Reviews with content warning for Racism - Los Davenport 1

This novel introduces us to four amazing black women living in Chicago in the early 1910s. We follow their story of trying to find happiness and reaching their desires in their world against family expectations, misogyny, class, and racism. Through four separate POVs we get to meet each of the girls and explore their lives. I don't normally like multiple POVs, but this one, even with four POVs, was written so well, leaving me invested in each of their lives.

First we have Olivia, a woman who meets society's expectations for a woman of her status, looking for a husband, doing charity, etc. Until she stumbles into a civil rights meeting, and in addition to finding herself very attracted to the speaker at the meeting, discovers a desire to stand up for people like her across the country and fight against societal issues like Jim Crow. But, she has a match her parents like, and those same parents are scared for her safety, given their own experiences when they moved to Chicago.

Next, her younger sister Helen, a tomboy who wants nothing to do with the expectations put upon her, only wanting to fix automobiles with her brother in their family shop. She's foiled by her family hiring a manners coach for her, and falling in love with the man she things her sister loves. Her story centered around proving herself and fixing out her love life.

Next is Ruby, Olivia's best friend, whose father is running for mayor, and as such, her family is broke. Struggling to cope with this massive change in her life, she is also trying to win the love of her old crush, Olivia and Helen's brother, John, both to please her parents and, she thinks, herself. But, in her ploy to win his heart, she stumbles into love with another man, and has to decide what is more important to her: her parents approval or her own heart.

Finally, there's Amy Rose, a maid in the Davenport's home who wants to be a business owner (think Madam C. J. Walker). She's saved for a spot in town to sell her wares, and, to her dismay, finds herself falling for John. She faces both a combination of misogyny and racism as a black woman trying to start a business, and class issues both for her business and in getting approval for her and John's relationship.

Their worlds fall apart towards the end of the book, and I can't wait for the sequel in the hopes things improve. The characters are great and engaging and I love them. My only main grievance is I hate that it falls into the corset trap or treating them like terrible torture devices. They're just bras. They just hold parts where they need to be. If anything, with all the things Helen does, she would need the support most.

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lilysweetdreams's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

My thoughts for this book amounts to It's Just Kind Of Meh. I really really wanted to love it, but it lacked stakes, pacing and the kind of zing I've come to expect from romance books.

Of our four protagonists, only Amy-Rose actually interested me after the first few chapters. And yet she's constantly wobbling on the fence of her decisions, her dream versus a guy she kind of likes. Helen is fun with her specific interests, but she lacks the balls to really commit to it, and ended up just annoying me overall. Olivia and Ruby are harder for me to relate to and a lot of their problems are of their own creation. Don't get me wrong, characters experiencing consequences is a great plot device when executed well, but again, in this case it just annoyed me.

I also felt the was an incredible lack of plot structure and pacing present throughout. I didn't feel the passage of time, and no labels were added, which meant I was often fumbling for when and where scenes were taking place. The stakes didn't build and culminate at a crucial final moment; instead everything plodded along and had weak flare up every once in a while. I wasn't invested, and emotional moments fell flat because of it. There were no mysteries; I called the intended pairings almost as soon as the characters met. And I fully expected everything to resolve by the end of the book, so to turn the last page and discover a metaphorical to-be-continued wasn't a thrilling cliffhanger but yet another annoyance. I feel the plot could have easily been resolved in another handful of chapters.

To give credit where credit is due, the setting and theme was very interesting and the author appears to have done good research. It's a time period and people that is frequently forgotten, one I would like to see explored more often.

All in all, it added up to a loosely strung together collection of scenes, a repeating plot of will-she-get-the-guy x 4, and an uninspiring cliffhanger. I just didn't enjoy myself. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Costumer's Complaints: Despite everything else, I will begrudgingly say the clothing appears fairly accurate. Of course, the obligatory hate of corsets is ever present BUT this is actually the correct time period for them to be going out of style (slowly) and have the vestiges of tightlacing apply to the upper class protagonists of the book. That Watsonian explanation is the only reason I'm letting it slide. I'm still cranky with the Doyalist interpretation; Corsets Are A Tool Of The Patriarchy So I Will Write My Rebellious Character Hating Them. I'm sick of it, it adds nothing of value and is an overused, heavy handed, and frequently inaccurate metaphor.

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caitlinemccann's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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katie_helf96's review against another edition

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funny hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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roseannearchy's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

The characters were very easy to love and get invested in. I loved the setting Marquis used and how she highlighted the successes of African-Americans in a time period where it was often not spoken about. We got to see the characters grow and love and get invested in their growth. Only things that took me out were that the stakes were kinda low and the pacing at times uneven, but all in all very enjoyable! Her authors note really brought the whole story together for me and gave me a greater appreciation for it.

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jaz_gets_literary's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was my first historical fiction book and I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did. I looked looking at 4 very different Black women going through the woes of love in 1910 Chicago. It was a very different time then and even though 3 of them came from wealthy families they still didn’t have the same plight. From societal pressures to family over involvement, these 4 woman having the decide if they are going to listen to everyone else or what their heart truly wants. What the heart wants can come with a price though. I also enjoyed the inclusion of the Jim Crow movement and how it did or did t sway the women’s decisions.

I believe I’ve found my way into a new genre and I cannot wait to read the next installment in November.

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ashylibrarian's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A fine historical romance read with a local setting. I enjoyed the cast of characters, and, although it took me a little bit to sort out who was who with the audiobook, I did like the multiple POVs at each chapter change. It was fun to bounce between the four main characters and glimpse different aspects of their lives as the overarching plot moved forward. This was a fun and unique way to take a brief dive into a piece of African-American history that we don't often learn about.

I appreciated the note at the end of the audiobook that shared more about the inspiration for this story.

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blewballoon's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I'm being a little generous with my rating because I really like the idea of this book, and the execution isn't bad. The prose is a little cliche at times, but overall this delivers a nice young adult historical romance from the perspective of a black family. There are several characters and romances to follow, and they aren't all resolved in this book. I'll be grabbing the sequel to see how those loose threads get tied. I will also caution that if you don't like 3rd Act break ups, you will probably dislike this story, because there are multiple. But if you are looking for something like Bridgerton and Downton Abbey but aimed at a younger audience and a focus on black characters, this is a good pick and a fun read.

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