Wow. Where to even start? What a strange, hauntingly beautiful gothic, ya novel. It dives deep into the forest allegories but the prose in this book were so beautiful at times, it literally stopped me in my tracks and took my breath away. Trigger warnings should be checked as it does look deeply into parental abuse (physical and emotional) but take away the cult activity, and the feelings of loneliness and despair were so relatable for my teenage self (and I won’t lie, my adult self at times as well but for different reasons) that I wish this book existed when I was a kid for me to hold onto for dear life. If you feel the slightest connection with the Earth around you, this book will hit you in ways others never have. Elwood is captivating and magical and such a light. Wil was difficult for me to tolerate at times but honestly, she reminded me of myself at her age …so full of rage and loneliness and just desperate for answers and to have someone in her corner. The ending left me in a stream of tears that I momentarily thought I was going to drown in. Seriously, well done. I felt this book deep in my bones and it won’t be leaving my soul anytime soon.

Also, shout out to the cover artist, that might be one of my favorite book covers of all time.

Creepy, haunting, spellbinding. The perfect fall read to keep you checking over your shoulder at night. I'm always here for a spooky forest and this delivered.

Together We Rot is an interesting book. Or maybe I should revise it- because it almost feels more fair to say that Together We Rot is an interesting short story with the ambitions of a novel.

The story itself is fascinating. Set in the isolated wilderness of the UP, the book is about two teenagers; Wil and Elwood. Wil's mother went missing unexpectedly; destroying her father and their family business in one fell swoop. It did not help that she accused her friend Elwood's family of being responsible either.

Elwood is from a hyper religious and very influential family. A year after Wil's accusation, he begins to uncover a conspiracy about his family that isn't just dark, but supernatural. If you love character with heaps and heaps of religious trauma, this is your character.

I adored the premise, the writing, and the settings of this story so much. The bones are fantastic. Skyla Arndt really has a gift for prose and sets up a gorgeously dark town with secrets you want to crack open. Unfortunately, I felt this could have been a series or much longer book. The beginning og the book starts slow, but then pretty much everything happens at once. The plot, friendships, and romance start running at breakneck speed and its super hard to emotionally catch up with it.

If you want a fun horror mystery with solid characters, I think there is a lot to love here, but I would have slowed the pace down quite a bit and given time for the characters to really grow.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This breathtaking cover and Gothic/paranormal horror story meet YA romance is a great debut that you shouldn't miss!

The sensitive subjects of parental abuse, grief, alcoholism, corruption, and cultism are blended with paranormal elements and a riveting writing style that easily makes you invest in Will and Elwood's story.

''Wil Greene's mom has been missing for over a year, and the police are ready to call the case closed--they claim she skipped town and you can't find a woman who wants to disappear. But she knows her mom wouldn't just leave...and she knows the family of her former best friend, Elwood Clarke, has something to do with it.

Elwood has been counting down the days until his 18th birthday--in dread. It marks leaving school and joining his pastor father in dedicating his life to their congregation, the Garden of Adam. But when he comes home after one night of after a final goodbye with his friends, already self-flagellating for the sins of drinking and disobeying his father, he discovers his path is not as virtuous as he thought. He's not his father's successor, but his sacrifice. For the woods he's grown up with are thirsty, and must be paid in blood.

Now on the run from a family that wants him dead, he turns to the only one who will believe him: Wil. Together, they form a reluctant partnership; she'll help him hide if he helps her find evidence that his family killed her mother. But in the end they dig up more secrets than they bargained for, unraveling decades of dark cult dealings in their town, led by the Clarke family.

And there's a reason they need Elwood's blood for their satanic rituals. Something inhuman is growing inside of him. Everywhere he goes, the plants come alive and the forest calls to him, and Wil isn't sure if she can save the boy she can't help but love.''

I really enjoyed the vibes of the book, which the cover captures perfectly. Together We Rot is dark and creepy. It is an eerie atmospheric tale with paranormal elements and an interesting cast of characters.
The story was beautifully written, alternating between Wil's and Elwood’s POVs.

I enjoyed this debut, and I'm looking forward to reading more works from the author in the near future

I have to start with saying that this is by far one of the weirdest books I have read this year (or probably even the past several years). That isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy it, it was a weird, wild, fast ride. I did find it short which I didn’t love because I was enjoying it. It is definitely one of those stories that will kind of stick with you because the images just won’t leave my head. I have no way of describing this story without spoilers so I will say it is about a boy and a girl who learn the hard way that their town has some pretty significant secrets it’s been keeping. The writing was very good. I loved the characters and felt they were surprisingly developed given how short this one was. The story itself does require a bit of a suspense of disbelief but I love a good urban fantasy story, and I liked that this one threw some horror int heir for good measure.

☽𝔹𝕆𝕆𝕂 ℝ𝔼𝕍𝕀𝔼𝕎☾

3.5/5 ✰

First of all, thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this ARC (I will provide a link with a post on social media soon).

This was a novella with the potential to become a great novel. The book started slowly, and it wasn't until later pages that I found myself thoroughly engrossed in it, desperate to solve the mystery surrounding our main protagonists. A mystery surrounds the death of a family member of the main female character. As a result, grief is a recurring motif in this piece of writing. Nevertheless, I feel the most prominently highlighted significant theme in the novel is religion. However, I must emphasise that this image of religion is inextricably linked to religious trauma.

Although the narrative started slowly, as I indicated, it ended up exploring and answering the issue at hand. Still, I felt this section was hurried. I wish it had lasted longer, especially because the prose is quite good. Furthermore, the plot is intended to take place in two days, which made it seem a little unattainable to me. I too did not anticipate the conclusion going in the route it did.

Finally, while there are some references to body horror and various gothic themes, I would have liked to see more of this.

Overall, it was an entertaining book (I love the cover too), and I believe I'd want to read more of this author in the future.

I thought that this was a very good book. The story was compelling and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading it. I enjoyed the shorter chapters. I also liked having the dual POVs, I felt like I could understand both characters and relate to them way better. I really liked the idea that Elwood's parents were the leader of a cult and that his father was also the pastor of the church. The ending really blew me away and I was not expecting it at all. I loved that it wasn't a basic romance book where the two live happily ever after and together forever. I would recommend this book to my audience and my friends.

**I received an ARC of TOGETHER WE ROT as part of Skyla Arndt's TWR street team.**

Skyla wove together a haunting tale of cultism, natural horror, and romance that I won't be forgetting any time soon.

From the start, I was invested in the mystery of Wil's mom's disappearance—a disappearance she blames on the local church, The Garden of Adam. Headstrong and caught in grief, Wil is determined to do anything to get justice for her mom, whether that be by bringing her home or taking down the people responsible for her disappearance. But her mom's disappearance tears apart her friendship with Elwood: the preacher's son and her long-time best friend, who is adamant that his family has nothing to do with Wil's mom's disappearance.

What Elwood doesn't anticipate is the horrors that his church, and family, have hid from him for years. Soon Wil and Elwood discover that the forest that inhabits their town is not only alive, but it's after Elwood. Wil and Elwood, once best friends and now enemies, team up in order to stop the Garden of Adam from claiming any more victims, and to unravel the mystery of the forest once and for all.

I related to Wil's grief and to Elwood's feelings of misplacement. Both characters were so vivid and well-developed, having each their own (strong) personalities, and so were the side characters that helped them along the way (my favorite being Cherry, of course). It's important to note that TOGETHER WE ROT does address the topics of child abuse, child neglect, grief, alcoholism, murder, and cults. Each of these topics was handled very sensitively in a way that was not only respectful, but crafted an important thought-provoking dialogue for readers who may need it. I also enjoyed the individual character developments of Wil and Elwood as well as the relationship developments between Wil and Elwood and Wil and her father.

However, I do wish we as readers could have learned more about the mythos of the town and of the forest. Given that the forest was central to the plot, the lack of context and history undermined the story. There was significant potential to expand on the supernatural and horror elements via the forest, and I wish we knew more about its origins, how it worked, and its rules and boundaries. At times, the voice of Wil and Elwood were too similar as well (i.e.: their frequent usage of metaphors as a way to describe things as they were happening. I wish their voices were just a bit more distinguished).

Overall, I enjoyed this story immensely and savored it. It's a stunning debut, and a testament to the incredible work we'll get from Skyla in the future. I adored the creativity behind the plot (I'm a sucker for sentient forests) and I can't wait to see what she writes next. She's definitely an author to watch!!

I do highly recommend pre-ordering this spectacular debut!! Thanks to Skyla, NetGalley and Viking Books for the ARC. 🤍

Together We Rot is an atmospheric YA romance with some great supernatural elements. I did really enjoy this book (and that cover is gorgeous!), but I felt the shorter length was a detriment to the story. At less than 300 pages, there wasn’t a lot of time to build up the mythology of the town or get too much backstory from the characters. I would have loved to learn more about history of the Mourguewood and the Garden of Adam. All around, it was a pretty solid YA fantasy.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of Together We Rot in exchange for my honest review.

This book might be my first YA horror romance, and it was beautiful in the darkest way. I found myself highlighting quote after quote. This author has a way of describing that appears poetic, and I couldn’t get enough of it. I think her writing style is what hooked me first.

I loved that the main characters were flawed and shattered but were in love despite that and found beauty in each other’s imperfections. They weren’t described as these attractive characters. Instead, the writing felt real, honest, raw, and dark. However, It did take me a while to feel the connection between the two main characters.

I also enjoyed the parts that reminded me of the Goonies or Stranger Things with a group of teens working together to get to the bottom of the town’s creepy cult.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. So many elements were alluring and creepy at the same time. I do think the ending fell a little flat for me, but even so, if this is her YA debut, I’m excited to see what Skyla Arndt writes next.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group for providing me an ARC.

Thank you to the author and to NetGalley for the e-arc. I was chosen to be part of the Street Team for this book but my review will be completely honest.

★★★★/5

First of all, I want to say that I liked this book and I'm happy I was given the chance to read it in advance. The main reason why I gave 4 stars and not 5 is that, imho, the author still has some way to go. While the plot is without a doubt interesting and her writing is amazing, the book lacks some fundamental points. The first couple chapters are captivating, everything moves fast and keeps the reader's attention high, but soon that speed begins to give in to superficiality.
I've read some say that this book feels like a short story that tries to be a novel. And that is the exact feeling I've got from the start. The book is too short for the story it wants to tell, the author doesn't take enough time to flash out the characters, neither she spends time to describe the town. While the atmosphere is unsettling and a little creepy, the setting doesn't feel real. The town doesn't feel real. The woods, that are the heart of Together we rot don't feel real. The author tries to convey this creepy atmosphere every time a characters talks about the cult or the woods, and yes, the writing is beautiful, there are some descriptions and paragraphs that are really poetic, but it all falls a little short when the expectations are not met. In my opinion, this book should have been longer and the author should have gone full horror. There's the Garden of Adam, the cult that secretly runs the whole town with homicide and sacrifices. There are the woods, where the sacrifices are made and that seem quite sentient. There is the secret of what Elwood really is... There was all the necessary to get a perfect horror story. I think if the author had dared a little more and the story had been longer this book would have been a-m-a-z-i-n-g.
The same can be said of the characters, which are not characterized enough and that, because of this superficiality of the plot - in which we never really explore the details of the situations - they are almost ghosts of themselves. I loved reading about the group of friends that helps Wil and Elwood in their quest, but both Lucas and Ronnie and Kevin are just extras, we never have the chance to know them, nor to get attached to them. Wil and Elwood don't have extremely deep personalities and even though the reader hopes that it will all end well for them, I can not say that I was really fond of them. I mean, the problem is, even though the story is good in itself, it’s not deep enough. I don’t know why the author wanted to keep it so superficial, instead of stepping on and using the elements that would've made the book unique and particular. My thought is that, being still a beginner, she needs time to explore her style and understand what she wants to do with the stories she tells.
Despite this, however, I repeat that I am very happy to have read this book and to have given a chance to this new author. The unsettling atmosphere is what I love in a book, the cult settings are always interesting and I really love the way the author writes. There are many poetic and very atmospheric sentences that made me say "wow" out loud. And I also laughed a lot in the scenes where the simil-scooby gang tried to investigate (badly).
For sure I’ll read the author's next books, I’m convinced that from here Skyla Arndt can only improve and I can't wait to see what next intriguing stories she'll create!

I recommend this book to all who like dark books and dark themes. Especially if you want to read something that has a creepy setting, a cult, a mothman and ritual sacrifices without being full horror, this is the perfect choice.

This was a surprise, in a good way. I loved the gothic vibes and that it was super atmospheric.

The characters were likeable and their relationship is some sort of friends to enemies to lovers.

Overall this is a love story with a hint of horror and a cult.

I can´t wait to see what this author writes next.

Thank you netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to the eARC in exchange for an honest review

“Change is coming. Disaster is imminent. If both paths of fate lead to bitter ends, allow me to choose my demise.”

A visceral and dark story reminiscent of getting lost in the dangerous woods, Together We Rot was a surprise on every front. With alternating points of view, the author does a magnificent job at creating a sense of approaching dread with voices that are unique to both characters. The drive of Wil to discover the truth surrounding her mother’s disappearance was the perfect companion to the growth overtaking Elwood, who has recently discovered that all with his family may not be as it seems.

4.5 stars. i would say its a strong recommendation for fans of buzzfeed unsolved and stranger things.

I have to admit, the gorgeous cover and the beautiful title lured me in.

Was I disappointed? No. I wanted everything this book gave me - a dark, overwhelming atmosphere of dark woods in winter, moss and rot and insects and everything else that I saw in that cover and made me pick it up. The prose complimented the setting so well I drank up each and every sentence like fine wine. Skyla Arndt is an extremely talented writer, and she really wove her scenes into such pretty words I wanted to highlight everything in the book. To me, the atmosphere and the prose really were the strong points of this story. If I could dive in it and remain there for the rest of summer, I would.

Although I had a few small surprises with the plot, most of it was a bit predictable. Not the bad kind - I wanted the story to go a certain way, expected it to, and it did. Everything I wanted, Skyla Arndt gave me. I do wish there had been a bit more surprises in store, but the read was enjoyable still. The little group of characters we're introduced to and who move the plot along were interesting - not as much time is spent on side characters as I would have liked, but it was satisfying enough.

The final note I give Together we Rot is a four star - just for the predictability of it. Everything else was *chef's kiss*. If I could drown in that prose, I would dive into it headfirst.

Two former friends, a friendship destroyed when one of them accuses the other's family of kidnapping her mom, a cult, and the horrors that lie within. Wil Greene is positive that her mother was taken by her former best friend Elwood Clarke's family, despite the police refusing to looking into it and claiming that her mother ran away, Wil knows better and will do anything to prove it, even if it means stalking the Clarkes. Elwood Clarke's family runs the church.... or rather a cult. Elwood has been abused and raised by his family to be the heir... except when he overhears a private conversation between his father saying that he is going to sacrifice Elwood. Elwood knows the only person he can turn to for help is the one person he left behind, the one person he still yearns for and has been in love with, his former friend Wil. Elwood knows will has not forgiven him for choosing his family over her, for refusing to help her look into her accusations against his family, but now he knows she was right all along and that he needs her help if they are to save Elwood from the satanic ritual and whatever the hell that is growing inside him that is causing him to see things, to hear things, and to feel drawn to the forest. Can Wil and Elwood repair the damages of their past, can they save each other before its too late? This was a pretty fun forest horror/body horror romance, with the friends to lovers/second chance romance as both Elwood and Wil find their way back to one another after all this time. The ending kind of left a bit more to be desired, it definitely could have been a duology and we could definitely get to see where their relationship grows and how they would function as a couple after everything that happens in this book. I really did enjoy the romance in this one but I guess I was hoping for a bit more by the end. Overall, it is a great read with a bit of thriller/monster elements infused!

*Thanks Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, Viking Books for Young Readers for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Wil Greene's mom has been missing for over a year, and the police are ready to call the case closed--they claim she skipped town and you can't find a woman who wants to disappear. But she knows her mom wouldn't just leave. Elwood Clarke has been counting down the days until his 18th birthday in dread. It marks leaving school and joining his pastor father in dedicating his life to their congregation, the Garden of Adam. He discovers his path is not as virtuous as he thought. He's not his father's successor, but his sacrifice. For the woods he's grown up with are thirsty, and must be paid in blood. Now on the run from a family that wants him dead, he turns to the only one who will believe him: Wil. Together, they form a reluctant partnership. But in the end they dig up more secrets than they bargained for, unraveling decades of dark cult dealings in their town, led by the Clarke family.

Skyla uses such detailed descriptions to transport the reader into the dark underbelly cult of a small town. Along with the well crafted characters, Together We Rot has the potential to continue into a wonderful series or duology. The attention to detail, from tiny characteristics all the way to the beautiful forest depictions had me turning the pages just to find out more. Being a YA, it was quite easy to get through, however does take a little bit to take off in the beginning. This horror, paranormal, YA romance mashup is 2023's debut you do not want to miss.

Together We Rot is for you if you love;
- Dual POV
- Mythical Horror
- Friends - Enemies - Lovers
- Folklore

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group, Skyla Arndt and NetGalley for the eARC for review in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to like this story more than I actually did. It had all the elements of a story I’ve been loving recently: gothic horror, mystery, and romance. But these elements fell flat for me overall. I wished the tension of the mystery and horror were amped up more. When the big reveal occurred, it felt very lackluster. Even the romance lacked the tension to drive home the ending.

I found this to be a quick and fun read, but it didn’t necessarily wow me. One of the best parts of this story was the “scooby-doo gang.”

I absolutely loved this. I'm hard wired to love a character like Elwood. I want to see abused children like him get away from their abusers and succeed and boy is Elwood abused. His father is a head of a Christian cult definitely into not sparing the rod. He also goes in big for animal sacrifice (that's your content warning, child abuse and a few on page rabbit deaths). Elwood's mother is even more vicious than his fire and brimstone father. All Elwood is, is a soft boy who likes to collect butterflies and moth and he likes his best friend, Wil.

That is until Wil's mother disappears and she blames Elwood's family for it. Wil's life is falling completely apart. Since her former investigative reporter mother had walked off once when she was very small, the local cops are sure that's what happened again, especially since her father's motel is moldering around them. Wil's father has been drinking his wife's disappearance away and Elwood's father is close to buying the hotel and razing it, leaving Wil homeless.

Wil has one friend left and that's not Elwood. Ronnie (whose mom is in Elwood's father's church) is her friend in spite of her bad taste (according to Wil) in boys. She doesn't like Lucas or his friend Kevin much though some of that could be they're friends with Elwood.

Much of the action is in just a couple of days. Wil is determined to prove Elwood's father has kidnapped her mother with a background of the last semester of high school and all of them on the cusp of adulthood. For Elwood, that means...well he doesn't know. All he knows is he won't be going to college like his friends. All too soon it means something dire and he fears rabbits aren't the only thing his father's willing to sacrifice.

Soon Wil's investigation into what happened to her mother is conflated with what is about to happen to Elwood and what dark secrets the forest in frigid upstate Michigan is holding. It is dark and creepy. You have the pathos of being a teen faced with those big life decisions post high school, the pain and fear of losing a mother, basically a father and your home coupled with Elwood's deep fear that he won't live to see spring.

Wil and Elwood are beautifully written characters. I also enjoyed Cherry, one of Wil's mom's friends. The villains of the piece have nicely done motivations and feel as awful as they should in this. Horror, unlike other genres, has no promises of a happy ending (though you usually have at least one person who makes it to the end) so that does keep you guessing. Will Wil and Elwood and their friends survive? That you'll need to read for yourself. It's well worth the read. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc.

The cover caught my attention, and the title was intriguing. The story was phenomenal! It takes a coming-0f-age transition and elevates it to a metamorphosis. Teens struggling with trust and identity issues is nothing new, but family secrets, a religious cult and a magical forest weave this story into an epic fairytale. There is no damsel in distress and no knight in shining armor in the traditional sense, yet those elements are present with a more sinister edge. I was hooked from the start! This little town felt so real that I traveled the tunnels and ran the forest with Wil and Elwood. This adventure was a spoonful of scary in a cup of mysticism and magic. Loved it!!

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

I requested this book because im always interested in stories about cults. I also love and missed reading about a protagonist motivated by revenge and/or hate so i loved Wil at the very beginning and El is the kind of male character that i usually enjoy and feel like i dont see much of them often either. I didnt get attached to any of the side characters, tho, i think we could have seen more of them. So, at the beginning, i was enjoying the story a lot.
But after halfway trhough the book i wasnt that invested anymore and im not sure why? I think the problem is that the book was missing something. Plus i thought Elwood's dad started to feel a bit like a caricature villain towards the end.
Something else i didnt like it is that even tho i liked the characters together, some of the romantic moments (most of them just inside their heads, but still) felt a bit out of place. But that is an issue i have with most horror/thriller stories with romance so this could just be a me thing.

Overall it was mostly an anjoyable read and i would definitely look foward other books by the author!