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Soul Survivors: Book 1
Mortal danger. Intimate, tender romance. A cycle of abuse to end. A paramilitary cult to escape.
Secret lovers Emmalee and Niko dream of a quiet life, but they’re born into a paramilitary cult—a violent patriarchy that breeds children as weapons-for-hire—and they hate it. If they dissent, they die, and their parents are brainwashed leadership.
Expectations are high for Niko, a son of executioners, and his dissociative PTSD sells his emotionless killer image. But Emmalee’s empathic sixth sense knows Niko’s truth; he’s actually a crybaby who hates violence. Similarly, the cult deems Emmalee useless due to her chronic illness, but Niko knows she’s the lion-hearted leader the world needs.
To prove her worth to the ableist world, Emmalee sabotages a cult superior’s deadly drug trial. Except Emmalee doesn’t know Niko’s darkest secret; the cult superior is also Niko’s sexual abuser.
When Niko’s abuser threatens not only them, but the entire nation with a dimension-altering experiment, Emmalee and Niko have to end the abuse cycle that imprisons the US without losing their lives—or each other.
With edge-of-your-seat suspense and prevailing love, Soul Survivors is Book 1 of a psychological thriller series following two survivors' journeys to escape a paramilitary nightmare.
Prepare for 10 exclusive illustrations by the author supercharge this emotional rollercoaster of a story.
Secret lovers Emmalee and Niko dream of a quiet life, but they’re born into a paramilitary cult—a violent patriarchy that breeds children as weapons-for-hire—and they hate it. If they dissent, they die, and their parents are brainwashed leadership.
Expectations are high for Niko, a son of executioners, and his dissociative PTSD sells his emotionless killer image. But Emmalee’s empathic sixth sense knows Niko’s truth; he’s actually a crybaby who hates violence. Similarly, the cult deems Emmalee useless due to her chronic illness, but Niko knows she’s the lion-hearted leader the world needs.
To prove her worth to the ableist world, Emmalee sabotages a cult superior’s deadly drug trial. Except Emmalee doesn’t know Niko’s darkest secret; the cult superior is also Niko’s sexual abuser.
When Niko’s abuser threatens not only them, but the entire nation with a dimension-altering experiment, Emmalee and Niko have to end the abuse cycle that imprisons the US without losing their lives—or each other.
With edge-of-your-seat suspense and prevailing love, Soul Survivors is Book 1 of a psychological thriller series following two survivors' journeys to escape a paramilitary nightmare.
Prepare for 10 exclusive illustrations by the author supercharge this emotional rollercoaster of a story.
426 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 15, 2024
4 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
River Kai
7 books22 followersRiver Kai is a thriller webcomic author turned sweet-but-spicy romance author. As a bisexual and transgender creator with disabilities, he specializes in Romance, LGBTQ+, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy fiction with mental health and disability representation, creating stories for readers like him to see they’re not alone.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 18, 2024
"In order to heal, you also have to let people love you, and to love openly."
Soul Survivors book 1 is the first novel written by River Kai that I've read and I'm immensely grateful that Niko and Em's story is what became my first ever Dystopian genre read. Thank for gifting me the ARC copy, River.
Nikolai Blackwood is a top ranking combat trainee, where he is born in a world that treats humans as weapons. Because of his tough exterior, he earns the nickname 'The Wolf' and keeping up the outward appearance, he lives up to his name. However, Niko is gentle and kind and no one really sees it than Emmalee Richards, an empath.
They are kindred souls who are forced to be apart because they are soulmates, because they genuinely get each other, when the whole messed up world that they are born into just tries to use and throw them.
This novel has chilling hints at the reality we live in- where everyone seems to be dispensable in a higher authority's game to attain more fame, more power and more money. River has brought out the struggles of feeling suffocated in a world that does not understand you and does not let you live true to your principles, ideals and beliefs. But, there is always hope and that one person who will go to the ends of the planet to be there for you.
"It takes just one person to point out that something is wrong, just a little bit of realization and introspection." You just have to be a Soul Survivor, not a sole survivor, in the war against all things unfair and unjust.
Soul Survivors book 1 is the first novel written by River Kai that I've read and I'm immensely grateful that Niko and Em's story is what became my first ever Dystopian genre read. Thank for gifting me the ARC copy, River.
Nikolai Blackwood is a top ranking combat trainee, where he is born in a world that treats humans as weapons. Because of his tough exterior, he earns the nickname 'The Wolf' and keeping up the outward appearance, he lives up to his name. However, Niko is gentle and kind and no one really sees it than Emmalee Richards, an empath.
They are kindred souls who are forced to be apart because they are soulmates, because they genuinely get each other, when the whole messed up world that they are born into just tries to use and throw them.
This novel has chilling hints at the reality we live in- where everyone seems to be dispensable in a higher authority's game to attain more fame, more power and more money. River has brought out the struggles of feeling suffocated in a world that does not understand you and does not let you live true to your principles, ideals and beliefs. But, there is always hope and that one person who will go to the ends of the planet to be there for you.
"It takes just one person to point out that something is wrong, just a little bit of realization and introspection." You just have to be a Soul Survivor, not a sole survivor, in the war against all things unfair and unjust.
November 27, 2025
(I read Soul Survivors on Kindle Unlimited after publication, not as an ARC/beta).
Soul Survivors is a gritty thriller/dystopian/romance blend that covers some tough but really important topics. As the title implies the FMC (Emmalee) and MMC (Niko) are both survivors. The MMC, Niko, is essentially an owned killing object by the government, and his own family. Emmalee and Niko have to go through so much, both together and apart.
The premise for Soul Survivors and the world is so interesting and relatable to survivors of all kinds, but I think will especially speak to those who deal with chronic illness, familial abuse, feeling owned/forced into life circumstances they cannot change.
My heart broke countless times for Niko and Emmalee, and I think River does an amazing job at bringing awareness and handling really hard issues with a lot of sensitivity. This project is written with love between every line, and it shows in the editing and consistency in the story. River's ability to describe tender moments between the hard ones makes people fall in love with not only the story but the fact that there is always hope, even in the darkness.
Soul Survivors is a gritty thriller/dystopian/romance blend that covers some tough but really important topics. As the title implies the FMC (Emmalee) and MMC (Niko) are both survivors. The MMC, Niko, is essentially an owned killing object by the government, and his own family. Emmalee and Niko have to go through so much, both together and apart.
The premise for Soul Survivors and the world is so interesting and relatable to survivors of all kinds, but I think will especially speak to those who deal with chronic illness, familial abuse, feeling owned/forced into life circumstances they cannot change.
My heart broke countless times for Niko and Emmalee, and I think River does an amazing job at bringing awareness and handling really hard issues with a lot of sensitivity. This project is written with love between every line, and it shows in the editing and consistency in the story. River's ability to describe tender moments between the hard ones makes people fall in love with not only the story but the fact that there is always hope, even in the darkness.
July 15, 2025
oh god where do I even start with this... this book moves fast like RIDICULOUSLY fast. It doesn't really make sense. the writing felt like filler until this author could insert another scene about literally every character being raped. These stories are important but this felt more like the author just wanted to write about rape. Also, this book gets weirdly pro-life towards the end which is just...no, not for me especially given the timeline isn't explicitly stated and is very confusing how much time is passing within the book after niko comes back. Tbh this entire book felt like propaganda for something and the one compliment i'll give is that the author did a great job hiding their true intentions with this story until the end.
October 20, 2024
This was an amazing dystopian romance, about two loss souls. They came together, trying to carve out a little slice of happiness for themselves. I thought the beginning was a bit rushed and confusing, but once the book picked up it was a great read.
October 27, 2024
Another great book by River Kai! The characters are written with so much empathy and feel like real people. The plot is fast paced with lots of twists and turns and romance. Highly recommend!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews