I read this because I was considering writing a Middle grade book myself, and wanted to go to someone that handles the whole situation rather well. 
 This book was well written, and the author does a really great job of teaching the reader about the mythology. He's really got that aspect of his stories sorted out, and there's no complaints there! 
 Unfortunately, this just wasn't my "thing". The humour didn't tickle me, I didn't enjoy the action, and it had the issue of inconsistent power levels which always irks me. 
 A good book, that I'd happily recommend to others, and can definitely see the appeal (especially to a slightly younger audience), but it was lost on me because of ME.