[1] In Vogue, Julia Fesenthal characterized Difficult Women as "a misogynist's taxonomy of the opposite sex.

"[2] Gay has described being challenged by publishers in the development of the collection owing to the difficult material the book covers.

Speaking at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Gay recounted, "Editors said, 'we love [Difficult Women] but it makes me want to kill myself.

[5][6][7] Reviewing the collection in The Washington Post, Megan Mayhew Bergman said Gay's "real gift to readers in Difficult Women is her ability to marry her well-known intellectual concerns with good storytelling.

"[8] In USA Today, Jaleesa M. Jones gave Difficult Women four (of four) stars, noting Gay's "deft touch with how ... intersecting identities mold and shape women’s experiences.