I had pretty much exactly the same expectations about House of Many Ways, and for the same reasons. I think I liked it so much because Charmaine is so delightfully cranky, and the book revels so much in her crankiness. Given how young she is (much younger than pre-aged Sophie, or at least, that's how I read her), she felt so unexpected to me, so unusual. Usually I would expect the book to end up by giving her a message of being generally nicer.