Together We Rot by Skyla Arndt

 
Together We Rot by Skyla Arndt
My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from Penguin Young Readers Group through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wil’s life turned upside down the day her mom went missing. People in town say her mom just got up and abandoned their family, but she knows something bad happened. Whatever occurred, she knows it has something to do with the Clarke family. Unfortunately, Wil’s accusations ultimately end her friendship with her long time best friend, Elwood Clarke. Obsessed with stalking the Clarke family while hoping something leads to her mom, Wil gets much more than she bargained for when Elwood runs away. It turns out the Clarke family are members of an old cult and her former best friend is their next human sacrifice.

This book was an absolutely wild read. We follow Wil and Elwood as their lives continue to take a turn for the unexpected, only now it has a supernatural twist neither of them could’ve ever predicted. Wil is a stubborn and ill-tempered teenager whose grief has only fed into her anger. Her dad has disappeared into the bottle while hardly anyone in town listens to her shouting that the Clarke family had something to do with her mother’s disappearance. Meanwhile, Elwood is a long-time victim of verbal and physical abuse just trying to keep his head above the water. His entire life has been mapped out for him, only he never realized that included his parents and their cult sacrificing him in the woods.

I wasn’t sure what to expect once I started the book because it was dragging along for a bit, and Wil seemed like she was trying too hard to be “hard.” However, once the story gets rolling, it really gets rolling. I gathered early on that Elwood was our deepest connection to the supernatural even before things started happening given how strange his family was. I don’t want to say too much on this front because I don’t want to spoil anything, but phew. This was an excellent read and while it does have classic tropes one finds in the young adult genre, it also has a lot of heavy themes that make sense to the story rather than appearing for the shock value.

Plus, there is an interesting cast of core characters. While we don’t follow Wil and Elwood’s small group of friends, they strap in for the wild ride and I really liked all of them. They are excellent and supportive side characters that really help bring things together. I was really surprised that I liked one of the characters, Lucas, as the book continued. He is definitely a character that snuck up on me. I also like that we get to see a little more below the surface of some of the important players everyone fights against.

The supernatural plot is excellent and different from anything I’ve read before. Who and what is Elwood, and why must he be sacrificed? What is this cult about anyway? I had several questions and about half of the answers were truly explosive. Once the ball gets rolling, this is an excellent story with a lot of world building and backstory that doesn’t feel like it’s going overboard. Everything unfolds in due time, and none of it seems off the wall or out of place. I also really enjoyed the character growth we see despite these characters going to hell and back. This is a very strong debut novel and I’m looking forward to what the author publishes next.