I honestly don't know what to tell you loll. Like you said, reviews about it are so mixed that I can't say that I'd recommend it to you but personally, I loved it. It was just so addicting! And it was the first series that I marathoned in a long time so that only added to my enjoyment. I guess that it's one of these books that you either love or hate ;)
I think I am going to purchase the first one and if I love it, I'll buy the two others! Because yeah, it's not because people hated it that I'm going to hate it... We'll see :)