[3] Neal Ascherson in The New York Review of Books described Black Garden as "admirable and rigorous"[4] and Amer Latif in Parameters called it "a lucid, evenhanded analysis of the intricacies of this conflict".

In African and Asian Studies, Samuel Andoh wrote that "most articles on the conflict tend to partial towards one side or the other, putting the blame on Armenia or Azerbaijan ... Black Garden ... is probably one of the few exceptions.

Hakobyan lists two drawbacks, the first one being, according to her, the repeated assertion that the start of the conflict was unexpected for both Armenians and Azeris of Karabakh who lived peacefully and in good relations side-by-side, labeling this as "at the very least optimistic" .

Within the context of providing an example, Hakobyan states: "For 70 years Armenians in Karabagh have been systematically subjected to a deliberate policy of discrimination and removal from their homeland and have made repeated attempts to rectify the situation".

"[13] Tatul Hakobyan, an independent Armenian analyst and journalist, wrote that de Waal had quoted Serzh Sargsyan out of context in the Black Garden regarding the latter's comments about the Khojaly Massacre.