I think part of the problem with River is the fact that Moffat is obviously trying so hard to make you love her. He's saying LOOK, SHE'S SO AWESOME, YOU MUST ADORE HER, and my instinctual reaction is YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO THINK.

And then I ended up liking her anyway. It's a bit like the scene in 'Vincent and the Doctor' with Van Gogh in the art gallery; the episode was obviously trying so hard to make me cry that I immediately resolved not to and then, whoops, ended up crying.