[11] Pat Craig of the San Jose Mercury News praised the "often lighthearted banter and genuine humor that makes the piece float and deliver some powerful messages without sounding the least like proselytizing".

[15][16] The Wall Street Journal praised it as "a new sensation, a real achievement",[15] whereas Jason Heller of NPR called it a "frustrating patchwork," albeit concluding "...it doesn't make The Girl in the Road's dizzying journey less than worthwhile.

"[17] Her second novel, The Actual Star (2021), takes place across three timelines − in the year 1012, in a declining Mayan kingdom; in 2012, following a young woman exploring her Belizean heritage; and in 3012, where a utopian genderless society has been established after climatic ruin destroyed much of the world.

[19] The Tor.com review called it "one of the most effective examples of worldbuilding you’re likely to see on a page this year", deeming it an "epic, visceral novel" that "bristles with ambition".

[20] Byrne considers Norman Rush, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Ursula K. Le Guin as inspiration for her work.