When I was in High School I had a crush on a boy who shared my love of Fantasy novels. I introduced him to the world of the Wheel of Time and he in turn promised to lend me Eragon. He had a terrible reputation and was labelled as a "bad boy", while I was the ever dramatic teen who pined after people but enjoyed the drama too much to ever actually date them. So, when he finally got round to lending it to me, I was upset at him for some reason and tragically refused to take it. We went to different schools and he had passed it on to a mutual friend, he even sprayed it with his perfume. Cringe. Anyway, I refused to take it from her (mutual friend), asked her to give it back to him and vowed never to read it. Ever. 
 Eventually, I grew up, became slighty less dramatic and got over the whole incident. However, by then I felt I had outgrown Eragon and I didn't think I'd find much enjoyment in it. Now, 10 years later, I've been taking a trip down book memory lane and picking up books I've always wanted to read regardless of their genre or their age target. 
 My hunch was correct though, I have outgrown Eragon. Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely book, it accomplished what Anne McCaffrey set out to do with her Pern novels (Don't know what I'm talking about? Check my Pern review here ) but it was just too childish for me. Especially the beginning, which was drawn out in a slow world building fashion. Then you had your typical Heroic Fantasy elements. A nobody who suddenly discovers he's something special, a tragic event that starts him on his journey, the old wise man that tutors him, the ally he finds along the way to help him, etc. etc. etc. It didn't help that i was reading Gardens of the Moon at the same time, it accentuated Eragon's lackluster fantasy elements. 
 It's 2.5 stars, but I've bumped it up to 3 because it IS an enjoyable book for younger people and I would like to read it with my nieces, it's just a shame that I happened to read it at 27 rather than at 16 as intended!