Watermark: A Novel

The Kennedy swim team is made of Sports Stars, at least that what coach CJ calls his players, and his biggest star is Angel Ferente. At eighteen, she is the strongest swimmer on the team with interest from colleges, and she is a natural leader. When she disappears, the swim team and Angel’s family are put under a microscope to determine what happened to her.

Elise Schiller’s novel Watermark, book one in the Broken Bell series, captures the rhythms and realities of teen life. From Angel to her younger sister Jeannine, a reclusive bookworm, to Angel’s best friend Alex who isn’t as strong a swimmer but who loves the team and the chance to compete with her friend, Schiller’s young female characters are pitch-perfect. There is, perhaps, more detail about swim teams and competitions than are ultimately necessary to tell Angel’s story, but for those with a background in swim, those details will most likely add authenticity to the book.

The true standout of the book is Angel, a rebellious and sexually empowered young woman who tries to hold her broken family together in the face of her mother’s addiction and stepfather’s violence. Schiller’s Watermark is a perfect start to what will surely be a compelling series.