Songs of the Earth by Elspeth Cooper

This book is a fantasy story about Gair, an orphan who has magical powers--that mark him as a witch. There were some interesting elements (especially the idea that the church has something to hide in the history of its rise to power). However, the book felt very repetitive: lots of ideas from other series (from the Wheel of Time, to Star Wars, to Lord of the Rings). While I understand that lots of fantasy tropes are repeated from series to series, there wasn't a lot of originality in the ways that Cooper used them. Also, the main romantic pairing of the book was off: technically the relationship was forbidden by the rules of the school--a point that was made much of until people in charge found out about the relationship--and then it didn't matter at all. I'll be interested to see where this series goes, but I certainly hope it improves.