Take a photo of a barcode or cover
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, War
Moderate: Animal death
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I went into this with high expectations and I wasn't disappointed. Tolkien beautifully captured the spirit of a get-away weekend with the boys, coupled with lovable characters and mysterious adventures.
The writing style is magnificent, and I quite enjoyed the interludes with the songs and his and his direct address to the reader. It made the whole story more immersive.
I wish we'd gotten to know Smaug a little more since I found him to be a really interesting and well-introduced character, but otherwise, I have no criticism.
Excited to read The Lord of The Rings now!
The writing style is magnificent, and I quite enjoyed the interludes with the songs and his and his direct address to the reader. It made the whole story more immersive.
I wish we'd gotten to know Smaug a little more since I found him to be a really interesting and well-introduced character, but otherwise, I have no criticism.
Excited to read The Lord of The Rings now!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Violence, War
Minor: Animal death
I love this story, such a fun adventure. I probably prefer LOTR, but this is the book that started it all.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death
I forgot how often it seemed the party lost their ponies, both to the goblins and the dragon.
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I tried to read a Lord of the Rings book once a few years back and gave up fairly early in because it was so tedious. It was long-winded and pretentious in how it stretched itself for pages describing every mundane thing in great detail. I could never have made it through the whole thing.
Because The Hobbit is so much shorter than the other books, it's easier to endure. Even so, it too is tedious at times. Certainly, cherry-picked scenes are memorable and fantastical, but those moments are squeezed between lengthy stretches of chapters where little of interest happens. The adventure of Bilbo is packed with dull descriptors and snippets of songs that are only sung to fill up page space.
So many songs and very few provide anything of plot importance.
If anything, Tolkien wanted to flex his poetry skills, and I wasn't impressed.
There are too many dwarf characters on this journey and the large cast means none of them make a significant impact. Gandalf and Bilbo are the only protagonists who truly stand out, but Gandalf himself routinely disappears throughout the narrative. Bilbo is at his most interesting at the start when he's uncertain of whether he wants to leave his cozy life behind. As the book goes on, he loses what personality he had and even becomes unlikeable at the very end when he, by all accounts, robs his own friends of their treasure.
The stakes are often not that threatening and only two monsters stood out—those, of course, being Gollum and Smaug. For what it's worth, both of those characters are very entertaining and make for the best scenes in the book. However, the way Smaug is dealt with is surprisingly anticlimactic and that greatly lessens his impact and appeal.
All in all, I didn't enjoy it. The narrator loves to listen to himself talk too much. Still, I will be generous and assume my dislike of it is purely subjective and not a matter of the story being badly written. A 3/5 it is.
Because The Hobbit is so much shorter than the other books, it's easier to endure. Even so, it too is tedious at times. Certainly, cherry-picked scenes are memorable and fantastical, but those moments are squeezed between lengthy stretches of chapters where little of interest happens. The adventure of Bilbo is packed with dull descriptors and snippets of songs that are only sung to fill up page space.
So many songs and very few provide anything of plot importance.
If anything, Tolkien wanted to flex his poetry skills, and I wasn't impressed.
There are too many dwarf characters on this journey and the large cast means none of them make a significant impact. Gandalf and Bilbo are the only protagonists who truly stand out, but Gandalf himself routinely disappears throughout the narrative. Bilbo is at his most interesting at the start when he's uncertain of whether he wants to leave his cozy life behind. As the book goes on, he loses what personality he had and even becomes unlikeable at the very end when he, by all accounts, robs his own friends of their treasure.
The stakes are often not that threatening and only two monsters stood out—those, of course, being Gollum and Smaug. For what it's worth, both of those characters are very entertaining and make for the best scenes in the book. However, the way Smaug is dealt with is surprisingly anticlimactic and that greatly lessens his impact and appeal.
All in all, I didn't enjoy it. The narrator loves to listen to himself talk too much. Still, I will be generous and assume my dislike of it is purely subjective and not a matter of the story being badly written. A 3/5 it is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, War
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, War
Minor: Animal death, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Death of parent
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Violence, War
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
5 stars for Serkis' narration.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, War
Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death, Fatphobia, Blood, Kidnapping
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I started The Hobbit because I tried and failed multiple times with The Lord of the Rings, and I was surprised by how young it seems to be written, it appears like a very long fairytale. Overall I loved the story but couldn't quite get on board with the writing style, and the side characters were all basically the same and very flat. Granted there are a lot of them, but why if they're basically all the same, except for like 4 that differ minorly from the rest. I hate to say it but I kinda liked the movies better. I was a little surprised how much creative freedom the filmmakers took considering the source material though
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
funny
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, War