[3] Heller McAlpin, writing for NPR, praised the novel as a "[...] deeply humane reminder of the great solace of both companionship and literature".

[4] Dwight Garner, writing for The New York Times, made a similar comparison, and praised the book as "[...] as good as 'The Friend,' if not better.

"[5] Joan Frank of The Washington Post notes that, "One's moved by the scope and pith of this novel's ambition, as it addresses our biggest questions by naming the particular — the way the dying recited what mattered to them in Wim Wenders's iconic film Wings of Desire.

But most striking may be how Nunez's narrator transfigures, through deepening compassion, from a wry, circumspect observer into someone raked raw with hapless love for her vanishing friend [...] Still, it's the here-and-now of What Are You Going Through that spears us, its chorale-like testimonies, their preemptive requiem.

"[6] Anri Wheeler of The Boston Globe concludes by saying, "In the end, Nunez leaves some of the reader's biggest questions unanswered.