Going into this book, I had heard how horrible the pacing was. Actually, reading it, I was pleasantly surprised at how fast everything actually moved. The large cast of characters sometimes was too much, and I forgot that some existed at times, but by the end, they were all fleshed out and interesting. It was a bit of a hard read with outdated language and hard to interpret sentences, but very rewarding. The main two issues were the overuse of song and the unfortunate descriptions of non-white characters. Overall, it was very engaging despite what I had been told and a great improvement on the Hobbit. I was surprised at the great use of horror when describing Gollum, the Black Riders, and the Watcher, especially for a non-horror centric story. Tolkien’s clear hatred of industrialism and love of nature is evident throughout with his reverence for the trees echoing through every description of them, and are there many of them. The queerness of Frodo and Sam’s relationship is also very intriguing, and I can’t wait for that to develop when I read the other books.

Sam and Frodo 🩷 I really love being on an adventure with all of these characters. I do wish Arwen specifically was as involved as she is in the movies…

A very enjoyable read. A fun, classic, adventure. There is quite a bit of info-dumping and the reading is dense, but the overall experience is great

My gut says 3 ⭐️s so I am listening to her. I HAVE DONE IT. I HAVE DONE THE THING. This book has been on my TBR since at least 2014, realistically much longer. I listened to this on audio, since I could never seem to force my eyes to read it. It worked out well, although Rob Inglis singing to me will likely haunt my dreams for the foreseeable future. I didn't hate it. But I also knew all the plot beats from the movie, so who knows how I really feel about the book? I don't think I'm going to be continuing. 

The Lord of the Rings is, of course, a classic. It's very well written and beautiful with a spectacular world. That being said, it's not really my type of book. I tend to lean more towards emotional and character driven stories which isn't always what we get in the Lord of the Rings. The Lord of the Rings is more of an epic adventure than an emotional introspective story. I definitely did enjoy and appreciate it. I especially liked the way

Gandalf's "death" happens and the reactions to it. Really I liked a lot of the part where Gandalf was present, but unfortunately that was only the middle of the book.

I cannot be objective about this, but also it is just so good. The feeling of grief for the times long past, and the things they must do. 

Serkis is of course an excellent narrator as well.

Bilbo's parting song, Gimli leaving Lorien, Boromir's moment of temptation, Sam... just Sam... I love it and I definitely am not crying.