On the dark side, the text is sometimes not easy to understand. This is definitely no book for beginners, such as the one offered by the Head First series. The catalog of the errata page is quite long too, especially for the first prints.
All in all, the book which was published in 2005, is surely not a primer. It could also be used as a reference later in your career, but you might initially need a lower level text to read, before actually attempting to sit for the exam.