This book was slower for me, but beautifully written. It got a little "meta" (as the kids might say) with the layers of story. It wasn't too confusing, but it definitely was a book you couldn't read while you were distracted or trying to accomplish anything else.

The Watermark is a love story forged in liminal space. Jaime and Rachel find themselves in Augustus Fate's latest novel in progress. They must risk it all to return to the real world.

"Their resistance to me was such a thrill. I understood then how much fun the God of the Old Testament must have had, tormenting nations with surreal weather, thunderbolting tragedies at Job. It was the friction between Jaime and I that created the flow of words. I never allowed them to suffer boredom; I tested them to the very depths of their souls."

One can't help but draw comparisons to other media when confronted with a novel concept. The Watermark feels like Inception meets a roles reversed Misery, while brimming with its own unique character. This novel switches settings, points of view, genres and writing style for a dynamic reading experience. Overall the pacing of this novel was excellent. Only the adventure in Russia ever slightly overstayed its welcome.

"Desires create actions. Actions create experience. Experiences leave latent impressions. Samskaras, the Vedas call them. Samskaras drift in our consciousness: the ache of a love affair cut short; the pang of an interview that never led to a job; the hollow left by a lost parent. With each rebirth, the kaleidoscope twists and casts a fresh pattern, shaping new desires, hungers that promise the illusion of happiness. And so we become trapped in incarnation after incarnation."

Mills eagerly shares her expertise and research on a range of topics and settings. From the well crafted story worlds to a myriad of artistic references. Author, artist, book, and classical music mentions contribute to the distinctiveness of the experience. While The Watermark mostly presents itself as a novel, the use of poetry and drawings to represent the story at times, plus the additions of aforementioned references make it feel like a work of mixed media at times.

"An art critic once said to me, ‘A thousand people can paint a tree beautifully, so what makes one particular painting seem that little bit special compared to the masses? It is the consciousness of the artist that makes a painting, the way it hovers in the work like a watermark.’"

Mills doesn't shy away from social commentary in this novel, and skillfully manages to integrate it into the story. Topics that grace these pages include capitalism versus communism, women's suffering under the patriarchy, feminism, religion versus atheism, and AI taking over artistic fields. The way she handles these subjects shows her passion for them.

"‘I’ve always felt life should be something you should enjoy, not just survive,’ I say."

The Watermark could be your next favourite read if you enjoy getting lost in different worlds within one book. A plot that constantly changes with computations of the same flawed, but loveable characters. This novel features an impressively bittersweet ending.

I enjoyed this book. The story is long but Mills has a writing style that kept me engaged for nearly 600 pages and I found that the pacing kept the story developing in a way that I wasn't getting bored as I read. It was solid read and one that I recommend.

I am sorry, I’m not continuing with this book. The copy I have received has letters missing, as in “fi e” instead of fire? Fine? “Flims” instead of flimsy, and things like that.
There’s one every few paragraphs, and it’s irritating. I am sorry, but trying to figure out what’s the missing letter takes out all of the pleasure of reading., so I could not continue with it.
The copy is also not resizeable, which means that I need to zoom by hand every single page. Not unusual in review copies, but adds to tue nuisance too.

The Watermark by Sam Mills is a speculative fiction epic that explores the topics of fate vs free will, fact vs fiction, and reality vs imagination.

The Watermark is about two people, Jaime and Rachel who find themselves trapped in a series of stories written by the strange reclusive author Augustus Fate who has locked them inside his working novel. In each story, Jaime and Rachel experience a different time and version of Manchester/England without realizing at first that they are in a fictional universe. In each story, Jaime and Rachel experience a different version of their relationship experiencing the highs and lows of their romance, whilst navigating the illusory nature of it all.

This story has visionary fiction elements as there are metaphysical concepts that are explored. Augustus FATE, the author behind the time traveling experience, asks the question, is fate is the designer of our lives, or is it free will that determines our journey? When Jaime and Rachel discover that it is Fate's memories and emotions that have been written into the story to create their fictional reality, they are able to escape and liberate themselves from its pages...or so it appears to be. A watermark is in itself a metaphor used to describe fate, that invisible design that can only be seen in the proper light. Sleeping in reality and waking in fantasy, is something Jaime and Rachel must grapple with as they navigate the world of metafiction. There is also much to ponder about the art of writing, and how much of what we read are just alternate versions of authors realities.

The Watermark, like its plot, is a story within a story, one that I found philosophically and metaphysically satisfying. Its rich storytelling and complex ideas asked many questions and made me think and ponder the mysteries of life.

Awakening and imaginative, The Watermark by Sam Mills is a must read.

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.