Watermark

I really enjoyed this story from Elise Schiller. It touches on some seriously tough subjects, but does it in a way that is respectful to people who may have experience with those things. I am a huge fan of the author and this one did not disappoint. <br /><br />The Story: I really enjoyed the story. It was a tough read with some tough subjects, but it also contained a great story that was interesting and easy to follow along with. I know absolutely nothing about swimming and was worried some of the things in this book would go over my head. I can’t lie, some things did go over my head, but it never took away from the story as a whole. There were so many different components to this book that were all captivating. <br /><br />The Flow: I thought this book flowed pretty well. I do wish the chapters were a little shorter, but that’s really just reader preference and didn’t necessarily take away from the story as a whole. <br /><br />The Characters: Wow, talk about becoming invested in the characters. I love the way Elise Schiller presents the characters to us in a way that we are forced to become emotionally attached. We feel the emotions they feel. It was great to see how the characters, especially Angel’s sister, developed from the beginning of the story to the end.<br /><br />The Writing: The story was told using the narratives of two different people, both close to Angel. We were able to view the story through both Angel’s sister and Angel’s best friend. I found it interesting to not use Angel’s voice itself, and actually enjoyed this style of story telling. It provided us two very distinct and unique outsider perspectives to the story. I thought the writing was great and had no issues with it. <br /><br />I truly enjoyed this story and found my heart breaking with each and every character. It was captivating and drew you in so you not only became invested in the story, but became invested in the characters as well. <br /><br />*Thank you to SparkPress and Elise Schiller for an early copy of this book in exchange for my honest review*<br />

Review to come 7/17 :)

My one line review for <i>Watermark</i> would be: if you want to enjoy the book, don't read the blurb. From the blurb, which focuses on this as a missing person mystery-thriller, I expected a much different kind of book. Yes, someone goes missing, but the disappearance gets some attention in the first few pages and then doesn't come back until many chapters later — not long before the end, actually. <br /><br />In between, though, there is a well told story of the daughters of a poor family living in Kensington, a run-down community in Philadelphia known for its association with drugs, prostitution, and homelessness. Schiller does a good job of telling their stories, as well as with humanizing the setting. She doesn't pretty anything up about Kensington or about the poverty, addiction, neglect, and general disorder that run in and out the lives of all the characters, major and minor, but at the same time she is never patronizing and never fetishizes or exoticizes any of it. These are ordinary people, living real lives, under difficult circumstances, yes, but they are regular lives. Their stories are interesting, the characters are interesting, and you care about what happens to them. <br /><br />So, if you're looking for a compelling crime thriller, you'll have to look elsewhere, but you could do a lot worse than <i>Watermark</i> for a solid character-based story of human relationships set against a background of social disadvantages that are too often seen as the story itself. <br />

Phew - this is a bit of a somber read. At the beginning, I wasn't sure I was going to connected with this read. However, as I continued on, I started to really feel for Angel and her siblings... and gained an absolute disgust with their mother, Pic. I'll say it again, PHEW.<br /><br />Schiller truly brings the reality of a problematic life for a first born who has to take over the duties as a mother - sometimes acting as a mother to her own mother. Not only are there problems at home, they also have to deal with the rough area where they live. Nothing is easy for these girls. Then Angel disappears... now what?<br /><br />You'll obviously have to read this to find out. I wish I had connected with this book earlier in my journey with Angel. By the time I was finished, I was a bit emotionally spent. And like the gritty life that felt all too true, and likely is out there somewhere, you're left feeling a bit bereft.<br /><br />Well written, I would definitely recommend this for those who love a character driven read with a bit of mystery involved.

Angel Ferente is a girl that had to grow up fast to be able to take care of her three sisters, while trying to earn a swimming scholarship to go to college. It wasn't easy, living in Philadelphia in the early 1990s, in poverty, with drug dealers, sex workers, along with killings. Angel had a bad relationship with her mother and a hateful one with her stepfather. She had a part time job at the laundromat and also had to do the family's laundry. A very sad and heartbreaking story of a girl trying to make a better life.

Watermark is the story of Angel, a troubled teen whose reality is so much more complex than that hackneyed phrase suggests, who goes missing on New Year's Eve. More accurately, it is the story of the family, friends, and swim teammates trying to come to grips with what led up to her disappearance. The story is incredibly nuanced and layered, with characters who are all living in poverty, but show the diversity of circumstance within that group that often gets viewed as a monolith.<br /><br />Angel herself is deeply complex--making choices again and again that make me wince--and Schiller pulls no punches in this book--and yet showing fierce devotion and loyalty to her friends and family. It's a difficult, but incredibly rewarding read.

I received a signed copy of this book from the author sometime ago. I started reading, put it aside for awhile, picked it up again and read it, crying, to the end. Such a well written book about four girls mostly raising themselves because their parents weren’t up to the task. They endured neglect, were sometimes cared for by friends, family members and helpers in the community, suffered an unthinkable tragedy and mostly made it to the other side. Even though it may make you sad, I recommend reading this book.<br />

<strong>Amazing…and sad</strong><br /><br />Angel and her younger sisters, especially Jeannine, and her friend Alex fairly leap off the pages. I couldn’t put my iPad down until I finished the book. Here’s a family that put the dys in dysfunctional and the whole time I was rooting for Angel to rise above them, swim away from them. And then she disappeared. Where did you go, Angel?

I really liked this book, and gave it five stars because it had the added bonus of being written by someone I knew a long time ago. I am such an avid reader (on the way to jaded at this point) - that I rarely give five stars, and probably would have given this one four stars, but it was a fun experience while reading to know that a person I knew when we were young teenagers managed to write and publish a novel -- something I have dreamed of doing for the past 50 years! This story was quite sad, and also charming in a strange way. The characters were well developed and I cared about what happened to them. I am not able to relate to the swim team experience and I am sure the story becomes even more meaningful to those who are familiar with swim team psychology and training.

Wow. I can’t even begin to put into words what a powerful, moving story this is. I don’t think I knew exactly what I was signing up for when I picked up this book. It’s almost as though the premise doesn’t really do this justice. I found this one through the BookSparks newsletter and I was gifted a copy of this book for review. I think I only vaguely read the premise because when I started this one, it wasn't at all what I expected.<br /><br />I guess this is marketed as a mystery? But it almost felt like a character study of struggling families and how so many lives can be affected by addiction. At times, this was a hard book to read. But it’s also an important one. So many children grow up like this. So many families have similar struggles. And so many of us never truly know what they go through. This book provides a window into that world.<br /><br />This book is told from two perspectives and of the two, I enjoyed following Jeannine a little more. As a fellow bibliophile, I definitely identified with a lot of her habits. But she was also the heart of this novel and it was her that I felt for the most (along with Angel, of course). More thoughts under this spoiler tag: <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="1aea3ef2-8125-419c-97f6-d57bc10628c3" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="1aea3ef2-8125-419c-97f6-d57bc10628c3">I feel like Jeannine definitely got the short end of the stick here just because she was younger. Angel was older and she could afford to be more independent. But Jeannine disappeared inside herself and into her books and she lived here because the real world was horrible and she didn't know how to live there. And, honestly, I've been there. And even though I didn't have the same situation, I had something similar and so I understood her and I identified with her. And even though it sounds terrible to say that Angel got out (because, honestly, if she'd lived she would've gotten out of that horrible situation with college), but Jeannine still would've been left in that horrible situation with no support if her mom hadn't been caught. So I'm glad Jeannine got something better and she found a family and a situation who could help her and bring her out of her shell. And I just have a lot of feelings about Jeannine, haha.</label><br /><br />This is a book about a lot of things. But family and relationships are first and foremost. Sometimes we’re born into the wrong family or, at least, we draw a short straw. We're born into a situation we don't deserve. But this is a story about surviving a world where blood is more of a curse than not and even overcoming those terrible circumstances. And that is what spoke to me most in this book. Overcoming the pain and the stupidity and building something better. Getting out and finding your true place and making a better world. That's the message I took from this book.<br /><br />I can already tell this is one I’ll be thinking about a lot and revisiting again. I know I’ll definitely be continuing this series when more books are released! I HIGHLY recommend this book! It's already been on my mind a lot and I only just finished reading. What a wonderfully powerful novel. Read this book!!