Second read, 2023:
While my disappointed with the climax of this story is still true, I nonetheless loved The Hobbit even more on my second read of it. It’s such a comforting book, filled with so many relatable characters, perilous adventures, and surprising humour that make reading it an immense joy. This will undoubtably be a book that I revisit time and time again

First read, 2016:
I remember absolutely hating this book in my grade 9 English class, so much that I actually abandoned it and turned to Sparknotes to get my project done. 5 years later in a university English class, I was assigned to read this yet again. But this time, starting from the very first page, I absolutely loved it. Many of the characters, especially Bilbo, Beorn, and Smaug, are so interesting! I really liked Bilbo, I found him to be relatble and watching this adventure unfold from his eyes was really wonderful; the story definitely would have lost something it was told from any other perspective.

The one thing I didn't particularly like was the last arc of the journey. The whole novel I was waiting to see how they would deal with the dragon since, as Biblo pointed out, that had always been the weak point in their plan. I was kind of disappointed and found it to be anticlimactic. I also wish we had gotten to know Smaug's character more, since he was so interesting. And I personally found the Battle of the Five Armies to be a little boring at times, especially with what happened to Biblo.

But despite my disappointment with the climax of the story, I still really enjoyed it and fell in love with this world. I can't wait to read the Lord of the Rings series (whenever I actually have time to read for fun again...)