Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy.
This book was atmospheric and filled with tense moments that really put a focus on the trauma surrounding religion and cults in general. I thought the story was well-paced and the friendship relatable. It was a overall good young adult coming of age novel that was suspenseful and enjoyable to read.

Wil is determined to find clues about the disappearance of her mother but it throws her relationship with her best friend into turmoil since his family may be at the center of everything.

This book almost felt like a love letter to anyone who has experienced religious trauma and has broken the cycle.

The main character was a spit fire you can't help love and the plot in itself had me drawn in from the beginning. My only complaint is things felt a bit rushed and I just wanted more from everyone. But regardless of that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. 3/5

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

I was really excited to check this one out upon seeing the cover; it's so pretty! I thought that with a cover like that, it would have a lot of potential, and it did. But unfortunately, it didn't really live up to everything I was hoping it would be. And it's a shame, because when this book gets good, it's good. But it is quite honestly few and far between.

I think the main issue with this book can be summarized by one thing: it is incredibly rushed. Things like WIl and Elwood's relationship, the Scooby Gang they form, and Wil's backstory are all glossed over rather quickly, and it results in me not really growing attached to any of these characters. And the thing is, if the book were longer and actually focused more on the backstory and lore, it could have really worked, and I think I would have left this book a lot happier. But as it is, nothing feels substantial. And for the majority of plot points in this book, I don't think it handled anything substantial either. So many plot points that are build up throughout the book aren't even resolved really. They come to a conclusion, sure, but it is rather abrupt and characters, as a result, don't really react too much to it.

It is a shame, because there were some parts of this book were I started seeing the story really shine. Towards the end, especially, I found myself really wanting to get invested in what was happening because it seemed really interesting. But because the buildup was so poor, that ended up not happening.

I wish this book could have had more time to simmer, more time to build up to everything, and I feel like I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

This is a creepy, young adult horror romance that is so atmospheric it is easy to get lost in the pages. It is easy to read, and I loved the connection between our two main characters even if they're a bit angsty. It is so full of suspense that it keeps you turning the pages. It is a very unique YA story that doesn't shy away from some things that aren't necessarily usually contained in YA stories. It is more of a bittersweet ending, but I'll definitely be looking for more stories by this author.

I have read a few books in horromance type genre and this one is definitely a great one for young adult readers. It has the creepy storyline and setting along with elements of paranormal and mystery. Wil Greene’s life changed one year ago when her mother went missing and she lost her best friend because of it. Wil has been searching for the truth and knows deep down her former best friend’s family is responsible. When Elwood’s life takes a sudden turn it seems that Wil is the only one her can turn to, but will she help him? Elwood and Wil have a great chemistry together despite the love/hate relationship they have going on. I love that no matter how bad the situation, Elwood’s cleanliness/OCD still made its way into his thoughts and made for some comedy. The ending was surprising but I’m not that mad because it seemed realistic and fair. It was definitely bittersweet. I would love to see a little novella or epilogue of the future of Wil and the Forrest. Overall a creepy but good storyline with memorable characters that I would recommend. I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy.

Creepy, atmospheric, and dark in all the best ways - I read this in about as close to one sitting as I could get. Skyla Arndt’s prose grabbed me from the very first chapter and Wil and Elwood’s undeniable connection and spectacularly rendered voices kept me turning the pages. I love prickly girls and soft boys (especially the ones who are a little bit monstrous), but I especially love when they come together in a well-crafted love story in the middle of a horror about bugs.

HMMM, I have some mixed feelings about this one….

I really loved the spooky atmosphere and there were a few times when I felt the tugging on my heartstrings. This book is full of suspense that will leave you feeling anxious to see what happens next. Now, I really don’t mind a slow start that builds up to the climax. But this was reeeeeeeally really slow. Even for my taste.

I do think the romance could’ve been fleshed out a bit more. The chemistry just wasn’t there for me to want to root for their relationship so in this case I would’ve been fine if they hadn’t gotten together. I did love the payoff in other aspects of the story overall. It’s a fantastic read for being YA that doesn’t hold on back certain elements.

Together We Rot by Skyla Arndt intrigued me from the gorgeous cover.
And then I opened it and was freaking hypnotized by the writing and characters.
The author excelled at creating an immersive setting through her descriptions, making it come alive in an engaging and immersive way.
The imagery and language the author used were perfect for the story she wove together, creating a highly satisfying experience.
The characters were excellently written and well-developed.
It was truly unique in both the storyline and the details.
With the most captivating setting.
A unique, remarkable YA horror romance. This one exceeded all my expectations and then some.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley, Penguin Young Readers Group & Viking Books for Young Readers for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Fans of body horror, taking down religious cults, and angsty teen relationships will love this. It reminded me of Wilder Girls by Rory Power with a twist of Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White. At once gruesome and beautiful, Together We Rot is a love story between two teens, as well as their traumatic experience learning to love themselves.

Wil and Elwood were inseparable - but a year ago her mother went missing and Wil believes that Elwood's family, leaders of a local congregation called the Garden of Adam, had something to do with it. Desperate and abused Elwood choses to stand by his family, and Wil continues her search and demands for her mother's disappearance to be investigated. As Elwood's 18th birthday approaches in the midst of a Christmas blizzard, horrible secrets are revealed about the past and the present.

Although the relationship leads present as cis straight kids, something about this feels queer and I can't quite articulate why, but I mean it in a good way. Elwood is allowed to be strange, delicate, broken, and emotional. He is loved by Wil for these traits. In return, he loves her for being forthright, even slightly violent. While they don't get a perfect ending, I'd even call it bittersweet, admitting the way they feel is huge for the two of them. By the end, Elwood accepts and embraces his complicated true nature, and Wil realizes that her fierce way of loving can be an asset when it has a target.

This is definitely dark and a little gory, although not overly descriptive. There is some sensual moments but anything further is closed door. In the end, I left this book feeling melancholy, but sometimes that's what you need to read.

Her voice is as sharp as the branches in the forest. Maybe she’ll draw blood, too.

look—firstly, this cover??? absolutely breathtaking. additionally, the blurb had me hooked! i couldn't wait to dive into this arc! the prose was beautiful, the atmosphere alive and the bug-facts a-plenty; but there was just something about together we rot that felt disjointed.

[ slight spoilers ahead ]

the writing style during most of the chapters felt quite jumpy—one second you were in the MC's thoughts, the next you were in a location without much build-up or even general scene-setting. another thing that made me feel a little distant from the story itself was wil's character; she falls a little flat outside of her trauma. i don't even feel like her and elwood particularly make sense together, bar their childhood friendship and shared trauma links. i think i would've loved them more as a pairing had the story been written solely from one perspective orrr had we been able to witness a little bit more build-up to their fall-out!

I kiss her and it’s a brutal, terrible thing.

the pace at the beginning of together we rot was slow and steady for it only to become lightning quick towards the end, so much so that i really struggled to form any connection with the major story arc. the ending was a catapult of events that happened one after the other—and whilst i could definitely say it was a happy one, it just wasn't my cup of tea. i definitely didn't see it coming though, so that's a plus for big surprises!

With a forest full of dead things, perhaps it feels entitled to our dead, too.

i don't know if i could confidently call together we rot a horror story? for the YA genre, it slips itself into the more gothic/paranormal/mystery/off-putting and even speculative aspects more than it does the horror aspects. there were some grotesque elements, definitely, but i wasn't as spooked as i wanted to be; which was disappointing, since the bones of a perfectly horrific story were definitely there (cults? yes! hungry forests? yes!)!! all in all an interesting read and definitely worth the roller-coaster ride!

thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc!

This was a slow starter for me and I didn't really feel engaged until a little past half way through. The atmosphere of the forest is well detailed, and I loved how it changed over the course of the book. The angst Elwood experiences as he begins to change, and feels the draw of the forest, is palpable. I would love to see more development of the cult: why does Wil suspect them? Why did her mother suspect them? How did this situation come about? How do the sacrifices and rituals help the town? A lot of the characters lean heavily on stereotypical archetypes, but the sudden changes from enemy to friend or betrayer to lover just don't make sense with the little development we see between characters.

With her mother missing for over a year and the police already trying to close the case, Wil Greene will do whatever she can to find out what really happened. In her opinion, everything points to the religious Clarke family. Elwood Clarke has been dreading his 18th birthday. While his friends are planning on going to college or moving away soon, Elwood knows he must stay and help at his congregation, the Garden of Adam. When he finds out that his father wants him as an actual sacrifice, the only person who will believe him is his crush Wil. However Wil has not spoken to him since her mother disappeared as she believes the Garden of Adam did the same thing to her mother as they do to rabbits. Together they try to figure out what is truly going on in the cult, how to stop it and why is Elwood starting to feel a calling from the trees?

What a fun gothic mystery/paranormal fantasy book! I was hooked right from the start. The character point of views were good and flowed well. The supporting characters were a good mix of fun into serious times. However, Wil's best friend Ronnie gets back with her cheating boyfriend, Elwood's best friend, halfway through which wasn't great in my opinion. The relationship between Elwood and Wil nicely progresses throughout the book. Overall the plot is unique and the book takes you for a spooky ride. CW: Sacrifices, Gore, and Abuse.

𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧?
𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗜 𝗮𝗺.

A soft nature-loving boy and an angry determined girl take on their town’s dark and twisty cult? Yes, please!

Firstly, this book was just so beautifully written!! The descriptions of the environment made all of strange and whimsical facets of this story come to life. Although I read this in the summer, the way the author described the snow and cold of the harsh winter weather gave me chills!

Then there’s the characters!! I can’t stop thinking about Elwood. His gentleness, his pining, his character development—absolutely incredible. If he were a playlist The Bug Collector, You’re Gonna Go Far, and Boys Will Be Bugs would definitely be at the top.
Then there’s my Wil. She’s all edges on the outside but by peeling back the layers and learning about her and seeing her from Elwood’s POV, I got such a clear picture for who she was and how far she was willing to go for the people she loved.

Together We Rot is such a unique, intriguing YA horror full of grief, healing, friendship, and romance. I ended up highlighting so many quotes that will forever have a chokehold on me.🖤

Thank you to Netgalley and PenguinTeen for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this book, the writing style draws you in and the characters keep you coming back. Elwood is so sweet and Wil is so fierce.
My only complaint is that i wish this was longer, I would’ve loved a bit more suspense and time with these characters!

I wasn’t sure what to think of this in the beginning. I got to the middle and still wasn’t quite sure. But when I got to the end, it just all made sense and I really enjoyed this story! It may have taken me awhile to realize it, but it was written really well. I loved the characters, especially Wil and Elwood. The supporting characters were great and struck the perfect balance between serious and fun. What a great story, I’d definitely read her in the future!

I just knew TOGETHER WE ROT would be the perfect book to continue the creepy, horror book binge I’ve been on lately. I’m mean, just look at that cover! And the blurb: ex-friends come together to find a missing mother and take on the other’s satanic cult family. Unfortunately, my reading tastes just did not mesh well with this author’s writing style. It was very introspective and slow and I eventually gave up reading the book all together around 36% after of week of forcing myself to read it in sprints.

I feel like this has the potential to be a very good book if I pushed myself through it, unfortunately, there are too many other books out there, and not enough time for me to force reading something I’m not enjoying.

A beautiful modern fairytale about the collision between who we are and who we are expected to be. This book checks all the boxes for YA horror as it simultaneously straddles the line between the familiar and the unknowable.

I devoured this book like the Morguewood tried to devour Pine Point. If you're looking for a creepy, atmospheric fall-read, this is it. Skyla's writing is visceral and an absolute feast for your senses–I definitely will be picking up future books by her, too.

Together We Rot is the dual-POV story of Wil and Elwood, former best friends who fell out after Wil accused Elwood's family of killing her mother (for her work investigating their creepy cult-church), and Elwood refused to believe her. The story starts a year later with Wil still fervently investigating her mother's disappearance while Elwood experiences some disturbing changes and learns the devastating truth about his family and his own future with the cult-church.

Can't say enough how much I loved Wil and Elwood. They're two very distinct characters, so it was very easy to tell them apart with the POV switches. I am so here for how Skyla flipped the typical "gender roles" and made Wil the ragey protector while Elwood was the soft-boy needing to be rescued, and the rekindling of their friendship and love was so, so sweet amidst the literal horror of everything else in their life.

I also like how Skyla didn't shy away from having both of them deal with some very real-life horrors (physical/emotional abuse from parents, abandonment, alcoholism in a parent, poverty, and death of a parent) in addition to the more supernatural horror elements of the Morguewood and sacrifices.

The supporting characters also felt pretty well developed (Cherry is the adopted Grandma you wish you had), and Wil and Elwood's misfit group of friends felt like actual high school kids with high school problems, which is something I feel like a lot of YA has been missing lately.

My only complaint is that I wanted more from this story. I would have gladly read another 100 pages of Wil and Elwood, and there were times when the pacing seemed a little too fast (like when they were trying to unravel the truth of what the cult-church was doing).

All in all, I loved this book and I'm looking forward to my audiobook preorder of this becoming available so I can experience it again in a different format. Thanks to Netgalley and PenguinTeen for the early copy of this!

This was a creepy, haunting, and entertaining read. Wil and Elwood are friends turned enemies. Wil wants answers about her mother’s disappearance. Elwood is the son of the town pastor and their church is not what it seems. This was different than other YA books and was gripping from beginning to end.

This was one of my most anticipated for this August. I can get down back for good horror, and Arndt certainly delivers on that. Whenever the creepy cult vibes and spooky, horror forest take-over were on center, the writing was really good. The imagery and descriptions got me sucked in; I was just loving it.

Despite Arndt getting the horror done, the story still feels underdeveloped and rush. The story took a while to kick in before the actual plot hit all at once. It's even stranger when you consider this book is barely 300 pages. When the ending hit, I felt underwhelmed and wished there was more. Maybe there's potential for a sequel, but the ending could also be done-and-closed, too.

As for the characters, I liked them enough. I feel like Wil held on to her perceived hate Elwood for a bit long, but they were a cute couple, otherwise. But the side characters, particularly their friends, rubbed me the wrong way a bit? Elwood's friend Lucas used to date Wil's friend Ronnie but she broke up with him after he made-out with a lab partner. Cheating, basically. Then they get back together half-way through? It's implied Ronnie forgave Lucas, but nothing in his character felt that warranted until the end. I dunno, this side plot felt weird and it could have either been cut or worked through the kinks.

Overall, this was a good read. I bet people will thoroughly enjoy this one much more than me, but I think I will keep an eye on Arndt to see what she does in the future.