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eggcatsreads 's review for:
Together We Rot
by Skyla Arndt
A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Penguin Young Readers Group/Viking Books for Young Readers for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
There’s so many different aspects of this book that I’m just a sucker for - spooky forests, town cults, romance with a monster - all combined in a horror/romance novel? Sign me up. This book has been on my radar for a while, and I jumped at the chance to read this ARC of it when I got it.
If you liked Hannah Whitten’s The Wilderwood duology, I believe you’ll like this story. The romance while becoming a monster connected to a (potentially) sinister woods between Wil and Elwood reminded me (if only in vibes) of Red and Eammon. (Also the cult reminded me of J.-F. Dubeau’s “A God in the Shed” but I feel like there’s a bigger overlap between people who will read this novel and Hannah Whitten, and less in the strictly horror genre.) This book is a good meshing of these two concepts while still being its own unique (and great!) experience.
This book starts off strong, with Wil’s character fighting the local police about not working to find her mom. She’s rude and abrasive - but you sympathize with her. This book is great at getting you to also feel her anger and the injustice of her situation. The other POV character is Elwood, who is controlled and abused by his religious family and does everything in his power to appease them. Neither of these concepts are too difficult to understand, and I really appreciate the book just starting off with these actions and allowing the reader to infer and draw our own conclusions, instead of doing a lot of flashbacks and story exposition.
Wil and Elwood have recently had a falling out, as Wil believes Elwood’s family has had something to do with her mother’s disappearance. However, once Elwood realizes that his “training” to become a pastor when he turns 18 is really a death-knell to sacrifice him, he runs away and straight into Wil’s reluctant waiting arms. And it is at this point that the story REALLY kicks off in such a delicious way, that I finished this book in one sitting - and at no point did I feel like I was reading, or did I think “How much longer do I have to go to finish this story?” I was hooked from the get-go.
This story is told by dual POVs, and I think it’s done really well. Both POVs work off of each other, and at no point are we simply repeating what we already learned, just from the other character’s point of view. The switches make sense, move the story forward, and provide both needed context and where each character is at emotionally. It’s told in a very dynamic way, and at no point was I bored.
The combination of the horror of the town and the monster that Elwood is transforming into, combined with the romance growing between Wil and Elwood was fantastic. I LOVE horror/romance and I will eat up “person is becoming more and more of a monster, and can you love them when they’re more monster than person” EVERY TIME. That is my jam.
The tension building is great, and you can really feel the slowly tightening of the noose on all the characters as the danger rises and their ability to escape dries up. They’re trapped in this town, and surrounded by a forest that may or may not be sinister (and filled with people who absolutely are), and you can absolutely feel it.
I will say, however, that unless you NEVER read novels like this with these premises, I don’t think too many of the plot twists or surprises will get you. That’s not a bad thing, in my honest opinion, but I wouldn’t expect anything earth-shattering unless A) you didn’t read the synopsis and B) this is so far outside your typical genre that everything is new. However this type of book is SO my jam, and I love how it was put together and told so much that I personally didn’t need to be shocked or surprised by twists that I saw coming. I still loved them.
Also the bittersweet ending made me cry. I don’t know how the author would be able to create a full second book to this, as it ends almost perfectly - but I would NOT be against a bonus chapter or novella of Wil and Elwood.
Overall, I really loved this book and it provided everything I was hoping for when I read the synopsis, and I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy.
This is the romance novel you want to kick off fall reading!
There’s so many different aspects of this book that I’m just a sucker for - spooky forests, town cults, romance with a monster - all combined in a horror/romance novel? Sign me up. This book has been on my radar for a while, and I jumped at the chance to read this ARC of it when I got it.
If you liked Hannah Whitten’s The Wilderwood duology, I believe you’ll like this story. The romance while becoming a monster connected to a (potentially) sinister woods between Wil and Elwood reminded me (if only in vibes) of Red and Eammon. (Also the cult reminded me of J.-F. Dubeau’s “A God in the Shed” but I feel like there’s a bigger overlap between people who will read this novel and Hannah Whitten, and less in the strictly horror genre.) This book is a good meshing of these two concepts while still being its own unique (and great!) experience.
This book starts off strong, with Wil’s character fighting the local police about not working to find her mom. She’s rude and abrasive - but you sympathize with her. This book is great at getting you to also feel her anger and the injustice of her situation. The other POV character is Elwood, who is controlled and abused by his religious family and does everything in his power to appease them. Neither of these concepts are too difficult to understand, and I really appreciate the book just starting off with these actions and allowing the reader to infer and draw our own conclusions, instead of doing a lot of flashbacks and story exposition.
Wil and Elwood have recently had a falling out, as Wil believes Elwood’s family has had something to do with her mother’s disappearance. However, once Elwood realizes that his “training” to become a pastor when he turns 18 is really a death-knell to sacrifice him, he runs away and straight into Wil’s reluctant waiting arms. And it is at this point that the story REALLY kicks off in such a delicious way, that I finished this book in one sitting - and at no point did I feel like I was reading, or did I think “How much longer do I have to go to finish this story?” I was hooked from the get-go.
This story is told by dual POVs, and I think it’s done really well. Both POVs work off of each other, and at no point are we simply repeating what we already learned, just from the other character’s point of view. The switches make sense, move the story forward, and provide both needed context and where each character is at emotionally. It’s told in a very dynamic way, and at no point was I bored.
The combination of the horror of the town and the monster that Elwood is transforming into, combined with the romance growing between Wil and Elwood was fantastic. I LOVE horror/romance and I will eat up “person is becoming more and more of a monster, and can you love them when they’re more monster than person” EVERY TIME. That is my jam.
The tension building is great, and you can really feel the slowly tightening of the noose on all the characters as the danger rises and their ability to escape dries up. They’re trapped in this town, and surrounded by a forest that may or may not be sinister (and filled with people who absolutely are), and you can absolutely feel it.
I will say, however, that unless you NEVER read novels like this with these premises, I don’t think too many of the plot twists or surprises will get you. That’s not a bad thing, in my honest opinion, but I wouldn’t expect anything earth-shattering unless A) you didn’t read the synopsis and B) this is so far outside your typical genre that everything is new. However this type of book is SO my jam, and I love how it was put together and told so much that I personally didn’t need to be shocked or surprised by twists that I saw coming. I still loved them.
Also the bittersweet ending made me cry. I don’t know how the author would be able to create a full second book to this, as it ends almost perfectly - but I would NOT be against a bonus chapter or novella of Wil and Elwood.
Overall, I really loved this book and it provided everything I was hoping for when I read the synopsis, and I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy.
This is the romance novel you want to kick off fall reading!