I don't get the hate. This is following tightly established genre norms, and it's written for people who like this type of story. Hating this just because of the genre having many specific character types and plot trope requirements is like hating the very tight genre rules for Romance subgenres too, it's just what those readers demand and the authors deliver.
That said, this is a well written one in this very specific story type. It has some unique details. It's fine.
I would also probably pet the talking cat until it told me that made it uncomfortable