I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Wil Greene’s mom has been missing for over a year, and the police are ready to call the case closed—they claim she skipped town and you can’t find a woman who wants to disappear. But she knows her mom wouldn’t just leave…and she knows the family of her former best friend, Elwood Clarke, has something to do with it.

Elwood has been counting down the days until his 18th birthday—in dread. It marks leaving school and joining his pastor father in dedicating his life to their congregation, the Garden of Adam. But when he comes home one night after a final goodbye with his friends, already self-flagellating for the sins of drinking and disobeying his father, he discovers his path is not as virtuous as he thought. He’s not his father’s successor, but his sacrifice. For the woods he’s grown up with are thirsty, and must be paid in blood.

Now on the run from a family that wants him dead, he turns to the only one who will believe him: Wil. Together, they form a reluctant partnership; she’ll help him hide if he helps her find evidence that his family killed her mother. But in the end they dig up more secrets than they bargained for, unraveling decades of dark cult dealings in their town, led by the Clarke family.

And there’s a reason they need Elwood’s blood for their satanic rituals. Something inhuman is growing inside of him. Everywhere he goes, the plants come alive and the forest calls to him, and Wil isn’t sure if she can save the boy she can’t help but love.

Short and Sweet Review

Wil’s mom has been missing for over a year and she knows the Clarke family had something to do with her disappearance. What complicates everything is that Elwood Clarke and Will used to be friends until Wil kept accusing his family of doing something to her mom. Elwood on the other hand is about to turn 18 so he has to say goodbye to life he currently knows and join his Pastor dad and eventually lead the congregation. Instead, Elwood finds out that the congregation needs his blood to do a satanic ritual and he ends up running away. Elwood asks Wil to help him hide and she agrees only if Elwood helps her find proof that his family had something to do with her mom going missing.

This book starts off by introducing us to Wil and she’s determined to find her mom and she even goes to the police, but she has no luck convincing them with the evidence she has. We can see things have been hard since her mom’s disappearance and her dad is there but not in the way he should be. Elwood on the other hand goes out one last time before he has to take up other responsibilities. We can feel the amount of distress Elwood is in when he does run away. I did like seeing how Wil and Elwoods friendship ended and how they still cared about each other. This book is a big game of cat and mouse. Wil and Elwood and some other friends try to protect Elwood from his father and the congregation but they end up learning that this church is more nefarious than they ever realized. There are some intense moments in this book, and we see loss and sacrifice. I enjoyed seeing how this group of friends were ride or die and willing to go to bat for each other. I think if this book was a bit longer it could have been even better, as it would feel less rushed and things could have been more fleshed out.

Overall, this was a beautifully written book. I do think there were some moments where the pacing was slow, but it was still a good read.