Oh sure, her writing certainly has weaknesses. She way overuses adverbs and ellipses, and she's in DESPERATE need of an editor who's not too in awe of her reputation to tell her when she's suffering from verbal diarrhea. But, as you said, her plotting and character development are brilliant, and I find it difficult to condemn a series that has single-handedly gotten millions of kids, and a huge number of adults for that matter, excited about reading.