The London Evening Standard praised Amos for handling the classical proceedings "triumphantly", stating, "From the reassuringly bleak opening to the breathy piano and scratched strings of the [album's centerpiece], these graceful, imaginative, all-acoustic songs threaten to give classical crossover a good name. Amos, meanwhile, deserves a reappraisal."[31]Metromix called the record "one of the most gorgeous and challenging albums of Amos' career," pointing out her "stunning acoustic piano skills," and labeling it, finally, "a master class in Amos' artistic power."[18]

The Digital Fix gave the album a positive review, distinguishing it for its "rich sonic tapestry, with strings and woodwinds swelling underneath [Amos'] always virtuoso piano performances,"[32] and NPR declared it "the album [Amos] was destined, by early apprenticeship and spiritual affinity, to record."[33]

The Observer, in turn, criticized the album for its "florid excesses", stating, "it plays out like an intermittently absorbing, if overly demanding, night at the theatre [...] but Amos'[s] voice possesses enough conviction and personality to breathe life into what could have been an orchestral folly,"[34] while Ology also cited it as "[Amos'] best album in more than a decade," calling it "an overpoweringly lush rumination on her classical influences that’s both sprawling and intimate, powerful and delicate."[24]PopMatters criticized the album for its "elliptical" narrative but noted, "Nevertheless, the album does contain its share of gripping drama, undeniable poignancy, and iridescent beauty" and "it is hard not to applaud, even marvel at its intense focus, meticulous craftsmanship, and bravura performances, not to mention its sheer artistic ambition."[35]

The Salt Lake Tribune commended Amos for "[skipping] the gimmicks that have marred her later works and [returning] to the raw emotion and power of her earlier songs,"[36] while The Scotsman hailed the album, also comparing it to the works of Kate Bush and calling it "piano rich", "intensely personal", "bonkers, mesmeric and charged with a pristine eroticism," declaring, finally, "This is a real record by a real artist, a rare thing in this age of disposable culture."[37]

The Scottish magazine, The Skinny, praised the album for its "focus on delicate symphonies and baroque drama," comparing it to "the stark and candid nature of Under the Pink," and citing it as both "a breathtaking return" and Amos's "strongest album in over a decade,"[21] while Slant criticized the album for its uniform sound and tempo, but noted, "The more direct songs are genuinely beautiful and transcend the trappings of the album's rigid construct," also stating, "every [string and] woodwind instrument rings with the purest of tones in support of Amos' typically stunning piano work" resulting in a "beautiful, smart record."[38]

Spin praised Amos for creating "a wildly imaginative ride full of orchestral fireworks and fairy-tale melodrama,"[20] while Uncut Magazine declared, "If the aim was to out-bonkers Joanna Newsom and Kate Bush while creating a compelling album, Amos has more than succeeded."[12]

The UK-based women in music compendium, Wears The Trousers Magazine, continued with the praise, also crediting the album with being Amos's "most cohesive and consistent" in nearly a decade, lauding her for "[building] on the work of past masters to develop an utterly distinctive vision of her own," resulting in "a rich, immersive record of beauty, danger and grace."[22]