A fun look on magical mishaps that are generational. Reads as if it were a TV drama, and I mean this in the best possible way.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy in exchange for honest feedback

I'm going to be honest, I requested this book simply due to the cover. It is gorgeous. THen I read the summary or blurb about six girls who were born on the same day, their bond and then how they grew up.

The book fell a tad flat for me. I read the whole book, but I wasn't really connecting with it as I read it. It was well written but there was no urgency for me to find out what was happening. There was a a supernatural hook to it, and I was happy to see that it wasn't a overly in your face supernatural aspect.

While it didn't hit home for me, I still enjoyed it.

Thank you Netgally!

This cover is gorgeous!! The book was good but didn’t captivate me. I would read this author again though.

Thank you, Netgalley, the author, and Random House Children's/Delacorte for the gifted e-book! ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.

Read this book if you like: LGBTQ representation, witchy, and atmospheric reads

This was an interesting read. It was spooky, creepy, and entertaining. There were 6 main characters that all stood out. I enjoyed this.

Read 7/15/24

Read this in one sitting. It was a pretty fun, Spooky, witchy, and very atmospheric. But let's face it, that cover is what truly sold me.

This had a lot of potential. It was fun, I could see how it could have been really addictive … maybe I wasn’t in the right headspace.

Good mystery, dark vibes, girl power! This reminded me a little of Soul to Take which was a lot of fun. Eerie and fast paced, teeny angst, supernatural goodness. I loved it but didn’t love it

This book was… very weird lol. But I literally couldn’t stop reading it. I was very captivated and intrigued, it was just so odd I couldn’t help it. I liked it, it just didn’t leave a lasting impression.

A creative storyline that had me in the edge of my seat. Amanda is a brilliant writer who writes stories with fast paced suspenseful storylines. This was not exception.

Six of Sorrow by Amanda Linsmeier grabbed me from its eerie opening lines and didn’t let go. Six girls born on the same day, a mysterious disappearance, and a small Louisiana town with secrets woven into its very soil—this book is a supernatural mystery steeped in atmosphere, suspense, and spine-tingling tension.

The story centers on Isabeau, who has spent years estranged from her once-inseparable group of friends. Their shared birthday bound them together as children, but time—and secrets—pulled them apart. When her only remaining friend, Reuel, vanishes on their sixteenth birthday and reappears days later sick and disoriented, the group reunites to confront a creeping danger they can no longer ignore.

The plot unfolds like a slow-burning candle, casting flickering shadows that grow darker with every turn of the page. The writing is vivid and cinematic, painting the small-town setting of Sorrow, Louisiana, with a haunting beauty. The descriptions of the bayou, the spells, and the supernatural elements were so immersive I could almost hear the rustling leaves and feel the damp air clinging to my skin.

The six girls were fascinating as a group, with their complex friendships and individual personalities creating rich dynamics. Isabeau is a relatable anchor to the story, and I found myself rooting for her as she navigated the growing dangers surrounding her and her friends. The tension between the girls felt authentic, their shared history laced with both affection and resentment. Reuel’s disappearance—and her mysterious transformation—set off a chain reaction of fear, suspicion, and reluctant camaraderie that kept me flipping pages late into the night.

What really hooked me was the slow revelation of the mystery. Is it the girls’ shared birthdays? The town’s secrets? Or something far darker? The witchy elements added an extra layer of intrigue, with spells, curses, and a sense of foreboding that hung over the story like a storm cloud. Every clue felt like a breadcrumb leading toward something ominous and inevitable.

Though the book leans into familiar tropes, it does so with a fresh twist that makes the story feel both nostalgic and inventive. My only minor critique is that I wished for a slightly deeper dive into the mythology behind the strange occurrences—there were moments where the “why” felt just out of reach. But that didn’t stop me from thoroughly enjoying the ride.

If you love small-town mysteries with a supernatural twist, layered with complex friendships, suspenseful twists, and just the right amount of creepiness, Six of Sorrow is a must-read. It’s an adventure that lingers in your thoughts long after you’ve turned the last page.

Received an ARC copy through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed the small-town charm and drama. The backstory of how the girls split up was interesting and I liked that they ended up reuniting after the first girl goes missing.
However, this wasn't really a hit for me. I found a lot of places where my interest waned.

Thank you, NetGalley for access to this book.

"Six of Sorrow" was a great blend of coming-of-age, horror and fantasy that will have readers on the edge of their seat trying to figure out what's happening to these girls.
This book highlights one of the best (and sometimes most infuriating) things about high school: best friends. The relationship between the six girls is unique and each feels like their own person outside the group. I loved the way Amanda Linsmeier described some of the more unsettling moments when Iz felt like she was being watched or was having nightmares. It made my skin crawl in a good way.
While it took me a few chapters to become engaged with the book, especially because I have a hard time keeping track of large amounts of characters, once I was about 20% in, I couldn't put it down.
This book is a great read for anyone who loves magic, sinister town histories and the bonds of friendship.

I enjoyed this concept and Amanda's writing style. Well developed characters and good world building. I dont usually like YA fantasy but I loved this!

I usually enjoy most ya with fantasy as an exception. For some reason fantasy ya just never resonates with me. This book read very fantasy ya and I was expecting more mystery horror. The writing in this book was good and some of the scenes gave major creepy vibes, just personally this book wasn’t for me I had a hard time relating to the characters and they felt a little surface level which caused me to lose interest a few time throughout the book. While this book wasn’t for me I would definitely give this author another try . I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

Iz had once been part of an inseparable group of six friends, all born on the same day. Something had caused all that to change. Now, Iz only had Reuele to rely on. Through the loss of friendships, Iz and Reuele’s relationship grew even stronger. It all changed after their birthday when Reuele went missing and Iz was the last person to see her alive. Like dominoes things start going wrong, for all the girls. There was no explanation for why Reuele went missing, the visions they were all starting to experience, or how to find answers to stop something even worse from happening.

What I found enchanting about Iz, Sorrow, and the story that unfolded was the feeling like I was sitting next to Iz on a couch as she recounted what happened. There was an elegance to how the story was told. I got lost in the atmosphere of Sorrow. The location was just as much of a character as the people were.

As someone from Louisiana, it was such a relief that it was not overly written like so many authors do. It was there as a bit of a side note. Sorrow was Sorrow. And the description of the smell of New Orleans had me cackling because it was spot on.

There were so many little moments that unfolded and then built upon each other to come to actually understand what was happening to the girls. I was on the edge of my seat when others were affected. Then with the parents? I was shook!

There were light sapphic moments. Then that realization for Iz was as if someone snapped their fingers and she said, “Oh…” That emotional understanding was like a fresh breath of air and I was excited for them.

This was a fun, exciting read! Definitely would recommend it for people wanting a sapphic, YA horror-ish book to read.

I read this for my book review committee, which focuses on new YA and children's books. I'm not a big YA reader, but I think it's good to use the book review as a way to keep up to date with modern YA.

This book follows Isabeau, one of six girls who were best friends and, oddly enough, were all born on the same day. They all live on an island off the coast of Louisiana in the town of Sorrow, named after the founder who was suspected of being a witch. This book gives "The Craft" meets "My Best Friend's Exorcism" vibes, which I did enjoy.

The friend group has broken up, through Isabeau and Reuel are still BFFs. They celebrate their birthday in the historical cemetery, but Reuel goes missing. A big search happens and she's found/returned days later.. but something's wrong. The tragedy brings the dix girls back together as they try to solve the mystery of Reuel's disappearance as it happens to them one by one.

What I really enjoyed about this book was the message of friendship. It demonstrated that friendship is work, but even if it's broken it can be repaired. I think a lot of kids who have experienced a friend group breaking up can identify with this book.

I have a couple complaints about this book that I think will be resolved as the author finds her stride: some of the descriptive language is a little clunky and feels awkwardly shoved in to give the reader a mental image of a room or a person. And, more egregious, the pacing stuttered. Often we would discover a clue or hint as to what was happening with the girls or they'd know where to go next to look for something.. but then it would take a few days for them to fall into action. I felt like they weren't taking the situation as seriously as I, the reader, felt it was.

This was a fun, witchy book that I think a lot of YA readers will enjoy. The aggressively pink cover grew on me as I read the book and the cover art is gorgeous. There was a little bit of an urban legend in modern day feel to this story that, as a child of the 90s, I really enjoyed.

I thought i reviewed this earlier and realized i never did. I read this the day I got the arc. I devoured it and it's creepy darkness, much like Amanda Linsmeier's debut novel, Starlings. I'm utterly convinced I have found another book that I can add to the favorites list.

A riveting, fast paced supernatural thriller that I really enjoyed! I love this genre, especially this time of year, so it really fit the mood I was looking for nicely. I enjoyed the pacing, the witchy vibes, likable characters, and overall charm.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for access to an eARC in exchange for my honest review!!

what's it about? ⬇️

Isabeau, Reuel, Georgia, August, Sloane, and Cori were the best of friends from birth--literally, they were born on the same day--and practically inseparable for most of their childhoods until a rift split them apart, leaving their group fractured. But in the same way that Georgia, Cori, and August stuck close together through high school, Isabeau and Reuel remained closer than sisters. But when Reuel goes missing on the night of the girls' sixteenth birthday and Isabeau is scrambling to join the town's search for her best friend, the group is reforged by their shared desire to find and bring Reuel home safely. And even after Reuel returns, alive if a little worse for wear, the group's goes back to the way things were years before, happy and strong and together.

But when Reuel only continues to get sicker and dreams begun to lure the girls from their beds in the night and return them with the same eerie, frightening sickness, the six of them will have to figure out what's happening to them and how it ties to the dark past of their small town and it's founder, a woman named Sorrow who was labeled a witch by history.

As their time begins to run short and their desperation grows, they may find more truth to the claims of history than they originally expected. Can they solve the mystery and save themselves before it's too late. And will realize how much stronger and better they are together and stick by one another even when things are at their darkest?

my thoughts? ⬇️

There is almost nothing that I love more in this world than a story of female friendships mixed with feminine rage, and Six of Sorrow really delivered on both. I loved these characters, flaws and all, and I loved getting to see the bonds between them stretch and strengthen as the story went on, just as I loved getting to see the relationships between their mothers and how those had changed since they were young. Loyalty and the importance of friendship were such key themes of this story, and it just had my whole heart. I can't wait to dive into more of Amanda Linsmeier's backlog and fall in love with her characters all over again.

trigger warnings ⬇️

body horror, blood, gore, fire/fire injury, injury/injury detail, death of a parent, child death, cancer, vomit, alcohol abuse, alcoholism, addiction, cancer, abandonment, pregnancy, miscarriage, infidelity, kidnapping.