I can see why people don't like the books if they come in with movie associations. This isn't all about glittering armies and epic battles. (What there is of that doesn't come in at all until the second book.) The epic love story is so understated, and so far in the background, I only put the pieces together because I already know it gets spelled out later. 

This is really a book about a how a few normal people, from a cozy little village, start off on a walking trip that slowly escalates until they are in over their heads in epic adventure. (Note: Epic adventures still involve a lot of walking. Be prepared.)

That said, I'm happy to report that I still love this book. I love the same characters, and appreciate all the characters more than I used to as a pre-teen. (Except for Boromir. I mean, I do appreciate him more, but it doesn't make me like him any better.) 

 I think that's what it's all about when you come down to it. There's an evil that needs to be vanquished, and an Epic Quest, and a whole lot of little (deadly) inconveniences along the way, but that's just because that's how life is. The story is really about people dealing with evil and quests and inconveniences, and how those change them in good and bad ways, and what happens to friendships along the way. 

 My perspective may flawed because I was first exposed to the books at about eight years old, but it does seem to me that a child who can generally handle adventure story (non-graphic) violence can handle this story. (I remember being VERY sad and emotional at one scene in particular, and scared by the Nine Riders in a "check to make sure they're not in my closet" sort of way, but I also LOVED the books, and have no regrets about reading them so young.)