Book Review: Dead River by Cyn Balog

Dead River

By Cyn Balog

Release Date: April 9, 2013

Source: Publisher

Summary: 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.

Review: I don't ever read thrillers or scary books. I'm one of the people who get scared to death watching scary movies. So going into this one that's described as a "creepy paranormal thriller," I was a bit nervous. 

Ki hasn't set foot near water since her mother walked out into a river and never came back. So when her friends want to go to a cabin on Death River for the weekend instead of going to prom, Ki decides to join in and lie to her dad. But Ki soon learns that there may have been more to why she's never been allowed by water. As ghost stories turn far too real, Ki doesn't know how she's going make it through the day, let alone the entire weekend. 

In the beginning, I was a bit freaked out by this book. I started it at night, with only my bedside lamp on, so I was in absolutely no state to be reading something even remotely scary. But I did it anyways. That's why I think I was so creeped out by the place Ki was staying and the weird things that would show up in her life. Either way, the author did a great job creating such a creepy atmosphere using just her words. 

I missed the whole "paranormal" part of the description, so when that stuff started to pop up, I wasn't as scared by the book as I was when I thought it was going to be a realistic fiction thriller. Either way, though, the story still grabbed my attention and only had a couple of slow moments. I actually really liked the whole ghost/paranormal aspect, especially since I had no idea what could possibly be paranormal from the summary. It added a lot more to the story and I couldn't wait to see how it all turned out. 

I really liked Ki's character and how her boyfriend and her best friend went on the trip with her. All of the characters were perfect for this story, even Hugo, the annoying guy Ki's best friend invited so she didn't have to be the third wheel. While this book won't be the next must-read in YA books, I still enjoyed the thrilling tale the author had to offer.