SURVIVING ON A WHISPER
Anniversary Edition
Surviving is never easy, especially for Arie:
a seventeen-year-old girl who ran away from home after a harrowing betrayal ruined her life. Now she’s a science experiment harboring a massive secret and running from those who want her power for their own vendettas. Stuck in a violent game of cat and mouse, Arie spends every moment evading Mr. Sark—the man representing the organization that would do anything to get their hands on what she’s hiding. Sark is driven, cruel, and desperate to prove himself, and every day he gets closer and closer to unraveling everything Arie is trying to protect.
One mistake on Arie’s part drags a civilian named Erika into the game. Arie is horrified to find Erika involved in Sark’s bloody hunt, and grapples with how to save them all. But Arie can’t do this on her own. She needs some help if she’s going to survive the secret looming over her head.
Walls crumble and lines between friend and enemy are blurred as Arie struggles to decide who to trust while trying to protect her secret and those she loves, knowing not everyone—including herself—can survive.
The anniversary edition of Surviving on a Whisper is more than just a rerelease with a couple extras in the back—it’s a complete rework of the original book. SoaW was first released in 2013, and received both positive and negative reviews. After several years, I realized I was beginning to get more bad reviews than good ones, and started paying attention to the recurring themes in what my readers were saying. By that time a few years had passed, and I had grown so much as a writer and a storyteller. I knew I could take the criticism and make SoaW so much better.
Once I finished the last books in the series, I went back and overhauled the entire first book, rewriting the entire thing and revising it several times over, until it became a book I was truly proud of and felt did Arie justice. The new version—dubbed the anniversary edition to celebrate five years since the original was released—came out in 2018. While a few copies of the original manuscript remain in circulation, the anniversary edition of Surviving on a Whisper is now the official first book in the series.
The Playlist
Music is a huge part of my existence, and always proves to be extremely instrumental in shaping the stories I write. This playlist is the compilation of songs that influenced Surviving on a Whisper—some of them helped put me in the mood, some inspired characters, while some lyrics gave me the idea for specific scenes.
Songs by chronology in the book:
- Unwell by Matchbox Twenty
- Broken (feat. Amy Lee) by Seether
- Just A Dream by Carrie Underwood
- Bring Me to Life by Evanescence
- Broken by Lifehouse
- My Immortal by Evanescence
- No Promises (feat. Demi Lovato) by Cheat Codes
- Demons by Imagine Dragons
- Dark Side by Kelly Clarkson
- I Know What You Did Last Summer (feat. Camila Cabello) by Shawn Mendes
- This is Home by Switchfoot
- Feels Like Home by Edwina Hayes
- Haunted (Acoustic Version) by Taylor Swift
- Heart of Stone by Iko
- The Moment I Knew by Taylor Swift
- Forever and Always (Piano Version) by Taylor Swift
- Call Me When You’re Sober by Evanescence
- What Can I Say? (feat. Sons of Sylvia) by Carrie Underwood
- To Build A Home by The Cinematic Orchestra
- Moving On by Michael Giacchino
Overall mood songs:
- The Middle by Jimmy Eat World
- What I’ve Done by Linkin Park
- Love the Way You Lie Pt. III by Skylar Grey
- Whatever It Takes by Lifehouse
I’ve always wanted to see Chicago. Sears Tower, Buckingham Fountain, Cloud Gate—the whole nine yards. I’d always imagined if I ever got the chance to go, I would’ve gone with my older brother. Out of the two of us, he was more adventurous, and his enthusiastic spirit would’ve given me the confidence to push myself out of my comfort zone and make something memorable. We would’ve had so much fun.
I’ve always imagined that if I ever saw Chicago, it would be on a trip with my best friend in the world, not while I was running for my life…READ MORE
I loved it! One of my favorites!
Reading “Surviving on a Whisper” kept me glued to the pages in this book. The problem: Came to the end of a chapter and couldn’t put it down.
Fantastic!
Very well written. It was captivating and intriguing; I couldn’t put it down! The characters came alive and I felt a bond with each one, I would definitely recommend this to friends and family.
a must read!!!!!!
…this was one of the best reads I have read in a long time. The way she kept you wondering and guessing I loved it. I was hooked after chapter one, and couldn’t wait to find out what happens next.
Other Books In The Series
SURVIVING THROUGH THE NIGHT
Life goes on. At least it’s supposed to. These days, Arie isn’t so sure.
She finally managed to escape Dalton’s grasp and find her way back to her makeshift family, but eight months is a long time to be away from home—Arie returns to find that the world kept on turning while she was gone. Alexis has been busy since Arie’s secret got out and she realizes that she’ll have to work harder than ever to keep the key away from him.
But Alexis isn’t the only problem. Dalton’s threat hangs over Arie, dictating her every move, which nobody else seems to understand. And when a sinister assassin begins tracking her down, Arie knows it’s only a matter of time before someone she loves gets hurt again. So the question remains: should she leave in an effort to keep her family safe or stay with those she loves to help them survive?
As danger closes in from all sides, Arie realizes more and more that she’s not who she used to be. Survival comes at a cost, a cost that changes people, a cost that changed Arie more than she’s willing to admit. But there’s something else lurking in the corners of her mind that’s threatening to take control. Her fight against the clock—against her engrained powers as the key—is nearly up. READ MORE
SURVIVING TO THE END
My name is Arie Nolan.
I am nineteen years old. I have blue eyes and dark hair and scarred arms. I’m an infected and I’m a person and I’m trying to figure out what that means.
My name is Arie. I am the key to the formula.
They’re trying to make me a monster.
I don’t want to be a monster.
Please don’t make me a monster. READ MORE
SURVIVING THE AFTER
We talk about the fight like it’s our life.
And in some ways, it is. It’s all we know. The fight against evil, the fight against monsters, the fight against ourselves. It can become everything because it can mean everything, mean life or death, for better or worse. The war consumes us until it becomes who we are.
But sometimes, no matter how long or hard we fight, no matter how much we need or deserve to win, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we lose. We have to live with that. And sometimes that’s a fight all on its own. Everyone talks about the fight. The victory. Nobody talks about the loss.
The after. READ MORE
Novellas in the series:
THE KIDS AREN’T ALL RIGHT
A Novella in the Arie’s Story Series
Not every story has a happy ending, but every story deserves to be told.
Meet Leslie. She’s a junior in high school out to make a reputation for herself that doesn’t revolve around her last name. After all, her mom is the most successful district attorney in the state, her older brother Peter is a star football player set on the fast track for scholarships, and her dad owns the biggest car dealership in town with eyes only for his son’s college ball. Leslie’s learned the hard way that most people—besides her best friends Amanda and Chet—want to be her friend for two reasons: money or Peter.
Leslie’s sick of the politics and superficiality that comes with the world she lives in, and she’s eager to leave it all behind. Just one more year and then she can get out of her suffocatingly huge home, go to a community college out of state, and work on her art, even though her mom would rather die than send her daughter anywhere other than Yale. Leslie feels trapped—trapped by her mom, trapped by her arrogant brother and his spiteful girlfriend, and trapped by society. She just wishes that something would change.
But then she gets caught in the middle of an act of revenge gone wrong, throwing her menial life into chaos. READ MORE
THE SCIENTIST
Free eBook
Life goes on. At least it’s supposed to. These days, Arie isn’t so sure.
She finally managed to escape Dalton’s grasp and find her way back to her makeshift family, but eight months is a long time to be away from home—Arie returns to find that the world kept on turning while she was gone. Alexis has been busy since Arie’s secret got out and she realizes that she’ll have to work harder than ever to keep the key away from him.
But Alexis isn’t the only problem. Dalton’s threat hangs over Arie, dictating her every move, which nobody else seems to understand. And when a sinister assassin begins tracking her down, Arie knows it’s only a matter of time before someone she loves gets hurt again. So the question remains: should she leave in an effort to keep her family safe or stay with those she loves to help them survive?
As danger closes in from all sides, Arie realizes more and more that she’s not who she used to be. Survival comes at a cost, a cost that changes people, a cost that changed Arie more than she’s willing to admit. But there’s something else lurking in the corners of her mind that’s threatening to take control. Her fight against the clock—against her engrained powers as the key—is nearly up. READ MORE
EMILEE KING
YA AUTHOR
Emilee King really loves to write fictional stories, she really hates to write biographies. All you need to know is she collects Sharpies, belongs in the Slytherin house, and will be on Team Cap forever. She lives in [LOCATION BLOCKED] with her laptop, where she writes, binges Netflix, and does secret agent work on the side (obviously).
Read twenty random facts about Emilee
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