Book: A Fortnight to Forever by Alycia E. Anderson
Reviewed by Halliday in the Books
Quinn is living with a curse. She spends a century asleep, then awakens for a fortnight, during which she must aid someone she finds with their quest. She’s stuck with them for that whole time, magically tethered to them. When they achieve their quest or when the two weeks run out, she returns to her sleep. It’s been this way for over 300 years now. She’s losing hope of ever breaking the curse. This time when she awakes, she becomes tethered to the disgraced former knight, Mav, who doesn’t even have a quest. How could he possibly be the one to finally help her?
I enjoyed this one enough to give it a second read within only a couple months. My first read through (the beta version) was in October, and I read the ARC version at the beginning of December. It was really cool to see the story evolving into its final form. It was especially fun seeing my own feedback incorporated. The end result is a book that’s absolutely incredible.
Fantasy, adventure, and romance roll together into an exciting, squeal-inducing narrative. It reminded me of my days swooning over The Swan Princess as a kid, dreaming about my own happily ever after, or perhaps The Princess Bride. The flawless banter, the found-family bonds, and the epic love story are all there. I’m learning to expect all of those in Anderson’s books, along with amazing animal companions. In this one, Vesper makes me think of Salem the cat from Sabrina the Teenage Witch. (Can you tell I’m a 90s kid?)
I really loved the world in this one as well as the unique magic system, but the characters were my favorite aspect. Even the most minor characters are distinct and recognizable, but they don’t become cartoonish. This is a dual POV story, and character voices are strong enough that a reader would easily know whose perspective they’re reading even without the beautiful chapter headers. Both lead characters are extremely loveable, and so is the rest of their adventuring party. I lost track of how many times I noted “we all need friends like Thistle.”
If you grew up dreaming of becoming a Disney princess, but picked up a heavy sarcasm habit instead, this is the love story you’ve been waiting for. This may well be Anderson’s greatest work so far. I can’t wait for the whole world to get to read this one, and I can’t wait to read what Anderson writes next!