[10] The Conversation's Lyn McCredden notes the honesty that Cave has for approaching the darker times in his life and how the musician has turned toward forgiveness, a sense of mystery, and attempts at radical listening as he has aged.

[14] Writing for The Observer (where O’Hagan has been published for decades), Rachel Clarke portrays the work as "astonishing, heart-rending conversations" that have "wit, passion and restless intelligence" for topics as diverse as "love, death, heroin addiction, pottery, childhood, religion and the inscrutable alchemy of songwriting.

[18] Adam Steiner of Louder Than War tells readers that the book "is less benign, and more confrontational than it might seem" and sums up his review by stating that the authors "offers shining light by which we might know ourselves better and reaffirms the power of music where can find awakening, resistance and a renewed passion for hope".

[19] Ludovic Hunter-Tilney of Financial Times gave a negative review, criticizing the question-and-answer format as well as the thematic insights, calling Cave's perspective on mourning "the results represent a thinner reiteration of his impressive project to reimagine grief as “a gift”, a “defiant, sometimes mutinous energy” that can be put to service in trying to make the world a better place".

[23] Éamon Sweeney of The Irish Times calls the book "brave and brilliant" work with "illuminating reflections on loss and ‘the terrible beauty of grief’" that was made possible due to the decades-long association the musician and journalist have with one another.

[29] Elizabeth Oldfield of the Bruderhof magazine Plough called this editor's pick an "electric" combination of Cave's attraction to the church and O'Hagan's distrust of it, noting that "those without an interest in religion will still find much in the book, but what I found so radically refreshing is the unabashed longing for God".