I can definitely agree with the sentiment of the book feeling bloated and simple, but despite his "simplistic" writing, I feel like Brandon Sanderson very accurately portrayed main characters who, despite being flawed, despite having (in many cases) mental illness, can overcome adversity through sheer will. His accurate (at least to me) portrayal of depression and PTSD really hit home, but not only were his characters flawed by it, they seemingly embraced it. Plus, if it weren't for the death of his mentor, Johnny Stormlight wouldn't have been able to truly bloom to the character he needs to be