In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews called it "a wickedly fun-filled quest that twists and turns with lyrical fire."[2] Christopher Healy, reviewing for The New York Times, had mixed feelings about "the artistically ambiguous ending" which "gives no explicit answer to the question [of whether Boy should hide his true self]".[3] The Horn Book gave the novel a star and in her review, Sarah Ellis wrote that Boy is "a complex and compelling being whose defining quality is goodness."[4] In her review for School Library Journal, Elizabeth Bird also called Boy "the living embodiment of kindness and joy" and drew a contrast to the current state of children's literature: "We have a lot of dark, depressing, necessary books out there.