Star Tribune's Kevin Canfield called the novel "vibrant", writing that "Acevedo wields her own sort of magic in her first novel for adults, deftly blending comedy and sorrow".

[2] On behalf of The Washington Post, Patricia Engel called the novel "enchanting" and highlighted how Acevedo "strikes a rousing prose blend of bluntness, lyricism, slang, pop culture references, and the interlingual expansiveness fluidly employed by first- and second-generation immigrants".

[3] The Observer's Stephanie Merritt also discussed the writing style, noting that "Acevedo’s background in spoken-word poetry shines through in the energy and lyricism of her prose".

[5] Some reviewers commented on the book's structure, in which "the present narrative is frequently interrupted by nostalgia and melancholy tied to the motherland, knots of memories of Santo Domingo".

[6] San Francisco Chronicle's Alexis Burling added to sentiment, referring to novel as a "dizzying mosaic" whose "structure [...] can be a head-scratcher at times, even with the Tolstoy-esque character map at the beginning".