davenports and The Tremaines were the only two Black Wealthy Families in Chicago. I understand it probably wouldn’t be that many since the time period but at least 10 to 15 wealthy black families make up Black Wealthy Elite in Chicago. It should have been more Black Woman around Oliva and Ruby’s age who are also trying to get a husband in the “Ton” season just like in Bridgeton and in Jane Austen books. It was more ladies than Elizabeth and Jane trying to find a husband in Pride and Prejudice. It was so many ladies trying to win the favor of Mr. Bingley to become their husband, not just Jane. Like it should have been more ladies trying to win the favor of John Davenport (Oliva and Helen's older brother) besides Ruby and Amy-Rose. All the parties where the black elite were supposed to have been there felt small. There should have been more families and ladies mentioned in passing.
It was really more to be desired with this book which just makes it ok to me.
Stars: 3.0 Stars
Start Date : 01/30/24
Ending Date: 02/26/24
Genre: YA Historical Romance
Form: Hardback Book/ Audiobook
Page Count: 384
Publishing Date: 01/31/23
Point of View: 3rd Person, Dual POV's
Setting: Chicago 1910
My Blog:https://tanyasreading.wordpress.com/2024/02/26/the-davenports-by-krystal-marquis/
StoryGraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/2980479c-0628-4335-84f9-006b2a844adc
How the hell a book with Four Black Women, where the younger sister who wants to help build cars is going to fall for the older sister suitor, the best friend is trying to get the brother but is falling for the guy she using, the brother is falling for the " maid" who wants her own business, where the older sister wants to be civil rights activist and is falling for another civil rights activist set in the 1910’s be so damn boring?
How can all this drama wrapped up in an almost 400 page book be so damn boring?
Well that was the Davenports.
The Davenports is about four women Oliva and Helen Davenport, Ruby Tremaine and Amy-Rose Shepherd all trying to find love and themselves in 1910 Chicago.
Here are my thoughts about it.
1. This would be better with Two Major POVs (Oliva and Amy-Rose) being the focus instead of four and just have the other two being introduced and mentioned and then bring the two women ( Helen and Ruby) in the next book to be the main focus. Four Women Povs was too much jungle around which you really couldn’t get to really know with all four of them since all was fighting for page time.
2.I feel like Ruby got shafted because I can think of what the other three women wanted to do outside of their romance but I can't think of what Ruby wanted to do. Oliva is thinking about being a Civil Rights Activist, Helen wants to work on cars and help her brother, John with the family business and Amy-Rose wants to open up a Hair Salon. But what Ruby wants to do besides getting her parents off her back? It wasn't clear to me since most of her POV was trying to get John jealous by using the guy she actually fell in with to get her parents off her back dealing with getting a proposal from John.
3. The interactions between the girls were lacking to me. Oliva and Helen were supposed to be sisters but just had their first on page conversation together 124 pages into the book. I have seen conversations between Oliva/Ruby, Helen/Amy-Rose, Oliva/Helen and Oliva/ Amy-Rose but not all four girls together. I kept thinking that they all grew up together and supposed to be friends so they have some interaction together. We could have spent time on seeing some friendships between the four girls who are going through the same thing with their love lives along with the romance....
4. The romance feels like instalove because it is almost like they have like 3 interactions with each other before they feel like they are in love with this person. The main focus is romance and it’s the weakness of this book.
5. The four women main love interests are not really interesting and feel like cardboard cutouts. The only one that felt interesting was Washington Dewight and he got off my nerves a little on how he acted towards Oliva upbringing. Also he felt like a great value Martin Luther King with this set way better MLK JR was born.
6. I felt like Oliva should have been older than 18 because she felt older. I think instead of being her second season out this should have been on her fourth season while Helen would be debuting. The pressure for Oliva to find a husband would be really on her since she would be 20 years old. Which is almost out of the age eligible to find a husband and is considered an Old Maid during that time.
7. The strongest thing about this book was dealing with racism and the raising of the Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights Movement. I really do like the fact the author didn’t shy away from it since this was in 1910’s. Which slavery was abolished only 45 years ago and not even a half century has passed. I know reading the reviews this kind of turns people off since this is supposed to be historical romance but I think it wouldn’t feel right having something that was set only 45 years of the ending of slavery not to have a mention to the raising of Jim Crow Laws and the Civil Rights Movement. You just can’t live in a bubble and act like it’s not happening even if it’s a historical fiction romance because it’s still history.
8. The best part was when they had the demonstration march from the community center to the courthouse. That part really showed the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement aka the struggle for equality. That part also got me a little peeved due to the fact that after the march went into chaos with the police breaking it up and chasing people, Olivia and Dewight kiss while hiding from the police in an alley. Most of yall probably don't know but I was born and raised in Selma, Alabama. So the Civil Rights Movement and the Marches are ingrained in my veins being born in one of the most important cities of the Movement and the Selma to Montgomery March. So having a romantic interlude between the main couple while people are being chased, beaten, hiding from the police and probably thrown into jail just didn't sit right with me.
9. The parents really got on my nerves trying to control everything and getting in the way. Especially Olivia and Ruby's mom who was pretty much saying " He's a good man Savannah. A Good Good Man." about their suitors..
10. The cast feels big and small at the same time for reasons.
11. Big: It’s big since like I said earlier you are juggling four main women plus their four love interests so that 8 people along with the parents and some side characters.
12. Small: It also feels small because it feels like The Davenports and The Tremaines were the only two Black Wealthy Families in Chicago. I understand it probably wouldn’t be that many since the time period but at least 10 to 15 wealthy black families make up Black Wealthy Elite in Chicago. It should have been more Black Woman around Oliva and Ruby’s age who are also trying to get a husband in the “Ton” season just like in Bridgeton and in Jane Austen books. It was more ladies than Elizabeth and Jane trying to find a husband in Pride and Prejudice. It was so many ladies trying to win the favor of Mr. Bingley to become their husband, not just Jane. Like it should have been more ladies trying to win the favor of John Davenport (Oliva and Helen's older brother) besides Ruby and Amy-Rose. All the parties where the black elite were supposed to have been there felt small. There should have been more families and ladies mentioned in passing.
It was really more to be desired with this book which just makes it ok to me.