Any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae.
You had to get everything exactly right or the editors would give you hell.
There were creative-writin g teachers long before there were creative-writin g courses, and they were called and continue to be called editors.
Praise or damn as you please, but do so rather flatly, pragmatically, with cunning attention to annoying or gratifying details. Be yourself. Be unique. Be a good editor. The Universe needs more good editors, God knows.