Voice of Power by Melanie Cellier

 Elena is a shop keeper's daughter from a small town.  Her society is ruled by powerful mages that use written compositions to harness and direct magic to do their bidding. Commoners are not even allowed to learn to read or write.  When Elena unwittingly unleashes a spoken "composition" to save her family business from looters, her act of power is discovered and she is taken to the mage school for further study and training. At the school, Elena is overwhelmed by the level of wealth and privilege that her mage-born classmates take for granted. As she gradually learns to use her unique skills, she is seen by some as a national threat.  She has to stay on her toes, and accept the aid of a few new friends to even stay alive. 

If you were to ask me who some of my favorite authors are I probably wouldn't list Melanie Cellier at the top of the list, but somehow I manage to read a great number of her books. This is the first I have read in an older series outside of the world of her fairytale retellings.  It is a pretty classic "magic school" story, but I enjoyed it anyway.  It has the stock characters you would expect: the kind girl who befriends the outcast, the cheeky boy who joins their social group because of interest in the kind girl, and the quiet and intimidating prince who internally fights against his attraction to Elena, but outwardly tries to wear a mask of indifference.  There is the older gentleman kindly mentor, the strict but fair lady teacher, and the kindly younger school nurse. If you say that those characters all sound familiar, you would be right.  There is not much that is original here, but it was still fun to read and I will probably read the next in the series. (2018, 312 p)