In October following the awards, the judge for the First Book Award wrote kindly to say that, while it is a "strong and egrossing [sic] story," the "flaws are equally encompassing." She explains:

The humour of the fractured words ... is offset by two elements, both of which distance the reader. ...the spelling is not a way to know our character better, but an extraneous element. Viewed as a meta-language, the orthography works against the story; the central character is clearly intelligent and perceptive, but these are not her jokes--she does not know she is making them (contrast this with Charlie Farqharson, a fictional character who knows what he's doing). They are the author's manipulations, and thus come off as condescending: poking fun not only at the world, but at Indigo for her illiteracy. ...We do not gain enough from this conceit to excuse its weaknesses.

The second flaw is in point of view. Ostensibly, the story is told in the first person; in fact, much of it is written from the viewpoint of the omniscient observer. There is no explanation for this: how can Indigo know all these intimate details (birthing and love and rape scenes) in a community so reserved and private? Even if she knows facts, how does she know interior dialogues and emotions? ...Why does she know the story and no-one else does?