Review: A Web of Obsidian

A Web of Obsidian by Lydia M. Hawke

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book so much that I've already pre-ordered the next in this series (at least, I hope it will be a series!) A Tangle of Obsidian, which will be published June 3, 2025. Thank goodness I don't have too long to wait!

What can you say about a book that has Mages, monsters, secret consortiums, magic, and a 69-year-old ex-nun protagonist?

This book kept me reading far past my bedtime. It was horrifying, mystifying, action-packed, and at the same time sad—so many losses.

The answers to Monica's problem/magic might have been in a journal but the journal was stolen by
Eldon Rusk, a billionaire. Yes, I typed that correctly, though we can all imagine just who the author was talking about!

I really can't describe the plot without giving things away and I'm sorry for that. However, for people of a certain age, this is a reminder that you are only as old as you allow yourself to be. At 69, Monica was a kick-ass heroine who cared about everyone but herself.

I loved this book, and it will be going on my comfort bookshelf. (These are books that I re-read at least yearly, sometimes more often!)

*ARC supplied by the publisher Michem Publishing/AbeBooks, the author, and NetGalley.



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SYNOPSIS: "She may be too old to start a fight, but she’s not too old to finish one.

At sixty-nine years old and with two black belts to her name, former nun Monica Barrett has never backed down from a fight. So when a woman turns up on her doorstep with an attacker on her heels, Monica is quick to step in.

But this assailant has powers—he moves with uncanny speed, strikes with brutal accuracy, and isn’t after the woman at all. Instead, he wants what she has: a smooth, flat piece of rock that she throws to Monica.

The instant she touches the stone, everything Monica has ever known turns upside down. Inhuman power surges through her and destroys her attacker. And that’s just the beginning.

More attacks follow–first on her home, then on the shelter she runs. Horrified, Monica is determined to rid herself of the stone and whatever it holds. But when it becomes clear that its dark power is all that stands between her and losing everything she holds dear, she may have no choice but to become its keeper.

And its wielder. "