The Best Kind of Magic by Crystal Cestari (review)

Senior Amber Sand can see people’s soulmate with just a glance into their eyes, but her magical talents are a low rung on the spell-wielding ladder. Her witchy mom is much more powerful, so it’s surprising when Mom’s powers aren’t able to locate the missing fiancée of the Chicago mayor. Charlie, the mayor’s son and the most longed-for boy at Amber’s school, approaches Amber for help, wanting to know if his stepmom is his dad’s true match—and to keep her away if she’s not. It’s baffling that even after Amber sees that Cassandra is not the mayor’s true love, Charlie and Amber continue on a quest to find her, and the plot never overcomes this logical obstacle. The quirky magical underworld they go through during their quest is nonetheless entertaining, from a restaurateur vampire to a shape-shifting artist to a really, really angry goblin. Amber’s got character and snark to boot, whereas Charlie is pretty much a stick in the mud, making her angst over their romance frustrating and eventually boring. Her relationship with her mother, though certainly getting a briefer page count, is more complex, and Amber’s struggle to negotiate her mother’s very real disappointment will be familiar to many teens, supernaturally inclined or not. This would pair nicely with Lee’s The Secret of a Heart Note (BCCB 11/16) for a double dose of magical matchmaking.