Camila was met with generally positive reviews. At
Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100, the album received an average score of 78 based on 12 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
The Times Will Hodgkinson also pointed out that instead of filled with "high-octave pop bangers", the singer has gone the other way, using sparse production techniques to frame songs about love and longing. Nick Levine of the
NME deemed the album a "strong and surprisingly confident first impression." For
The Guardians editor
Alexis Petridis,
Camila is one of those moments where "the committee approach strikes gold: smart enough to avoid smoothing out the quirks and slavishly chasing trends," he also considered it as "a product of the pop factory that doesn't sound run-of-the-mill." Patrick Ryan of
USA Today complimented the music which the album was built on, labeling it a "vibrant blend of sounds and styles, bolstered by a reliable stable of hit songwriters and producers." Although he also felt that Cabello's over-reliance on
AutoTune is "unnecessary" given the strength of her TV and acoustic performances.
Sam Lansky of
Time magazine stated Cabello proves she has the "chops to stand alone in the spotlight." As did Lansky,
Newsday writer Glenn Gamboa believed that with
Camila, she proves that she is a forced to be "reckoned with and ready to be one of 2018's breakout stars."
Rob Sheffield of
Rolling Stone and Matt Collar from
AllMusic gave
Camila three and a half stars out of a possible five. Sheffield and Collar expressed a similar sentiment:
Camila is a personal statement, a "produced set of romantic pop, punctuated by several rhythmically infectious Latin-influenced tracks informed by her Cuban-Mexican heritage." Similar to other critics, Taylor Weatherby of
Billboard noted its "radio-friendly" tracks, but also highlighted the most personal songs, saying "something that should certainly be recognized is Cabello's relentless vulnerability as she sings about the woes of both romantic and friendly relationships." Concluding his review, he opined: "As a girl who got her start as one of five, Cabello has vocally, lyrically and impressively established that she was always meant to be simply
Camila." In his article for the website
Stereogum, Chris DeVille was positive, noting the tracks range from the most "Latin-tinged club tracks" like "Havana" and "She Loves Control" to "wistful" piano ballads like "Consequences" and "Something's Gotta Give". In a mixed review for
The Observer,
Kitty Empire noted the album's "processed sound" "achieves cohesion, despite the many production hands on deck." She further added, "the raunchy come-hithers you assume have been dropped in late in the day can be as boring and samey as piano ballads. But here, Cabello acquitted herself well as an R&B vixen." Neil McCormick of
The Daily Telegraph commented, "a few songs convey a charming honesty and vulnerability, perhaps a relic of the album's original themes." However, he argued, "there remains a gulf between the craft of commercial pop and the artistry of confessional songwriting, and there is not much doubt about which has been prioritized on
Camila."
Accolades ==Commercial performance==