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A review by lilysweetdreams
The Davenports by Krystal Marquis
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Classism