Reviews

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

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heidie's review against another edition

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4.0

Re-read this to read lord of the rings and it was cute and fine but Im hoping lord of the rings is slightly better tbh

arcoirisdesign's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Book Summary

Bilbo goes on adventure with 13 dwarves to recapture their home from Smaug.

Book Review

I really enjoyed the way Tolkein wrote this book.

How I Discovered It
LOTR Fan

Who Should Read It
Anyone into fantasy

Thoughts & Impressions
It was easier to read than I expected. Reading the kindle version was easier than the actual book.

What I Liked About It
Writing Style
Story
Bilbo

What I Didn’t Like About It
The movie adaptation, lol

How the Book Changed Me
It was my intro to LOTR

Related Books
LOTR, Game of Thrones, etc.

kimmyannschultz's review against another edition

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3.0

The lord of the rings trilogy were my favorite books of all time, as a teenager. I had never actually read “The Hobbit”, so when I decided to do a reread after 2 decades, I started with the “The Hobbit”. I appreciate the presence of characters that I have come to love from the trilogy. I like many pieces of the story. Bilbo is an amazing character who I enjoy immensely. But, and it’s a big but, it was boring in the majority. I did not enjoy the dwarf characters at all. It was so hard to pay attention to. In fact by its self it would be a two star. Attached to the trilogy I can appreciate it much more. The kernels of history to the lord the rings makes it worth a read for me.

sapphicbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

emaduchesne's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

eesh25's review against another edition

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4.0

I've finally finished it! Only took me... Oh, twenty-six days...

Man, that has to be a personal record. It has never taken me this long to finish a book I was actively reading the entire time. You can blame my brain for that. Because after about 10 pages of reading, it seemed to think it was time to sleep.

At first, I was afraid the book was boring (even though it wasn't). But as it turns out, the reason it put me to sleep is because it has a bedtime story vibe to it. Like Narnia. Anyway, onto the novel.

The Hobbit is the story of a hobbit, a mythical creature, who is approached by Gandalf, a great wizard, to go an adventure with a company of dwarves. Their mission being to take back a treasure that was long ago stolen. By a dragon.

It's like THE fantasy. We have mythical creatures, we have a quest and we even have a freaking dragon. Could this get any better. Oh wait, it can. With a map. Because I swear to God, I was obsessed with the map. Not the one in the beginning, the one in the end. This one:

I loved it. I think the amount of time I spend staring at it could be amounted to an hour. I was always tracing where they were, where they'd gone through, where they were going. It was so cool. Honestly, the entire book was very cool.

Our protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit, was initially not into the quest at all, neither was he very productive. Most of the work was done by Gandalf. But later on, he definitely proved his worth. He was a great character to read about and was smarter than you'd expect.

Gandalf was awesome, and I can't wait to read more about him in The Lord of the Rings. Many of the characters introduced along the way were also interesting. Though I could never really get behind the dwarves. They were, to me, completely useless, always bitching and whining and blaming someone else. I felt bad for Bilbo for having to put up with them throughout the story.

About the story, it was everything you'd want from a classic fantasy. I really wish someone had read it to me as a kid. I would have adored it them.

I really like it now as well. But the fact that it literally made me fall asleep multiple time is a bummer. I still highly recommend reading it, though. It's very well written and I understand why it's a classic.