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!

Together We Rot is an eerie and disturbing story following two kids in a small town who used to be friends, but are not anymore after Wil's mother disappeared, and Wil's blaming Elwood's family.

This is a lyrical book that I was supposed to love based on my tastes, but sadly something didn't quite sit right with me. The writing was beautiful, and the idea behind the story was really well crafted. I couldn't wait to know more about the main characters, but sadly something didn't work for me personally.

The story is very fast paced, and things happen quite quickly, but I have to say I would have liked some more background as to why certain things happened or were the way they were. Something happened towards the end that was really fascinating, but that I would have appreciated way more with more explanations as to why it was happening, other than giving a surface explanation.

I really enjoyed the relationship between Wil and Elwood, and how it was developed throughout the novel. I like a tale about friends not speaking to each other anymore, and having to guess what happened (in this case it's revealed pretty quickly). I also like if this friendship could be something more and that was the case.

Also, I noted that this book is sold as YA, and while I can see why, since the main characters are basically 18, I also think it could be quite disturbing for a younger audience, so just keep that in mind.

In the end, if you like eerie books with a magic dash and a small town full of secrets, this could still be something I would recommend.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 3.5/5 stars

read if you like:
♡ dual pov
♡ friends-to-enemies-to-lovers
♡ cinnamon-roll boyfriend & attack dog girlfriend
♡ perfect for house of hollow lovers
♡ folk horror

➸ 18-year-old spitfire wilhelmina greene’s mom has been missing for a year and everyone in pine point think she’s just skipped town. but wil knows with every fibre of her being that her former best friend elwood clarke’s fervently religious family is behind her mother’s disappearance. even if she can’t prove it yet and the police refuse to take her seriously. while wil is trying to dredge up evidence for her case, the dutiful and shy elwood comes home one night after breaking his parents' rules for the first time in his life to party and later overhears his father’s sinister plans for him - elwood is to be sacrificed for their church, the garden of adam. as he flees he comes upon wil and the two of them decide to unite once more to unearth what’s really happening in pine point.

➸ a spellbinding debut from skyla arndt, together we rot is a meld of paranormal horror and gothic ya romance, bewitching you into the depths of an eerie forest as you turn each page compulsively as if in a fever dream. through her cut-throat prose, arndt transports the reader to a world possessed by a cult and eldritch horrors, its grittiness soothed by sensitive explorations of abuse, sacrifice and family bonds. this story bristled down my spine, drawing goosebumps before driving a knife in with arndt's artfully-rendered characters and their more than unconventional love-story.

➸ that said, i do have some quibbles with this novel, namely with its brevity which meant that the pacing was propulsive and too hurried to allow for the kind of careful attention which was called for here. for this reason, the more interesting elements such as the mythos surrounding the town and the forest were not given the space that was due them to really bloom. it’s this unrealised potential which niggled at me the most when reading - a weakness which is in many senses conceivable and perhaps defensible for a debut work.

➸ conclusion :
a haunting and vulnerable love-story barbed with cultism and body horror together we rot is what happens when you encircle romance with a forest straight out of folk horror imaginings. i'll be keeping an eye trained on arndt from here on out with such an auspicious start!

thank you netgalley for the arc !

As a sucker for magical realism, I immediately dug in as we see how Wil's body is changing in strange and mysterious ways. Couple with the cult plot line, & I couldn't stop reading.
Wil's family is the leading family in their small town's cult, running strange rituals in the woods after dark. His ex-best friend, Elwood, is convinced that his family & their group is responsible for the disappearance of her mother. As Elwood digs deeper for answers, Wil starts experiencing strange phenomena as the forest seems to rise up within him.
Teens I work with will be drawn in by the cults & supernatural phenomena. The magical realism elements were the most compelling, as you watch his body become one with the forest. The romance storyline, on the other hand, feels thin & somewhat forced.
While the pacing lags in certain moments, it was still a fun read & I can see many young adults being interested in this book.

This book has an equal combination of mystery, thriller, horror, and romance. It's atmospheric, eerie, and weird. I also like the cult storyline, since cults are much more interesting than any paranormal activities.

The storyline is engaging. It is fast-paced, which means the story picked up pretty fast and how quickly it became action-packed. Wil's usually the fire-packed character, while Elwood's the gentle one. They have the black-cat and golden retriever dynamic. The perfectly balanced the whole vibes of the story, where the other emanates night and the other the sun. I also liked the found family trope, especially the development between Lucas and Wil, who bickers like siblings.

What I liked the story the most is that it is unusual, because (PS. A LITTLE SPOILER AHEAD!!!!!) it's not everyday people get to read about cults and human-to-moth transformation. Additionally, Arndt's description about the woods and everything is so lifelike. It feels like a movie is directly playing before you.

Overall, the story's not all bad. It took me some time to be hooked, but it really has an intriguing plot.

Thank you thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Young Reader Group for approving me of this request!!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me a ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start by saying that this book was very unique in many ways. It was a suspenseful thriller, murder mystery, and scifi with a touch of romance all wrapped into one special story.

I will admit that while the story was great, it was written in a way that was almost too poetic. It seemed like majority of the sentences were similes and metaphors and it almost made me want to stop reading it. Sometimes less is more.

Another critique I wanted to add was that I wish Wil and Elwood had more time together in the middle of the story. I felt like the middle was VERY rushed, to the point where I almost didn't believe their romantic connection.

The ending definitely made up for the middle part though. I could feel my heartstrings tugging during the emotional parts and I didn't know what to expect at all. I loved Elwood the most towards the end of the book and felt like it was finally getting to a point where I didn't want to novel to end.

All that being said, I really enjoyed it and I hope that the author will decide to write a sequel someday.

I will never stop screaming about this book from the ROOFTOPS! Thank you to the author Skyla for the NetGalley widget! “Together We Rot” is a stunning YA gothic horror debut featuring all things creepy crawly and cults. Wil is seeking for answers after the disappearance of her mother. Elwood, a childhood friend and pastor’s son, realizes that his plans to join him are not as he seemed… AH. So good. So creepy, it had me on the edge of my seat. I am lucky enough to be on the street team to promote this book. Go preorder it and be on the lookout for it on August 29th!

“Nature is violent.”

Together We Rot is a stunningly dark horrormance debut following Wilhelmina Greene and Elwood Clarke (and a fanatical cult out for blood).

Wil and Elwood used to be inseparable, until she accused his family of being responsible for her mother’s disappearance. Now Wil is a social outcast, searching for her missing mother, and the town’s charismatic pillar of a pastor is her top suspect.

Elwood has never gotten over losing Wil. Ever obedient, he has been told he will be leaving school and dedicating the rest of his life to his father’s congregation, the Garden of Adam. A reluctant Elwood thinks he will be taking over as pastor, but the truth it much darker. He's not his father's successor, but his sacrifice. On the run from a family and town that wants him dead, he turns to the only one who will believe him: Wil.

With such rich and dark writing, engaging multiple POVs, and the high fearful stakes, Together We Rot is a deliciously spooky read. My only critique is the rapid fire pacing of the last 20% of the book.

I think the story could have been slowed and made just a bit longer, to fit all the ambitious pieces in more smoothly. Once the story bolted into a run, it was hard to emotionally stay with the characters I had grown to love. It was a bit too much, too quickly. That said, the bones are darkly gorgeous and it was a great read. I am looking forward to more from this author.

Thank you Skyla Arndt, Penguin Books Canada, Viking Books, and NetGalley for an advanced electronic copy in exchange for an honest review. Together We Rot comes out on August 29th - just in time for spooky season!

The prose was beautiful! Her writing captured my imagination from the very start. I loved the FMC character and witty comments. The mystery was compelling enough to keep me reading. The relationship between the two characters was so great to read. I loved their interactions. The author did a great job of creating a creepy town. Reminded me a bit of Nancy drew CW in the best way. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mysteries in creepy towns.

This book was totally not what I had expected. It was an interesting read and the twists were nice however it did not deliver the story well, as in there was no connection or spark.