I read this out loud to my family while traveling in the car on summer vaction. It was engrossing. I did find that we wanted to know what Artemis was up to, how was he going to accomplish his goals and would the LEP prevent him from achieving his plan. The book is sprinkled with humorous interactions between a cast of colorful charaters both human and non-human). The value of the book should be measured by itself and not against "Harry Potter." It delivers on all promises to the reader.