In a small town, everybody knows everyone’s else’s secrets—which is why, when Wilhelmina “Wil” Greene’s mother disappears, the assumption is that she abandoned her family. After all, history has established a precedent for it. Still, Wil refuses to believe her mother could have just left like that, even after a year has passed. Something must have happened to her, and until she is found, Wil is going to keep the pressure on the police to look for answers, no matter how many visits to the station it takes. She also suspects that the Clarke family may have something to do with her mom’s disappearance, which is why everyone seems content to ignore the entire matter. Ultimately, no one wants to be the one investigating Pastor Clarke, the most influential and powerful man in town.
As a consequence of Wil’s suspicions, however, a rift has also formed between her and Elwood Clarke, her once best friend. Now they don’t even talk, as Elwood faces the dread of his looming eighteenth birthday. On that day, he will leave school and partake in a rite of passage which will confirm his place in his father’s congregation, the Garden of Adam. It is something his parents have prepared him for his whole life, but as the time nears, Elwood is starting to have doubts. One night, he disobeys his father and goes to a party, only to come home and learn the truth of what the church has planned for him. Refusing to be a part of it, he runs away and seeks help from the only person he knows will believe him about his wicked family—Wil. The two of them strike up a tentative alliance: she will keep him hidden while he gathers the evidence to prove that his father had something to do with Wil’s mother’s disappearance. But while Ellwood may have escaped for now, there is no running from what’s inside him. If all the plants coming alive around him wherever he goes are any indication, and he will have to face the forest’s call before long.
While Together We Rot had its moment of promise and potential, overall I found myself struggling with certain aspects of the book, namely its characters and the story. Sure, the premise was interesting—enough to draw me to the novel in the first place, when my cynical self has long reached the point where I’ve gotten to be much more judicious about picking the YA I want to read. And yet, it was still not quite enough to overcome certain hurdles.
Let’s start with our protagonists. There are plenty of reasons why angsty, hormonal teenagers aren’t the most fun to hang out with, and unfortunately, Wil embodies almost all of them. It’s one thing to have an assertive and tough character who doesn’t give up, but it’s another to have a belligerent hothead who seems to get off on constantly getting in other people’s faces. The former is true badassery, while the latter is just plain old asshattery. And yet, that’s still better off than poor Elwood, who doesn’t seem to have an ounce of personality of his own. The story is told through alternating POVs, and I could always tell we were on his chapters because he was so bland. The narrative had to constantly resort to describing his obsession with bugs and entomology, because apparently he needs to be defined by this one hobby or else he’d be completely forgettable.
On the bright side, in the face of these criticisms, I guess my issues with the story isn’t so bad. The plot just wasn’t as good or captivating as it could have been. Cults and cult leaders have featured as villains in many of the books I’ve read this year, and comparatively, the characterization of Elwood’s father and the Garden of Adam was pretty run-of-the-mill, not all that imaginative or unexpected. Pacing also felt a bit slower at the beginning because not enough happened. The writing and prose were standard fare, not outstanding but not bad. This being a debut, I chalk these hiccups up to a new author still trying to hone her craft.
As such, I don’t want to nitpick too much. It’s enough to say that Together We Rot was a decent read, especially for a novel of YA fantasy with a strong thread of romance, but it didn’t blow me away. There were a few highlights here and there, but these scattered moments couldn’t quite overcome or compensate for the lackluster characters or the story’s shortcomings.
As a consequence of Wil’s suspicions, however, a rift has also formed between her and Elwood Clarke, her once best friend. Now they don’t even talk, as Elwood faces the dread of his looming eighteenth birthday. On that day, he will leave school and partake in a rite of passage which will confirm his place in his father’s congregation, the Garden of Adam. It is something his parents have prepared him for his whole life, but as the time nears, Elwood is starting to have doubts. One night, he disobeys his father and goes to a party, only to come home and learn the truth of what the church has planned for him. Refusing to be a part of it, he runs away and seeks help from the only person he knows will believe him about his wicked family—Wil. The two of them strike up a tentative alliance: she will keep him hidden while he gathers the evidence to prove that his father had something to do with Wil’s mother’s disappearance. But while Ellwood may have escaped for now, there is no running from what’s inside him. If all the plants coming alive around him wherever he goes are any indication, and he will have to face the forest’s call before long.
While Together We Rot had its moment of promise and potential, overall I found myself struggling with certain aspects of the book, namely its characters and the story. Sure, the premise was interesting—enough to draw me to the novel in the first place, when my cynical self has long reached the point where I’ve gotten to be much more judicious about picking the YA I want to read. And yet, it was still not quite enough to overcome certain hurdles.
Let’s start with our protagonists. There are plenty of reasons why angsty, hormonal teenagers aren’t the most fun to hang out with, and unfortunately, Wil embodies almost all of them. It’s one thing to have an assertive and tough character who doesn’t give up, but it’s another to have a belligerent hothead who seems to get off on constantly getting in other people’s faces. The former is true badassery, while the latter is just plain old asshattery. And yet, that’s still better off than poor Elwood, who doesn’t seem to have an ounce of personality of his own. The story is told through alternating POVs, and I could always tell we were on his chapters because he was so bland. The narrative had to constantly resort to describing his obsession with bugs and entomology, because apparently he needs to be defined by this one hobby or else he’d be completely forgettable.
On the bright side, in the face of these criticisms, I guess my issues with the story isn’t so bad. The plot just wasn’t as good or captivating as it could have been. Cults and cult leaders have featured as villains in many of the books I’ve read this year, and comparatively, the characterization of Elwood’s father and the Garden of Adam was pretty run-of-the-mill, not all that imaginative or unexpected. Pacing also felt a bit slower at the beginning because not enough happened. The writing and prose were standard fare, not outstanding but not bad. This being a debut, I chalk these hiccups up to a new author still trying to hone her craft.
As such, I don’t want to nitpick too much. It’s enough to say that Together We Rot was a decent read, especially for a novel of YA fantasy with a strong thread of romance, but it didn’t blow me away. There were a few highlights here and there, but these scattered moments couldn’t quite overcome or compensate for the lackluster characters or the story’s shortcomings.