rachelcawood's review
3.0
This was a good book. Kiandra was a good lead role, besides her constant whining. It was definitely an interesting take on ghosts and the supernatural. The plot twist with Lannie was fantastic! I never would have suspected it. I liked how the story ended.
My only complaint is that there was never a true confrontation with Lannie after Ki found out it was her who was behind it all. Vi, Lannie, and Jack kind of just fade out of the story and they aren't mentioned again. It would be different if the author planned on writing a second novel to it, but I have no idea if she is. Overall, it was good and I would recommend it to others to read.
My only complaint is that there was never a true confrontation with Lannie after Ki found out it was her who was behind it all. Vi, Lannie, and Jack kind of just fade out of the story and they aren't mentioned again. It would be different if the author planned on writing a second novel to it, but I have no idea if she is. Overall, it was good and I would recommend it to others to read.
omgyaynina's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This felt like two separate books. In the first half I thought I had picked up an intriguing, somewhat spooky thriller (what I’ve come to expect from this author). Then the second half flies off the rails into a sort of fantasy world but with NO world-building or explanations, and a half-assed ending.
Reads like a fever dream. Skip this one.
Reads like a fever dream. Skip this one.
gilliankk's review
4.0
This book was... interesting. It was short so things happened fast but I think I liked it?
arocle's review
1.0
The. Most. Annoying. Protagonist. Ever.
Not much else to say really. Liked some of the imagery in the book but even all the good intentions were overthrown by the horrible, self-obsessed, dumbass bitch of a protagonist. Whine, whine and more whine.
Not much else to say really. Liked some of the imagery in the book but even all the good intentions were overthrown by the horrible, self-obsessed, dumbass bitch of a protagonist. Whine, whine and more whine.
foreveryoungadult's review
Graded By: Brian
Cover Story: "Dead River, It's Said, Never Gives Up Her Dead"
Drinking Buddy: Here's Mud in Your Eye (and your mouth, nose, and ears)
Testosterone Level: Icy Dead People
Swoonworthy Scale: Gimme a Big Wet One
Talky Talk: Choppy Waters
Bonus Factors: Back to Nature, "The Phone Calls Were Coming From Upstairs!"
Bromance Status: Wet Blanket
Read the full book report here.
Cover Story: "Dead River, It's Said, Never Gives Up Her Dead"
Drinking Buddy: Here's Mud in Your Eye (and your mouth, nose, and ears)
Testosterone Level: Icy Dead People
Swoonworthy Scale: Gimme a Big Wet One
Talky Talk: Choppy Waters
Bonus Factors: Back to Nature, "The Phone Calls Were Coming From Upstairs!"
Bromance Status: Wet Blanket
Read the full book report here.
vebarger's review
4.0
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. A quick read, and if you enjoy creepy things, definitely pick it up!
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. A quick read, and if you enjoy creepy things, definitely pick it up!
ashleyg101's review
2.0
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/
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/
nerdygeekyfanboy's review
4.0
Kiandra gaat samen met haar vriendje, haar nicht Angela en een irritante vriend genaamd Hugo naar een huisje van Angela waar ze bij de Dead River gaan raften. De moeder van Kiandra heeft zelfmoord gepleegd door te verdrinken in een rivier toen Kiandra zeven jaar oud was. Sindsdien probeerde haar vader haar telkens van het water vandaan te houden. Kiandra gaat mee met de vakantie dichtbij een rivier en al snel merkt ze dat er iets niet in de haak is. Ze krijgt allemaal vage beelden binnen van mensen die vermoord worden bij een rivier. Vroeger hoorde ze ook altijd enge stemmen van de doden als ze bij een rivier was, nu gebeurt dit weer. Kiandra komt erachter dat er meer achter de zelfmoord van haar moeder zit...
Dead River is een dun boek wat je binnen een mum van tijd uit hebt. Het lettertype is redelijk groot en de hoofdstukken zijn niet zo lang. Ook het niveau van Engels is niet al te hoog zodat je dit boek makkelijk kan lezen. Dit is een ideaal boek als je een middagje niets te doen hebt!
Laat ik eerst beginnen met de kaft. Die is zo eng, spannend en geheimzinnig! Een donkere omgeving, een duister huisje, een kale boom, water en mysterieuze angstaanjagende handen die uit het water lijken te komen. De kaft geeft een indrukwekkende uitstraling en past dan ook echt bij de inhoud van dit boek.
Een pluspunt aan dit boek was de spanning van de doden bij Dead River. Als lezer krijg je al snel vragen bij je op: Hoe kan Kiandra de doden horen/zien, wat schuilt er achter de zelfmoord van haar moeder en hoe kan ze deze enge beelden laten stoppen? Deze vragen krijg je al in het begin van het boek waardoor je wel door moet lezen omdat je erg nieuwsgierig wordt naar het einde van het boek.
Minpunten waren er ook. De personages waren niet heel uitgewerkt en ik kon alleen met Kiandra meeleven. Balog heeft waarschijnlijk dit boek wat afgeraffeld, aangezien ik niet het idee had dat dit boek compleet was. Het einde was dan ook best abrupt en snel.
Hoewel er minpunten zijn, heb ik toch best genoten van dit boek. De spanning zat er best in, het was geheimzinnig en het leest redelijk soepel. Een redelijk boek dus, alleen had Balog er wel iets beters van kunnen maken.
http://nerdygeekyfanboy.blogspot.nl/2014/08/recensie-dead-river.html
Dead River is een dun boek wat je binnen een mum van tijd uit hebt. Het lettertype is redelijk groot en de hoofdstukken zijn niet zo lang. Ook het niveau van Engels is niet al te hoog zodat je dit boek makkelijk kan lezen. Dit is een ideaal boek als je een middagje niets te doen hebt!
Laat ik eerst beginnen met de kaft. Die is zo eng, spannend en geheimzinnig! Een donkere omgeving, een duister huisje, een kale boom, water en mysterieuze angstaanjagende handen die uit het water lijken te komen. De kaft geeft een indrukwekkende uitstraling en past dan ook echt bij de inhoud van dit boek.
Een pluspunt aan dit boek was de spanning van de doden bij Dead River. Als lezer krijg je al snel vragen bij je op: Hoe kan Kiandra de doden horen/zien, wat schuilt er achter de zelfmoord van haar moeder en hoe kan ze deze enge beelden laten stoppen? Deze vragen krijg je al in het begin van het boek waardoor je wel door moet lezen omdat je erg nieuwsgierig wordt naar het einde van het boek.
Minpunten waren er ook. De personages waren niet heel uitgewerkt en ik kon alleen met Kiandra meeleven. Balog heeft waarschijnlijk dit boek wat afgeraffeld, aangezien ik niet het idee had dat dit boek compleet was. Het einde was dan ook best abrupt en snel.
Hoewel er minpunten zijn, heb ik toch best genoten van dit boek. De spanning zat er best in, het was geheimzinnig en het leest redelijk soepel. Een redelijk boek dus, alleen had Balog er wel iets beters van kunnen maken.
http://nerdygeekyfanboy.blogspot.nl/2014/08/recensie-dead-river.html
asimilarkite's review
2.0
Review written for WASHYARG:
Ever since Ki’s mother walked into a river and committed suicide, her father has been incredibly over-protective. All kinds of water (rivers, lakes, even swimming pools) are just off limits to Ki, which is why she’s incredibly nervous that her boyfriend, Justin, and best friend, Angela, have decided to go white-water rafting on the Dead River instead of going to prom. Ki’s not really an outdoorsy girl anyway, so when she starts having visions of strange people no-one else seems to be able to see, all Ki really wants to do is go home to her nice warm bed and running water. It seems, however, that the river has other plans. Though there is a deliciously creepy setting, Balog’s novel never really finds its footing, and it teeters on the edge of horror and paranormal romance. Because of this, the book never really finds its audience; it is too scary for paranormal romance fans, and too romantic for horror buffs. Ultimately, the thin character development combined with these factors makes this novel a shrug.
Ever since Ki’s mother walked into a river and committed suicide, her father has been incredibly over-protective. All kinds of water (rivers, lakes, even swimming pools) are just off limits to Ki, which is why she’s incredibly nervous that her boyfriend, Justin, and best friend, Angela, have decided to go white-water rafting on the Dead River instead of going to prom. Ki’s not really an outdoorsy girl anyway, so when she starts having visions of strange people no-one else seems to be able to see, all Ki really wants to do is go home to her nice warm bed and running water. It seems, however, that the river has other plans. Though there is a deliciously creepy setting, Balog’s novel never really finds its footing, and it teeters on the edge of horror and paranormal romance. Because of this, the book never really finds its audience; it is too scary for paranormal romance fans, and too romantic for horror buffs. Ultimately, the thin character development combined with these factors makes this novel a shrug.