"Bulawayo’s portrayal of Zimbabwe is notable not for its descriptions of Paradise and Budapest but for those of Darling’s interior landscape. ... Bulawayo is clearly a gifted writer. She demonstrates a striking ability to capture the uneasiness that accompanies a newcomer’s arrival in America, to illuminate how the reinvention of the self in a new place confronts the protective memory of the way things were back home." —
Uzodinma Iweala,
The New York Times "How does a writer tell the story of a traumatised nation without being unremittingly bleak? NoViolet Bulawayo manages it by forming a cast of characters so delightful and joyous that the reader is seduced by their antics at the same time as finding out about the country's troubles. ... Bulawayo has created a debut that is poignant and moving but which also glows with humanity and humour." — Leyla Sanai,
The Independent on Sunday "What stops the book collapsing under its own thematic weight is a certain linguistic verve, and the sense that this is a really talented and ambitious author who might at any moment surprise the reader by a plot twist, some technical bravura, or a thematic transcendence that will take the story beyond its gratuitously dark concerns to another, more meaningful level. For really, what is the purpose of suffering in literature, especially in a coming-of-age novel, but to serve as midwife to spiritual and psychological growth?" —
Helon Habila,
The Guardian In the
The Independent, Margaret Busby reviewed the book's portrayal of Darling and her friends. She described the characters as having a mix of youth and life experience. The review noted that the group maintains their energy and hope while also facing difficult situations. ==References==