Badly written, but not entirely because of how she is written but what she's doing (though there is a part of that)
WoK: Shallan interrupts the important storyline, no one reads WoK for Shallan.
WoR: Shallan's parts are lame. I said it, I felt nothing for anything she did except annoyance, once again she contributes nothing.
O: well Shallan is actually barrable, when she is actually doing things. Once again she is taking what should be Kal's PoVs.
As a person, in book one she repeatedly said she hated conflict, enter book two, she comes to the Shattered plains and immediately runs head first into.... Conflict, huh wonder we're that went. Her personality is: I pretend I'm other people, and draw. And that's it as far as I can see. Maybe other people can get more out of that but I can't.
As to the child, he was literally there for like two pages. Real people I can work up emotion for, him, no, Veil no.