Building a tough skin

I put a sample of Deep Embrace up for critique on a web board the other day. I got some very interesting comments. One of the people said my main character Perse seemed 'too stupid to live' and compared her to Stephanie Plum. I mostly laughed off that comment but part of me was a little hurt. Deep Embrace is still in rough draft mode and needs alot more work before it is finished. Perse is supposed to be an arrogant, reckless, immature teenager. I can understand how someone might think she would be 'too stupid to live' even though that was not how I wanted her to come across. It's always tough when people give out harsh comments. They serve a purpose though. Sometimes people need to be brutally honest. It helps me see the flaws in my story and characters. I went back and rewrote the beginning of Deep Embrace based on those comments. I hope it reads better now and that Perse across with a little more brains in her head. I actually think the beginning of Deep Embrace is one of the best I have written in years. It is not perfect but when I think back to the beginnings of Goddess Awakening and Tears of a Goddess I can see an improvement in my writing.