I added the original shelves and rating on July 19, 2010--around the time I joined Goodreads and was adding my collection. 
 Now I'm reading it aloud to my sons (14 and 12), something I've waited a long, long time to do. I hope they like it at least almost as much as I did, and I hope I still love it. 
 *EDIT, now that I've finished reading it to my sons* 
 I'm leaving my original rating of 5 stars, because I'm sure I felt that way about the book a few years ago when I added it, or at least when I initially read it, way back in the '90s. Sadly, if I were to rate it today, I wouldn't give it 5 stars. Maybe it's the extra 20ish years I have behind me now, along with a different perspective, a different title (mother), and the inevitable changes that we undergo as people. Or maybe it's the reading it aloud that lessened it for me, or heck, just reading it *again*, something I don't usually do. 
 My 12 year old would give it 3 stars. He found it too violent for his liking. He enjoys lighter, more humorous (and fantasy oriented) fare. Still, he was willing to read the sequel. 
 My 14 year old said it was okay, though he didn't like how most of the book was devoted to the build-up. Then the big build-up is just a small part of the book. He found it repetitive, all the battleschool skirmishes and such. 
 All that said, it's still a great book, and my whole family is looking forward to seeing the movie this fall.