The first half is a bit rough (Dickens is excessively wordy about nothing of consequence), the second half ties everything together. Not a big Dickens fan but if you're going to read one of his books, this is the one to pick.
I found this book a little hard to finish. It was depressing and I got a somewhat confused in places. I always enjoy Dickens' style of writing, but this one was a bit too dark for me to really love.