I think any attempts of writing is good. I mean, it's not an easy thing and it happens way too often people feel discouraged rather keeping on and improving. It's a hard balancing act yea... but I think with any criticism like that it IS important to value the pure fact someone actually wrote a novel.

I wrote four finished novels and no, they are not particularly good (Lizard, if you're interested one is online LOL), and most of the time I am painfully aware of my shortcomings. It sounds like this woman maybe is a bit uneducated about the basics, and yes, someone needs to break that to her. If you do, don't overwhelm her if you dare saying anything at all. But if you do, you could be doing her a favor. She might take it better than you think.