The Guardian published a review by Anthony Cummins who noted "While the characters need no convincing of their feelings for each other, we do, and the book’s structure makes this tricky: Zubaida has to write for us as well as for Elijah.

Their coded correspondence once she returns to Bangladesh, in text messages consisting only of song titles – off-the-peg emotion – feels like Anam’s workaround as much as theirs".

[2] Kirkus Reviews said, "Taken alone, the narrator's self-absorption would be grating, but her story resonates powerfully within the saga of three generations of women personifying Bangladesh’s evolution from the clarity of revolution to the confusions of assimilation with the larger world".

[5]South China Morning Post gives the book 4.5 star out of 5, and calls the novel, "an unusual, uneven beauty, heart-wrenching sadness and rare imaginative power".

[7] Star Tribune published a mixed review by Rayyan Al-Shawaf, who wrote, "...you’ll be moved by the author’s portrayal of hollowed-out characters pining for that which would make them whole again, but you might also find yourself puzzling over the nature of their bereavement.