I feel like such a literature fraud when I say that I didn't really enjoy this book. I won't go so far as to say that this series isn't good or well-written, because that's blatantly not true. Tolkien's writing style and my reading preferences just didn't jive, and I am so disappointed to say that. 

At the end of the day, the pacing was just too off for me to find the plot enjoyable. I felt like Tolkien would too often grind the plot to a halt to jam excessive worldbuilding that ultimately did little to bolster my enjoyment of the novel. I acknowledge that he's a master worldbuilder; I just don't like how it was introduced in the narrative.

That's my big gripe. The characters are lovable (though apparently it would kill Tolkien to add in a single woman or person of color, but okay), and the audiobook I listened to was a superb soundscape I found on Spotify that I could not recommend enough. Overall, just not my cup of tea; I'll stick to the movies.