It is included in the 50 Books You Can't Put Down' list as part of the Get Reading programme sponsored by the Australian Ministry for the Arts and the Australia Council.

Publishers Weekly, in relation to the US release, describes[15] the book as an engaging memoir where readers "will both empathize with and judge de Soyza's experiences in the Tamil struggle."

[1][17][18][19] They allege a misrepresentation by the author of the identity of her combat adversaries which contradicts the historical context of her claimed fighting tenure[1][17][18] (late 1987 to 1988 according to Tamil Tigress ).

From late July 1987 to early 1990, the signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord and the consequent arrival of the IPKF ensured the withdrawal of the Sri Lankan troops from the Battlefield.

Under the terms of the agreement,[20][21]Colombo agreed to a devolution of power to the provinces, the Sri Lankan troops were to be withdrawn to their barracks in the north and the Tamil rebels were to surrender their arms.

[24] In contrast the blurb[25] of Tamil Tigress announces,[1][17][18] "Two days before Christmas in 1987, at the age of 17, Niromi de Soyza found herself in an ambush as part of a small platoon of militant Tamil Tigers fighting government forces in the bloody civil war that was to engulf Sri Lanka for decades…"This is not a publisher's mistake confined to a publisher's blurb as the author herself makes specific reference to who the Tigers fought during this time.

[11] She 'put down her gun and fled the violence she'd become a part of, unable to deal any longer with the brutality of her fellow Tigers or the viciousness of the Sri Lankan armed forces'.

The quibbles regarding the book's authenticity would seem to be rendered irrelevant by the Sri Lankan government, who do not seem to have any reservation confirming that de Soyza was indeed a member of the LTTE, and that the claims she makes are true.

[36] As part of an "inspirational address" to an Australian women's business network, it was reported that while "Sri Lankan critics have questioned Niromi's incredible story, she stands by her memoirs.