@Lady I would do my usual "is it me?" joke, but dialogue is actually one of the things I feel like I'm good at.
@noelle i mean it only stands out in this author's case because the rest of their writing is pretty alright so it's a bit of a veiled compliment
like they haven't quite figured out a style which actually suits their strengths yet and so are still just going with whatever their preconceived notion is of what a story should be
they'll get better in time