In my experience a strong novelization can do wonders for a weak movie; it's one of the reasons I love novelizations so much. Since I like Dillard's Trek books, I thought she'd be a good candidate to do the trick for the weakest TOS movie. I was right. While I still don't care for the story, working it into a novel definitely improved it for me. The minor characters were fleshed out into real people with back-stories and personalities, which I always enjoy; being able to tune in to people's thoughts and feelings as they spoke the dialogue was also nice. So while I still ignore this part of canon, Dillard deserves praise for making the most out of what she was given.
Do You like book Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)?