was gonna rate this 4.5, but had to go for the full 5 stars - this has always been my favorite of the films, and i’m so happy to have finally read the book. i was very intimidated by the size, but found it on audible narrated by andy serkis (gollum’s voice actor for the films, and an incredible performer) and it MADE the book for me. seriously, please listen to him read this. i don’t gravitate towards audiobooks, but i adored it! it really helped me keep track of everyone and their distinct personalities, and this is coming from a huge movie fan. overall, i can see why this has the classic status it does and can’t wait to continue! ps: i want to be an elf now

Andy Serkis' performance really gives a new experience of the text- his ability to accent characters and differentiate voices is helpful, and his emotional reading- tense when action is at its height, smooth when the story flows unharried- is one I found myself thoroughly enjoying. 

I love this book with my whole heart, and this time, reading it slower, and annotating quotes, I loved it even more. 

well, controversially, i enjoyed this more than the hobbit.

tolkien is called "the father of fantasy" but i wouldn't say this is one of the best fantasy books out there, it was just fine. the plot was good, however the execution was disappointing. tolkien's writing was dull for me, especially in the first part. as i read through the book, no doubts, i was getting more intrigue with the storyline. there are also no doubts that tolkien's writing style grew more to me. personally, i prefer the second part more. i thought it had a better execution than the first part.

regardless, i guess you could say that i enjoyed the book despite on how slow it is.

Thoughts
Where to start... This was boring. The first half of this book was so slow, so dragged out it was really hard to get into. At the start I like that it was told in a fairytale like way but I got over it very quickly.

I love Gandalf in the films but in the books he was a bit obnoxious which I didn't love.

The plot line also followed the same pattern which got old very fast. So yeah not much nice things to say about this.

The world was very descriptive and expansive which is good but the descriptions by the end got old.

So yeah overall average read. But I'm glad I read it because I can see where some current day fantasies got inspiration.

Content Warning
Violence, Grief

Absolutely loved this reread. I can't recommend this audio enough! Andy Serkis nails all the voices and emotions; it was perfection.

I haven't read this trilogy since I was in middle school, though I've seen the movies multiple times. I really only remembered the main difference being the addition of Tom Bombadil and all the singing (which, on the audiobook, is actually singing! with melodies! Andy Serkis is a great singer!). I'd forgotten how many of the funny lines from the movies are directly from the books. If I'm remembering correctly, I think the first movie is the one that stays truest to the book, but I'll have to see if I still think that after rereading the other two. Anyways, even though I know the story, I found myself cracking up at the funny moments, and I was not expecting to be in tears at the end, but that's how I found myself (and it wasn't over anyone's death).

Samwise is even more precious in the book than he is in the movie...it might just be because this is fresh on my mind, but I think he is my favorite literary character ever.