Leah’s Review of “The Mountain of Souls” by Marcus Lee

By: Leah

Originally posted on Leah’s Books.

The Mountain of Souls

• Author: Marcus Lee
• Genre: Fantasy
• Publication Date: February 23, 2023
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Series: The Chosen #1

Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Plot Summary

Only the strong survive!

When Malina is sold at an auction block, she fears life will take a turn for the worse.

But even her darkest nightmares are nothing compared to the reality of what she faces when she’s delivered to the Mountain of Souls.

Thrust into a brutal selection process where failure means death, Malina must train and fight not only to survive but to prove herself worthy to serve.

The risks are deadly, but if she succeeds, the rewards are beyond measure, and a destiny unlike any other awaits as one of The Chosen.

The Chosen. A thrilling and intricately spun Epic Fantasy that weaves a relentless fight for survival into a tapestry full of conquest, deception, magic, and an ancient prophecy that will determine the fate of the human race.

Overall Impression

I hadn’t heard anything about this book, but I was offered the opportunity to review the audiobook by the author, and it came at just the right time—I was searching for a new audiobook to listen to, so I jumped at the chance. And this was one of those opportunities that worked out beautifully.

To start with, Sierra Kline did a fantastic job as a narrator. She kept me engaged throughout the story, and brought the characters to life perfectly. It made it easy to keep listening and not lose track of the story, like I sometimes do when listening to an audiobook. IYKYK.

I was quickly pulled into the storyline, and at first, I had a lot of questions about what was going on. Lee never info dumps, but rather lets a little bit of information out at a time, as Malina herself learns more information. She goes straight from an auction block to the Mountain of Souls, a savage and bloodthirsty environment where she has to struggle through tasks to survive. As she progresses through the tasks, she and her fellow Chosen are told that they are there to help The Once and Future King return to rule.

But as she learns more about the Mountain of Souls and what it means to be one of The Chosen, she starts to question what she’s told. They’re taught to obey, and questioning isn’t exactly encouraged. It started to seem an awful lot like brainwashing from the outside, and I began to get an idea of how cults are formed, which only made the story more intriguing. Not to mention that there’s magic added into the mix, and the world building in this story was done really well. It wasn’t anything like I’ve seen before, and I was curious to see where it would go. 

There’s a lot of action in the story, and the characters are constantly on the edge of life and death for much of the book. It was fast-paced, and I couldn’t stop listening. And by the time I came to the end of the book, I was ready to start the next one right away. Now to get my hands on a copy of it!