I read it after both LotR and The Silmarillion. It definitely feels like a children's book in comparison. That's not a criticism, though, since it's meant to be for kids.

It suffers somewhat from an over-abundance of characters who simply aren't relevant to the plot, and a surplus of inexplicably talking animals. But that last part can be explained away by the fact that the story is Bilbo's own embellished re-telling of events.

Some great and imaginative scenes, characters and ideas though. A fine book, if not especially compelling.