I'm a sucker for stories about kids with superpowers - one of my favorite childhood games was pretending to have various "super" abilities. I liked this book - the pacing was good, it kept my attention, and while it didn't have a lot of action, I thought the character development was well done. I think its a good start. 
 If I take it from the usual YA standbys: Mysterious boarding school, check. You do have the catty mean girls, but they don't play as big a part in this as they would have in other books. They are just mean, and the heroine deals with it. Obligatory love triangle - check, I think it was done well, and the main character didn't keep throwing herself at the "bad boy", although whether the "good boy" is 100% good, I'm not so sure, but that's for future books. There is some teen angst, though, so be warned. 
 I thought the main character was believable, and it was well done for a set the stage book. I'll be reading book 2.