Club said, "Jones suffers from seasonal depression, and while his depiction of a town where February lasts all year benefits from his real feelings of dread, its greatest weakness is going too far into autobiography.
"[4] Later in the same month, writing in The Guardian, critic Steven Poole wrote: "In its pre-industrial surrealism, the world here at first resembles slightly that of Ben Marcus...But Jones's is a saccharine version of the style, too concerned to be pretty or childlike (with its owls and teacups and mint leaves) to provoke any real aesthetic shock within a single sentence.
"[5] Booklist said, "This literary gem of metaphysical malaise has that ideally weird blend of offputting sensualism and heartfelt emotion – just the sort of thing to ensure a dedicated, if limited, following.
"[10] Later in the year, Paste Magazine praised the novel in a 9.0 rating (out of 10.0), writing: "Unhinged or sane, grieving or resolute, the Suppletons represent a kind of hero seldom seen in today’s texts.
"[11] Publishers Weekly, in a negative review, wrote: "Admirers of Italo Calvino and Richard Brautigan will appreciate Jones's sensibility, but an unsatisfying surreal conclusion keeps the work from achieving its full potential.
[34] Rebecca Rubenstin, the former interviews editor for The Rumpus, and editor-in-chief of Midnight Breakfast, wrote: "Crystal Eaters is dreamlike and devastating, with language that affixes itself to your bones and won’t let go, even long after you’ve finished.
After the securing of the rights by Jonze, and subsequent pickup by William Morris Agency, the novel was reissued by Penguin Books and sold to publishing houses across Europe.
[41] On April 1, 2010, author Salvador Plascencia, in an interview with Nashville Review, stated: "Light Boxes freeloads off and piggybacks on the work of The People of Paper and does so without any formal acknowledgement.