Carrie's final decision to not attend Brown University contributes to her living with her eventual lifelong friend Samantha Jones.

Joel Ryan of the Los Angeles Times gave the novel a positive review, calling it "addictive" and "ingenious", while asserting that the brilliance of the book is that "sex is really beside the point.

"[1] Sabrina Rojas Weiss of MTV's Hollywood Crush also gave it a positive review, stating, "All that plot is great and keeps you glued to the page until the end, but what sticks with you later are Carrie's internal musings.

"[2] Meeta Agrawal of Entertainment Weekly rated the book A− and wrote, "It would have been easy to write a coming-of-age story about Carrie Bradshaw that ham-fistedly foreshadows everything fans of the franchise know will come to pass.

[5] On February 15, 2012, the series' first role was cast when Stefania Owen landed the part of Carrie Bradshaw's 14-year-old sister Dorrit.