Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Secondhand Luck by Kim Harrison Narrator: Marguerite Gavin
Series: The Shadow Age #2
Published by Ace, Penguin Audio on February 10, 2026
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 480
Length: 15 hours, 55 minutes
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
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Itās been months since Petra Grady bonded with the shadow Pluck. With the help of researcher Benedict Strom, she has made a place for herself at St. Unoc University as the first weaver to use shadow magic in a thousand years. But some are not happy to acknowledge the new shadow/weaver pair, and Petra and Pluck arenāt surprised when theyāre blamed for every recent trouble.
When a new weaver is drawn to St. Unoc, Pluck quickly realizes the novice magic user has not come alone. Trailing her is Thoth, a devious shadow responsible for betraying his own kind and setting mage against weaver thousands of years ago. His goal hasnāt changed, and when Thoth turns both the mage courts and the university against Petra, she and Pluck must risk everything to uncover a truth that even Pluck has forgotten.
Shadows, though, have earned their terrifying reputation, and if Petra canāt prove her and Pluckās innocence and capture Thoth, any hope of balance will be goneātaking Pluck and her with it.
The Shadow Age is a new series with a complex magic system.Ā I’m leaving the world building information I wrote here from the first book. But it is better to read these books in order.
The setting is a smaller university town just east of Tucson, Arizona.Ā It seems a bit odd the main character is Petra Grady which has a Scandinavian feel, while it is actually Greek and Irish origins.Ā Anyway, Petra is a likely urban fantasy heroine with her parents gone, and her skills a bit odd.
Petra is at the bottom of mage society as a sweeper.Ā Mages doing magic produce dross (light). Sweepers don’t do actual magic but clean up the dross after mages.Ā Spinners can do a bit of magic relating to containment of dross.Ā So Petra is a superior sweeper but can’t do magic.Ā Ā Her mentors are spinners and more experienced sweepers who run the vault where all the collected dross is stored and shadows are destroyed.
Benedict Strom is a mage from her childhood. He has a project to make dross inert so it doesn’t have to be stored.Ā He hurt Petra’s feelings in childhood. Benedict wants Petra on his project team, but she thinks it is dangerous.
In Three Kinds of Lucky we learned about the long forgotten weavers. They don’t kill shadows because they can control them.Ā Petra learns to weave but has to avoid mages knowing because they want to control any power.Ā Benedict works with her though and they start to build a relationship.
Now they are looking for more weavers, along with their friends to help control or get along with shadows so they don’t blow up all the vaults.Ā Ā They find a reluctant one, but a malevolent shadow starts hurting people and blowing up vaults, setting up Petra and her shadow Pluck as the ones who did it.
Most of the book is hiding, learning, trying to keep people safe and figuring out how to contain the Thoth the one who has been rupturing the vaults.Ā Petra is evolving her skill to be something different- not sweeper, weaver, mage or shadow.Ā She is more connected with the world, both dark and light.
There are some battles with the military group and the university heads but eventually, they all learn Thoth is the problem, not Petra or Pluck.Ā They would still like to control them though.
Narration:
I’ve always enjoyed Marguerite Gavin as a narrator.Ā The narration of Secondhand Luck felt much more comfortable in tome than the previous book.Ā Ā I was already settled into all the voices for the characters and enjoyed the performance.Ā I was able to listen at 1.6x instead of the 1.3x speed I needed for the first book.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Marguerite Gavin
Marguerite Gavin is a seasoned theater veteran, a five-time nominee for the prestigious Audie Award, and the winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones and Publishers Weekly awards. Marguerite has been an actor, director, and audiobook narrator for her entire professional career, and has over four hundred titles to her credit.
About Kim Harrison
Kim Harrison, author of the New York Times #1 best selling Hollows series, was born in Detroit and lived most her her life within an easy drive. After gaining her bachelors in the sciences, she moved to South Carolina, where she remained until recently returning to Michigan because she missed the snow. She’s currently working on the Peri Reed Chronicles, and when not at her desk, Kim is most likely to be found landscaping her new/old Victorian home, in the garden, or out on the links.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 26-Audio
- 26-COYER
I read the first book and enjoyed it, but I wasn’t even aware of this second book! Thanks for putting it on my radarš
Sure, urban fantasy is my top genre.
Iām a fan of Marguerite Gavin, too. Wasnāt she also the narrator for The Hollows? Glad youāre enjoying this new series, Anneš
yes she was the narrator for the Hollows. She also narrated a bunch of Dana Stabenow mysteries I liked.
It’s been a while since I read the first one.
That’s the normal with a year between books. It makes it hard sometimes.
Great review Anne. I enjoyed this one and love how Petra is evolving.
Thanks. It’s felt a bit chaotic maybe since the books are a year apart.
Sounds like a good new series for you. Great review!
Thank you Lisa. I’m not sure how I feel about this series overall. It’s kind of odd.
Sounds like a complex but cool world