Interesting. The opening bit was... different than I expected, but ultimately fit into the story. For most of the book, it was just fun being in the early Enderverse and seeing how Bean's story meshed with Ender's. And it worked very well.
I gave the book 5 stars as I was considering it as a companion piece to [b:Ender's Game|375802|Ender's Game (Ender's Saga, Book 1)|Orson Scott Card|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1214413570s/375802.jpg|2422333] - I think it would not work as well as a standalone. (Contrast with [b:March|13529|March|Geraldine Brooks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166565686s/13529.jpg|2643796], which was fabulous all by itself.)
In any event, I had a good time, rushed through the book, and am excited about the rest of the series.