I loved this book. I feel like it’s almost a disappointment that it’s a series, because it is such a perfect stand-alone I don’t want to even know that the story continues. While I feel like there were some minor gaps in Ender’s character development (how he goes from being sympathetic towards the teachers to hating them), he was a wonderful character, as were the rest of the characters in the book. Ender’s siblings were especially fascinating, and I liked that they got their own storylines. For being brilliant, they were still relatable. The plot, however, was the shining point for me.  It was creative, perfectly paced, and had unforeseen twists and turns. Even though this is a book about young children, it is definitely not a children’s book. It is not written in a simple manner and there is actually some mature content, especially when it comes to violence and verbal abuse.