Oh, that's a shame. Just thought I was missing out since I'd seen people saying the original books that inspired the game were great!

Big King fan here and obviously biased but, I find he writes kids the way he 'remembers' feeling as a 15yo/25yo/etc. That comes with all the cloudiness and rose tinted thinking of the past. I've actually found that helps me identify with the character because I'd have a tendency to do the same, but to a person of that actual age it may seem outlandish or odd. Another reason could be due to the translations you're reading possibly? I say this because you noted that English isn't your first language so maybe the way the writing flows in its native format doesn't translate across exactly right? I recently read the Metro series in English, it was translated from Russian as far as I know and I felt like I was missing something important in the way dialogue and abstract concepts flowed. Probably a great book in its native form, but I was glad to finish it and put it down.