The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

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Happy to say I feel incredibly accomplished by completing not only my first book by Tolkien but also my actual first audiobook! I am not used to reading (or rather listening) via audiobook but this was one heck of an awesome experience!

I think audiobooks can be quite tricky to enjoy, especially if you have just started listening to them after years (and yes, I mean years) of physical books, or switching between e-books and physical books (I still don’t know where I stand on the whole “physical vs e-book discourse”)

You not only have to be actively listening to the story and enjoy it enough to keep going but you also have to like the voice of the narrator (or narrators if it’s a full cast). In this case, Andy Serkis was phenomenal as a narrator. If I didn’t know that it was just him, I would have genuinely thought they had brought in some of the actors from the Hobbit movies! The way Andy Serkis does Gandalf’s voice completely blew me away; there is also a significant difference between the “narrator” and Bilbo himself which was nice to listen to. Of course, Andy Serkis doing the voice of Gollum was amazing and that truly comes from the fact that Andy Serkis does the voice of Gollum in The Hobbit movies and in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Anyway, that was my little bit on the audiobook part. I am not sure how I will continue in terms of Lord of the Rings because it is another narrator for those books but I will definitely keep you updated!

Here is the main review for the book itself:

I think it was incredible. Had I not been a fan of the LOTR and Hobbit movies (I do admit, I love the Hobbit movies but like I don’t have any particularly hard criticisms against them, I think they’re fun to watch). I do love the book more now and I definitely see where all the hype (and criticisms, especially about the movies) come from.

I really, really loved this story. I think Tolkien truly expertly captured a very fantasy middle-grade vibe with this story and I really enjoyed it. It did take me quite a while to finish the book simply because I had to be in a particular situation and mindset to be able to listen to the audiobook without being interrupted. I go a really fancy physical copy and it! has! pictures! I have never been so excited to own a book as excited as I was when I got this one. There was a way prettier one at Indigo but it was 10 dollars more expensive so maybe one day I will get that one as well.

I don’t really have much of a critique for the story itself because I already knew the story based on the general plot and the movies but if you, dear reader, or anyone you know wants to get into reading or dip their toes into fantasy, I highly recommend The Hobbit and especially the audiobook. You can sign up for the month-long audiobook trial on the Kobo app and use your one credit to listen to the audiobook. You will continue to have the audiobook in your account even if you decide to cancel! Also, it’s not a very long audiobook, just 10 hours long, just as it’s not a very long book!

Hope you enjoyed my incredibly rambly review!

You can get the book here!

Rating: 5/5 stars

Love,

Mila