Mainly it's that they're by Cassandra Clare, aka Cassandra Claire, author of the Draco Trilogy fanfics. Yes, that Draco Trilogy - the one that got pulled from The Pit because of plagiarism, and which Clare/Claire has done everything possible to scour from the internet (you'd think she'd know that's impossible). Back in the day, she was a Big Name Fan in the HP fandom, and had a crazy-devoted fanbase even then - apparently her laptop once got stolen, and her fans paid for a new one. And this was before she was a professional author.
It also helps that it's basically a mash-up of Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer rather than another Twilight knock-off, while still being targeted at tween/teen girls.
And as bad as they are, Clare isn't a terrible writer. She could certainly be better, but to me, it looks like she stopped trying to improve with the Draco Trilogy.
RE: re:Anitas internal monologueing
Mainly it's that they're by Cassandra Clare, aka Cassandra Claire, author of the Draco Trilogy fanfics. Yes, that Draco Trilogy - the one that got pulled from The Pit because of plagiarism, and which Clare/Claire has done everything possible to scour from the internet (you'd think she'd know that's impossible). Back in the day, she was a Big Name Fan in the HP fandom, and had a crazy-devoted fanbase even then - apparently her laptop once got stolen, and her fans paid for a new one. And this was before she was a professional author.
It also helps that it's basically a mash-up of Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer rather than another Twilight knock-off, while still being targeted at tween/teen girls.
And as bad as they are, Clare isn't a terrible writer. She could certainly be better, but to me, it looks like she stopped trying to improve with the Draco Trilogy.