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Dead River

3.45 of 5 stars 3.45 · rating details · 84 ratings · 24 reviews

My friends and I are spending prom weekend at a remote wooded cabin on the Dead. The Dead River.

I thought it was going to be just us.

I was wrong.

Nothing is what it seems in this creepy paranormal thriller by Cyn Balog....more

Hardcover, 242 pages

Published April 9th 2013 by Delacorte

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May 23, 2013 Mitch Cave marked it as to-read

"My friends and I are spending prom weekend at a remote wooded cabin on the Dead. The Dead River.

I thought it was going to be just us.

I was wrong."

Well, no shit. 'Romote wooded cabin on The Dead River'
Like, guys...take a hint.
Would you not suspect a serial killer out there.
Really, guys? REALLY?

11 likes · like · see review

Apr 23, 2013 kari rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, ya

Spooky and atmospheric. Definitely spine-tingling.
While there were some things I really liked about this book, there are unfortunately as many things that I don't like. That makes reviewing a little tough, so here goes.
The main character, Kiandra's, motivation seems to be all over the place. First, it is all about how scared she is of the river, how she hears voices near the river, how she doesn't want to go rafting, but is doing it anyway because it makes her boyfriend happy(she wanted to go to...more Spooky and atmospheric. Definitely spine-tingling.
While there were some things I really liked about this book, there are unfortunately as many things that I don't like. That makes reviewing a little tough, so here goes.
The main character, Kiandra's, motivation seems to be all over the place. First, it is all about how scared she is of the river, how she hears voices near the river, how she doesn't want to go rafting, but is doing it anyway because it makes her boyfriend happy(she wanted to go to the prom instead). Then, after a near-death/death experience during which she hallucinates/experiences what's on the other side of the river and is warned several times to stay away from there, she is obsessed and must go back. No, she mustn't. Yes, she must. No, she won't go. Yes, she will. And most of this back and forth takes place in her noggin. So, anyway.
Kiandra seemed a bit self-centered and yet a little bit too self-denying. She can't seem to think beyond what she wants when she wants it, but then she is on a rafting trip she doesn't want to be on but pretends she does while internally whining constantly about it. She has told a whopper of a lie to her father and almost completely forgets him in the space of two days. Oh, yeah, he might be upset if she died. Huh. Imagine that.
I think the story simply tried to be too many things in too many directions. There is the teenage love story or rather the story of Justin, Kiandra's boyfriend. Then, there is the rafting/hiking weekend and what occurs with the living teenagers. (view spoiler)There are superfluous characters who seem to exist simply for the needs of the main character. Hugo is a throw-away character as is Spiffy and the twin brothers/rafting business owners sideline, bones found, goes nowhere and is dropped. The evil Jack character just fails to show up at the end. I kept waiting for him to turn up, but nope. Okay, then.
I wish the focus has just been the supernatural stuff. I think that would have made the story better and it sort of rambles back and forth without making much headway. This ghosty person says run away, but this ghosty person says come over here. It's all a bit much and yet a little too little. Too much flitting about with too little movement in the story.
And there is both insta-love and love of a young adult male for a seven year old girl, neither of which I can abide. Yes, the teenager doesn't act on his feelings for the little girl, but it still a big pile of ewwwww. Teenage boys should NOT fall for babies/children. This is simply not a good thing and not a foundation for later romance.
Having said that and putting aside those objections, the ending was lovely and I did buy into that part of the story.
I also liked the stories of those of the other side, the ghost stories. The truth of them was very interesting and I didn't see those things occurring, so well done there. I liked how they all tied in together when I thought they were all separate stories. I did like the lore that the person becomes what they most wished they were while living. That was different and very creative. (view spoiler)
So, middle of the road. I liked the dark tone of the book and it was a good supernatural chiller, but didn't unequivocally love it. It is a like with some reservation. Hope that makes sense.(less)

1 like · like · see review

May 29, 2013 Kris rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-reviewed, paranormal, ya-books, mystery

Alice's Review

Kiandra lies to her father in order to go rafting at the cabin by Dead River with her boyfriend Justin, her cousin Angela, and Hugo. Kiandra’s father has prohibits her from going near water since her mother waded into the river to end her life. As soon as Kiandra arrives at the cabin, she feels the call of the water pulling at her. Over the course of the trip, she uncovers things about her mother’s death and secrets from the past. She also finds out she is a Mistress of the Waters...more

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May 27, 2013 readknitread rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, ghosts, high-school-reads, horror, mystery

When Ki was 7 her mother committed suicide by walking into a river. Since then her father has kept her away from rivers, lakes, oceans and pools. Basically all bodies of water. Ki doesn't complain because when she is near a river she is haunted by souls of those who died tragically. She thinks she can control her visions when she decides to go rafting down the Dead River. But the Dead river has many secrets and wants Ki as well.

Horribly written book. It is painfully slow and Ki is not a charact...more

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May 23, 2013 Ashley Granger rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal-prob-has-vampires, ya

The first thing you will want to know about Dead River is the protagonist’s name. I don’t know if I missed it, but everyone refers to her as “Ki” and it was driving me insane not knowing what her full name was. It’s Kiandra. Now for the storyline: Kiandra, her long-term boyfriend Justin, her best friend and cousin Angela, and some annoying guy Hugo all go to Angela’s family’s cabin at Dead River to go rafting. Kiandra has to lie to her father in order to go as he hates her being anywhere near wa...more The first thing you will want to know about Dead River is the protagonist’s name. I don’t know if I missed it, but everyone refers to her as “Ki” and it was driving me insane not knowing what her full name was. It’s Kiandra. Now for the storyline: Kiandra, her long-term boyfriend Justin, her best friend and cousin Angela, and some annoying guy Hugo all go to Angela’s family’s cabin at Dead River to go rafting. Kiandra has to lie to her father in order to go as he hates her being anywhere near water since her mother killed herself when she was seven. Once at the cabin, Kiandra realizes that the voices she used to hear as a child have returned once she gets near the river, and she spends a lot of time trying to look like she’s not crazy as these whispers fill her head. Soon after arriving, she realizes that her mother’s suicide might not have been as black and white as she has seen it, and that the whispers aren’t the result of her losing her sanity, but real.

This book had a lot of good points and a lot of bad points. Kiandra hates being outdoors. She wanted to go to prom, but for some reason, could not let her boyfriend of three years know this, so she spends a lot of time internally whining about everything having to do with nature. The first half of the book is repetitive – Kiandra hating being at Dead River, hearing whispers and not knowing what they mean, complaining about being cold, and generally being a total buzzkill. The second half of the book finally introduces the point of the book and the extended plotline, but it’s too little, too late. I mean that literally – I was reading and turning pages and realizing there were a lot of unanswered questions and not many pages left. There are some “mysteries” that are brought up, and then never mentioned again. Kiandra finds out certain things about herself, but the descriptions are confusing, and aren’t consistent. By the time I was really nearing the end of the book, I was sure there was a sequel. No one likes it when authors unnecessarily draw out a story simply to make it into a trilogy, but this book either needed to be longer, have a sequel, or spend more time on the complex parts and less time on Kiandra being a whiny high school student.

It’s a short book and a quick read, so I’m not sure why there are several extraneous characters that don’t need to be in the book. One of the characters seems to be a major character with a great mystery, but that just fizzles out and you wonder why he was there in the first place. The climactic scene was also disappointing simply because it wasn’t explained. You’re left thinking, “Wait…what? Can that happen? I didn’t think…” I do think I would recommend this book because it takes a spin on the paranormal that I haven’t seen before. Parts of the story are unique, but it’s disappointing to see how little elaboration is put into them. I would be interested in reading one of the author’s other books to see how the creativity compares to the writing style/plotline development compare to this book. http://cynbalog.blogspot.com/
(less)

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May 28, 2013 Sudha rated it 4 of 5 stars

3.5 STARS. A rafting trip made her known for a while. Then the dead cane out to play and it all went downhill from there. Powers and strengths are founding in a journey to stay alive. Hearts are broken and rebuilt. The line in family and friends are tested to their limits.

The main character herself and her friends turned down my liking of the book a little immediately. First it's her friends who take her on high level rapids water rafting when they've been a bunch of times and she never went in...more 3.5 STARS. A rafting trip made her known for a while. Then the dead cane out to play and it all went downhill from there. Powers and strengths are founding in a journey to stay alive. Hearts are broken and rebuilt. The line in family and friends are tested to their limits.

The main character herself and her friends turned down my liking of the book a little immediately. First it's her friends who take her on high level rapids water rafting when they've been a bunch of times and she never went in her life. She could at least start easy and then get there cuz I knew something would happen based on what I already knew. Besides that, most of the other people weren't so annoying, but sometimes Kiandra could be so stupidly stubborn, most of the time she denied the horrible, scary truth which didn't get her anywhere good,. Other times it's actually something I'm cheering on when she succeeded in her goals and got to her happy ending. The characters seemed to fit together with their small bit of teenage drama and huge swat of the newness they were starting to get, only somewhat annoying.

This is a creepy book, but not quite making it to scary yet. Some parts may also seem a little weird. Mysterious happenings with no clues and the time that changed Kiandra's life are connected by one big thing. This kept me reading far into the night, the thrill and game accelerating by the moment. A drawing book that'll steal reality if only for a moment. Sometimes though I thought I was the smart one and other times I would've never thought if what they just did. The river and the dead are calling and supernatural happenings twists the trip and many other things too. Now the question once she's deep in these problems, which of the dead are to be trusted and which feelings are real, note fake? Once the action started, it captivated me with fear truth and other feelings it gave off along the way. Kiandra's new powers reveal shocking truths and mistakes she never shouldn't made in the first place. In the end when hope seemed to be lost, the stars beyond the horizon shone guiding the way. So much happens very mysteriously in the end of the book, but it's overall fine. A happy ending to a scary story is finally told and somehow things are fixed. It left few unanswered questions but overlooking that, it was a happier beautiful life.(less)

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Apr 14, 2013 Sarah Whisted rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own

This book had a richly dark theme that I thoroughly enjoyed. It read the way a really well done Sundance thriller film plays out and for that I loved it. Imagery like a little girl in a pink party dress whose mouth spews a constant flow of mud is disturbingly beautiful to me and, as I'm currently writing a thriller myself, inspiring as well.

If I have one complaint, it's that I wish the story was a little longer. Typically Cyn's ability to write such a great story in so few pages is something I...more

1 like · like · see review

May 11, 2013 Hannah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: impulse-buy, dreamy-boys, read-2013, reviews

I had a love hate relationship with this book. Sometimes I liked it, sometimes I hated it. I thought it would be just a ghost story and nothing more. I was so wrong. Dead River is a unique supernatural tale. I was surprised by it. In the beginning, I was a bit smug expecting this to be a ghost story where people are just picked off quickly. Silly me. It was better than that.

The good:
It was so unique: I've read a lot of supernatural stories. It's gotten so bad that most of the time I can predict...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Review: Creepy, raw and terrifying. A ghost story that winds you through a ghostly tale of destiny and fighting for where you belong.

Spending a weekend rafting on the Dead River, instead of prom, leaves Kiandra with more to worry about than just hiding the trip’s whereabouts from her father. Convincing herself this is just the weekend getaway she needs, ends up turning fatally wrong.

Kiandra has spent her life trying not to think about what goes through a person’s mind before they plunge themse...more
Review: Creepy, raw and terrifying. A ghost story that winds you through a ghostly tale of destiny and fighting for where you belong.

Spending a weekend rafting on the Dead River, instead of prom, leaves Kiandra with more to worry about than just hiding the trip’s whereabouts from her father. Convincing herself this is just the weekend getaway she needs, ends up turning fatally wrong.

Kiandra has spent her life trying not to think about what goes through a person’s mind before they plunge themselves in a river, to never be heard from again. Her life was happy and surreal spending her days on the river as a child fishing in the best spot on the Delaware, until the fateful day her mother waded into the river to end her life. Kiandra’s life was uprooted instantly, leaving everything she has behind at a moment’s notice, starting a new life away from the water’s edge.

Soon she feels the call of the water, pulling her towards it just as it did for her mother. Even with the precautions her father took to protect her, the tragedies that lay in the undercurrent of her family history, has no match for the pull of destiny.

The moment Kiandra arrives at the Dead River the water beacons her, calling to her as if it was a sweet lullaby. Lulling her to be pulled underneath into its angry, unforgiving wrath, spinning promises like a delicate web. Only after it’s too late, does she discover that the Dead River is unrelenting and unwavering in its deceit, unable to deliver on its promise.

With Kiandra’s freak accident, the Dead River changes everything. Destiny is finally able to present itself, where she can discover who and what is most important in her life as well as the truth behind her mother’s suicide.

Constant brushes with death add to the paranormal level of this thriller. Chapter after chapter, life and death resonate through the ghostly beings presented throughout the storyline, with each of their personal stories being brought to life in a captivating way.

This is an amazing ghost story, unlike any other traditional ghost stories that are told. A story that legends are created from, and destined to be campfire stories for years to come. Hang on while the undercurrent catches you unaware through the build up and the twists and turns. For in the end, you will lay there washed up in its wake, amazed at the story that lay before you.

This genre of book is where the author Cyn Balog should have been the whole time. Horror fans, open your door whole heartily and welcome her in, you will not be disappointed.

For more of my reviews please check out my newspaper column For the Love of Books in Dixon's Independent Voice or my facebooks page:https://www.facebook.com/pages/F...(less)

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May 07, 2013 Vanessa rated it 4 of 5 stars

I picked this up, thinking it would be a horror novel. And in some ways it was. The creepy imagery is great (Pink dress girl is my favorite), and I loved the fear of the water in the main character, and the reasons for it. Balog's descriptions are fantastic and really draw you in.

It did not, however, end up where I thought it might. The twist was interesting, and it worked. I do wish there had been more explanation of some things, though.

Definitely liked the characters, and enjoyed the story....more

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May 13, 2013 E. Anderson rated it 4 of 5 stars

What's not to love about a good, old-fashioned ghost story? DEAD RIVER by Cyn Balog is certainly spooky, with a protagonist seeing ghosts (and not sure if she might be crazy). But there's a lot more to DEAD RIVER than meets the eye.

On prom weekend, Kiandra, her best friend, and their two dates are going camping instead. If Ki had her way, she'd have a pink dress and a corsage and that magical dance, but she loves her long-time boyfriend and he loves white water rafting. Her dad has always kept h...more

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Jun 15, 2013 Emma Lohman rated it 1 of 5 stars

Pros:
Congratulations on creating the most boring paranormal thriller in existence.

Cons:
The book was slow-paced, lacked definition (and pretty much anything that qualified it as a "thriller"), and had barely any explanation to it.
The cover. When it comes to technology, I have two left hands, but I think I could Photoshop a better cover than that.
I actually had to look back in the book to remember what the main character's name was. I don't think they described her face.

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Jun 03, 2013 Jodie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

The cover of Dead River looks freaking awesome! I am a huge fan of ghostly things and in reading the synopsis, I couldn't wait to read it. What I found wasn't exactly what I expected but nonetheless, it was a good read. This is the first book that I've read by Cyn Balog and I'm looking forward to reading more by her.

Having to sneak off from her overprotected father to spend time with her boyfriend Justin and BFF Angela, Kiandra can't wait to get away. What she finds on this trip ends up being i...more

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May 13, 2013 Alex rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned-books, to-read-in-2013, adventure, fantasy, female-pov, fiction, horror, mystery, paranormal

To start this off, I just want to say I had high hopes for this book and it kind of let me down. I was expecting something a little more creepy but it wasn't at all what I expected. The beginning was then all of a sudden it got into a thing of joy and love and crap. Not thta I don't like joy and love but I was hoping this book wasn't so cheery but more of a scary book. Honestly, I enjoyed this book but expected a little more out of it.
I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a semi-cre...more

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Jun 02, 2013 Mia Lansford rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

I don't read paranormal thrillers but I'm glad I read this one. A true page turner with a great story. I had to go back to see if I missed an important part only to understand it was left out on purpose. I loved the twists and turns. I almost gave it a five star review but I didn't agree with the ending scene. I don't see how the girls could remain friends. But definitely a book to read.

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Apr 22, 2013 Rhi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-challenge, ghosts, horror, teen-and-ya

Um, where's the ending? Where's the major climax/showdown with the bad guys? It's like Balog just decided to stop writing and wrap it up right there, which is such a shame. The writing was good and I was captivated by the plot line. Actually, I found this quite similar to Graveminder, only simpler. Overall, I liked Dead River, but I didn't love it. 2.5/5 stars.

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Jun 12, 2013 Anne rated it 2 of 5 stars

I am only giving this book two stars because of the cool cover art. However, I couldn't force myself to continue reading another page. The main character was annoying and her friends were predictable cliches of every bad horror movie.

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Apr 21, 2013 Taylor Lusinger rated it 4 of 5 stars

Absolutely loved it. A little bit of the paranormal to spice things up. And as always a nice romance. Highly suggest it.

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Mar 19, 2013 Shannon rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a great ARC, I enjoyed reading it, and I give it 3.5 stars! I have to say I was confused a bit, half way through the story, in regards to why this is a paranormal, but intrigued enough to stick with it, and I'm glad I did!

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Jan 26, 2013 Shahad rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was NOT for my age, it had um.....stuff.

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Jun 05, 2013 Abigail rated it 3 of 5 stars

Ugh. This book had such potential but it fell completely flat.

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Aug 24, 2012 Heather Dearly rated it 5 of 5 stars

Review to follow closer to publication.

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May 23, 2013 Chelsea rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, supernatural

It certainly was different.

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Apr 02, 2012 rameau marked it as not-for-me

Shelves: authors-behaving-badly

See comments.

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Jun 05, 2013 Anya rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: dnf

DNF

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Jun 16, 2013 Rachel Patrick marked it as to-read

Shelves: may-finish-later

I'll probably finish this eventually, just not right now.

I just couldn't get into it. I was kind of confused with what was going on, and I kept finding myself wanting to just read ahead and look for something interesting to happen. I'm somewhat interested to see where I left off ends up going.

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Jun 03, 2013 Christy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-2013-grade-7-and-up, teen-fiction

Paranormal Thriller.

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Jun 18, 2013 SCPL Teens marked it as to-read

Shelves: supernatural

Jun 18, 2013 Cait marked it as to-read

Jun 17, 2013 Amanda marked it as to-read

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About Cyn Balog

Cyn Balog is a normal, everyday Jersey Girl who always believed magical things can happen to us when we least expect them. She is author of young adult paranormals FAIRY TALE (2009), SLEEPLESS(2010), STARSTRUCK (2011), TOUCHED (2012), and her most recent release: DEAD RIVER (2013).e. She lives outside Allentown, Pennsylvania with her husband and daughters.

She also writes under the pen name Nichola ...more

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