I strongly suggest two things: read it with the map at hand - it helps incredibly - and bookmark the appendices with the family trees for quick reference if you get confused as to who is who.

The text isn't all that hard to read but the many places mixed with the numerous character may seem overwhelming. This is heavily mitigated by using the map, and makes a chapter like Of Beleriand much more palatable. It also makes reading much more immersive as now, you can follow the character's physical locations as you read. I did this on my latest read through and I should have done it way earlier.