Together We Rot by Skyla Ardnt

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley to facilitate my review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A teen girl looking for the truth about her missing mother forms a reluctant alliance with her former best friend...in exchange for hiding him from his cult-leading family.

“All hail the new queen of YA horrormance! Arndt’s unputdownable debut crackles with wit and seethes with terrors just beneath the surface. Equal parts tender and grisly, Together We Rot will sink its roots into you.”—Allison Saft, New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic

Wil Greene and Elwood Clarke used to be inseparable. That was before she accused his family of killing her mother.

These days, Wil obsessively gathers not-so-legal evidence on her mom’s disap­pearance while she and her checked-out dad try to make ends meet at their failing motel. They’re a hair’s breadth away from foreclosure, and the pow­erful Clarkes have their eye on the property.

Elwood has been counting down the days until winter break. He hasn’t told anyone he won’t be coming back to school to finish out senior year—his pastor father is training him to lead their congregation, the Garden of Adam. But after one last night out with his friends, he comes face-to-face with a more chilling fate. He’s not his father’s successor . . . but his sacrifice.

Now on the run, Elwood knows Wil is his only hope. Together, they must dig up the truth about her mom and the Garden of Adam. But what they don’t know is that Elwood harbors another monstrous secret, growing deep inside him. Can Wil save the boy she can’t help but fall for?

I’ve been trying to get through my enormous backlog on NetGalley and the “bottom of the pile” (when looked at without sorting) was Together We Rot – a book I remember being hugely excited for when I was approved for it, then promptly failed to read. As with many of the books I fail to read immediately, I regret not having read it sooner. Or rather, I regret not finishing it sooner, as I did attempt to read it a couple of times. The same as many of the other books I’ve tried to read recently, I ended up listening to this on audiobook to actually finish it.

I feel like the town in which the book is set doesn’t lend much to the story, and I think that is by design. The only parts that truly make a difference are Earl’s Diner for a short period, the public library for a short period, the Greene Family Motel, Garden of Adam church and what I believe was called the Morguewood – at least that’s what it sounded like to me.

Wil and Elwood were my strong favorite characters and I wanted to smack the ever-loving crap out of Elwood’s parents for being so stuck in their cult ways. I do, however, question whether or not Elwood’s father was lying when asked if he loved his son… I won’t tell you the answer or why it matters, you’ll have to read the book to get that information. But I do get the hint that his answer may not be as truthful as it first seems. I also wanted to smack Wil’s dad for being drunk and absent for most of the book. Seriously… what the hell dude?

The plot was a good one – Wil is investigating her mom’s disappearance because the local law enforcement has closed the case and she’s not satisfied with their determination that her mom just ran away. I wouldn’t have been either, to be fair. She thinks Elwood’s weird-as-frick family is behind her mom’s disappearance – hence that Elwood is her former best friend. But when he discovers his true destiny isn’t what he thought it was, he runs to the only person he knows is going to believe him – Wil. And she does. And she tries to figure out a way to save him and take down his, again, weird-as-frick family and the cult that is Garden of Adam.

I loved the way this book played out. Once I got going, I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to know what they were going to try next. I wanted to know how the book would play out. I will say that the ending was just OK to me. It was a bit sad, and while it finished off the book in a way that didn’t require a sequel, it mad me sad because of how the romance in this book turned out.

I gave this four stars because it was a wild ride from start to finish, I just wish the ending had been a bit better.