The film won a 2023 Peabody Award for "lovingly sketching a feminist coming-of-age tale of this esteemed author and her readers alike, and for wrapping it up in a rallying cry in support of the power of reading.

[6] When directors Pardo and Leah Wolchok approached Blume in June 2018 about being the subject of a documentary, she was initially hesitant.

The website's consensus reads: "An entertaining look back at an influential author's career, Judy Blume Forever lovingly contextualizes her literary legacy.

"[8] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 79 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

"[5] Guy Lodge of Variety called it "a lively, affectionate documentary tribute" in which "nostalgia for that sense of formative discovery is balanced by a present-tense exploration of Blume’s enduring popularity, resonance and controversy.