Thank you Netgalley and Michem Publishing for the chance to read Becoming Crone by Lydia M. Hawke. I was drawn to reading this because the main character was turning 60; and it was wonderful to finally be able read about someone who is basically my age! Claire is a divorced grandmother, who feels like life is just slipping away. On the night of her 60th birthday she is given an antique pendant, which changes her life, and allows her to become Crone. This was a fabulous start to a new urban fantasy series with Wiccan and Arthurian lore. Its a fast, and easy read; with action right from the start.....and some really creepy scenes with garden gnomes! Looking forward to diving in to the 2nd book!!!!

With thanks to Netgalley and Michem publishing for my ARC, this review is my own opinions.

Firstly, I want to say how refreshing it is to read a story where the heroine is sixty instead of sixteen. I enjoyed reading about Claire’s journey from being a self doubting, divorced, (ex)wife, mother and grandmother to accepting that she was Crone.

Claire’s companions Lucan and Keven are pure magic. I look forward to the story being fleshed out more in future books in the series.

I love the premise of this book. It's a traditional Urban Fantasy Chosen One story, with the twist that our chosen one is 60 years old.

Every moment of this book felt like it was firmly Doylist with no Watsonian. Doylist = something happens in the story because that's what the author wanted to happen. Watsonian = something happened in the story because the characters made it happen, because the sequence of events made it happen. The scenes never felt like they were happening because of who the characters were. It felt like it was happing because this was the next plot beat on the outline.

Thanks to Netgalley and IBPA for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.

This was a okay book just couldn't get into the story.
Claire on her 60 birthday she meets a gargolye and a wolf shifer and find out she a whitch and gaurdian to save the world from evil.
Voluntarily reviewed.

I spotted this on Netgalley and requested it out of sheer curiosity. ('The Crone Wars' - how could I resist?!)

Claire has spent her life making herself small and fitting in around her husband and son. But turning sixty coincides with the dawning of her powers.

I enjoyed finding out about Claire's powers (although, I got a bit impatient with her standing around going 'what?' at key moments). The magical aspects were entertaining and interesting. The gargoyle and the wolf-shifter were great side characters. All in all it was really good fun. I liked that she was an older and (arguably) wiser 'chosen one'.

I will keep an eye out for the rest of the series.

I read an ARC through Netgalley (thank you!). This is my honest review.

Becoming Crone
4 Stars

I was very intrigued by the non-traditional book blurb. It was awesome having an ass-kicking grandma as the main character. This is the first time I've read Hawke's work, but I'm impressed. This book follows Claire's journey as she finds her path in Becoming Crone. She's going to have to dig deep and find the confidence to believe in herself. I loved the interesting side characters, magic, and action scenes!

Overall, Becoming Crone was a pretty solid read. I've reduced my star ranking due to pacing issues. The beginning of this book starts off too slowly, but once the story gets moving, I quickly become hooked. There isn't any romance, but several budding friendships. I will look forward to the next book. Thank you, NetGalley and Michem Publishing, for an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

It’s really great to see an older female protagonist, especially in a witchy story like this. I do wish that the vocabulary was a little better, but overall the plot was good. Hope to see more books like this in the future.

I read this on a whim because it was free on NetGalley, and this was actually pretty great! The pace was fast and kept me hooked, and I enjoyed how author leaned into the ridiculousness of some of the plot elements (animated, chomping garden gnomes being defeated by cat carrier!??). The story had a satisfying arc while setting up well for the rest of the series. Overall--a really fun read!

A big thank you to NetGalley and Michem Publishing for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. I am in my 60's and thought I would love this book, as the heroine is also in her 60's. I just couldn't get into it. Not exactly sure why-but for me this was almost a did not finish. I really had to push to keep reading. I did like that Claire's world expanded, and she was starting to realize she could be the hero. Maybe it was my mood-but I do think this book is worth a try. 3 stars

I am always delighted to come across heroines of a certain age who feature in fantasy adventure stories, especially as I’ve now also reached that certain age. That said, I’m allergic to the trope whereby they suddenly have access to an elixir that helps them overcome creaking joints and smooths out the wrinkles. Or find themselves wielding a magic sword with the skill and ease of a thirty-something swordmaster. So my track record with this sub-genre is a tad patchy.

I’m delighted to report that Claire is none of the above. In fact, at the start of the book she is hosting her own sixtieth birthday party with nothing much to celebrate. Her ex-husband has left her for a much younger woman with whom he has started a second family, her son and daughter-in-law are increasingly treating her as an elderly nonentity and she feels as if she’s spent her life putting everyone else first with not much to show for it. The problem is – on the cusp of becoming properly old, she has no idea what she really wants for herself… This could have been a really dismal opening, but for Claire’s wry humour which I found very appealing. The story starts quite slowly, something I didn’t mind as it gave me plenty of opportunity to bond with Claire. This is important, as she narrates the tale in first-person viewpoint.

However, once the action does start rolling it quickly picks up speed. I liked the fact that her transition from the normal everyday to the fantastic isn’t smooth or easy. Her attempts at magick are either non-existent or overwhelming to the point of catastrophic and she’s hopeless in any physical fight. Although she does have a gorgeous werewolf protector and a gargoyle assigned to train her. Hawke writes action vividly with some nicely original touches – I’ll never look at a garden gnome in the same way again – and while the shafts of humour continue, there is also loss and heartbreak.

Claire’s journey throughout the book is well handled, so that I believed in the character throughout. I’m keen to continue reading this series to discover what happens next. And the bonus is that the next two books are already available, so I won’t have to wait to tuck into A Gathering of Crones. Highly recommended for urban fantasy fans who enjoy older protagonists. While I obtained an arc of Becoming Crone from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10

We’ve all read contemporary fantasy stories about witches finding out they are the chosen one who will defeat the big bad, but have you ever read a story where the chosen one was sixty years old?

When I heard that the main character of this book, Claire, was sixty, I knew I needed to check it out. It was so intriguing to me to have a character who could both be a grandma and a beginner in her own world-changing plot.

This book opens up on Claire’s 60th birthday, just as strange things are beginning to happen. There are a whole bunch of crows in Claire’s front yard. Her grandson gifts her a magnifying glass charm that one of her neighbors really wants to take from her. Then, the next morning, the charm reveals to her an address leading her to a house, a gargoyle, a (hot) werewolf, and the knowledge that she is Crone? That’s a lot for a sixty year old woman!

I thought the plot to this book was so interesting, especially when we introduced who exactly the big bad was and why they are big and bad. I’ve definitely seen these sorts of concepts in other media, but I’ve never seen them applied to a contemporary fantasy, making this book feel fresh and exciting!

I’m definitely picking up the next book in the series and finding out what else happens to Claire as she grows into her magick and takes down the impossible!

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

Growing old is not for the faint at heart. Especially if the heart does not know they have magical powers and needs to save the world. Claire is a demure stay at home mom turned grandmother. She lived under her husband's thumb until he cheats and leaves. For some life begins at 30, for Claire it starts at 60.

I am so excited to read the remaining books in the series. This was a breath of fresh air. We need more heroines that are atypical. Brava!!

The description of this book had me sold! A fated birthday gift from her grandson sets Claire’s life upside down at age 60. The main character, a woman who has lost her own voice in her marriage, motherhood, and the pressures of society, discovers a side of herself that she didn’t even realize she had suppressed. Helped by her best friend Edie, and frenemies Keven and Lucan, Claire needs to find women just like her to break a centuries old curse and save the world.

While I believe the vocabulary was a little limited, and I grew bored of the first person thoughts being cut off mid-sentence, the story grabbed me enough that I look forward to reading more of Claire’s adventure!

I liked the set up of this book.
An elderly (well, 60 years old) heroine, Claire a mythology with some well known parts bit with unknown added in and both a common (werewolf) and a less common (gargoyle) companion to the heroine.
The story progresses in a quite classic manner, the heroine meets her fate and slowly learns about it while she comes into her powers.
I do think Claire is a bit too dense about it though, and also a bit too unwilling to believe what’s in front of her. Then again, I like a story that’s not too easily predicted.
I like the language and the flow of the story.

FINALLY! Finally we have a world where those of us older than 35 can look forward to our coming years. Becoming Crone is interestingly enough, a coming of age story. Perhaps, a coming into age story. Is that a thing? Well, I’m making it a thing.

The first in a series of books by Lydia Hawke follows Claire. Claire has just celebrated her 60th birthday and is about to enter into the best years of her life, quite literally. A divorced woman whose husband cheated on her and left her for a younger woman, seems rather down and out at her 60th party, of which SHE had to host. Content to live out a quiet life, always being there for others but feeling constantly alone. With the help of her neighbor and friend, Edie, they prepared the house for guests. Her young grandson gave her a gift of a beautiful antique pendant. He bought it for her as it had a magnifying glass and he figured she wouldn’t need her abundance of reading glasses. In fact, he ended up stealing all of her reading glasses which forces her to use the pendant glass to read the following morning’s newspaper which in-turn started an entire magical chain of events. Soon Claire would be led to find an address that doesn’t exist, with a house that shouldn’t exist, and new friends that can’t possibly exist. Her life will be in danger but she will come into her own. She will claim her destiny and join a long line of powerful women who show why wisdom is not wasted on the young.

Blending traditions and folklore, magic and mystery, truth and the truth we don’t know exists, Becoming Crone will be an amazing addition to this writer’s home library. I will be purchasing copies for all of my friends as well as with all of the books in the series. Buy this book for the women in your life. Trust me, they need it.

I enjoyed that this book took a familiar premise, a woman discovering she is a witch for the first time, and put a spin on it by having the heroine be sixty. This is the first time I have read a book like that and found it was refreshing! I am twenty-six so I could not relate to some of the heroine’s age related struggles but I think this book would be really empowering for someone who is in their 50’s or 60’s because it is not often you see heroins kick butt in their sixties but that is exactly what happened in this book. The first few chapters were a little slow but once she discovers her magic the plot really picks up. There was a nice balance between world building, plot development and magic/action and I found myself compelled to keep reading and finished the book in one day.

Becoming Crone, by author Lydia M. Hawke, is the first installment in the authors The Crone Wars series. It's Claire Emerson 60th birthday and her entire world is about to be tuned on its head. She's alone thanks to husband who cheated on her. She needs reading glasses, and is worried about that 15 extra pounds that she's gained along with the hot flashes and menopause. But what's most disappointing is that Claire is not living her own life. She's living her life for someone who didn't have the courage to stay and make things right.

Even her friend Edie James has told her she needs to loosen up and bit and curse once in awhile. When her grandson, Braden, gifts Claire with a pendant that is supposed to help her read, to Claire's surprise, the pendant actually opens the gates to a house where she discovers a snarky gargoyle named Keven (female), and shifter named Lucan who claims he's her protector. Having spent her life denying her magic because of her own struggles, she's woefully unprepared and has to learn if she is going to be responsible for saving the world or condemning it.

When Claire struggles with her magic, her first instinct is to turn tail and run back to the safety of her home and her cat named Merlin. But when her next door neighbor is adamant about giving the pendant back, and a stranger man is seen in her neighborhood, Claire starts to realize that nothing is normal or will be ever again. When her home is burned to the ground, and her best friend is murdered, Claire realizes that years of ignoring her magick has put her in a difficult role as the so called Crone who is supposed to lead others in a war against Morok.

In fairness, I don't believe that Claire is a Mary Sue. If you read the back story, you will learn some key facts about her, and how she really should have known about her best friend, and others in town who could have helped her. I would love to see what happens next, and hope that the publisher who gave me access to this title also puts the next installment up for request.

I really enjoyed this magical world in which an older woman is the heroine. Just when she thinks her world is falling apart, she finds that her worldview is actually expanding and she is a star! I love her guardians and instructors Keven and Lucan. Claire's inner turmoil, from disbelief and doubt, to feelings of ineptitude and loss, are so true to life that you feel it with her. This is such a great story that you just can't help but be pulled in and find yourself running with Claire and her crew. Not only couldn't I put it down, but now I must continue the story because I need to know what happens next!

I’d been eyeing this series for a while since I really enjoy the new more “mature” main character genre. Add to that really enjoying this author’s writing, I jumped at the chance to read this. It didn’t take long to absolutely become enamored with Claire and her struggles with starting over at 60 and the aches and pains of…ahem…old age. Add in mysterious crows, evil garden gnomes, a snarky gargoyle, and a handsome shapeshifter, you have an excellent way to spend a few hours. I loved this series starter, and I’m hoping to read the rest soon. Highly recommend.