Great concept— the ability to live within a book— and a book within a book— and a book within that book! Some of the specifics weren’t all that clear (were these books all real— even those within the first book?), and I thought the ending fell a bit flat and left so much important stuff off-page, but overall this was an enjoyable read.

The Watermark has an interesting premise, and I enjoyed jumping between various books/settings. I also appreciated the fact that Jaime and Rachel inhibited different bodies across the stories, whether it be a child, an elderly parent, or a wolf. The way that the characters grappled with their "true" self versus their "fictional" selves was a highlight, and raises questions about our sense of self, our agency, and what makes reality real. Similarly, I enjoyed how Jaime and Rachel's relationship evolved due to the connections they formed as other characters in the stories, before regaining their awareness of the situation.

However, I struggled with certain aspects of the book. One area that fell a little flat was the character of Fate. I wanted more development of his character, and, while there were some chapters in his POV and some sections at the end that fleshed him out more, it didn't feel like enough to color in the sketch that Mills introduced at the beginning of the novel.

Additionally, certain events at the end were skipped over and then summarized after the fact, rather than having them play out in real time, which left me wanting more. I had been intrigued to see what happened in the resolution, so it didn't feel as satisfying to read a recap.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Really interesting premise…. The story flits between different times and are they characters in books or something else… enjoyed the mind stretching…. Didn’t quite get into the 2 main characters enough. Thank you to the author. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

"Art has always thrived on biography - it exists in every piece like a watermark" -The Watermark In the case of this book, Rachel and James biography exists literally inside books. Augustus Fate has kidnapped and imprisoned them inside his book to add depth of character to his literary masterpiece. Now they must remember who they really are and escape. Told through alternating points of view, their stories change from Victorian England, to a utopian Manchester, a Russian winter and an futuristic England, they must find each other again and again. A wonderful exploration of the truth about who we really are in our core, the stories we tell about our selves.

This was a really good book! I love this genre of sci-fi, and I love the invisible string theory. The author did a good job with the tying everything together in this book. The book had really good pacing and really good writing.

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

Sam Mills does a fantastic job in writing this book, it had that element that I was looking for and enjoyed the historical element to this book. The characters were everything that I wanted and enjoyed how they worked in this story. I was invested in what was happening with the plot and was glad it worked overall. I enjoyed the idea of Fate and how it was used in this story.

The Watermark by Sam Mills is such a gem of a book! I rated this masterpiece 6 stars actually. The rating only was available for 5 stars but no, it's actually 6 stars from me.