Obligatory link: Joining the Absolute Beginner Book Club: Preparation and First Reading Experience Expectations
A year into doing only kanji, vocab and reading regular practice though sentence reading I can say that you can make it work.
However it takes many hours of practice and I think it is important to follow @simias advice to just be more efficient.
I did a “read once, zero practice” run through of all the Bunpro grammar deck and going from N5 to N3 takes only a few hours but is incredibly beneficial to your reading ability (N2 and N1 decks aren’t worth the time early).
Mind that you can (and should) probably wait until grammar is really what trips you up for most sentences.
Follow what your guts are telling you, if you do not like a path try another until you find the learning style that suits you.