Why hello, fellow latecomer to DWJ! I never read her as a kid either (which makes me sad, because I would have loved her). Honestly, I found Charmed Life and The Many Lives of Christopher Chant moderately interesting, but then I really loved The Magicians of Caprona and Witch Week, which I believe are the two that come next. So give her time. I think she was maybe still feeling her way around in the books that you're reading now.