A Corner of White by Jacyln Moriarty (The Colours of Madeleine #1)

Madeleine and her mother have run away from their rich lifestyle and her father for mysterious reasons. Now living in a tiny apartment in Cambridge and eating beans for dinner every night, Madeleine's mother is determined to win a quiz show to make their lives better. Meanwhile, Madeleine is waiting for her father to show up and fix everything.
In the Kingdom of Cello, Elliot searches for his father who may or may not have been killed by a third-level Purple. In Cello, colours have power and one may have taken off his father and killed his uncle.
The two places are never suppose to meet but, thanks in a crack in the kingdom, there is a way to for Elliot to communicate with the World and with Madeleine in particular.

First, I love Jaclyn Moriarty. She is one of my favorites so I was pretty excited for her new fantasy/contemporary series. I found the concept of sentient and destructive colors really good and it's what attracted me to this book in the first place. The Kingdom of Cello is sort of Jasper Fforde without going full Jasper Fforde.

In a way, Elliot and Madeleine's loss of both their fathers, though it happens differently for each, parallels each other and I think a bond will be created in them looking for their fathers. One literally, the other metaphorically.  Elliot and Madeleine are both great characters and it's nice to see a good character arc for both in this book alone, so I wonder how the series is going to expand on their relationship. You have to love a series where the first book sets up the main mystery but doesn't do it with a last scene cliffhanger. It's going to be a steady mystery, I think.